Reading Cycling Club press report, week ending Sunday 14th February 2010

Circuit Racing News

Photo caption: Reading CC's Wayne Thomas in race action
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Joe Harris concluded his winter racing at Hog Hill circuit by finishing
2nd overall in the winter league. He also gained enough ranking points
for a well-earned promotion to second category racing. Although second
in the league is an excellent result he had had his eye on better :
"Although Saturday was the penultimate round of the winter league it was
the last round in which one could score championship points. I went into
the race knowing that a high placing could snatch me the overall in the
winter league. The race was fairly quiet without too many attacks. With
about 6 laps to go the first cat Joe Skipper broke clear and just got
far enough in front to hold it to the end. I was quite far down the
group coming in to the sprint so I decided I had to go early to avoid
getting blocked. I was leading the long sprint but a group of riders
just got past me. At the crest of the hill I had enough power to kick
hard again and retake a couple of places before the line. I was just a
couple of inches off fourth place, crossing the line in fifth. This was
not quite enough for the league overall and I had to settle for second
place. However I gained enough points to get a second category license
so I'm looking forward to going up a grade and racing with some top
riders this season."

Veteran Wayne Thomas journeyed to Hillingdon with "fresh legs", for the
final event of the Hillingdon Winter Series. Despite 4C and a bitter
North East wind, large fields of 50+ riders turned out for each of three
races. Thomas was in the 3rd cat race, with Stuart Hale making a second
outing in the 4th cat race - both races running in parallel on the 1.5km
circuit. Thomas reports, "The 3rd cats set off at a sustained strong
pace. I was totally comfortable throughout the race moving around the
peloton at will. After a little over 20 minutes the 4th cats were caught
and passed - the 3rd cats having closed a 90 -120 second gap. These are
always a tense few moments as it takes almost a lap to get everyone
through during which time some 100 riders are sharing the same space. In
the closing stages of the one hour race, with a large field still in
contention, the pace not quite high enough to string out the peleton,
and a lot of bumping and boring taking place, I eased into a "safe"
place and finished easily in mid bunch. The sprint was led out by a
regular veteran compatriot Ralph Keeler, Cambridge CC who was only
pipped on the line by Tristan Natolie of AW Cycles."

Reading's Stuart Hale braved the same 4th cat race at Hillingdon. He
commented: "This was my second attempt at circuit racing, I was hoping
for any visible improvement in comparison with my first time out. The
pace of the first few laps seemed high but this time I was able to stay
with it due to a better warm-up, a revised nutritional strategy and a
better appreciation of the corners of the circuit. A headwind on the
finishing straight caused a fair amount of bunching and I was pleased
this time to feel involved in the race. Unfortunately after about 25
minutes a split appeared in the bunch and I was on the wrong side of it.
I decided not to ride down the gap by myself as this would have lead to
a catastrophic loss of glycogen so I took full advantage of the rule
that allows one lap to be lost to the bunch. I rejoined the bunch and
was able to cope with the pace till the end of the race. I rolled in at
the back of the bunch and am happy to report that there were no crashes
to mar the racing. I was very very pleased this time to feel part of
the race and although this race was the last in the Hillingdon Winter
Series I will definitely be seeking out other circuit races this year to
take part in."

Sunday Clubrun
All groups leave Reading Market Place at 9am on Sunday morning.

Roderick MacFadyen
Reading Cycling Club