It pays to pay attention when racing, and not just for safety reasons.
A clubmate of mine won a pretty big race this morning in rather extraordinary fashion; so extraordinary, in fact, plenty in the field of 30-odd riders didn’t even realise he was off the front until the post-race presentation!
With two 5km laps left in a 12-lap race he drifted harmlessly to the front. No-one took much notice. Then he slowly drifted off the front. No fuss. No blinding sprint. But a steady gap grew and grew and, aside from myself and one or two others, hardly anyone even saw it happen.
Like a cycling version of David Copperfield, he essentially made himself disappear. Before I knew it, he was 400m ahead, then so far ahead I couldn’t see him, even on the long straights.
I tried to tell a few people what was happening, but no-one seemed to believe me. Most of the field in the bunch kick still thought they were racing for the win. But second was all that was on offer.
I’ve never seen anything quite like it in club racing. All I can say is good on you…sneaky bastard!
Carbon Addiction 