08.05.04 Mt Cambrai Road Race

In Div 1 a small group of 7 riders set off for their 7 laps, and with Russell pulling out early it was left to the CCC contingent to scrap it out, Chris Spence winning comfortably. 

Div 2 was a very different matter with a large group of 18 riders and with the majority coming from Velo it was always going to be tough for the CCC contingent. Standard tactics in this situation are for the larger team to keep sending riders up the road and letting the minority team do the chasing and this race was no exception, with Mike Keighrey staying away for the longest before being reeled in by Kevin Pilley, who I gather was left to do most of the chasing...no wonder he was knackered at the end. Bob took line honours with a great sprint at the top of the hill to stay ahead of Kevin with Mike a bit further behind. 

Div 3 saw another good group of 15 riders set off for their 5 lap race with Bob Banks setting off like a rocket chased down by yours truly. The first climb saw a few stragglers dropped but the first real action came on the 3^rd climb with Sean Twohig, John Derrien and young Sam getting away...a great effort by Sam who is starting to show real potential. Sam dropped back on the 5^th lap leaving Sean to battle it out with John. Further back the Velo contingent were working well together with everyone doing their bit, but sadly this couldn’t prevent Allan Miller and Keith White getting away to catch the 2 leaders; Sean having to settle for third in the end, but a great effort by him. Good to see Susan Williams staying with the main group for most of the race...and beating Ian!

A quick reminder to all riders if they want to change the division they have been allocated to this should be requested before race day....it’s too early in the morning to start debating whether claims of illness, lack of fitness, climbing ability et al are justified...this only applies if you want to drop a division. Thanks to Steve Whiteside for his understanding, sorry about the puncture. The division system will never be perfect (nothing is) but we are working at it and for Div 2 & 3, from all the feedback received, they were excellent races.

Thanks to Harvey, ably assisted by his glamorous assistant, Norma and Marshalls, JPB, John Carney, Mary Crowe, Matt Gambles, Craig Meredith and the St Lawrence Honorary Police. Our 2 budding David Baileys were out and about and have taken some great photos...thanks to Jules and Adrian.

Results 

Div 1  

 Div 2 

 Div 3