Only two intrepid riders turned up on a very hot afternoon to get in some practice before next week’s “championship” event.
The session started with the usual hot-lap and Dempsey equalled his PB of 1:57. Bernie was trying to work out his new gearing, having moved up an age group, and came in with a time of 2:13, a bit below his best efforts over the last few weeks.
The next event was a three-lap individual pursuit – Dempsey starting at the foot of the hill and bernie getting a 20s headstart, but also having Swanny ccircling round with him. At the end of the first lap, Bernie was still 12 seconds in the good and he increased this to 18s after the second lap. Dempsey put in a huge effort on the last lap and got the gap down to 3sec at the end – a fantastic effort from both boys.
A best of three hill sprint saw the riders start at the 700m mark from a standing position and racing flat out 200m up the hill. Richie did a great job judging the results on the top of the hill: Dempsey one the first heat, Bernie the second and Dempsey took overall KOM honours on the third heat – all three sprints were closely fought.
For something different, the final event was a “go slow” race: riders have to stay in the one gear and not stop pedalling. Bernie proved himself a whizz at this and blitzed? Dempsey – it was excruciating to watch.
Thanks to Annette and Swanny and don’t forget next week’s race at 2:30.