Through and Off …the back and out of the race.

Race reports following the escapades of the Yorkies 3^rd and 4^th Cats

(and the 2^nd Cat too - to keep Near-Vet Saint happy)

How many times can the Hippo climb off in June and July? (A new club record?)

They say the best way to get over a bad race is to quickly compete in another one. What a load of bollocks. You just ask Paula Ratcliffe, or in the Yorkies case ask Hippo Johnson. Having executed the worst case scenario during the Otley Town Centre race which culminated in the Hippo having to climb off in front of 4,000 spectators (see report 14), The Hippo was back in the saddle within days hoping for better fortune. However, quitting the habit of quitting the race is easier said than done.

In his next bunch race, which was at the Croft Park motor racing circuit, The Hippo managed to last 2 and a half laps before being shelled out of the pack. This time however, he managed to resist the urge to dismount opting instead to sit up and rejoin the pack when he was lapped. Soon he was dropped again and cocking his leg over his bike’s crossbar. One week later The Hippo had given up the ghost of bunch racing and had decided instead to try his hand at a time trial. Surely he couldn’t suffer the indignity of being somehow dropped during a time trial. Or could he?

Unfortunately, The Hippo had entered the ill fated Bramley Wheelers 50 running up and down the A168/A19. It was a wet miserable morning made worse by a 30 minute delay to the 6.30am start because of ongoing road works. They finally dispatched The Hippo onto the A168 in the pouring rain at 7.45am yet things were not as they should be as the south bound carriageway (inward leg) was still closed to traffic because a rather large crane was in the process of erecting a traffic sign. The Hippo got 12 miles up the A168 before a marshal flagged him down with the news that the race was abandoned. Apparently, some of the earlier riders had virtual reached Crathorne. Unfortunately it was not possible to get back to Dishforth via the southbound carriageway (because it was still closed) so soon The Hippo was lost in the country lanes of North Yorkshire. Somehow he managed to reach Thirsk where, in an unusual stroke of good fortune, he bumped into a group of riders who were also making their way back to Dishforth. Now he was back in a bunch of cyclists, so it was inevitable that it wouldn’t be too long before he was back off the back. At least this time it was a puncture rather than the pace of the pack.

Two days later The Hippo was back off the back during his weekly Croft Park circuit race (this time his cranks fell off mid race – not a laughing matter!) and the following weekend he didn’t even make the start line of the Andy Wilson 50 mile time trial because the start list didn’t arrive until after the event because the postman had put it through the wrong letterbox.

Javier Minguez, director sportif at Vitalicio once told Victor Hugo Pena (now with USP and yellow jersey wearer in the 2003 Tour de France) Cycling is for men. You go through misery. You ride so hard that you dribble, you s**t yourself, you fall on your face and bleed, but you always carry on. Well by the end of July 2004 The Hippo was armed with a screwdriver in one hand and ready to hang up his cleats.

Fortunately other Yorkie Road Racers were fairing much better. Hammer Houghton had been ever present in the pelotons of Yorkshire and Teeside keeping the YRC jersey prominent at the front of the pack with sterling performances in the Paul May Memorial RR (Thorner village 65km), Darley Moor Circuit race (58km), and the Wakefield evening RR (55km Ryhill circuit). Unfortunately, the only time The Hammer seems to relinquish his spot at the front of the pack position is when they reach the finishing straight. Someone has convinced The Hammer that he is the best lead out man in the business so whenever he sees the flag signalling 200 meters to go he goes eyeballs out before peeling off to allow the sprinters (including The Hippo) their moment of glory.

However, The Hammer and Hippo are mere amateurs when compared to Russell ‘Hasty’ Hepton who has been quietly romping through the BC category system at an alarming rate. His second place in the BC divisional road race (vets) over the tough 57.5 mile course at Pennypot Lane was nearly a repeat of the victory that he took as a junior. But this was only a stepping stone as Hasty Hepton had higher goals for this season. However, this and The Hippo’s moment of minor glory (yes he does have one) will have to wait until the next instalment.