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@andyp
That was the first time I'd done the Rapha Ally Pally race and, bar the sign on fiasco, I enjoyed it a lot.
I always knew my warm-up might be short as I couldn't get to the venue until 1:30 pm, but the half hour wait for sign on, meant all I had time to do was ride the first half of the lap to the pits, dump my stuff, then head over to the start. Not really ideal preparation.
Anyway, I got gridded which always helps, and purposefully went in the second row on the tarmac, I could've squeezed in on the front row but on gravel, as I knew you'd get much more traction on the hard stuff. I got away really well and made up a few places on the first couple of corners, meaning I was running as high as 5th on the first lap. The hill was a bit of a shock the first time up, especially the bits after the running section, as you kept getting sent back up, but I settled into a groove and was doing okay.
I liked the course, it was fast and flowing and there was barely any respite on it so you were always pushing.
I lost time on the second lap as someone crashed in front of me and I had to stop and extract my foot from his handlebars. A couple of guys came past me, then I got stuck into a race long battle with the Hackney GT pair of Russ Jones and Phil Murrell, both of whom I've raced against a lot in the past.
Going into the last lap, Phil and I had distanced Russ, but I was worried Phil would get a gap on the hill, so I ran up hard the last time (I was reminded how much I hated cross country running at school every single time I had to run up that bastard), and really hammered up the rideable part of the climb at the top. Phil had caught me on the descent the previous time, and we were catching some of the senior riders, so I blasted past some of them before the descent started, then nailed another couple on the corners going down to ensure he couldn't get back to me.
Great fun. Thanks again to everyone for the shouts of encouragement, most of the time we race in front of a few waifs and strays so having a crowd is fan-fucking-tastic!