Race Report – Louie Priddle – Scarborough Junior National

Scarborough Junior National.

This was a race which I had heard a lot of stories about from previous years. The Circuit had a large hill in it along with a longish decent so positioning was going to be key for this one. The race got under way and I was right near the front about 4th or 5th wheel. This was the place to be because the first mini circuit was very tight and sketchy. After about 1 and a half laps into the race a Scottish rider rolled away off the front. And no one reacted to it, so I sat in for a further 1/2 lap then decided I was going to bridge to him. We worked well together and gained around 15-20s on the bunch. As we finished the 5 laps of the mini Crit we were directed to go onto the large circuit with the steep climb. But before the climb we had to descend for around 3 mins. This was tough being only 2 of us up the road and a group of 70 chasing us down! We hit the climb for the first time and it was actually a huge surprise at first. The amount of support from the crowd was amazing! Cow bells rattles you name it, it was there! It felt like the TDF – Apart from we were in Yorkshire.

After 3 laps of the full circuit my legs packed up on me. I was getting quite painful cramp in both my legs and also stitch in my stomach. This really meant I had to dig deep just to stay with some of the groups. But I finished and turned out to be a good day out and getting the club colours on the BC website. Overall a great experience and I am really looking forward to next years race. Thanks to MDCC for the support and also to my Dad for taking me up there!