It's funny. A month back I had this Hillingdon block and wondered if I'd ever finish a race at the West London circuit - there always seemed to be something going wrong to scupper it. So after Round 3 of the Imperial Series and finally putting a point on the board, I went into Round 5 (missed 4 due to Christmas in Exeter) expecting a placing.
I'd driven up from Exeter the day before, and got in fairly late. Then I had to play with my new toy (Garmin 705 generously given to me by my sparkling wife), so I only got to bed very late. Saturday morning was a scramble after I wittered away much of the morning reading the new Cycling Plus, so I got to the circuit with just enough time to sign on, put my bike together, get dressed and do two warm-up laps.
It was very blustery, with a strong North Easter howling across the track. It would be a difficult sprint. The field was fairly small, 28 riders, and consequently it was fast but not too intense. I stuck to my plan of keeping out of trouble but staying close to the front, though I managed to somehow find myself in a breakaway group a few laps from the finish. This almost messed up the race for me as I was well into the red and nearly fell off the back of the group! Fortunately I held on and got myself back in contention.
Unfortunately I fluffed the sprint again - this time ran out of legs about 10m from the finish line, and in the process lost a bunch of places. Ended up 10th overall again, so another point to my credit, but I do nevertheless feel a bit annoyed with myself and know I should do better in the sprints.
I learned a bit more and got a bit faster. My knee is conspiring against me, so I'll be taking it very easy this week, and will hopefully be back in fighting form for the weekend.
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