April has been a month of full on racing and TT’ing.
It started on a cold dark evening on Wednesday 6th April when Larry turned up for the second Omega Race Series; luckily or unluckily for him only 12 riders turned out, where after a few attempts to get away it came down to the last lap and he ended up with a 5th place and some more points for CCR.
Next up was a TT 9th April with 4 starters; James, Terry, Adam, and Larry, with 25 miles H8/10 on the A31 near Alton ahead of them. It was a windy day which made it a hard one way along the A31. It really wasn’t a day for CCR with 2 DNFs from James and Terry, but Adam and Larry both went under the hour for the 25 miles.
Simon Wright raced at Mountbatten Centre on a cold Saturday morning in the 4th Cat race and scored his first points of the season with a very good 5th place in a strong fast paced race which he spent plenty of the time on the front of.
The highlight so far for me this year was the TT along the A3 from Greatham to Liphook and back to Greatham for 10 miles, with Terry doing at 21:07 (which is over 28 mph ave) and Larry doing a 21:47. PB’s for both riders!
Adam Coppard took to the Hampshire Road Club TT on a damp Tuesday evening and posted a very respectful time of 22:49 for a 2nd place on the night, well done Adam.
I am not even going to mention the PNE Nat B Road Race that saw pro riders destroy the field, with Larry and James getting dropped from the pack on lap 2 of 8. With only 19 of the original field of nearly 100 finishing, it was tough going even for 2 laps.
Last but not least saw the best CCR turnout of the year so far at the first of the Goodwood road races, with 2 mens races being filled with Grey and Pink. In the 3/4 cat race was Sam, Simon, Craig, Adam, Mark & Richard. Unfortunately Simon punctured early on so that saw him out of the race and getting picked up in the van. however there were multiple attacks from Adam & Sam but sadly none stuck to the line. Stand out rides for me were Mark, Craig, and Richard showing some great resilience and finishing in the pack on their racing debuts.
The E123 race saw Andy, James, and Larry start again in a strong field. James’ bad luck continued with another DNF due to a puncture but he was going really strong before that. Andy, who had not been well on the run up the event, had pull out early on also leaving Larry flying the last lonely CCR Jersey in the race. With 2 groups of strong riders up the road he tried to bridge the gap twice but it was to quick for him. Coming around with what he thought was the last lap as the bell had sounded he unleashed his poor sprint with about 10 other riders only to find the bell to as for the other race he was overtaking at the time… another DNF.
You live and you learn.
If anyone wants any advice/help getting into racing please contact me. It would be great to see some of our ladies out there too.
