1st Race for Aw Cycles - Gorrick Spring Series R1

Yesterday at Tunnel Hill we were greeted to a chilly but reasonably dry set of trails. After a few races i knew the course would start to dry out even more, which was also helped by the sunshine. We arrived at around 8am to get my little sister set for her 1st ever race in the under 12's category. She didn't do to badly and finished 4th, but it is all a learning curve for her as she is only just starting out.

On to my race the Expert race has now changed from a 2.15pm start to a 10am start which has its negatives but its the same for all us expert riders. The race was fast from the gun and as i had to run my road shoes and pedals i didnt get the best start. I managed to get clipped in and got into the front group with Jody Crawforth, Ben Thomas and Ed Mcparland. I was unsure how long the group was going to stay together and Ed was the first to go with Me, Ben and Jody getting away around 1/2 a lap into the 5 lap race. Us 3 continued to keep the pace high and during lap 2 Jody dropped of and from then on i thought it was a 2 horse race. But this wasnt to be as me and Ben didn't work well enough together and Jody caught us 1/2 way through lap 4. He came to the front and continued to keep the pace high to try and split the group up a bit, which didn't work to his favour until around half a mile to go on the last lap. During the last 1/2 mile the gauntlet was thrown and i slightly lost contact but still kept the pace going until i realized they were gone. I came in 3rd place only 16seconds down of Jody and 15seconds of Ben who had a bit of a sprint finish. With better tactics the outcome may have been different today as me and Ben had a good gap on Jody and could and should have kept the pace higher. I am still very happy with my performance as this was my 1st race in the Expert category and am a good few years younger than the likes of Ben and Jody. Next round is on the 3rd of March at Crowthorne wood.

Big thanks to the new sponsor AW Cycles who have supplied me with an awesome race bike, which goes like Stink!. Cant wait for the next race :)

http://www.awcycles.co.uk/ 

Results from today are here - http://timelaps.co.uk/assets/uploads/EVENTREPORT.aspx?eventid=230TunnelHill,Mytchett17/02/2013#Expert%20Male 

Photos should be posted soon!