Back on Track: Storridge Race

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BY: Matthew Lewis

Published: 27th August, 2012

What a fantastic little race venue tucked away in the folds of the Malvern hills. I missed the last round held at Storridge and had heard good things about it from team mate Phil and thankfully I had made it back from sunny old Glasgow (really I was eating al fresco up there!) in time to make this final round of the series.

A week up in Glasgow drinking amongst other beverages Iru bru and eating my body weight in square sausage meant that I wasn't too confident about keeping up with the Masters' field! There was a fantastic youth race before the final race of the day and the course for the little 'uns was a cracker.

The Expert/elites went off first and they set a ferocious pace around the twisty course. The course, of course, belongs to the Mosely family and Tracey was instrumental in the marshalling and organising of the race. Not every day a Downhill champ is stood in their wellies keeping a watchful eye on the racers. The course really was fantastic and there was plenty of technical bits to keep the experts on their toes. The sirening ambulance was testament to this. Thankfully the rider I asked about just had a nasty bump and was whisked off as a precaution. There were also plenty of sharp little climbs. One of which was a right bugger in the wet and the gloop acted like tar on the big wheels.

The Masters race went off just after the huge sports field and there weren't too many of us. After the first kilometre Ian Bendall of Cycle coaching Wales had established a lead closely followed by myself and Martin Graham. After shouting at martin to not let Ian disappear he promptly dropped me and chased after Ian! At least he listened to my wise words. I felt ok considering my over-indulgence with the square sausage but obviously not that ok. What genius invented the square sausage? Wasn't it Alexander Graham Bell or someone?

The Masters field stayed in those positions all the way until the end and I thoroughly enjoyed the course and the race. It was fantastic, I just wished I could've held onto Martin's wheels for a litle longer! In the elite/experts race Dan Fleeman set a blistering pace to take the victory.

I really enjoyed racing at such a local venue. The prizes were great, (thanks Back on Track bikes and Malvern Cycle sport). The marshalls friendly and commited and I hope that it goes ahead next year. I reckon it would make an excellent mid week race venue! A highly recommended race. The Nationals look pretty good for next year too. I might avoid the square sausage and shave my legs again next year.

Thanks to Mark Evans for the pic of the fast boys. More pics at

http://www.markevans-photography.co.uk/

Matt Lewis

Xcracer