11 March 2007 Mont Cambrai

What a difference a week makes; it was a glorious spring morning for the first road race of the season; 5 laps around the Mt Cambrai circuit. Approximately 50 riders started split into three categories with the slower riders setting off chased by the cat 2’s who in turn were fighting to keep ahead of the fast guys. As the results show full marks to the faster riders in cat 2 staying ahead all the way to take the first 4 places. Good result for Bob Cabot taking third and a great result for Bill Buist in a tough field holding on for 4^th. Equally impressive was Pascale Ybert’s ride who broke away from the rest of Cat 3 on the second climb up Mt Cambrai and held on to take 5^th overall.

This circuit is normally dominated by the climbers; Mt Cambrai is not a long hill but catches riders out with its twists and turns and changing gradient. The sting is in the last section up to the start/finish, which is deceptively long and steep (and painful). After the climb the pace picks up for the long haul up to Carrefor Selous, note up to, which continues to sap the strength of riders as they try to get their breath back after battling up the main climb. From Carrefour it’s a left to St Marys and the course flattens out with the pack looking forward to the long drop into St Peters valley and a break for those aching legs & lungs before its time to tackle the hill again...what joy (if you’re a climber).

It was great to see such a good turn out for Velo. Well done to Nikki Bardin for giving it a go on what is traditionally seen as a tough course. Houge Bie next week which will be more to many riders taste, lets hope the weather stays good. Good to see Dave Jardine up there with the real flyers and Jim Garrett not far behind as the selectors start to build their team for the Island Games. Hard luck to Des McLelleand in his first road race, apparently a hedge leapt out at him and he found himself upside down on the road with one of his wheels next to Shaun Bosio’s head. Fortunately there were no serious injuries and Shaun got going again, keeping me company for the latter half of the race.....keep working on the hills mate.