Another Sunday and another race for the Hull Thursday Racing Team, this time being the PH-Mas 3/4 category race run on the popular course at Bishop Wood near Selby.

The distance would be relatively short at just 35 miles or 6 laps, but sometimes the shorter the race the harder and faster they are. The course, although pan flat, would allow for the gusting winds to be a feature in the race. Fortunately the sun was out and temperatures were around a pleasant 20 degrees throughout the race.

The team consisted of myself (Mark Walker), Will Thomas and Danny Posnett, who was still looking for his first BC points after a number of near misses.

Pace instantly high

After a briefing at the HQ and a gentle roll out to the course, we were off and the pace was instantly high, mainly thanks to Will, who’d decided to go from the gun. For the majority of the first lap I was too far behind and it wasn’t long until Danny was with me. Using a long open straight I managed to claw myself from the back to the front but my over-speed was so fast I ended up lodging on to the back of a break. I couldn’t sustain the pace too long though, so it ended up with a case of me just marshalling the break rather than contributing to it.

Once this break had subsided Danny attacked with a cluster of 8 other riders and due to the disorganisation behind were soon away. The thing with 3/4 cat races is there isn’t often enough teams/riders who know how to ride and pull breaks back, they tend to just attack going hell for leather for a short period and then easing up. I knew if Danny and his breakaway mates could keep the pace constant and work well together they’d have a chance.

Out of horsepower?

By the start of lap 4 the attacks had calmed down and Danny’s group had established a 41 second lead. They weren’t quite out of sight, and as the saying goes ‘out of sight out of mind’ we knew that they’d be a chance of it been pulled back. What we had for the majority of this lap though was a organised chase and by the start of the 5th lap the gap was down to 30 seconds. When we hit the halfway point on this lap the gap looked like it had fallen yet further to a mere 20 seconds. Was Danny’s group running out of horsepower?

Frustrated

Me & Will knew at this point that it was getting to close for comfort, but I tried to reassure him that the limited numbers on each teams should lead to a slowing in the charge from the main field. Nevertheless we didn’t want to chance it and we started to get mixed in the chase by purposely getting close to the front then just pulling off. There were cries of frustration behind but we didn’t need to chase nor care about people shouting at us, although Will got a mouthful from a clearly frustrated Steve Ward. PH Mas should have been in a similar boat to us as they also had a rider up in the break, but for some reason were incredibly dedicated to the chase.

Do-or-die attacks

Our meddling, along with other riders tiring, had clearly helped the break up front. Danny, who saw us closing earlier on in the lap, also upped the pace knowing his efforts weren’t too far from coming to nought. All of this brought the gap up and riders in the main field started to panic by launching do-or-die attacks. Now the concerted effort in the chase had gone I was certain Danny would stay away, but upon hearing the bell for the last lap the gap was still too close for comfort.

Bikes flying

However we needn’t have worried. Coming up to the first of two railway bridges on the course came an almighty crash. I saw bikes flying up in the air and a rider falling right in front of me. I managed to veer round it but Will, who looked to be right in the middle of it, managed to survive, somehow. Unfortunately one rider came off really badly with a fractured eye socket amongst his injuries, and was on the floor for so long that the preceding women’s race had to be delayed by an hour. Hopefully his injuries aren’t as bad as first feared and he can make a good recovery.

Relieved

What all this meant though was that there was only about 20 riders left to chase, seemingly ending any hope they had of picking up Danny’s group. Still though it was close, with the break just up ahead as we went through Bishops Wood for the last time. Fortunately though it would prove to be enough and Danny survived to take 8th. He didn’t quite have the legs to sprint after all the hard work he’d done, but he’d nevertheless done enough for his first points of the year and boy were we relieved having seen it almost come apart midway through.

Avoid a crash

There was still a sprint for 9th place, I gave it a go but as soon as riders started to elbow each other and run riders into the verge I opted out. Having just managed to avoid a crash, I wasn’t keen on getting caught up in another one. I came in around 20th with Will a few places behind.

Plenty of races to go

Overall it felt like a real team effort and we’re chuffed that Danny has managed to break his duck following up with his second 8th place in 4 days. As a result the team is now on 53 points, over ten times what we achieved last year with plenty of races to go before the end of the season.

Results (point scorers)

1 Joshua Cutler 3RT 3rd 15 points
2 Richard Cross Knottingley Velo 3rd 12 points
3 Michael Smart TS Racing Team-Vankru 3rd 10 points
4 Damien Kelly PH-MAS Cycling 3rd 8 points
5 Jacob Brown Team Swift 3rd 6 points
6 Joshua Ruddiman Ingear Coaching Biemme 3rd 5 points
7 Geoffrey Martin Huddersfield Star Whlrs 3rd 4 points
8 Daniel Posnett Hull Thursday RC 3rd 3 points
9 Stephen Ward Ingear Coaching Biemme 3rd 2 points
10 Nathan Hesslewood Ellis Briggs RT 3rd 1 point

 

Mark Walker
HTRC Road Race Secretary