Myself and Joe competed in the John Davies Memorial Road Race on Saturday located outside Glasgow. The sun was a shinning, a little unexpected for that far West.
The race started off fast with a long section of downhill stringing out the bunch before entering a prolonged dragging climb. Around half a lap in I found myself off the front alone (not really intentional but oh well), a couple of uncomfortable minutes passed before the bunch caught me and like a well-oiled team mate Joe attacked over the top. He too spending some time off the front, before the bunch reabsorbed him.

Then disaster struck, Joe filtered out the back of the pack with one hand raised high, the dreaded mechanical. A loose saddle and service car with no Allen keys, would put an end to his hopes of glory.

I however got the joy of being cooked alive for another 6 laps. A few more attempts to leave the pack behind resulted in a failed two man break, before getting away in a group of 5 (well, 3 working and two giving the odd turn). We had a lead of around 22 seconds at one point, but the group caught us almost exactly where we had broken away a lap earlier.

The race stayed together for the final few laps, bar an attempted from a 3 man break in the closing kilometers. They were promptly caught within a few hundred meters of the line.
A bunch sprint swiftly ensued, with an ERC rider beating everyone to the line. I was on the wrong side of the bunch for the sprint, ending up boxed in but got 8th on the day. All in all a fun day out in the sun. A McDonald’s was demolished on the way home followed by some ice cold beers on arrival at the humble abode.
VC Glasgow South put on a great race, on a circuit which featured surprisingly okay road surface for 90% of the route.
The next road race is Lothian Flyer this coming Saturday. 

Neil