NCRA Handicap Road Race Round 4, 24 March 2018

A damp and drizzly day for Round 4 of the NCRA (Northants Cycle Racing Association) Handicap Road Race Series on Saturday 24th March. The races start in groups with 2 minute time gaps between each group, with Category 4 novice riders going first, then other Cat 4 riders followed by Cat 3 and Cat 2. The race was 3 laps of a road course from Old, Northants of about 28 miles in total. St Ives CC was represented by Lee Desborough, Robert Tillott, Andy Fountain and myself. As it was my first race, I was in the novices group, which split apart on the first lap leaving a group of 5 of use, who were then caught by the second Cat 4 group. This larger group of 15-20 riders stayed away rather than being caught by the faster groups. I managed to stay with that group and was able to sprint for 7th place, meaning my first points!

Tim Phillips

Photo by Katie Chandler