Beginners Race at Chertsey this Saturday - 19th Feb

bexslack

London Dynamo are promoting beginners races for both men and women at the popular Longcross Test Track, near Chertsey this Saturday. The venue is a 1.7mile traffic-free circuit which has not been used for BC races over the last couple of years.

The men (Cat 4 only) will be off at 9.30am and the women (Cat 3 and 4 only) will start a minute later. An E,1,2,3 handicap follows at 11.15. Details on the British Cycling Calendar.

greeny12

I'm in. First ever race *gulp*

Zachariah

Hey Greeny12, I read your blog, some good stuff there! I'm doing my second race on the same day, the first was on Jan 29th. Don't do what I did - rush out in front to show off how amazing you are - it won't work (unless you actually are amazing). No matter what the temptation, or how many people behind you are shouting for somebody to go faster, stick with the peloton and if you must make a break for it, don't hold a shred of energy back. And stay near the front.

greeny12

Cheers for the compliment on the blog, Zachariah - and the advice.

I'm treating it as a watching brief, taking it steady just to see how this racing lark works. At least that's how I'm thinking sitting here now...on the day I'll probably just Go Mad...

greeny12

If anyone is interested, I did a report on my rather chasatening experience in this race.

It can be found by visiting my blog using the link in my sig. Click on "He flies through the air with the greatest of ease..." for the full story.

jibberjim

greeny12 wrote:

It can be found by visiting my blog using the link in my sig. Click on "He flies through the air with the greatest of ease..." for the full story.

At least you got to find out you were plenty strong enough - my first race there 2 years ago I got dropped on the first lap braking for a crash (but not coming down) and never made it back to the bunch. So just rode around alone

paddlemyowncanoe

That is bad luck but a good one to put in the bank. Next time, when you are in the leading 1/3rd and the rest behind you are crashing or being whipped through each corner, you'll be having a great time.

dave milne

Had a bit of a disaster. Punctured in the warm-up the organisers let me change it and join in a couple of laps on. I just missed the 3rds so jumped on the back of the seconds and was suddenly in a race at 40k with cold legs. Didn't quite get the hang of the last corner, someone put the hammer down at the front as we were just about to catch the 3rds, I lost a few bike lengths. Chased really hard at 45-50k to try and get back on and then popped.

Got another puncture is the carpark afterwards

weapons

Great race, great course. Enjoyed it despite the mouthfuls of grit I was spitting out for a while after from all the road spray. Bagged some points, which was more than I was aiming for. So a good day out considering I actually went back to bed when I woke up to see it pouring with rain!

greeny12

As an aside, the big 4ths crash was caused by a combination of beginner riders, wet roads and an overly compressed passage from the wide outer road into the infield section. Even on the prctice laps I thought the cones demarcating the corner made the track narrower than it needed to be. But as a "newbie" I didn't have the nerve to say anything.

After reflecting on this I mentioned it to the organiser the day after and he told me that the cones were moved back for the E/1/2/3 race on the advice of a marshal. Pity for us because an avoidable incident caused a lot of pain, but a lesson learned for future race organisers there.

As a second aside, my team-mate was right up in the top third of the pack - the only difference it made was that he was second man to go down after the geezer skidded off!!

furrag

I did the first lap in the last third of the pack, and that corner was sketchy with all 39. The next lap I moved up to the 1/3 to keep out of trouble, and I wasn't surprised when I looked back and saw a rider sliding. I think that crash alerted a few as it was settled after that.

I put in an attack entering the snake with 5 laps left and was chased down immediately. Another Kingston Wheeler did the same the following lap, managing to stay away for 5 minutes before being caught a lap later.

The last lap was very quick but with a thinned out field, not congested. The long straight works for me as I'm not a sprinter, but I can put a good top speed down. I nearly overcooked the final corner, but lost a few seconds and the front bunch. I put in an effort to get close to them and managed to catch them. With no wheel to follow and about 200m left I found myself in 4th. The effort seemed in vain as my legs were burning and others began creeping past me, but I managed to hold on for 8th and grab a debut 2 points.

It was unlucky that you couldn't avoid the crash, especially as you got an insight into what your race may have panned out like. It's pretty crap your shifter snapped too, but by the same token you're lucky you live so close to the Tristore who do awesome deals!

I enjoyed your closing paragraphs. It's a good attitude to have. Best of luck for the rest of the season.