The Cycling Development North West Road League continued in its stride with the 15th Event at Oakenclough on Sunday 21st of August. Biketreks Racing Team's Kieren Banlin raced with the E/1/2s. John Dodgin and I, Nic Bertrand, raced the support race in the 3 & 4 categories.
Pictures by Phillip Harrison (More here)
In the Cat 3/4 race, John consistently looked strong at the front of the bunch. My own race plan was simple: hide near the front and may be grab some placing at the end but also watch for moves from riders who would appear to be a threat to John's current lead in the League. I wouldn't call that a very confident game plan but after all, I was coming back from a traumatic CDNW Dolphinholme race on the previous Sunday where I was feeling comfortable right up until I blew spectacularly as we crossed the line onto the last lap. So traumatic that no trace of a race report from Dolphinholme RR is to be found on this site. Fact that goes a long way to show that enjoyable riding around Provence, even if it includes hill repeats on Mont Ventoux does not really prepare you for road racing up short and steep climbs.
Anyhow, back to Oakenckough RR :-) The race started fairly steady with the notably exception of Sandy Lockett (Lune RCC) going out straight from the gun and gaining 30sec advantage over the bunch. Only to be taken down by a muddy corner. The race continued steady until the 2nd lap when four riders got away mid way up the main Oakenclough climb. No real chase got organised so the gap grew up to 1min10s. The four riders in the breakaway ultimately remained clear of a rather thinned out bunch of 13 riders by about 30 seconds. In the galop to the finish John crossed the line in 11th place and I grabbed two BC points finishing in 9th position. 17 finishers out of 41 starters. A sure sign of selective race.
In the Elite race, Kieren finished a lap down showing how brutal the racing had been in that race too.
Many thanks to CDNW Officials, Marshalls, Cleveleys Road Club and other helpers for putting on a great race for the North-West racing calendar. Thanks to Keith and other friends for the support on the side of the road.
Pictures by Chris Holmes on Flickr:
