Strawbuger's Racing Log

am50em
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby am50em » Tue May 02, 2017 8:01 am

:D nice work!

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foo on patrol
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby foo on patrol » Tue May 02, 2017 8:50 am

Good stuff, Strawburger. 8)

Foo
I don't suffer fools easily and so long as you have done your best,you should have no regrets.
Goal 6000km

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Thu May 18, 2017 8:55 am

Date: 9th April 17
Venue: Berrima Graded
Conditions: cold, sunny
Grade: Div 3
Result: 5th / 20 odd
Report:

Got div 3, not really what I wanted in the lead up to the state champs. So I decided to go hard. I could race smart, but it's not really what I'm after.

I had three options. Attack after 5km and time trial with the two other DH riders, attack at the conclusion of lap one, or sit on and win the thing.

The warmup was cold, first time in donning the arm and leg warmers this year. After a bit of a wait for other competitors, we were off. We were sharing the race with the u19 women's race, making the peloton around 30 odd.

A club mate and I sat on the front for the neutral section, ensuring no silly buggers happen. Into the race proper and we sat on the front and controlled any stupid early attacks. Once that was sorted, we rolled in at mid field, keeping an eye on any opportunities.

The first pre meditated attack point came and went, I told the lads to hold out, as it has been a slow start. A few others went but the pack was dragged back together.

The same point of attack as a couple of weeks ago came, and that was the point I decided to go. A quick tap on the back to my club mates and I was off. We forced the break, first it was three of us, soon we were had the strongest 10 riders in the bunch, we shed the ladies. We drove the pace for the next 5km to the base of the finish climb.

I got back on the front and put everyone under pressure with my club mates. Just couldn't shake the pack... So I sat in at the crest and waited for the next attempt.

The second lap and the group shared turns. We were sort of rolling well, but it may have been a little easy. With 15km to go, one guy went off the front. I let him go, thinking we would get him back. Little did I know he was good!

He quickly opened up a gap and maintained 15 sec. At the attack point from last lap, we ramped up the chase.

I jumped on the front and went hard, I put in another mini attack to force the pace a bit, I managed to shed a few more riders. I led down the hill and with the finishing hill to go, 6 chasers were still behind the leader.

I didn't have much left in the tank for the final km uphill. The remaining riders took off. I tried to stay on, but they were slowly getting away. A spectator on the side of the road (it just so happened to be Brad McGee!!!) yelled some encouragement. I got out of the saddle and gave everything I had, overtaking one rider, but ending up in 5th spot. One of the club mates bagged 2nd, only a few seconds behind the winner.

Happy with the hard efforts I put in, should do me good for the state champs in a few weeks.

dist - 44.5kms
time - 1hr 17min 10sec
speed - 34.6km/hr avg (75.2 km/hr max)
cadence - 90 avg (140 max)
heart rate - 170 HR avg (187 max)
Power - 259w NP :)
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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foo on patrol
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby foo on patrol » Fri May 19, 2017 12:52 pm

Strawbuger, I keep seeing the same mistakes being made by you. :? Gunna have to slap ya around with a bat, if ya don't change ya tactics. :mrgreen:

Foo
I don't suffer fools easily and so long as you have done your best,you should have no regrets.
Goal 6000km

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Strawburger
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Location: Dulwich Hill, Sydney

Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Fri May 19, 2017 3:40 pm

Yeah, bad riding on purpose, hopefully it doesn't become bad habits though :)
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:24 pm

wow, i have 9 months of reports to catch up on. here's how the season unfolded.
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 3:18 pm

Date: 22nd April 17
Venue: NSW Masters Championship - Road Race in Orange
Conditions: sunny
Grade: M3 - 3 laps of 28.5kms rolling terrain and a climb near to the finish
Result: 13th / 41
Report:

A super hot field! The who's who showed up for this one, it was a case of hopefully holding on and lasting a couple of laps and roll to the finish.

Early on in the first lap, Glenn Mathiske slipped away with a couple of other strong riders. Then, another one got away and bridged to make 4 in the breakaway. Group tactics meant that they got away fairly easily, the big teams had representation up the road. There were some big hitters in the bunch, perhaps they were confident they could pull it back. For me, it was sit in and watch it play out. I wasn't feeling too great either, so conservation and hope I got better was the tactic.

Not much happened until the end of lap 2 on the hill, Nathan Bonarius smashed it up, breaking the field in two. I was near the rear at the time, people were popping around me. I dug in and eventually made my way up to the back of the first bunch and was last to bridge. Many matches were burnt, somehow this kicked me into feeling good again, we were a group of 12 chasing the 4 leaders. The group had some big names it it, including the evergreen Milostic.

The last lap was very hard, we were putting time into the breakaway. We only started to slow once the time check was too big to close down. One attacked and no one followed, i think we were all too shattered to chase. We caught and passed one rider, the Penrith rider Milostic was relying on. He had a mechanical. Down to 4 up front.

With 2km to go, Milostic hovered down the back next to me, then attacked. I was too slow to react (should i go, shouldn't i go?), but luckily he only got about 20m before the front of the peloton pulled him back. We all sat in. With 1km to go, Bonarius was at it again, attacking. This time a few dropped off. I struggled to hold but was still just hanging on. Milostic popped, I went round him and another. With 500m to go, the sprint went. I had nothing more to give. I went as hard as I could and rolled over in 13th.

