North Yorkshire Evening Road Cycle Race League Report
Chris Emsley , Road rider for All Terrain Cycles Race Team reports on his experiences of this event :
After a disappointing and frustrating start to the season with some naïve racing tactics and mis-timed sprints, I entered my first ever road races in the Chevin series, up against Elites & Cat 1’s (along with the 2, 3 and 4’s), which was quite daunting but I felt I had nothing to lose. I gained a lot of experience in these races and finished 11th in the final Saxton race, which would hold me in good stead for the NYERR round that was held there later in the season.
I missed the first 2 events through illness and holidays, and went into round 3 at Sheriff Hutton with still no points to my name. The pressure was on! The course at Sherriff Hutton was 4 laps of an undulating course with a steep uphill finish, totalling 70km with over 1000m of ascent. The course suited me well as quite a punchy rider who can get over the climbs, and early in lap 2 I got into a 5 man break, but some riders seemed unwilling to ride do their turns and we were brought back by the end of the lap. From here I stayed up near the front but tried to save some energy for the tough uphill finish. I was slightly out of place going into the sprint but managed to come over the brow of the hill in 4th place and held that to the line. First points in the bag!
The next round was held on the roads around Flamingo Land, but the night didn’t turn out as well as hoped for me or the other ATC team rider Steve Wallis. We both wasted too much energy chasing down early breaks and then tried twice to get away ourselves, but the pack kept a close eye on us and we were chased down immediately. Coming towards the finish we were both still well placed, slightly too well placed and as Steve went for it up the final hill leading to the finish, I chased on, as did the pack. Once over the hill there was still a good 200m to the finish and the pack came past and we were both left just shy of the top 10. Lessons learnt.
Round 5 and back to Saxton, the only race where I knew the circuit so far, a good fast circuit with a few gently rising hills and one or two sharper kicks to boot. I sat in up near the front of the pack for the first 2 laps then on the 3rd lap I got to the front and kicked out of a sharp left corner leading up a short steel rise, 3 riders came with me and we got a good lead on the pack, only to be held up by a car on the road and that was that. So I again stayed up near the front making sure nobody else tried the same tactics and saved my energy for what should be a bunch sprint. Last lap, 2 boys from the same club went up the road and the rest of their team slowed the front of the pack to try let them get away, so it was left up to me to chase on. I managed to bring them back up the final ride before the fast downhill section towards the pan flat finishing straight, feeling I had burnt too many matches to get a good result in the sprint. 
However … a rider went way too early and I was quick to jump on his wheel, where I stayed until 100m to go where I powered past and came within 25 meters of the line, where two riders just snook past me and relegated me to 3rd place. I was still very happy with the result given how active I’d been in the race and now the points were beginning to rack up to get my season goal of becoming Cat2.
Round 6 and onto Brandsby Bank, finishing up the infamous climb of Yearsley Bank, used on the British Road Race Championships in 2012. 4 Laps of a flat-ish circuit and then climb of around 1.2km with an average gradient of just less than 10%. I was warned before the start to make sure I saved some energy for the finish, so I duly sat in the pack, close enough to the front to stay out of trouble and keep my eyes open for any breaks going away, but not too close to waste any energy. Leading towards the finish I got up and around the top 10 riders, then as soon as we hit the climb I went full gas, getting a gap of 30-50m on the pack. Thinking I may have done enough to win, the road then kicked up again to around 15% gradient, and I saw the sign for 500m to go. My heart sank and my legs died, and riders began to come past me. As the road flattened up near the top I put in a final maximum effort to the line and managed to salvage 6th place. Just happy to be in the points on such a brutal finish.
I again missed round 7 due to a trip to France to climb Alpe d’Huez and then watch the Tour de France. But I was back for the final round, once again at Brandsby Bank!
Round 8 – start line – the commissaire announces the race has been upgraded to a Regional A race as there are a lot of Cat2 riders racing and for this round the finale will go up Yearsley Bank, and then continue a further 1km to the finish line! I need 8th place to get enough points to get Cat2, but my hopes weren’t as high as they were 2 minutes ago! However, I knew the circuit and knew the final climb. Maybe not all was lost.
I sat in once again and missed a breakaway form, 4 riders got a good lead and nobody seemed to want to chase. I went after them alone and got to within 25m of them, then took a sharp left turn into a block headwind, I then had two choices, risk burning all my matches or sit up and wait for the pack. 
Knowing I needed some energy for the finish, I chose the latter. So, once again I got myself in strong position going into the climb up Yearsley, but this time stayed with the pack instead of attacking. Coming over the brow I was in 3rd place in the group, I then sat in the wheel until 100m to go and sprinted past, taking the sprint finish and 6th overall.
This final result gave me enough points to get my Category 2 racing licence and also took the prize of best overall rider, accumulating most points over the series of races.
A great first season road racing and more to come next year
