Dunsfold 3rds - wind, wind and more wind

Another race, another Nul Point. Particularly frustrating because I felt strong throughout the Surrey League circuit race at Dunsfold and should have done better. As usual there were several dodgy moments, a fair bit of swearing and shouting and a lot of moaning in the bunch. A standard 3rds race then.

The first lap was notable only for my potential early exit from the race due to asphyxiation. Passing one of the parked lorries, a trailing length of safety tape (about 5 metres long) blew up in the breeze and around my neck, breaking away from the lorry and leaving me wearing a very long, plastic red and white striped scarf! One end was wrapped around my bars, the other dangled dangerously close to my front wheel. I must have looked ridiculous as I flapped around in the wind trying to get the bloody thing unravelled from my neck without letting the loose end get caught in the spinning spokes. Phew, a potential Darwin Award moment avoided!

I spent some time on the front (half-killing myself into the fierce wind), some time near the back, plenty of time in the centre of the pack sheltering from the savage wind on the back straight, bridged across to a small break, practiced moving around in the pack and generally tried to keep my interest up. Dunsfold is a pretty dull circuit - pan-flat, wide, long (3 miles) and exposed. Any breaks are visible a very long way ahead, giving the bunch plenty to aim for. There was no chance of a break working well today - the wind was so strong that, as one rider groaned, it felt like cycling into a wall. Right at the end a break managed to stay away - just, only outdistancing the sprinting bunch by a few metres - and a fellow London Dynamo got his first points at 3rd Cat by coming in second. Great result, he rode well and managed to get the good positions that I should have been aiming for. Yours truly came in about 25th or so, very disappointed (edit: no, I was 32nd - even worse).

More training required, combined with more racing 'nouse'. The weather doesn't look great for Palace this Tuesday (drizzle, probably meaning a cancelled race due to slippery conditions on the blind corner) so I really have to re-acquaint myself with the turbo and work on sustainable power...still searching for that elusive classy breakaway!