Ben and Jamie Pullen are so used to having each other for support when racing that being separated into their different age groups came as something of a shock.... along with the fast racing that started right from the gun.
 
In fact, both were caught at the back, blocked off from the action at the front, and once they got round the bottlenecks, both were simply chasing a lost cause.
 
But to put things into perspective, the family trip to Hillingdon on May 8, was the first time that either Ben or Jamie either had dipped their toes into racing with 'the big league'.
 
Jamie was off first, in the Under 8 race where there were 29 riders, both boys and girls.
 
Young riders are allowed to clip both feet in prior to the gun for the start (rather than just one), a rule that means that parents stay on the track holding their offspring where necessary.
 
All of which is fine apart from the blockage this means for those starting behind all that parental clutter.
 
A few wise owls on the front line shot off like rockets, leaving a forest of wobblers behind them.... and behind all that was Jamie trying to find a safe way through.
 
By the time he did the potential for a podium place was gone.
 
The Isle of Man teams won everything, including the Under-8 race.
 
The winner was out on his own, followed by a group of three all working together... then with Jamie in fifth place chasing the trio down.
 
That never happened and the kid who had been glued to his wheel  throughout the five laps, passed him at the end to take fifth place, and demote Jamie to sixth.
 
Don't worry.... sixth on your first outing is splendid, Jamie... plus lots of learning it seems!!
 
Ben started next with the Under 10 race that had 35 riders, both boys and girls. So even more jostling at the start.
 
Ben was on his own for most of the six laps and took 15th place.
 
Again a big well done, Ben.
 
The decision to enter the Hillingdon races was quite step forward, the nearest thing previously having been the sessions at Palmer Park, Reading, on Saturday mornings.
 
The Pullens have been a couple of times now, for both a Saturday devoted to racing and a more normal Saturday devoted to training (one glorious feature of this is that kids get the chance to get to try their hand on a track bike (loaned out) for the first hour before everyone switches to road bikes).
 
Next up: Southern Region competitions. Good luck for that..... come on the Pullens..... (or should I say the Schleck brothers as they like to be known... in which case which one is Frank and which one is Andy??)
 
John
 

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