First race first win at the Highfield Trophy 01/03/2014

Highfield Trophy 01/03/2014 Race Report

Establishing the break

My first race of the year was the Highfield Trophy Criterium in Middlesbrough, (01/03/2014). It’s fair to say I was very nervous in the build up to this race, with it being the first race of the year. The race was just over an hour around a 1km circuit, and in terms of the result is was wrapped up pretty quickly. The race-winning move was made around the first 4 laps, comprising of 6 riders, which later dropped down to 5. Richard Meadows, Ralph Hodgson, Shaun Nicholson, Dan Bryant, and myself.

We all worked well to establish the gap and then the pace was very smooth all the way to the line, with a few excited flurries towards the end of the race.

With around 10 laps to go Dan Bryant had attacked solo, but with all the riders in the break all-eager to win he was swept up with 3 to go. For the last 3 laps it was like a game of cat and mouse. I was looking over my shoulder almost more than looking forward at one point, anticipating the last attack from anyone who didn’t fancy their chances in the gallop.

Cat and mouse on the last few laps

The bell rang for the last lap, and I could really feel the butterflies in my stomach. An early jump from a rider with 500m to go nearly caught the rest of the break sleeping but ending up leading us with 200m to go full gas. I put it in the 12 sprocket and was first to kick out of the corner, before I knew it, I had crossed the line, arms in the air, WINNER! (Here is a link to a short video of the finish http://instagram.com/p/lAdFYUog-s/)

Such a relief to win, especially in the opening race of the season, massive thanks to TrainSharp, with there expertise and guidance I’ve hit the ground running for the season and hope to continue like this into the bigger races. The new Beacon BF_100 felt great too, I’m really impressed with all of the new kit from the team’s generous sponsors. A big thanks to them for their support for the year ahead.

Also some great photos from Michael Craig (f-stop picture company http://www.flickr.com/photos/96788374@N05/ ), captured the race perfectly.

Thanks for reading

James