On a very hot day Phil Etches went away with a four man attack on the second lap of eight and were five minutes in front of the peloton by the finish. In the four man sprint for the line Phil had the best legs and won by good bike length. Chris Sammler and Paul Conneely also rode strongly to finish well up front in the bunch sprint.
Inside the mind of supervet Phil Etches - this is what he is thinking when you try and out sprint him on the clubrun!!
BARTON UPON HUMBER MIDSUMMER RR
A bird’s eye view of the E, F & G race from the saddle of Phil Etches.
It’s the hottest day the year, time 1400hr and we are waiting for the off. Good - it’s a slow start, the banter is still flowing and no one wants to take the race on just yet, but that will change. The first hill sees a slight injection of pace from me with Brian Sunter also stretching his legs but with no real menace. The bunch is all together up the finish hill and along the flat section approaching the steeper of the two hills on the circuit. I know this holiday ride cannot last so I hit the hill very hard to see who is willing to kick start the race. The answer is Brian “the steam engine” Sunter who powers past on the flat section having just crested the hill. I see the danger of letting him go and make a big effort to jump on to his wheel, but in the same moment Ken Cowdell and Rob Stones jump on my wheel and a gap is created. The gap is only 50 metres and the bunch is lining out on the flat section which becomes a slight down gradient and this will not help the four man break to stay away.
Brian has other ideas and drags the three of us along until we start contributing to the break with a smooth bit and bit effort. We complete two laps like this, but I am on the rivet and I think Rob and Ken are too, but the only F in the break Brian is really hurting our legs. At this point Good old Rob suggests we switch to TTT Mode which gives each man a longer rest but a longer pull at the front. This works a treat and we never look back, our lead goes out to five minutes by the finish and the FINISH is what we are all thinking about.
As an F cat Brian is laughing and to his credit he takes us “the 3 E’s” to the final hill at pace which sets it up for a clean sprint. The sprint is just about to kick off, I have Brian’s wheel, Ken has mine with Rob close behind. Ken makes the first move - I jump to his wheel - I hold it - I sense him fade and I give one last kick and get round him to win by a bike length.
Result Phil Etches 1st, Ken Cowdell 2nd, Rob Stones 3rd in the E cat and Brian Sunter 1st in the F cat. That’s another good day at the office!!!!!
