Junior racing

Hog Hill 3rds race, 17th July 2010. Hog Hill in the strong wind is a fun place to be! It was my 4th ever visit to the Hoggenberg, and my third actual race. The first, early last year (Pig in a poke) was a lesson in getting dropped on the hill. The second, in early summer last year, was a lesson in the dangers of warming up (Not to plan). The third, in March this year, was a lesson in who’s wheel to avoid (Hoggenberg). So could I actually finish the race this time?

Yes! The hill didn’t destroy me and I enjoyed the circuit – it was all a bit ‘swirly’ in the bunch with the strong wind creating a large concertina effect out of several of the corners, followed by some bunching as the lead riders hit the headwind sections of the circuit. Notice I said ‘lead riders’? I don’t think I hit the front at any point in the entire race – not a great ride for me, frankly, but finishing in the bunch is better than being dropped or crashing! The pace was high, there were quite a few good junior/youth riders (they made up 6 of the top 10 I think) and no Dynamos got into the top 10. One guy took a fair bit of abuse for dodgy handling - he was wearing a skater's helmet and, whilst being given a rollocking by another rider, got referred to as "Beastie Boy", which made me smile. To be fair the guy was pretty fit and kept with the pace well, but his positioning and erratic movement made the bunch a bit nervous. It's one of the issues you have to expect when racing in the lower ranks, but I wish riders like this would go and do some chaingangs/group rides before actually deciding to race.

That’s the end of the Saturday Hog Hill races and I’m not that unhappy – I’ve only managed to get to two this year but the journey out and back means about 5-6 hours out of the day for a 1hr crit (that always seems to start late). So, nice circuit, shame it’s so far away.

Sunday was the second Richmond Park time trial of the year. I was down as assisting the timekeepers, so it was an early start – out of bed at 04:30 on a Sunday morning – uuurrrgghhh! The park is absolutely stunning in the early morning though, which makes up for some of the pain. I tried to get some decent pictures of the riders but wasn’t able to roam enough, so instead ended up with some disappointing head-on shots which aren’t really worth displaying. Shows I can't multitask - the pressure of calling out rider numbers and taking decent photos proved to be too much! Times for the event seemed similar to the first one, with the top placings listed below:

Juniors
Will Horrocks, Kingston Wheelers, 27:32

Lady TT
Rachel Joyce, Serpentine/London Dynamo, 26:09
Charlotte Blackman, Cyclefit, 27:15
Maryka Sennema, Kingston Wheelers, 27:20

Lady Road
Natalie Creswick, Twickenham CC, 27:28
Rachel Armitage, London Dynamo, 28:14
Elise Sherwell, Pearsons, 28:57

Men TT
Angus Macalister, Norwood Paragon, 23:26
Laurence Harding, www.drag2zero.com, 23:42
Martin Williamson, London Dynamo, 24:09

Men Road
Tim Stevens, 34th Nomads, 25:50
Xavier Disley, University of Birmingham/Cult Racing, 26:13
Tom Gilbey, London Dynamo, 26:26

Good efforts!