(Pic by Sue Pitman)So the South west championship road show moved on to Woolborough Barton which was up near Newton Abbot. Just about everyone that rode last week was up here today, so I wasn’t short of a decent natter and a bit of banter with anybody! After doing a pub crawl yesterday on a push bike in which the route was some 40 odd miles around half of Cornwall, Rod Mclean was here and full of beans and raring to go (must be fitter that what I am) and looking forward to putting his body through yet more punishment!
After last weeks dismal display concerning my injury I’d thought I’d give it another try to see if it was any better. Woolborough Barton is a cracking track with lots of woods with a few fields thrown in for good measure so you can have a decent blast and open the bike up a bit. I’ve fond memories of the place as I had a win here back in 2009 so I was of course looking forward to riding it again. Perfect riding conditions today as the weather wasn’t too hot with the overcast sky overhead making it a nice temperature to start the race in.
So to the start then which was (not) conveniently placed on a hill side. Tim Cotton who was lined up next to me had to get off his bike to kick start the thing because the hill we were on was to steep for him to sit on his bike properly! As the flag dropped I fired up the little strimmer into life and was about half way in the pack as we made our way winding through a couple of fields before we headed out into the woods. Before I’d even done half a lap I knew things weren’t good again with my arm, and just like last week before I’d even reached the end of it, I had half the bloody field overtake me. I came round lap scoring and thought ‘Do I do another lap to see if the arm gets any better?, or call it a day now?’, I decided to go out and try another lap, but again it was absolutely useless and I had no option but to come into the pits and take a breather.
After about an hour it was back out to do another couple of laps, but again I had no choice but to pull back in the pits as my arm was killing me, so I had to call it a day. Gary ‘nothing gets in my way’ Mcoy was hobbling about in the pits on one leg after having an argument with a tree, turns out that he’d actually broke his leg! Obviously something did get his why today then! Best of luck with your recovery mate.
So after watching all the action from the sidelines (yet again, and too many times this year I might add) it was off home with my tail between my legs sulking like a kid that had just had his sweets taken away from him!
Finishing position: DNF
