Talking to Simon Brooks from the VC St Raphael team based in Portsmouth won the League of Veterans Racing Cyclists 40-45 year age group at the weekend’s race held at Wing near Leighton Buzzard.
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This was Simon’s target for the season and while still managing to race he was doing over 150 miles a week training on the build up to the event. Simon said that he had a “slight wobble†three weeks ago due to fatigue which he thinks was a reaction to a bout of glandular fever he had some twenty years ago but a change in his training raceme eased his fears.
Once at the race he was one of group of three that eased away from the start and these three soon opened out a gap on lap one of 20 seconds, which by lap three of nine was over a minute. The race was on a rolling course and 67 miles in distance on a very hot day. But once a lead was established the three could control their efforts to the end.
Despite the efforts of a local to disrupt the race Simon’s efforts nearly came to grief when he hit his upper arm on the mirror of the lead car. When the three leaders were forced into avoiding the local two went one side of the obstruction but Simon went the other way and hit the lead car. He was forced to stop and then chase the other two down.
Once the leaders were caught Simon could see they were tiring and so he waited for the right moment to attack. As they approached the finish line he had already dropped one of them and was awaiting a sprint to unfold but there was no sprint and Simon rolled around to make a season long ambition a reality.
Results by Category
A
1. Martin Smith
2. John Wager
3. Simon Canning
B
1. Simon Brooks
2. Simon Alexander
3.Phil Mason
C
1. Mark Westwood
2. Paul Stubbs
3. Craig Wilson
D
1. Les Liddiard
2. Patrick Schils
3. Bob Downs
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