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Dundee Division Two Road Race, 13 May 2006 (Russ Craig placed again) Four laps
of an 11.5 mile circuit down Dundee way was how I'd decided to spend my Saturday
afternoon, for the latest Division 2 road race. The usual names were on the
start sheet along with one of Scotlands medal stars from the Commonwealth Games
in Melbourne so it was looking to be a pretty good race with 50+ starters. I
made my usual mistake of starting at the back of the pack for the roll out,
except this time the race started from a standing start, no dropping of the flag
so I was chasing wheels from mile zero. Anyway, a
quick recce of the course before the start meant I had a rough idea what the
laps were like, fairly lumpy with a drag of a climb at the far point of each
lap. The usual accordian like squeezing and stretching of the pack went on for
the first couple of miles, I'd had a few shoulders, bars and wheels touching so
decided to get as close to the front as I could to avoid the hairy moments and
felt pretty good so decided to go for it before the junction that led to the
only real climb on the course. It feels pretty good being at the front and
before long everyone else wanted to be at the front as well so I soon found
myself back at the back of the pack again. It was on this hill that a group of
two got away, I somehow managed to get myself back into the first third again
and the chase was on. As I remember it the two guys away soon became one and I
didn't see the lone attacker again until the end. The next thirty odd miles were great fun on the bike, twice I made a break myself (once for a good five minutes....at least it felt like it to me) only to be caught again but I kept smiling and pushing on when the big guys went off at the front. The pack stayed pretty much together until just before the last lap when people started pinging off the front constantly for about 4 or 5 miles. I'd tried it a couple of times, as did Kev Clarke and George Findlater, when finally myself and a solid rider from Macclesfield Wheelers got away (we were in the same group at the Girvan Support Race so I was hoping it was a good sign when he went for it) Looking back we'd got a gap and kept going 'bit and bit' until I remembered that in a couple of miles the hill was coming up. It was then I reached into my back pocket for my Stinger, a pure honey sugar kick to get me through the last few miles. Desperately tearing at the golden packet of sweet necter I ripped the top open and swallowed the contents just like Eric when he eats a Banana. I'd like to say at this point the energy flowed through me like a hot curry and a couple of pints on a Friday night but it didn't and I gagged. Luckily for me this took my mind off the hill and I found myself at the top. We carried on working together and got to the final junction and the end was in sight, to quote a phrase it was 'mano o mano' time. We passed the red flag, stuck the bike into top gear and with the hands on the drops, the head down, and the arse up and went for it to the finish. Somehow I'd sneaked a cheeky wee second! Looking
back the pack were flying to the finish so we only just made it. I did later
found out however that the rider from Macclesfield trains with some of the guys
from down South, once they saw he had a gap they stopped chasing, nevermind I
guess it's all about being in the right place at the right time and no matter
how you get a result you have to be in it to win it (or in my case come second,
or first loser, again!!) Tony Hay was the winner, myself in Second with Micheal Cunliffe in third. Kev Clarke Tri-Changing Gear I think was in fourth but it was a big bunch finish so I may be wrong but hopefully not as he put in a big effort for the duration of the race and got his third cat licence after good finishes in the other div 2 races. |
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