PTW

Your man in the field belatedly reporting…

On a warm and balmy evening in West Wales two members of the squadra made the long trip to Pembrey to contest the opening round of the Pembrey Circuit race series. Tackling the ¾ race and the E123 race was Davey ‘Disco’ Crowley, not so fresh from his pummelling in Margam Park on the weekend, and James ‘The Tank’ Lewis, getting back into training after a forced lay off with a nasty cold. Self confessed Criterium aficionado Charliefummi was meanwhile trying to get the PTWCC team car sorted and would be forced to watch the races from the sidelines.

So it was that I lined up against a strong Jif and Bynea squad in the 3/4 race, knowing that I would have to take my wealth of experience and knowledge, which largely consists of different ways to lose bike races, and pick out some gems to try and get a position of any credibility.

From the off the green jerseys of Jif were firing off one after the other. My job here would be to duck and dive, trying to single out some of the more promising moves and try and follow wheels to stay with them. The pace remained high and the attacks kept coming, first from Bynea, then from Jif.. they had the sole member of PTWCC on the ropes. Soon however, my legs started to warm up and the constant attacks began to take their toll on the bunch. With only 3 laps remaining Darren Stone and Luke Dix of Jif launched a good attack, taking Rowan Marshal of Bynea with them. I knew these were strong boys and I made sure I wasn’t missing that express train so I jumped on. They were joined by Roger Dunbarr so we had three Jif, one Bynea, one or two others and I. With those odds I was going to play the waiting game and sat near the back of the break, letting the stronger teams pick up the slack. Unfortunately the bunch collectively weren’t going to let us go and we were dragged back with a lap remaining. The massed forces of the Jif would now be a problem, and sure enough, with 500m to go Roger Dunbar floated off the front with a soft move. Surrounded by Jif I wasn’t about to chase and decided to take my chances with the bunch sprint. Courtney Rowe opened it up on the straight, and I unleashed my sprint from a few places back, rapidly swallowing up anyone in front. Regrettably Dunbarr’s break had been given a bit too much room and I crossed the line in 2nd, breathing down his neck. Ah well, forever the bridesmaid…

Moving into the second race this would be all about ‘The Tank’, and I was just there to contribute to the prize fund. From the off the attacks came thick and fast as the enthusiastic elites took hold of the race. Soon James found himself in a tasty move with Ian Bendall (Forza), Tom Ashford (Ajax) and Hefin Price. A strong attack by George Rose and Hugh Wilson took George across, but Hugh got dropped and found himself in no man’s land. Conscious that I had done little in the way of attacking in the first race I launched an attack into the chicane and quickly found myself on Hugh’s wheel. Like a pair of desperados we forged away from a fast moving bunch for 5 laps, grovelling in the brutal winds of West Wales but to no avail. With 5 laps remaining we were swept up by the bunch, legs thoroughly cooked.

Meanwhile James was powering away up ahead, ably assisted by some strong riders. There was no catching these boys!

Back in the bunch it soon became a free for all, with an energetic Hugh Wilson and Lee Williams (Wiggle) attacking the bunch again and again. On the last but one lap a break finally stuck, consisting of me, Jeremy Rees, Hugh Wilson and Lee Williams. Worried that I might actually pick up points and become a 2nd cat I elected to lead out the sprint and let the others fight it out, so rolled in 8th place, alarmingly still picking up enough points to take me to 2nd cat.

Up ahead James was dealing with some vicious attacks from Bendall and Rose, the elastic finally snapping on the back straight and despite his superhuman efforts the Tank smashed his way into 3rd place, an excellent result after being away all day.

So a good night for the PTWCC, two podium spots and some valuable points. The win can’t be far away…

Great write-up and well done to you both.

Of course, you could become more famous by deliberately not winning and thereby becoming the 'Port Talbot Poulidor'.