After dropping my daughter off at Ghent St Pieters station following her short but very enjoyable visit, well the hotel and resteraunt staff are still talking about it! I was back to racing today. Racing with the WAOD at St Laureins near Eeklo today, fortunately they started two separate races, which in the main was quite sensible but there were one or two 'incidents' but more of that later.
I was a bit concerned when I first drove onto the circuit when I saw that they were putting straw bales up on some of the corners, doesn't normally happen in Belgian races, so I wondered if it was especially dangerous, no problem it wasn't.
The course was dead flat, very open, the weather was good 26c and windy which was a bit of a challenge on some of the straights. From the start / finish the there was an immediate 90 degree left which was fast and safe, 200 metres to another fast safe 90 degree left which led onto a fast straight about one kilometre onto a 90 degree right which led onto a two kilometre straight that wandered back and forth a little, a 90 degree left which you had to get lined up correctly because we were coming off a fast wide straight onto a 3 metre wide concrete track with only one correct line. This straight was maybe 500 metres, we were usually in the right gutter, into a 90 degree left, another tight corner, leading onto another 3 metre wide concrete lane for maybe 2 kms, this was cross headwind off the right, very exposed and we were very definitely in the right hand gutter, swing left at the end before a 90 degree right onto the home straight with about one kilometre to the finish dead straight Total lap length between 7 and 8 kilometers.
I didn't really have a race plan other than not get carried away in the first couple of laps and just to see how the legs felt, I was happy that the sprint was dead straight and my feeling at the start was that with the wind or more the cross winds we wouldn't be a large group still at the finish so whilst last corner positioning is always important it also gave plenty of scope for re positioning and too far forward would almost certainly be a liability.
The first couple of laps went to plan, never in trouble but sitting on wheels the whole time with no problems matching the kicking out of corners and unusually there was no corner I wasn't taking perfectly which always saves the legs and of course energy. From there up until the bell I was feeling pretty good, jumping up to breaks, forcing breaks, pulling strongly, the legs feeling good. Its really good for the confidence when in the cross headwind riders are continually drifting off the wheel and I had absolutely no problem stepping out and powering across the gap, there was a continual attrition of riders as the group whittled down, mostly on this straight. In the second half of the race, each time along this straight I tried to form an echelon and ride away, I could get 4 riders to do one turn but then they wanted to hide and sit on allowing the bunch to come back, I even tried putting every body in the gutter and shredding the line which I did manage to do, but in little groups they would claw back, it was too tough a day for me to succeed on my own, not really my thing either.
About half way we began to pick up riders and small groups from the younger race ahead, it started off OK and we managed to keep separate but as time went on these guys were just hanging onto our bunch and really getting in the way. At three to go, almost exactly on the finish line one of these guys veered across to hit me on my left side, one of us had to go down, it wasn't me, I shrugged him off and he went down like a sack of ...., apperently his bike was trashed and he went off in the ambulance, fortunately he didn't bring anybody else down. I had noticed him a few K's before, he was wearing a really smart predominately all white uniform but I think he was really tired and trying very hard, all over the place. I guess he gets a bit of a rest now.
Coming into the bell, it was pretty clear there would be a sprint, there would be the inevitable attacks but I started thinking about how to run the sprint. There were maybe 20 in the group but it was confusing in we had maybe 6/8 from the other race that were probably going to get in the way but not feature in our result. There was one recognised sprinter in the group (apart from me of course) so I elected to ride his wheel on the basis that I thought I could roll him in a long straight sprint but he would also know who else was a potential danger and ride to cover any real threats.
Well that was the plan and coming out of the last corner both he and I were perfectly placed, he was about 6 back and I was on his wheel, then some pratt from the other race turned left, and I do mean turned left, and was taking us into the gutter, we both yelled, braked momentarily to cut back right and bugger me he then turned right and were heading for the barriers. Again we were yelling, mine was very choice, very personal I can confirm, my lead out man was actually alongside of him at this point and managed to fend him off long enough to slip by, I had to back out and go left again and spend some pennies to catch my lead out man, by this stage we are along way off but we still have 400 meters to travel. Basically we were closing all the time until we realised that we had run out of road and weren't going to make it and freewheeled in from about 50 meters out, very disappointing.
The one man chicane saw me waiting for him just beyond the finish and sensibly turned around and went back down the course!
Talking to my lead out man after the race, we were both convinced that without our difficulties we would both have won. I have no doubt that we would have been first and second, I can't obviously be sure which order of course. Oh I was 4th in that sprint!
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