After the success of the previous week at Eddie Soens, another six members of the Hull Thursday Racing Team rocked up for the first event at the closed circuit on Darley Moor on Saturday 8th March.

We had originally planned to have a weekend of training but after enjoying our first race the previous week so much we opted to take the trip south to the outskirts of Derby to embark on another morning of adrenaline pumping, heart racing action.

Ahead of the event we were quietly confident that we could pull something off. We’d ridden comfortably in a group containing Elites and professionals the previous week, so with this event being a 3/4th cat race then surely we’d be in the mix, and who knows, maybe even win the race. However, cycling is very rarely so straightforward and my immediate hope and ambition was cut short when we got to the headquarters and saw a massive queue to sign on. Unlike some events, Darley Moor is a ‘enter on the day’ event meaning that the field could be almost as large as the Eddie Soens, and it often is at this time of the year with it being one of the first events of the season.

Confident

I was still confident we could make a go of it. Our line up contained some from the previous week like Will Thomas, Mark Walker, Matt Johnson and Danny Posnett but we also had Andy Carroll making his return to BC races after having almost a season out with heart problems. We also welcomed our latest addition to the team Tom Unwin, formerly of We Love Mountains and a real powerhouse to boot.

After signing on, we realised time was running out before the start, so much so we didn’t have chance to warm up properly. So not the ideal preparation but nevertheless we were there with everyone else ready to show what we could do over the next 23 laps (35 miles).

When we started, however, I suddenly realised getting anything out of this was definitely not going to be easy, and nigh on impossible. In total there were 150 riders on the relatively short circuit. The racing was even tighter than the previous week and in no time you could see people clashing with handlebars and riders cutting other people up on the corners. Will was carrying his recent from into the race and managed to escape on the opening laps but his break didn’t survive too long and they weren’t helped when one of the riders in the breakaway fell by overshooting the first corner.

Distanced

The other problem we had was there was some riders who, despite having as much right as anyone else to be in that race, were on a completely different level of ability and struggling to keep up. This meant you were often following someone who had dropped off leaving a gap to the bunch in front without the rider behind realising. I was lucky to survive this on a couple of occasions but Andy ended up getting caught in the melee and he was distanced by lap 6.

After the incidents of the first few laps, my confidence had gone and I was now far too far back in the bunch. Will ended up joining me with Matt just behind. I turned round to see Matt just about hanging on but his face told of his effort as it was bright red. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long until he too was distanced, once again caught behind riders dropping off. Unlike Andy, who decided to carry on after being distanced, Matt pulled out.

Loose Bottle

So far our star performer was our new boy, Tom, who was doing a good job riding in the middle of the pack with Danny not far behind him. Mark and Will tried on numerous occasions to move up on the fast back-wind section of the course, but despite moving up about 20 places we were once again at the back by the time we got round to the start and finish. I couldn’t make sense of it as no matter what we tried we couldn’t move up. My confidence, already shredded from laps one and two, was further eroded when a bottle came loose in the middle of the pack with riders weaving and jumping over it. I managed to avoid it but realising I had bigger goals in mind ahead of the season wasn’t too keen on getting stuck in the middle of the pack and taken out in a race I had very little chance on winning in the first place, I decided just to hang in there and just get to the finish.

Crash

Finishing, though, was easier said than done, as a crash occurred a couple of laps before the end at the slowest point of the course causing a traffic jam behind. I managed to get round it despite a bit of a delay but this meant it was a full on chase to get back to the bunch. Passing rider after rider Mark just managed it. Will also did the same but he was in the red and was suddenly off the back with a lap to go. I managed to just about keep up but there was yet another crash during the dash to the line. Fortunately only one rider came down and the rest of us stayed up.

Realistic

Tom and Danny were our best finishers and rode well throughout. I was a little disappointed in myself having felt that my group riding skills were virtually non-existent. I don’t think Will was too pleased either having thought he could have won the event. However, it was far from a disaster. We took the positives away from the event when we met up for a debrief at a service station on the way back (not quite the same standard as Team Sky but it worked). We realised that with a field of that size it was always going to be tough to get something organised and we should perhaps be a little more realistic for future events and target races with a field of, at most, 70 riders.

So with our feet back firmly on the ground we’ll look to the next event and we’ll make sure we do ourselves justice.

 

Mark Walker
HTRC RR Secretary