Does make me wish I had all this on my doorstep more often. There is nothing more frustrating however than riding knobbly tyres on the road.
Freezing conditions today with a dusting of snow across London. The Imperial Race Team did a sterling job of clearing the snow and ice from the track but three sections were still coned off. The flag dropped and for the first 20 laps it became clear no-one was going to put a concerted effort on the front or attempt a breakaway. We meanered round the track and after 30 minutes or so the 4ths were nearly on our tails. Boredom got the better of me so I went to the front and put in a dig to increase the speed. Jimbo and another rider took the opportunity to make a break leaving me to drag the rest of the peloton to bring them back. The 4ths overtook us on their second last lap - a lone rider coming through first, then mingling in with the thirds before making a solo break for the line with the rest of the 4ths completely oblivious to his attack.
For the 3rds, yet another bunch sprint. On the final lap I got into a reasonable position but then found myself getting boxed on the last corner. On the charge to the line I got caught twice behind slower riders in front and had to check my speed. 20m or so from the line a rider from Rollapaluza made an impressive surge to take first and I made it over the line in a disappointing 6th place having used too much of my energy reaccelerating round slower riders. James's view that you should sprint to the line on the right hand side to avoid the congestion is clearly the way forward! No racing for me on the 26th but I'll be sprinting on the right come the next meeting.
On to the race. A strong north easterly meant the start finish straight was head on into the wind. This meant the average speed was well down on the first week. Attempted breakaways almost seemed to grind to a halt when they turned into the home stretch. I twice found myself amongst the escapees, the first time when I was just marking and then felt obliged to do a turn at the front and the second was deliberate when I saw Jimbo take off for a small group who had slipped away. Missed his wheel so had to do a fair bit of work to catch the group. We started to get organised with a bit of through and off but found ourselves reeled in after only 1/2 a lap.
So it looked like it would be a classic Hillingdon bunch sprint and I settled back into the peloton. A little bit too comfortably it would seem. Out of nowhere the bell rang for the last lap while I was near the back thinking there were another four laps to go. Ooops. Fortunately I managed to move my way up and by the last corner I was sitting perfectly behind Jimbo as he wound up for the line. In the bag I thought but as we made it towards the final curve Jimbo cut into my line and I had to ease on the brakes. I made a few continental style hand waving protests which almost backfired as the rider in third was creeping up on me. Second place then. Good fun although there was a pile-up behind us on the final sprint (which explains the big gap from 8th to 9th!).
Place Club Cat Series Points BC Points
1st w 42 William Platt Kingston Wheelers CC 3 200 10
2nd w 41 Alan Strang Dulwich Paragon 3 150 8
3rd w 44 Nathan Smith London Pheonix 3 130 7
4th w 68 Krisitian Borbely Sigma Sport 3 120 6
5th w 51 Luke Ollett Inverse/Bike Food 3 110 5
6th w 70 Przemyslaw The Gregarios 3 100 4
7th w 53 Alex Turner FVS Tri 3 90 3
8th w 47 Thomas Sutherland Twickenham CC 3 80 2
9th w 55 Andy Edwards Kingston Wheelers CC 3 70 1
10th w 61 sean molyneux Metropolitan Police CC 3 60 1
11th w 50 Stuart Stow Twickenham CC 3 50
12th w 63 wayne thomas READING CC 3 40
13th w 59 Ralph Carter London Dynamo 3 30
14th w 3 Jon Noton Inverse Racing / Bikefood 3 20
15th w 16 Charlie Pearch Rapha Condor 3 10
16th w 60 Peter Dixon Willesden CC 3
17th w 66 Andrew Stevenson Inverse Racing / Bikefood 3
18th w 71 Estelle Rogers Rollapaluza CC 3w
19th w 62 Nick Franzini London Dynamo 3
20th w 39 Dave Ryan Imperial Racing Team 3
21st w 69 Mark Phillips Rapha Condor 3
22nd w 27 Steven Noble London Dynamo 3
23rd w 2 Paul Redman Thames Velo 3
24th w 9 paul shoobridge private 3
25th w 7 Mike Diggins Gregarios Superclub Ciclista 3
26th w 58 Mick McManus RT 316 3
27th w 67 Mike Inder Thames Velo 3
28th w 21 Lionel Birnie Gregarios Superclub Ciclista 3
29th w 52 Kieran Dineen InverseRacing 3
30th w 49 Phil Glasgow New Forest CC 3
31st w 32 adam elderfield Inverse Racing / Bikefood 3
32nd w 31 Steven Jackson Rollapaluza CC 3
Pictures from London Cycle Sport
The occassional futile break thankfully strung out the peloton but these were brought back easily and led to some dangerous bunching. There was some dubious riding on display and I was almost unseated twice during these regroupments. Inevitably, there was a bunch sprint finish. I got on to the second wheel on the final drag and ended up 4th over the line. Happy with how I raced and reckon I could have upped my sprint a notch. A few points in the bag and looking forward to next week. 
