SERRL 3-Day 23-25th May

[Guy Phillips]

4 stages, 3 days, a national B race for 1/2/3 categories in Kent. A bit out of my class but I really fancied stages 1,2 and 4 so I entered my 2nd stage race.

Stage One: Time-Trial: 5 laps of Fowlmead circuit, 17.5km. I did it with a time of 22'40", which I was very pleased with, and it gave me 27th on GC out of nearly 60 starters. Really enjoyed this stage...

Stage Two: Crit: Fowlmead circuit, but the top loop. This was fun and demanded a lot of concentration. A lot of attacks, I had a couple, but nothing was getting away and the group finished together. I was somewhere near the back after riding off the circuit and nearly losing the wheel. Rolled over 45th and still 28th on GC.

Stage Three: Hilly 120k road race, Chilham circuit: I knew I was going to be in trouble on this stage - and indeed I was. Couldn't hold on up the second ascent of Molash Hill, rode the next 75km on my own, and only did one ascent of White Hill. Was given a time and slipped back to 51st on GC.

Stage Four: Flat road race 100km, Biddenden Circuit: This is one of my favourite circuits and I did well in a 1/2/3 here last season, so I fancied a good ride today. My legs didn't feel too bad. It started to piss down half an hour before the race and it continued for the first hour and a half. The race was run at a breakneck pace and I was struggling to hold on at the back. After 3 laps I had a bad corner and lost a wheel - I tried to make the gap but my legs had turned to wood. I rode back to the HQ and climbed off. Down to 54th on GC. But I wasn't last.

All-in-all a good experience, and will have built my strength for future races, but I plan to stick to regional races now, time trials, 3/4s, track and maybe finally admit that I'm a vet and do some LVRCs. There are some courses and races that are too tough for me and at my age it may well be too much to improve to those levels.

[Paddy]

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