Flatfield Race produces fast racing and perfect weather
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It was finally a perfect night for getting the bike out and lashing around a circuit which makes the the sacrifice of being a marshal instead of riding especially appreciated. The list are below but I thought I give a few shout out to those going above and beyond on their marshal duty.
On timekeeping, photography and Chief Marshal – Graham B
Lead car – Stephen I & Coach Irvine
Corner 1 – Graham McC, Kevin W and Trevor B
Corner 2 – Neill C, Gareth W, Gary G
Corner 3 – Marcus M, Raymund M, Ryan C
Corner 4 – Michael C, Andrew F, Graeme D
Trevor B and Gary G continued to step up again with a yet another marshal appearance bringing them close to double figures – thanks guys it is very much appreciated. A quick shout out to Kevin W for also stepping up tonight even though he was busting to race having got back from badger-gate.
Corner 3 had a bit of an issue with a farmer who was out to cut the hedges and wasn’t for taking any input from the marshals. Thanks to the marshals for warning the riders about the hedge cutting. Many thanks to Ryan C for coming along and marshalling despite just coming to watch for a while and wanting to leave early.
Finally many Thanks to Paster Ritchie for letting us use the church car park which is hugely appreciated.
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The handicap fairy spent all week researching lap times for each group and even came up with a novel idea for group 1. Alas best made plans often go wrong; with Group 2 out marshalling and scratch group’s recruitment campaign producing a huge selection of big names there was a last minute shack up on the groups with scratch getting split in two and grp 3 taking the role of group 2. The handicaps remained the same as the handicap fairies were too busy listening to all the people who hadn’t ridden all week and would probably be better in a lower group.
With a bit more analysing Grp 2 had an 8min gap over scratch and they also had to make up a 4min gap to grp 3. So just take 1min 20secs out of grp 2 and 40secs out of grp3. Sounds easy when it is broken down like that and after lap 1 all was going to plan with scratch flyin and taking there 1min 20sec out of grp 2 on the first lap. Group 3 were not hanging about either with the gap cut from 4mins to 3mins on the first lap. By the end of lap 3 it sure looked like the handicaps were going to be right on the money but arguably with group 2 not thinning out much then numbers clearly made the difference as both scratch and group 3 started to fade a touch. Without Grp 3 and scratch merging this allowed Grp 2 to go and battle for the win.
On the last lap it was sure cat and mouse unknown that Jack F, Aaron W and David D could see them and were closing in fast. Graham S made a break before the last corner and split the group but it is a long way from the last corner to the finish line and as he was reeled back in a sly old fox sitting at the back using the wallace tactic made a break for the line at what he thought was the last rise before the finish. Rab McD gave chase trying to time his effort to perfection but alas he just ran out of road as Graham S found another lease of life to take third.
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We shouldn’t forget a valiant effort from grp 1 consisting of Emma J, Wannita B and Lisa M who having got caught for their lap didn’t give in and battled round to end up finishing just behind the lead group – must speak to the handicap fairy about giving them another lap for their handicap.
Many thanks to all the guests who turned up and I hope you all enjoyed the tea/coffee and biscuits. A fantastic job by Martin and Graham to look after timekeeping and take a few photos. Next round is Dundrum Line so probably bring your cyclocross bikes as the road surface is challenging to say the least. That was the last club road race for the season would you believe so next year we are looking to recruit a few more handicap fairies if you know of any, as well as come up with new race courses so get your thinking caps on.
The Results are below and the photos can be found here and here
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