Things are getting serious now. With 2 rounds remaining and James 10 points adrift it was, in James' words "s**t or bust" tonight, and frankly, I couldn't have put it better myself.
A substantial field lined up on the track to contest Round 5, but the real race was going to be between 3 men, Alan Owen, James Norman, and James 'The Tank' Lewis. Luckily James had a secret weapon, Dave 'Pretty Boy' Crowley, his right hand man. Not to mention some serious vocal support from the pimped up Charles on the side line, who looks is a positive catalogue of the latest euro trends and accessories these days - but looking good with it!
Also lining up once again was our man in the City, Jason Humphries, who manages to find an excuse to drive the 3 hours from North London to ride every couple of Thursdays. Last night I believe his (rather thin!) excuse was he needed to show his dad how to work the remote control on his TV! Also along for the ride was another Londoner, Desmond Gayler, who is no stranger to this area, having ridden our 25 a few weeks before. Looking quite flash and with more power readouts and computers on board their bikes than the Pips fancy new car, they set off, togehter with the rest of the bunch for an hour of cross eyed furious fun.
It was a cautious affair, and a tired and watchful James Norman seemed glued to James' wheel, never letting him get far. That didn't stop James from trying, and he launched several impressive attacks from the gun, only to be chased down. With the first sprint coming up we knew that every point counted and I promptly won the bunch sprint for the first prime, mopping up valuable points so that James Norman left empty handed. 1-0 to the Port Talbot.
Feeling good, the next 1/2 hour would be about watching wheels and keeping an eye on the big players. Jason and Des attacked like it was going out of fashion, but I had to concentrate on keeping the powder dry the best I could for countering any attacks from the threats to James.
Suddenly, in a momentary lapse, we had a worst case scenario, James Norman had snuck away from the bunch, and Alan Owen had bridged across!! The gap quickly grew, and before we knew it they had a 1/4 of a lap on a receding bunch! In the words of Sherwen, there was "panic on board", as we saw James' chances disappearing up the road. It was time for the secret weapon to be unleashed and I hit the front, determined to bring them back. All that posing in the gym began to pay off, as my 'twin pillars of doom' pounded the pedals around the long exposed track. Soon they were in my sights, and their number was up. They should have known better than to try something like that on, especially when the Port Talbot are in attendance.
At the last prime it was another victory for me, taking full points. Regrettably, I didn't quite recover from that last sprint, but it provided James with an ideal launch pad to get away with James Norman, and in an excellent counter attack, the blasted away from the peloton, quickly opening up a substantial lead. Misfortune was favouring the brave here tonight though, and James' chain fell off, scuppering their chances - and so it was we went into the last 3 laps, all togehter, save for one lone leader.
A cat and mouse game followed, and as the sprint wound up we found ourselves slightly boxed in, but fought our way out for (I think 4th and 5th). Most importantly, none of the main contenders finished ahead of us, and James once again chipped away at James Norman's lead.
So all in all a good night for PTWCC. No win, but we are now looking at the bigger picture. We are calling in reinforcements next week, with Charles stepping up to lend a hand.
Just a reminder to all, next week is the last round. I can't recommend these events highly enough. They are a great way to build fitness, and if you get dropped you can always take a lap put and join in as the bunch comes round again. Would be great to see some more PTW jerseys there, you'll enjoy it I'm sure!
Anyway - till next time...
_______________
The Force is strong in this one...
The Force is strong in this one...
I like it.
