Bristol South Road Race 2015

4 UOBCC riders took the start for the Bristol South CC’s classic-esque road race, and if the 8 ascents of Stowey Hill weren’t a formidable enough challenge, then forecasts of heavy rain and winds of up to 50mph certainly were.  For Andrew and I, this was our first ever road race and so we were slightly unsure of our ambitions, but the main aim was to finish the race with the main bunch.

The race rolled out under neutralised conditions before the flagged dropped at the bottom of the first climb.  UOBCC were well represented in the peloton with all 4 of us in the top 10 up the first ascent, but a heavy crosswind over the top of the climb was a small sign of things to come.  After the short, fast descent we turned left and into the headwind for the first time, this section was almost ridiculous, there was absolutely no chance of breaking away here as anyone who went to the front was instantly slowed down to a crawl. The pace was comically slow as Cam mentioned after the race ‘I’ve never gone downhill in the little ring in a race before’.

On the 2nd lap, Andrew, Ben and I managed to get a break going with one other guy on the fast cross-tail wind section, but we would later pay for our efforts on lap 4 as we all struggled up the climb, Ben unfortunately lost contact with the bunch at this point and Andrew and I were dangling precariously off the back of the bunch.  I managed to catch a wheel back up to front group just before the headwind section, Andrew joined a chase group and settled in for a long slog.

The rain was getting torrential at this point and since the main bunch had been reduced to just 15 riders, I decided to just sit in and try and make it to the end, meanwhile, Cam was trying to increase the pace as two strong riders had slipped off the front.  The severe headwinds made cooperation between the group difficult and we were soon told the race had been shortened to just 6 laps.  Cam made some brave attempts at breakaways on the last lap, but ultimately the break had too much time so it was going to be sprint for 3rd. Cam and I both ended up on the windy right side of the road which prevented us from really contending the sprint, but I just managed to just edge him for 7th.  Andy gurned it home to take 20th, but it was a real race of attrition with only 25 of the 70+ starters finishing.

Congrats to Greg Lancaster, a very strong winner, and to all the organisers and marshals for putting on a great race despite the adverse conditions.

As a bonus, I came over the climb in 3rd twice which gave me 2 KOM points, and 5th overall, so I won £20, which paid for the well-deserved post-race meal! 

Words by Charlie Ormerod

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