Wessex League Round 6 Basingstoke

So its been pissing down all week, I fuss about a set of mud tyres. My last outing at Basingstoke was fraught with annoying things going wrong, culminating in puncturing and finishing well down. Friday lunchtime I test out the Limus. , good bite in the corners, but draggy on the harder flats.. could be interesting.

Sunday comes.. cold crisp and clear,.. wont be long before we get a few frosts... but for now dry will do... My tiny crappy Polo gets me there and I rush to sign on . This years fields have been getting bigger and bigger, my concern is that without pre-entry I may not get a race..

I bump into Aaron (Taylor) and decide to run Grifos, the course is well drained and drying fast, this may be my last race on them as they are getting pretty tired now.
 I bump into Phil Chinn of Fareham Wheelers, and collect my winnings from Fairthorne Manor.. we have a quick chat, but I am keen to get on.

The bikes are quickly prepped.. numbers go on, and last minute checks around the car... Arm warmers or none, what do I do with my jacket after warming up? normally I leave a water bottle on top of the car , to take a swig just before the race, but don't do it today. I take the Focus pit bike goes down to the pits.
Racing is still in progress so no one is allowed to get on the circuit..The time is spent slowly circling the centre of the field. Awkward timimg really, I need to get back to the car for my T-minus 15 energy gel, but don't want to miss any time on the circuit.
15 mins before the due start we are finally allowed to get on circuit.  I forfeit getting that gel and last minute swig, duck under the tape and do a practice loop.

A good fast grassy course. A little bit though the woods, and different to last seasons. Gone is soggy bottom, cut shorter this year and gone the loooong straight out and back along the adjacent field. pretty compact and retaining the BMX rollers and the berm where I came a cropper last year.
Two sets of barriers punctuate the central grassy section.
the western section was the trickiest. A right hand up the bank, right along off camber then back left again. the briefest of respite before a mirror the other way. that turn back on yourself was extremely slippy and  even slow time in practice riders were losing one wheel or another, slipping off and crashing. This is the same bank where I crashed in warmup last year.

doesn't look bad but its a sod to ride.

Only one lap as recce and warm up, easy pace, with no opportunity for a hotter lap, but soon its time to make way over to the start area,  dropping my warmup jacket over the pit bike on the way.
The Commisaire starts gridding... FINALLY after all this time I get a call up.. pretty much the last one, but fuckit, gridded is gridded. 4th row, I am on the opposite side to where I would prefer to be, but beggars cant be choosers. .
    Seem like ages, but finally the whistle goes and we are away. Wessex league start seem less hectic than the summer series, as usually there is a slow buffer of riders in front, fluffing clips and easing up to speed, so its not a head down hammer fest from the gun. It takes about 150 m or so to get to speed and into the first corner I am already making up places. I play it differently this week  and don't burn a match immediately.. I sit on some wheels, knowing i can overtake later.. ..My barrier practice means I grab a few more places, exiting the first bottleneck. confidence, from practicing it lots.. and a little dig of a sprint on exit helps loads. up the bank and its squierlly exit, the line already showing stress skids towards the tape.
I take it easy and dismount and run through the top turn .. no need to wait in line... this is a race...

that tricky off camber .        Photo Jez Hart

Its been a crap start , but I am making places up.

The gridded front rows are up the field already, but I am biting at the second and third row guys. guys I regularly beat are my targets and one by one I start to pick them off. The first run up the steep bank and I almost run into the guy in front, I slow and almost dab, stalling the guy behind.and a chain reaction occurs behind..
into the woods, its dry and fast, I almost clip a tight tree trying to press an advantage. The Bmx rollers catch me out, and I dab a afoot on the first one, but hold it together, no one can pass get going again. A quick dig over a steep mound, and I misjudge the exit corner and tighten the tape . bad call. I accelerate onto the grassy field. I have a few riders on my wheel, that I am keen to gap.
The race settles and I know I am up into the top ten. Only one rider manages to come through, I over take and gap Ed Gurney of Venta. I run the awkward off camber bank on the second lap, but after that i have a clear run at it and tripod my way through.Cornering on this wet grass is a nervous affair. The Grifos are doing well, but the sidewall treads are clogged by sticky divots of mud and grass they seem to lack bite and I have to ease up into corners. I get up to Gareth Dridge of SDV and we spend the next three laps or so battling each other, until I manage to finally get a gap with two laps or so to go. He is stronger on the field, but I catch up on the technical sections. A Southampton uni girl on a plodding 29er holds me up going through the woods again but the majority of back markers allow plenty of space. The bell lap comes and its clear my die is cast... no way I can get up to the next guy and a lot of clear air between me and my chaser. I ease up a bit, no point in hammering hard and risking a crash..
I cross teh line into the throng of riders congregating there.  A nice lady hands me a pair of cleaning brushes as a spot prize this .. courtesy of Pedal On 
Looks like another 8th place.. Three Wessex races.. three 8th places.. need to get some consistency in attending races, to be able to move up the gridding. overall a good race..

What went well.
Rode well, good result.
no mechanical s.
Leave a musette in the pits for jacket and last minute water swig.

not so well.
Tyre choice was sketchy as the circuit got messed up.
poor cornering on slick grassy corners
planned things badly and didnt have me T minus 15 gel.