A race in the sun. A race in the rain. In Memory of Nick

This blog post is overdue somewhat but I wanted to group these activities together so I didn't swamp the team blog.
Back in April Chris Rawlinson arranged a ride to carry his brother's ashes to the top of Sunrising Hill on the Edge Hill escarpment. We meet in Leamington by Nick's flat and set out as group of 10-12 riders, all the Lowroaders were present along with Manuel Buck and Nick's close friends. We tackled some Strava segments on the way in true Nick Rawlinson style (giving it the berries) and give the Sunrising segment a good go. Chris was riding hard and was quick, especially considering he was was carrying Nick's ashes! The ride served as a reminder that Nick may be gone but he won't be forgotten.
On the 13th of May I raced in the Halesowen Road Race (2/3/4) held on the Astley circuit near Stourport on Severn, I had entered this with Nick to introduce him to tough road racing. I raced this last year and the rolling course made for some hard racing, Nick had been a bit worried about the distance but was looking forward to getting his teeth stuck into competition.
When I received the start sheet at the beginning of May I contacted David Viner, the race organiser, of Nick's sudden departure. David arranged for a minutes silence in memory of Nick at the pre-race briefing which allowed for quiet reflection on a lost friend and a reminder that we have to make the best use of the time we have on this planet.  The race itself was tough and the 2nd Cat riders were making it hard going for everyone, the course was 5 laps totalling 113km, the average speed was 40kph! Unfortunately for me I got caught up behind a cramping rider at the end of lap 3 and lost contact with the bunch, despite my best efforts I couldn't regain contact.
The Banbury Star Road Race was to be this year's target race for Nick and I. Neither of us had raced this one before but we knew that it incorporated three climbs of Edge Hill (our personal favourite) and we were brashly confident that we could cause some chaos come the 3rd of June. I contacted Dave Anson, who the race organiser for the Banbury Star, to let him know the sad news. Dave arranged for a minute silence, allowed me to ride with Nick's race number as well as my own, and then allowed me to lead out the race in Nick's honour. I had given Dave a link to Nick's blog posts for Team Lowroad so he could get a feel for what Nick was like as a racer and a person. The race Commissaire said some nice words and also asked me to say a few, keeping in line with Nick's sense of humour I pointed out to the other riders that Edge Hill (also know as Knowle Hill) would have been even more unpleasant if Nick had been riding that day. I then lead the race out of the HQ and onto the course, this was a poignant moment for me so I did as Nick would have done and 'gave it the berries' for the first 25 minutes on the front of the bunch. There was heavy rain and a strong NE wind which only added to the intensity of the race. The climbs up Edge Hill were spectacular as riders that were unfamiliar with the hill blew up and dropped off the back. By the last lap the field was whittled down from 80 to 25, on the last climb I just lost contact with the main bunch of 20 (that contested the final sprint), I missed the back of that bunch by 10 metres and ended up a minute behind but overall felt pleased with my performance in a tough race. I will be targetting this race next year in an attempt to win it (so will taper and train accordingly) and Dave Anson has said that I can ride as #26 (Nick's number from this year).