LAST CHANCE POINTS GRABBER (HERTS WHEELERS) London Colney - Sun 26th Sep

Four North Roaders (Roger Bishop, Frank Rawlins, George Olive, new member John Turton) made the start of the Herts Wheeler's Last Chance Points Grabber for 105km on the South Mimms circuit. On a fairly flat course, the pace was steady and averaged 25mph.

An immediate early break instigated by Ron Hewes (Harlow) was easily reeled in but after a couple of laps the field split again. Roger Bishop smoothly bridged across to the front group as the road gradient steepened through the finish line.
Frank Rawlins and John Turton sat on the front of the main bunch and allowed the split to widen. Unfortunately the break was not successful and, in spite of Roger's hard turns, the main bunch fairly effortlessly overcame the differential with about one lap of through and off.

As the gap closed, 2 (or 3) riders jumped again, one of which was Dan Martin,  the new national junior champion. Although the fast course and the ideal weather conditions did not really offer a  tough challenge to the chasing riders, this break proved successful.

For the remaining 3 laps the rest of the field stayed together. A twitchy last lap saw the 40 surviving riders line up for a sprint for third place? A slight headwind and the large, nervous group made for a dangerous and tightly packed finale. Unfortunately, the well placed John and Roger went down in the rush for the line. John, in his first outing for the club, was quite nastily grazed and suffered bike and head gear damage. Frank and George made no impression in the sprint, having chosen the safer option of staying on the right flank but exposed to the wind and longer run in.