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November 11 1st SSBS Points Race ReportTop 3 Finishers:
1st Chris (Cat 1) 20pts
2nd Michael (Cat 3) 7pts
3rd Laura (Cat 5) 5pts
Well done to all those who braved the worst the early winter weather could throw at the first SSBS Cycling points race. Eight (fool)hardy riders turned up to compete in this new format of racing. The novice riders, Laura and Allan, set off slightly ahead of the main bunch, attacking the first climb of the day. Chris managed to win what would be the first of nine individual primes, which eventually clinched him overall victory. But behind him the battle raged on between Stephen, Paul, Michael and Carl. Carl came in second on the first prime just beating Stephen. The riders then regrouped, congratulating the novices as they made their way up the steep climb. Once back together again the field headed off towards the first sprint of the day. This was a fast and exciting encounter between Chris, Michael and Carl, finishing in that order. After another regroup the riders hit the downhill woodland track for the first of three attempts. The overnight storms and ensured the track was completely covered in leaves, making the descent dangerously slippery. One or two of the field came off, including Laura and Tony, but nobody seriously hurt.
Once the first lap was complete the riders recharged their water bottles and brushed off all fear as they attempted the killer climb for the second time. And so the race continued with one or two technical / mechanical dramas for the field, but nothing too serious (if you don't think racing down hill with no brakes is a problem!). By the end of lap two Chris was leading the race by one point over Laura, Allan and Michael all tied on 2 points. Behind them was Stephen on minus 2 points and then Paul and Tony on minus 5. Carl was bringing up the rear with minus 7 (allowing for the initial -15 point handicap I hasten to point out!).
As the riders started the 3rd lap the sun decided to join the fun. Though not quite sun block inducing, it was good to feel the warmth instead of the driven rain! Michael enjoyed a fantastic 3rd lap scoring a total of five points which put him in a strong second place overall going into the last 'dash for the cash' 4th lap. Chris at this stage was cruising into an untouchable lead with 12 points. Behind these two was a battle for the remaining podium position between Laura, Allan on 3 points each and Stephen catching up on minus 2.
The last lap, then is an out and out race, with no primes or regrouping. The riders try to complete the entire 4 mile lap as fast as they can, with big points available to those finishing in the top five positions. Unfortunately Michael couldn't compete the final lap so he had to hope is haul of 7 points would be enough to keep 2nd place. Chris rode a fantastically quick last lap, as if it was his first, to finish some ten minutes ahead of the second rider, Stephen. Coming in third was Carl and fourth was Paul. Laura did an amazing job coming home in fifth position ahead of Allan. But with Tony and Michael not competing the final lap what would happen to the over all positions?
Well obviously Chris won with an amazing total of 20 points, 2nd was Michael with 7 pts and finishing third with 5 points was complete novice rider Laura. Just one point behind was Stephen and Allan in 4th and 5th places.
Overall verdict was that generally the riders enjoyed the challenge, though the hill wasn't the most popular aspect! The points system could maybe do with some tweaking (suggestions please) but it did provide for an entertaining way of racing amongst riders of very different capabilities. Well done to those competing and look forward to the next race.
FULL RACE SCORES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE DOWNLOAD ZONE BELOW...TO THE LEFT A BIT! TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://ssbscycling.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!699F3E24BE371E68!499.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
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