Darley Moor 3/4 Cat Race

Back in January I'd booked a weekend at the Gables cottage in Alstonefield in the Peak District. This weekend coincided with an annual reunion of Peace Race riders not far away in Fenny Bentley plus there was a 3/4 cat race at Darley Moor on the Saturday morning.

Friday morning I'd just landed in Gatwick after a week in southern Spain training with the Brighton Mitre. Our last night had been spent sampling the local homemade wine and needless to say Friday was a bit blurry. Getting up at 5am with a few hours sleep followed by a 6 hour journey back to Brighton wasn't the best preparation for a race. Jo picked me up from Gatwick with the intention of us both driving straight to the Peak District, but as usual I'd forgot something - this time my racing license...

Friday night in Alstonefield was a quiet one, having one drink in the George next door to our cottage with my Mum, GT, Jo and Jo (Jo Jo Jo). They'd all planned to come to Darely Moor to watch me race the next morning so I got to bed early still feeling knackered from Thursday/Friday.

Saturday morning I was up at 7 to get some breakfast, check over the bike and get ready nice and early for the race. I was feeling shattered, no appetite and a little sick, not a great sign. The weather however was great, light wind and sunny. Darely Moor motor racing circuit was only a few miles from Alstonefield and GT came along to the start to give some support.

We arrived at the windswept circuit in plenty of time and I signed on and picked up number 81. Another big turnout with 70+ riders on the sheets, this being a 3rd & 4th cat race. There were some very strong looking riders milling around and I knew today was going to be hard. Mick had raced here and gave me a low down - it was a fast circuit, windy and suited breakaways, the bunch was generally well organised though didn't favour a chase very often. There were also a few technical sections to negotiate, a tight hairpin and a few shicanes. I'd time for 3-4 warmup laps during which time the wind started to pick up. On the 4th warmup lap I was breathing hard and feeling groggy though not too bad not to start, though I knew it was going to be a painful morning.

I pulled up to chat to GT before the start, he'd been talking to another rider from the Derby Mercury about how he thought the race would unfold. His view would be that a break would happen coming into or out of the hairpin. He was absolutely right, later I saw it happen and the same rider went on to win. At the start line I surveyed the large field looking for any familar faces from my time riding with the Beeston road club a few years back. None to be seen unfortunately but I did see a huge range of club jerseys from Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Ashfield etc.

Soon after we were underway and not before I'd even clipped in there was a crash behind. Appears someone lost balance or something clipping in, taking out an unknown number of riders. It appears later that as the front 50 or so got away unscathed, a good number of people were off the back from the off. Unaware of this I raced off with the majority of the bunch into the first corner. Feeling a little better I was able to position in the front 10-15 heading into the hairpin without any problems. Keeping this position however would soon prove to be very hard as on the second lap the first series of serious attempts to breakaway rained in.

The same chap GT had spoken too before the race was repeatedly attacking along with a couple of other very strong looking riders. For a short time I was able to see all this action at close range, until on the 6th lap when he finally successfully made it away with 2 others. By this point I'd completed lap 6 at 98% heartrate almost the entire lap. My legs were shot and as the bunch pace pulsed again I was rapidly going backwards, hanging out of the back on a yoyo.

I tried a few times successfully to get back and up into the front 3rd of the group, but as soon as the pace lifted again I was straight out. On the 3rd attempt I was suddendly listening to only my own gears whirring away whilst watching the bunch disappear into the hairpin. Looking back I expected to see another sizable group, but the track was completely empty. Where had everyone gone?! Completing a lap on my own I began to realise that many had been dropped already or packed altogether. Coming into the home straight I could see a straggler, so putting the urge to pack as well to one side I focused on catching him.

I'd caught him and saw there were still 15 laps left. We had a quick chat and decided to work together in not being lapped and managed 5-6 laps together before I left him and went on to catch another pair. This continued right to the end of the race, catching up with ones and two's, recovering then hopping over the next group. I'd figured there was no point packing, it was a nice day and a good workout blasting round the track. Shortly after the lead breakaway steamed past looking like a very well oiled machine. Minutes later the bunch poured past, I moved over to let them past without hinderance.

At the finish I pulled over opposite my Mum, GT, Jo and Jo who'd been spectating near the finish line. I felt pretty gutted that they'd had to see my get dropped and spend the majority of the race riding on my own, but they didn't seem to mind. That aside, I was another great learning experience and a very fast race.


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