Dunsfold Park Series #16

After a week delay incurred by the Pedal Spanner incident last Tuesday, I finally popped my racing cherry last night at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey. It probably wasn’t the best timing after a 100 mile sportive 2 days before, but as the last race of the series and with a good turn out from the club I thought I’d make the effort. Dunsfold Park is a 3 mile circuit 10 lap race on the same airfield where Top Gear is filmed and is organised by the Surrey Cycle Racing League.

It was with some apprehension that I rode out into the relentless wind for a recon lap with a chap from the club. He guided me round, pointed out the various cannonball sized potholes and other hazards and explained how to position myself in the bunch on the various bends to get the most protection from the wind. It was defiantly going to be a tough evening and my legs weren’t feeling quite up to the 10 laps ahead. As the juniors set off we warmed up at the other end of the airfield, cruising along with intermittent 100m bursts at full speed to get the legs prepared. I signed on and was issued No 262 from the 4^th Cat list (for some reason all I could think about from then on was Messerschmitt’s strafing the airfield as we tore round).

It wasn’t long after that the 4^th category riders were called to the start line. I was advised to stick close to the Mitre members and obviously remember the guidance from the test ride earlier – don’t get on the front, but keep close, don’t drop too far back, remember positioning into the corners and the movement of the group in relation to the wind. Approx 20 of us started off with a few minutes lead over the 2^nd/3^rd cat’s, followed shortly after by the 1^st and Elites.

The first lap was spent concentrating on putting into action what I’d been told, keeping a wheel and not opening gaps and finding a nice big bloke to sit behind on the long headwind section. Before I knew it the 1^st lap was nearly complete and things were winding up for the first prime sprint. If I remember rightly a small breakaway formed with one of our club getting a few points. The speed gradually increased on the next couple of laps and I got more accustomed to riding at pace with the group.

On the 3^rd or 4^th lap the 2^nd and 3rds caught us like a freight train and the whole group reacted to jump on. As I’d been warned, the speed of the group pulsed from cruising at 20mph to 30mph+ as attacks came in. I repeatedly grit my teeth and remembered the maxim ‘if you’re hurting, it means everyone else is, hang on and it will ease up again.’ Riding into the wind on the aerodrome straight was tough and on a few occasions I found myself out of position, knowing I wasn’t helping myself or anyone else. After a few more laps I got accustomed to slipping back into the protection of the group.

By the 7^th lap I knew I was going to struggle to maintain the speed we were tearing along at and I was struggling to maintain the wheel in front of me. On a couple of occasions I misread my position in the bunch and found myself at the tail end clinging on. This continued into the finishing straight where with a strong tail wind the bunch was roaring a long. Instead of having time to recover I was putting all my reserves into maintaining contact with the group and on the last bend before hitting the mile long stretch into a head wind I dropped off the back. There was no way of catching the group on my own into a strong headwind, though I spent half a lap trying. Another Mitre rider got dropped shortly after so we teamed up and rode the last lap and a half helping each other to the finish line. There's no results posted yet, but I'll be in the last 10 for sure!

As a first experience of racing it was absolutely awesome, even though the wind and aching legs from the Devil Ride made it a bit of a baptism of fire. To be honest I was just happy to finish let alone anything else. It had been a great learning experience and I’ve got a good number of things to brush up on before my next race. I think the biggest learning point was maintaining an awareness of where I was in the bunch and not dropping back to far.

As a 4^th cat rider there are only a handful of races I’m eligible to enter before the season finishes in October and I’m going to try for as many as possible. The next is at Goodwood this Sunday, Alfold in Septemeber followed by a couple at Chertsey and a closing race at Goodwood in October. Then the Cyclocross season starts... I spent all that cash on my Tricross for a good reason :)