Newsletter number 4
THE RAMPTON RACE FROM A GROUP THREE
PERSPECTIVE
First off all
Richard Halford is to be congratulated for putting on such a fine race in
difficult circumstances when the marshalling company cancelled at 7.00 the
previous evening. Once again our sincere thanks have to go to our ladies and
Bill Censi for stepping into the breech at the last moment. Our thanks also go
to the tea ladies for their excellent sandwiches, cakes and drinks.
The race had a
record number of riders for a Velo99 event and lets hope we can keep our numbers
up in 2003. It makes the race so much more enjoyable and competitive.
Ten riders started
in group 3 with group 2 having six minutes advantage. Group 4 were two minutes
behind us. We set off at a good pace with Tony Thurman, Colin Abdy and John
Flear working hard at the front, down the first dip and up the hill for the
first time. On the long downhill stretch the group came together with each of
the riders doing his fair turn at the front. By the third and fourth laps
several of the riders were missing their turns and one of the “workers” went
down the line exhorting all riders to do a turn at the front. However, under
mitigating circumstances Big Dave, Dave Evans and Eddie Blissett were to be
congratulated for getting back to the group each time they were dropped on the
hill. Incidentally, Eddie gave us a hard time in the Lindsey Roads Velo event
last May! He has obviously lost his form when missing several turns at the front
(this is sacrilege when riding with group 3). Conversely, John Flear (70 next
year), Tony Thurman and Clive Williamson were in devastating form on the hill
and led up each time. By lap 4 Colin Abdy had attacked several times but was
pulled back on the fast stretch towards Rampton crossroads.
On the fifth lap
Colin was heard to say to Gordon Baker, “How far are they behind?” Gordon
said that he could not see groups 4 and 5 catching us and in consequence Tony
Thurman and John Flear stomped up the hill open a gap of 20 metre between
themselves and the group. They were caught on the fast downhill section. At the
beginning of the hill on the last lap a certain rider was heard to say, “Sh..
They are here!” and in a flash Phil Etches and his merry men were past and
only John Flear was able to stay with tem on the steeper part of the hill. Colin
Abdy was then able to break away from the rest of the group but could not make
contact with the fast sections of groups 4 and 5. Therefore, John Flear took
first place in group3 after joining us from group 4. Nevertheless, he rode very
strongly and deserved the win. Even though the pace was fast throughout the race
we were unable to catch group2. Foggy covertly told us that they finished three
minutes in front of the next riders. (Hint!
Hint! Mr. Handicapper!!)
Anon (mediocre
group3 rider) Name supplied – a very shy gentleman.
A MORE FAIR WAY OF HANDICAPPING?
As
we all know Velo99 races are handicapped to come together on the last lap. This
is the pattern for most handicap races but is it the best for Velo99? I would
like to suggest that it is not and put forward the idea that we should handicap
to come together on the penultimate lap. My reasons for this are two fold. The
first is that it will provide for better road racing and the second is that this
system would be fairer to the late starting groups when we consider the league
scores at the end of the season.
If
we consider racing under the present system, under ideal handicapping, groups
will ride a team time trial and then when the early starters are caught which
will be somewhere near the end of the race the bunch will start to sort itself
out for the final sprint. Riders who are not suited to this style of racing have
no chance of using alternative strategies. Hill climbers do not have the chance
to detach themselves from the group and leave the sprinters and anybody else
wishing to try alternative tactics can forget it because under the present
system the bunch sprint rules. However if we came together and there was a lap
to go it would give time for those that wanted
to try different strategies.
My
second objection is that the later starting groups are at the mercy of the
handicapper. Now let me make myself clear, this is in no way a criticism of the
handicapper. We are very lucky in having Brian to do the job. He takes the job
very seriously and spends a lot of time working out what he thinks the handicaps
should be, but we must remember that handicapping is a “black art.” I know
from personal experience that when you get it right there is a huge sigh of
relief.
If
the handicapper gets it right half the time, and in my opinion he is doing very
well, it means that in half the races the later starting groups will have no
chance of scoring high points. They are then prejudiced in the final league
table scores, all the high points are taken by the groups that are not caught.
Fair enough if they have ridden better than the rest but very dispiriting for
later groups if they have given there all and it is the handicapper that has got
it wrong. This scenario can be seen in the results for the Rampton race where
group 1B occupies positions 1 –3 and group 2
have 4 –10.
For
fair racing everyone should have a chance of winning every race and yes, I do
realise that this is an ideal situation that rarely exists. I did notice that in
one of the races at Car Colston when the race came together early a lot of group
2 seemed to have no difficulty staying in the bunch and only seemed to weaken in
the final gallop. The situation could be different for weaker riders on the
hilly courses. I would like to suggest that the fair way to solve this is to try
bringing groups 2 –5 together with about six miles to go and group one with
three miles to go as under the present system. This could cause problems for the
judges. The solution to this is simple, each rider takes note of the number of
the rider in front of him at the finish. He then gives that number to a recorder
at the finish. Should he fail to do so he is given the points of the last rider.
Derek
Hemingway, 37 Lockwood Bank, Epworth, Doncaster, DN9 1JH.