Saturday 13th April 2013 – could it be described as a warm day? It certainly wasn’t a cold one, and this left all the riders in a bit of a quandary. What should be worn – full longs, knee warmers, shorts, long sleeved top, arm warmers? It’d been so long since any of us had to make a choice, apart from 2 pairs of socks or 3.

 

I decided it was time to show some leg, albeit not very much as these days I always wear knee length compression socks for racing, as these help to keep calf cramp at bay. Mark Robinson pointed out that my socks were in breach of one of the more recent UCI regulations on clothing which states that “Socks (and shoe covers) used in competition must not exceed the mid-distance between the ankle and the knee”. I wore them anyway, and will await any sanction that LVRC decides to impose.

 

This event is an Australian pursuit over 8 laps of the Deepdale circuit, with each age category being sent off at timed intervals. I don’t envy the person who decides on the handicap time for each group as they can never please all the riders in every age group. This year none of the riders in the youngest age group (40-44) were there at the end to contest the finish, but there were only 3 of them at the start making it a hard task.

 

Rob Stones and I represented Hull Thursday RC, with 3 other second claim members also riding – Mike Gomersall (Cottingham Coureurs), Mark Robinson (Active Copiers RT) and Steve Macklin (Wilson’s Wheels) who was coming back from a protracted chest infection. I won this race last year and Rob had won the previous two events. Would this be 4 in a row for Hull Thursday? In short, no.

 

I thought my race was going to end after the first lap as I felt dire and was struggling to hang on at the back on my group. Thankfully after a few laps things began to gradually improve. Why did I feel so bad? Thinking about it afterwards it was probably because I’d finished my lunch less than 2 hours before the start of the race and my body was saying “Do you want me to digest food or race, as I can’t do both?!”

 

Without doubt, the ride of the day came from Dave Robinson (no relation) who rode away from Mark’s group on the first lap and effectively soloed for the win, getting to the finish line well in front of the sprint for the other places. He had so much time he was able to cross the line with his arms in the air, but then wobbled and veered towards the verge where Mandy Dean was filming the finish. Fortunately a collision was avoided and Mandy was able to record the rest of us coming in.

 

I came in 4^th, half a wheel ahead of Mark in 5^th. Prizes in this event go down to 6^th place so we didn’t leave empty handed. Also there is a separate points competition with primes on every lap and prizes for the first 4. This competition was won by Rob.

 

Neil Dean