Bath RC/ETR Junior RR
27th July 2008

Mrs. Perrett writes:

Another Glendene 1-2-3!
First it was at the Ixworth Criterium, now it’s at a National Series race. The Glendene Biketrax Junior Team is making a rather nice habit of this!
The Junior Team assembled at Stewkley in Bucks, missing two of their normal team but gaining one. David Bagdan was back in Hungary to defend his National Championship and Joel Davison was recovering from a collision with a car that had pulled out in front of him whilst on a training run. We wish him well in his recovery and so do the Guild of Yorkshire Dentists! Joining the team was Nathan Edmondson’s younger brother Josh who has now converted his youth license to a junior one having now reached 16. The rest of the team were the usual suspects, namely Nathan Edmondson, Dave Nichols, Joe Perrett and Tom Yeatman.
The small but select field for the race also included riders from the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Scotland, Wales and all over England. The weather was, to say the least, hot, hot, hot! In fact it turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far, with there being hardly any wind to cool anyone down.
The controlled lead out from headquarters started the riders off with three quarters of a lap to the finish line, there was a further six laps of ten/eleven miles to follow. The course was rarely flat and more than undulating with some long drags and sizeable hills, but the road surface was what team manager Bob Downs described as 'heavy'. There were quite a few pot-holes in parts and these were to be the downfall of several riders as the race progressed.
Our lads are nothing if not tough and so with the right preparation to cope with the exceptionally hot conditions and the back-up team of parents organised by team manager Bob (with drinks, gels and water to squirt over the hot riders) they were all set.
First time round to the finish saw Joe on the wheel of two riders but they were only ten seconds up the road and by the next time around the bunch were all together. In the ensuing laps, there were to be numerous attempts to break away but they were all covered and reined back by the Glendene riders who took it in turns to chase each attack down.
It was not until the third lap that the decisive break was made. This consisted of about a dozen riders including Nathan, Joe and Dave and had formed when Nathan had chased another rider, then Joe had crossed with a couple more and finally Dave with some more. At that point the main peloton was one and a half minutes back being policed by Tom and Josh. With each remaining lap, the gap grew between the two bunches with the main peloton eventually finishing over ten minutes behind. Working hard together to maintain the speed, the front bunch stayed together for the next couple of laps establishing their big time advantage. All our riders took on extra fluids throughout the race and their sensible precautions and planning paid off. As the race progressed through the midday heat, the atmosphere was stifling, yet the race went faster and faster as the lap times reduced each time they came round.
With two to go, it was Nathan with another rider twenty seconds up, off the front of the lead group. By the bell, the front bunch had split completely. The pace, toughness of the conditions and the heaviness of the stifling heat were taking their toll. Sensing a dip in the pace, Joe and another rider jumped to join Chris Legg and Nathan. Then Dave bridged across with another rider eventually making a new front bunch of six. The finish line was at the top of a hill and at the bottom for the final time we saw the front bunch of now five splitting with the three Glendene lads powering away from the other two. What a sight!
Next, in his unique fashion Dave Nichols started to sprint in his 52-14 from the bottom of the hill all the way to the top with Joe and Nathan following. All three celebrated the win at the top of the hill. It was a tremendous effort for Dave and a brilliant 1-2-3 for Glendene in this National Series race. The winning time awarded to all three was the fastest in the history of the competition which was truly amazing considering the strength sapping heat. Heartfelt congratulations were forthcoming from lots of spectators after the event. The one comment that would please Bob Downs the most was 'The Glendene boys bossed it!'
In the Junior National Series, Dave now has a win and two second places (not to mention a stage win in the famous Kontich stage race for the South East), and Joe has added this second place to his National Series win in the Brentwood Criterium. In addition, this was Nathan’s best National Series finish this season, although he has consistently been in the top ten - particularly in the harder races. Nathan’s best result so far this season was in the recent Junior Tour of Ireland where he won a stage as a member of the Dave Rayner Representative Team.
Recognition should also be given to Josh and Tom who finished strongly in the main bunch, on a day when there were many more experienced and older riders who dropped out due to the conditions.
To finish.... the most amusing part of the day was the look on Dave Nichols’ face when he realised he had to make a winner’s speech at the results ceremony! (Which he did very well).

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