Race Report: Fifth Place Finish in Mountbatten E.1.2. Race

Follow every move and one of them had better work. That was the motto I adopted in today's race over at the Portsmouth Mountbatten track: it was a tactic that hurt like hell for a lot of the one hour race.

I was kicking myself a bit after I let a break of five riders get away last week in my first Elite, 1st and 2nd Category race over at Portsmouth. So this week I was determined to make sure I made the split. As a result, from the start I tried to stick near the front of the main peloton, and with assaults going left, right and centre I was working hard (probably too hard) to make sure I either pulled a fair few of them back, or made sure I was in them.

Eventually a group of nine riders were sat on the front of the peloton and the pace began to lift, James Ebdon my team-mate, was sat the tenth rider back and knowing the field well he recognised that we might be a good mix of riders to do something in a break. As a result, when the pace lifted James eased a little and let the nine of us get a gap...

The gap got bigger... and before long we had a quarter of a lap, it was then time to start working like dogs to make the break work. Time after time we each pulled our turn on the front, heart rates high and muscles burning as we pushed into the strong headwind to try and gain a lap...

My team mates Sam and James did a great job of controlling the pace as best they could in the main pack to allow us to get a gap, and gradually the advantage lengthened. After a good ten minutes of working hard the nine of us got the lap up that we wanted and latched back on the main peloton...

The rest of the race was spent trying to control the main field; James, Sam and I, along with the teams of the other break-away artists chased down attempts and kept the race together for the final sprint. At some point two riders went off the front and managed to get a second lap up. I'm not sure when that happened, it was all a bit of a blur, but either way that was the top two places secured. It was down to the bunch sprint to decide the rest of the points...

Choosing the wheels I managed to get into a decent position for the final sprint and took third in the bunch, securing me 5th place overall and a good few points.

It was a hard race, though not the fastest Portsmouth Track event, the win and the work in the break could certainly be felt in my legs. I'm looking forward to my first race on the road for this year, next weekend in the Surrey League Milland Hill Road Race; I'm hoping my legs can bring a good result on the hilly circuit.