Three hours into our drive to Hereford I received a call from Ol - 'the race is off'. For now that is pretty much the summary of the Cadence Road Race 2013 and subsequently my quest to defend it after the success I found there in 2012. I say 'for now' as there may be a rescheduled race, however we shall see as with about five free weekends between now and September, I am pretty skeptical I will be able to ride. Fingers crossed!
The subject of race cancellations is an interesting one. I for one completely agree with the Cadence organisers move to chuck the race. Rider safety is the priority, all the more so with the recent, tragic, death in the UK domestic calendar. After experiencing a few too many avoidable near misses in races, I think the upmost should be done to maintain safe conditions. The way I see it chucking ice or a car into a race environment is like slinging a Shark into a swimming gala...
Racing is dangerous, that is an inescapable fact and one that does, on occasion, make it all the more exhilarating. However racing in icey conditions is ultimately unnecessary, no matter how 'epic' it may appear from afar. It introduces far too much uncertainty and begs the question, is it even a race in adversely dangerous conditions? I am all for 'epic' races - the latter conditions of the recent Milano-San Remo made for amazing viewing, however I am sure if you ask any riders, the blizzard and ice they experienced in the last ten kilometers before the neutralised was a step too far. This didnt come as a fault of the organiser, the riders, or anyone else, but freak weather and sometimes there is nothing to be done, yet when there is it is good to see moves made to protect the riders. I would love love love to be able to compete in a race like that one day but really when lives are put at risk, its not sport anymore, let alone entertainment. Really all I can do is hope for no more ice and race cancellations in the next few months! After all at the end of the day we just want to race and not have to think about any of this extra stuff...
Saturday instead saw a ride from my Grandparents house, luckily we were only twenty minutes away from Hatherop when Ollie called. It was nice to be able to see them, all the more so as it is my eighteenth birthday next Saturday. The ride also turned out to be my first in 2013 on proper race wheels, turns out I saved the carbons for a solo jaunt around the empty lanes of the Cotsworlds! Scary going out on tubs, however nothing to be done, the training must go on!
Sunday came with a return to home roads and, thankfully, training wheels! Although, not too sound like a moaner, the super cold conditions were pretty grim. I love training and racing in the cold but its hard at the moment all the same. Despite this I was thankful for the ice and snow free roads, getting a reasonable ride in to replace the lost race. Life goes on and its no good moaning about the weather when I am lucky enough to be out doing something I love for hours a day. I managed to capture a cool scene in the forest during a quick pee stop:
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The subject of race cancellations is an interesting one. I for one completely agree with the Cadence organisers move to chuck the race. Rider safety is the priority, all the more so with the recent, tragic, death in the UK domestic calendar. After experiencing a few too many avoidable near misses in races, I think the upmost should be done to maintain safe conditions. The way I see it chucking ice or a car into a race environment is like slinging a Shark into a swimming gala...
Racing is dangerous, that is an inescapable fact and one that does, on occasion, make it all the more exhilarating. However racing in icey conditions is ultimately unnecessary, no matter how 'epic' it may appear from afar. It introduces far too much uncertainty and begs the question, is it even a race in adversely dangerous conditions? I am all for 'epic' races - the latter conditions of the recent Milano-San Remo made for amazing viewing, however I am sure if you ask any riders, the blizzard and ice they experienced in the last ten kilometers before the neutralised was a step too far. This didnt come as a fault of the organiser, the riders, or anyone else, but freak weather and sometimes there is nothing to be done, yet when there is it is good to see moves made to protect the riders. I would love love love to be able to compete in a race like that one day but really when lives are put at risk, its not sport anymore, let alone entertainment. Really all I can do is hope for no more ice and race cancellations in the next few months! After all at the end of the day we just want to race and not have to think about any of this extra stuff...
Saturday instead saw a ride from my Grandparents house, luckily we were only twenty minutes away from Hatherop when Ollie called. It was nice to be able to see them, all the more so as it is my eighteenth birthday next Saturday. The ride also turned out to be my first in 2013 on proper race wheels, turns out I saved the carbons for a solo jaunt around the empty lanes of the Cotsworlds! Scary going out on tubs, however nothing to be done, the training must go on!
Sunday came with a return to home roads and, thankfully, training wheels! Although, not too sound like a moaner, the super cold conditions were pretty grim. I love training and racing in the cold but its hard at the moment all the same. Despite this I was thankful for the ice and snow free roads, getting a reasonable ride in to replace the lost race. Life goes on and its no good moaning about the weather when I am lucky enough to be out doing something I love for hours a day. I managed to capture a cool scene in the forest during a quick pee stop:
Thursday will bring an attempt at some birthday celebrations with all my mates, its going to be water for me and champagne for them! By Saturday I will be entering the world of credit history and voting, lets see what happens...
Maybe I will also take this chance to publicly thank my family for dealing with me for eighteen years, however much of a nuisance I can be. Thankyou!