April Fool!

The 4th  round of the Gorrick Spring Series was a weird race, well suited to April fools day!

Frith Hill near Deepcut in Surrey basked in sunshine but the shade under the trees was still chilly as we huddled together before the start. Last year at this venue I only made it 100m before I punctured, so there was a sense of relief as I rounded the first corner and plunged down into the forrest in about 10th position. I hate to make excuses but my asthma is still not perfect and the riders in front of me started to pull away despite my best efforts. Before I knew what had happened they were out of sight.

I pushed really hard but even when the path opened up I couldn't see anybody ahead. My enthusiasm was beginning to drain away - little did I know but I was actually in the lead!

Into the second lap and I was caught by a couple of riders who I rode with for a while until they too started to slip away. This wasn't going well I thought and sometimes your mind can be as important as the legs and lungs. I rode on, maybe I was still in the top 15? Not the result I had hoped for but at least I might get a few series points. As I crossed the line to start the last lap I was surprised to see quite a collection of friends cheering me on - why were they bothering I wondered? I couldn't hear the race commentary but they had....

Riding on my own I settled down for an easy ride to the finish but then I heard riders behind and suddenly realised that I had been caught napping! A couple whistled through and a third was buzzing my rear tyre shouting for me to let him through. Not a chance we're racing! He finally pulled alongside on a climb and with another torrent of abuse landed a nice punch on the top of my leg. Thoroughly depressed I seemed to be dropping places hand over fist. What was going on? I must surely be about 20th by now? I disconsolately crossed the line and headed to the stewards caravan to make a complaint about the angry rider.

Only when I emerged was the entire situation explained to me. On the opening lap the lead rider had taken a wrong turn and the chasing riders had followed the wheel in front, heading off into the woods in the wrong direction. Although totally unaware this had left me at the front of the race! I was still a close third when race commentary picked me up at the end of the second lap, causing the excitement amongst my friends at the start. Then close to the finish I had been caught by the fastest riders recovering from their earlier detour. (This explains, although it doesn't excuse their bad manners!)

I had actually finished 8th which on a normal day is pretty good, although it might have been even better had I not relaxed. If I had known I was leading maybe I would have found a little extra energy, fought a little harder? We'll never know but in the end 8th is 10 points to take to the final round in 3 weeks time?