Plymouth Corinthian Modbury Road Race, Modbury, Devon

At the end of heavy training week, this Sunday saw a return to Modbury for the second time this year. The forecast of heavy rain mostly held off with just a few heavy showers during the race.

I got towards the front for the neutralised start and as soon as the flag dropped the attacks began with none succeeding until Jake Durrant and I found ourselves with a slight gap at the Kitteridge junction.

photo: Falco Racing
We pressed on with the advantage on the descent into Ermington, opening up around a 20 second lead to the main group who weren't allowing much of a gap and closed us down as we entered Modbury.

At this point Jake shouted for me to counter attack and a few of the stronger riders from the front of the bunch joined me but before we could make anything stick the race was brought to a stop by the commissaire for dangerous riding on the first lap.

After a few minutes the race was restarted and almost straight away an attack was launched and Mid Devon CC teammate Andy Perkins got off the front and pulled out a healthy gap of around 50 seconds to the main bunch.


This was great for me as it meant I could ride in the bunch and follow the attacks were necessary but not have to chase. Over the next couple of laps the bunch slowly reeled in Andy Perkins and it was looking good for me with it all staying together for the final climb into Modbury where I knew I could probably get away having succeeded in the last Modbury race.


Sadly at the start of the final lap I got pushed out wide on a tight right hander and had to get a foot out to avoid having a big off and whilst I managed to save myself I snapped the nose off my right cleat so had to retire as I couldn't stay clipped in :(

So just bad luck and a disappointing end to a good race where I was feeling really strong but the form is good right now and not long until the next one with 3 races planned this week - bring 'em on!

New Road Race Steed

Can't wait to get racing on this......Canyon Aeroad CF......15lb stealth race weapon!






Cornish Series, Round 2, Perranporth

Last Saturday saw Round 2 of the Cornish Series closed circuit race at Perranporth Aerodrome.

We set off in glorious sunshine around lunchtime but on arrival in Perranporth it was overcast freezing cold and very windy.

Got a really good warm up done as I knew the racing would be flat out from the start, which it was with attack after attack from rival teams.


The four riders from the Bikeshed - UEX team attacked continuously in an effort to get away. No one seemed to be very bothered about chasing down the attacks so 90% of the time it was down to me to try to bring them back.


Eventually Al Murison got away and the race began to splinter. The early efforts I put to marshall the initial attacks + not being the most powerful rider in the bunch meant that I was starting to suffer and during this time a few others managed a break away which I missed.



After that it was damage limitation and in the end I crossed the line in 9th place. Not quite the result I wanted, short circuit flat racing doesn't really suit me that well, but it's all good experience and I still managed to score enough points to move up to Cat 2!

Modbury Spring Road Race, Modbury, Devon

Was looking forward to this race as it included a hill so should of suited me better, although having ridden the course on the day before it was maybe still not as hard as I'd like it so gaining any advantage was going to be tough.

Arrived early on Sunday and got a solid warm up done as was feeling good for the race. Luckly I was towards the front of that pack as the race kicked off at a pretty fast pace with a lot of riders further back in the pack getting dropped in the neutralised zone.

From the get go the attacks were thick and fast until a decisive attack from Mark Lees managed to get away. Recognising the danger I jumped on his wheel with another rider following and the three of us worked together to establish a gap to the main group.

Towards the end of the flat descent I'd just finished a turn on the front when the other rider let Mark Lees wheel go. A gap quickly opened before I realised what had happened and although I tried to bridge across it was too late due to it being on the flat descent into a head wind.

I settled back in to the bunch to recover a bit from the effort and think about how I might win. The remainder of the race was pretty uneventful - Mark Lees stayed away and no further attacks came to anything.

I decided the best strategy for me was to attack on the final climb which worked out well as I managed to open up enough of a gap to hold on to the finish and take second place, ahead of the bunch sprint.