Wasp RR aka Davey C Memorial Road Race... 2/3/4
Your man in the field reporting. With Tank, Hefin moving up to first cat the Squadra was slightly depleted today, but by virtue of the timing of his gaining his 1st cat licence we were allowed to have our NATIONAL CHAMPION Dan Pearson on the start line together with Curtis and Mark Stacey and who's that at the back looking slightly tubby? Can it be? Is it he?! Why yes ... it's Davey 'Disco' C, entering his first race since early April and feeling very worried about the lack of training and racing he hasn't been doing!!
Anyway the course was 3 laps of Heol y Cyw Common towards Lantrisant before heading up the Bridgend valley to the top of the mighty Bwlch, South Wales answer to the Tourmalet. Towering above the HQ with it's craggy peak, tree line and hairpins it looked and felt like a real Tour stage.
The pace was fast from the off and I felt very nervous int he bunch, a combination of new bike, lack of bunch racing, carbon wheels and concerns over my fitness so I was no where near the front when a break of 10 went. Fortunately we had newly promoted 2nd Cat Curtis in the break so all was well and things were going to PT's plan.
The break hovered at about a minute and a half and attempts by Dan to bridge across were thwarted when his cleat snapped, leaving him with only one foot clipped in for the rest of the race!!
The bunch were pressing on however, with many riders getting spat on the fast tailwind section across the common after Sarn. Soon it was time to turn right and start heading up the valley. Unfortunately a bout of cramp put paid to Curtis brave efforts to stay away and he dropped back to the bunch. I moved up to the front and managed to stay in the top 10 all the way to the bottom of the Bwlch by the cattle grid but had to ease off from the group as they hit the first draggy section through the trees for fear of blowing completely.
Dan was in a class of his own and as expected took off after the break, catching almost all of them except a handful of ringers, including an Elite MTBer (name TBC!) who won. Dan came in 4th, not bad considering he could only use one leg!!
I struggled up the rest of the climb picking off those who hadn't realised how long the climb was and I enjoyed watching them blow and crusising past. I could see the main group all the way up but was in no position to do anything about it and finished god-knows-where, but satisfied considering the awful year I've had, health wise.
Ride of the day, toss up between Curtis and Dan, both had cracking races, and both suffered from bad luck but still fought on. Well done boys.
Great race and great course. We pretend to race up the Bwlch all year so it was nice to do it with a number on your back for once. There was an EPIC feel to seeing the riders strung out all the way up the climb, and the scenery really makes you believe you could be battling up the Tourmalet. Credit must go to Rob Powell for daring to send a race up there and sticking to his plan despite a broken neck!!
The only shame is that despite it only being the 21st August that was the last RR of the year...so there's no 'til next time'.
Till next time..
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The Force is strong in this one...
The Force is strong in this one...
(Unless it's raining 
)