Horwich 17_06_12

Horwich Festival Of Racing

 Sunday 17th June saw the annual Horwich Festival Of Racing. Surprisingly, the weather was ideal with cloud, sun & low wind speeds. The race was only 1 hour, approximately 25 miles long. The race began at 15.10 with 56 riders taking part.

I was once again the only rider from Southport CC racing in this event. The race started off at a ferocious speed. Unfortunately my legs were not ready for the sudden and prolonged injection of pace and soon enough I found myself near to the back of the peloton struggling to stay on. There was attack after attack with quite a few riders trying their luck to establish a break away. However, combined with the terrible road conditions, the race was soon halted by a bad crash on a tight left-hand corner in which a rider was left needing ambulance assistance and a broken clavicle. Due to the fact that this crash was only 12 minutes into the race, the race was neutralised and re-started.

I knew at this point this race was never going to be brilliant for me as my legs just did not feel good at all. No idea why I felt like this, just one of those things I suppose. Soon enough, the race started once again, all I am going to say about this race is that I remained at the back of the peloton, just about hanging on lap by lap. I suffered badly during this race and in hindsight. With the peloton working on the front to bring back the break away, everyone decided to let the break go and the pace calmed down a little bit until the last lap. With the bell ringing out, the pace one again increased. Unfortunately coming into the second to last corner, I was forced straight over my handlebars into the rider in front and then onto the tarmac. This also caused a rider behind to crash. I landed in the middle of Winter Hey Lane and immediately ran to the metal barriers to avoid further collisions with other riders. Feeling shocked and quite dizzy, as soon as the peloton had passed, one of the commissionaires along with Bolton Mountain Rescue treated my injuries which were a de-gloved hand and road rash on my elbows, knees & lower back.

Bolton Mountain Rescue advised me to go Hospital due to the hand injury. I took their advice and attended a hospital where I had 2 stitches in my left hand in order to heal hand wounds after having X-Rays. This was my first crash in 3 years of cycling so I cannot complain too much. It was slightly annoying though as I was so close to finishing. That close in fact, I was placed on the results sheet as having finished 38th out of 56 riders. Got to mention that the well-deserved win went to the on-form Michael Ashurst of Maxgear RT. Have the say that Maxgear RT controlled the race from start to finish.

The bad news was that my Kuota KOM Evo Frame was cracked in both the seat stay and the chain stay. All in all, about £1000 worth of damage was caused as a result of crashing with multiple damage to components, equipment & clothing. To sum up, a bad day of racing!  

Horwich Festival Of Racing Results

Horwich Festival Of Racing Garmin Link

Website Designed by Taylored Web Solutions