Chris' gets first points on the board

Keen to get racing? Why not try two races in one day? Here's Chris Sharrock's report from Portsmouth:

"Mountbatten Circuit Races – Sunday 19th February 2012

This Sunday just gone, VC Meudon riders Craig O’Neill and I travelled down to the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth to compete in the 3rd category only race. After hearing of devastating attacks on the Saturday training ride by Richard “Unwinator” Unwin around the Dunsfold race circuit, we were sceptical to the idea that Richard would show his face in Portsmouth. Lo and behold, Richard and Pauline turned up shortly before the start of the 3rd cat race, prepping for the E/1/2/3 later on in the day. Straight after the 3rds-only race with Craig, I would be competing in the E/1/2/3 race with Richard where I’d spent the week prior getting my head round a nutrition strategy. The final decision was to eat 3 gels every 15-20 minutes in the first race and stay hydrated just so I could survive the second race.

It was clear that that it was very cold despite brilliant sunshine. There was a steady yet biting wind blowing off the “lake” next to the track which meant it would be a headwind halfway around the track and a tailwind on the final turn into the finishing sprint.

3rd Category Race:
The 3rds race started off at a relatively tame pace although picked up on the second lap where a couple of riders went off of the front. The duration of the race constantly went from surging after a break went off to sitting up as it was caught. The moment the breaks were chased down there would be a swamp of riders overtaking on the outside, trying to jostle for positions near the front. Shortly after each of these lulls, another attack would go and the field would quickly string out, making position adjustments in the pack very energy consuming. It was clearly looking to be the sort of race where energy conservation tricks would make a massive difference in the final metres. Craig wasn’t holding back at all and spent a significant amount of time right on the front of the pack, chasing down multiple breaks, chiselling away into their time advantage. After he was ready to sit up, he’d look over his shoulder and not a single rider would willingly come through. Nobody wanted to match his efforts in chasing down the breaks! Inevitably, and with the help from Craig, the pack wouldn’t allow any of the breaks to gather more than 3 or 4 people, which meant the race would end in a bunch sprint. Feeling good and highly motivated after a couple of days tapering, this was the perfect situation for me so I made a real effort to fight for a good position into the final 6 laps or so, keeping my eyes open for any gaps forming that I could move into. On the final lap, I felt as if I couldn’t have been in a better position. 3 riders back from the front of the peloton, each one peeled off in succession, giving me a clear run to the line at an ideal distance. Head down and back flat in an attempt to stay aero, my peripheral vision was clear until about 20 metres to go where a rider surged past on my right, crossing the line to win with about a bike length of an advantage. I just didn’t have the legs to contest. The winner turned out to be Matthew Bone (I-Team CC) who has had a terrific start to the season by getting 3 out of 3 wins at races in January at both Hillingdon and (now) Mountbatten. What a rider, hats off to him!
3rd Cat Race – Sprint Finish


E/1/2/3 Race:

The E/1/2/3 race had a somewhat smaller field than the 3rd cat race yet it was much more formidable. Looking down at the start sheet before the race, 5 or 6 Team UK Youth riders had pre-entered and many other faces from Perfs Pedal Race showed up, including Pedal Heaven’s Paul Pickup, Chris McNamara and Rob McCarthy.
The pace was slightly higher than that of the 3rd cat race but without the constant surges in speed. Within the first 15 minutes a move went which included some big names forming a break of 9 men, including a couple of Team UK Youth riders and all of the Pedal Heaven RT riders. Both Richard and I missed this opportunity and it wasn’t long before all 9 were working efficiently together and gaining a serious time advantage over the main field. Not long after, they had a quarter-lap of an advantage over the main field when another 3 riders tried to bridge to the break. Sadly for them, there was no chance they were going to catch the 9-man breakaway and spent most of the race “cooking” in no man’s land, without the aerodynamic shelter of the peloton.
Several laps later, the break had officially lapped the field which meant the top-ten was effectively decided not even half-way into the race! Many attacks in vain went off the front and each one was denied in succession to protect the team leaders that had made it into the successful breakaway. It included Simon Brooks, Paul Pickup, Chris McNamara, Rob McCarthy and Greg Mansell. VC Meudon’s Richard Unwin put in several big efforts on the front of the bunch while I sat in, just trying to survive until the end. After hearing stories of Richard’s pain-inflicting pace at Dunsfold the day before it was remarkable he still had the strength to tow the peloton around the way he did. We both knew the race was over for us and we were out of the points so we didn’t really know what to do apart from get a good workout from the rest of the race!
In the run up to the last lap, the leaders quickly positioned themselves for the mass sprint finish with both Richard and I (outside of the points), well tucked within the main field. Greg Mansell (Team UK Youth) timed it perfectly to grab first place with Harry Bulstrode (Peter Hansford Cycles) in second place and Chris McNamara (Pedal Heaven), Rob McCarthy (Pedal Heaven) and Richard Tanguy (Team UK Youth) taking third, fourth and fifth places successively."
A photo finish of the E/1/2/3 race can be seen here, courtesy of Graham Robins: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roa20120219-road-Road--Mansell-wins-opening-race-at-Mountbatten-Centre-0


Race details can be seen here:
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/76723/Mountbatten-Circuit-Races