Cameron fills us in on his first successes of 2018…
I After a couple of windy winter circuit races at Cyclopark in December and January, my road race season officially started late February with the South East Road Race League cat 3/4 season opener on the Cranbrook-Benenden course. Our race was shortened due to ice so went off quickly with riders dropping off the back pretty much straight away. I stayed in the wheels and followed a couple of attacks throughout the race helping to keep the pace rolling on the front of the bunch.
With signs of cramp when the bell rang for the last lap I tried to ease up a tad and save myself for the sprint, but at that point everything is pretty much flat out. It was a slight uphill finished which I thought suited me but didn’t know how my sprinting would compare to others in the race. I timed my sprint well and came across the line to place 3rd, a great result for me this early on in the season and a good indication to how the winter training has paid off.
My second road race was my first experience at a category 2/3 level. It was a blisteringly fast race averaging at 26.1mph for over 2 hours. I managed to stay in the bunch, for the whole race, finishing in the middle of the field – another result I was really pleased with as I’ve never raced that category before and had no idea how I would get on or how quick everyone would be.
The most recent road race I did was the SERRL Tour of the Marshes cat 3/4. A grim day with wet roads meant a cold and unpleasant race, however my legs felt good and again I helped to control the pace at the front of the bunch. A group of four riders broke away, three of which we caught but one stayed away for the remainder of the race claiming a solo win with a decent gap over the bunch. This finish was quite a long drag with lots of riders sprinting too early – I kicked at just the right time to claim fifth in the bunch, so 6th overall. I now have a block of training and a week riding in Mallorca before competing again at the end of April.
Photos by Dave Haywood and Cameron.
Cameron rides for the Southborough & District Wheelers. He races road bikes and ‘cross at local and national level. He receives personal support from the.æight.bicycle.cømpany.