I've had better results on paper, but to me, this was by far the best i have ever ridden. I somehow beat Milostic, something i have never done before.

dist - 86.9kms (86.9 race + 2.1 neutral)
time - 2hr 10min 28sec
speed - 40.0km/hr avg (69.5 km/hr max)
cadence - 91 avg (123 max)
heart rate - 169 HR avg (188 max)
Power - 250w NP


no photos unfortunately, just the results

Image
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 3:28 pm

Date: 24th April 17
Venue: NSW Masters Championship - Time Trial in Orange
Conditions: sunny
Grade: M3
Result: 13th / 16
Report:

After a boozy wine hop the day before and waking up with a sore throat, I wasn't expecting too much out of this one. Another red hot field meant I was pretty much aiming for 2nd last of the starters.

The legs felt dead but the lungs were good in the warmup. After a bit of joking around with Kev the commissaire, I was off. 22kms of pain! I started really well, it helped that it was downhill! The course was fairly flat out and back, with a couple of pinches thrown in.

I soon had my minute marker in sight, at about the 6km mark. By the 8km mark the 1min bloke behind caught and passed. Soon the 2min guy passed...

At the 10km mark my minute marker was close, but I wasn't making inroads. In my head I thought I'd not come last so I didn't need to catch... On one of the pinches, I rolled up pretty quickly and by the crest I had passed him. I looked around about 500m down the road and I'd put in 15 sec on him!

So, with no other faster riders behind me and one faster rider just in front, I kept to a rhythm of sorts, it was quite difficult with the bumpy roads and undulating terrain.

I rolled in about 2min slower than I'd liked to have gone, finishing 2nd to last of the starters. I've really got to keep focus for the state TT race, as i could do so much better...

dist - 22.7kms
time - 35min 13sec (official 35:10)
speed - 38.6km/hr avg (65.5 km/hr max)
cadence - 96 avg (111 max)
heart rate - 177 HR avg (181 max)
Power - 254w NP

no photos
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 3:50 pm

Date: 3rd June 17
Venue: Sydney Road Titles
Conditions: cloudy
Grade: M3
Result: 19th / 32
Report:

The "Footpath World Championships" out at Penrith, racing at its best :) not much in it for a small guy like me, but I decided it was cheap enough to have a go.

A very strong field with some decent sprinters in the field. 14 laps of 5km dead flat. A couple of fast corners but that's about as hard as it gets!

Lap 1 we rolled around and a few mini attacks went, nothing stuck. Lap 2 was the same, but slowed down a bit. I made my way near the front and observed. One guy went and got a healthy lead. I thought I might as well have a crack! I bridged the gap but dragged the peloton with me. The bunch settled down again, so I decided to have a crack myself. It was closed down pretty quickly. It really showed that i need an extra 300w of punchy power and another 20kg to make it stick :)

I was in the red zone and found myself slipping near the back. I held on and recovered. I sat on and held wheels for a few laps. More attacks went and one finally got away.

The rest of the race was going round in circles. At lap 10, things heated up. A few in front of me decided to DNF, leaving a massive gap to close down. I managed to get round them (they blocked the road in the process of pulling out), chased and dragged one rider with me. Eventually I got back on and that was all my matches done. With 3 laps to go, we caught the breakaway. Looks like another bunch sprint!

I sat in until lap 14, then drifted off to the side when the sprint started to let the sprinters have their go. Rolled over mid pack, not a bad outing considering... There has to be a way to win this race as a hill climber, but yet to find out. Every Sydney Titles race i've been in has come down to a bunch sprint.

dist - 70.4kms (+1km neutral)
time - 1hr 38min 55sec
speed - 42.7km/hr avg (55.9 km/hr max)
cadence - 89 avg (119 max)
heart rate - 165 HR avg (187 max)
Power - 241w NP

Image
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Image
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:11 pm

Date: 8th July 17
Venue: Sydney Road Titles
Conditions: windy and slight drizzle
Grade: M150+
Result: 9th / 23
Report:

17kms up, 17kms down, 5kms flat (there or thereabouts). New member for the team, newish gear (a disc wheel) and a chance for the top 10 again this year. The boys were in fine form and most of us were well (last year 3 were sick).

At the start i got to the front and flogged myself, putting in as much effort up the hill to sacrifice myself for the team. I was struggling after 30 mins (punching a 30 min PB in doing so) and just holding on to the turn around.

We held good formation throughout the ride but we had a slight headwind on the way back down the hill which didn't do us any favours. By the flat stage we were stuffed, but the chance to do a sub 1hr was still on the cards. We were all weary by the end of the ride. We were aiming for sub 1hr and we did it, completing the course in the same time as last year with much worse conditions this year.

Cracked the top 10 (finishing 9th), and also bagged the fastest DHBC team for the 5th year running!

dist - 39.3kms
time - 59min 56sec
speed - 39.4km/hr avg (69.8 km/hr max)
cadence - 93 avg (114 max)
heart rate - 177 HR avg (183 max)
Power - 252w NP

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Last edited by Strawburger on Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:13 pm

Ken Dinnerville

Signed up, but DNS due to a cold/flu. Wise decision as the race was held in very windy conditions and only 20 from 170 odd finished!
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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Strawburger
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Re: Strawbuger's Racing Log

Postby Strawburger » Sun Jan 07, 2018 4:17 pm

Date: 6th August 17
Venue: DHBC Time Trial Champs (Calga)
Conditions: nice
Grade: n/a
Result: 3rd?
Report:

Having a cold for the last 3 weeks, I wasn't counting on doing much. Hoping for a sub 40 mins at best, see how I go...

I started strong, the HR was up a bit. I maintained a good rhythm and was closing in on my minute marker. After 8kms, I dropped the chain BAD! It got caught up between frame and chainring. I dismounted and tugged away at the chain but it wouldn't budge. I flipped the bike over and eventually got it back. The minute marker behind had caught up. Bummer. I jumped back on and went hard. Unfortunately in freeing the chain I had bent the chain. For the next 17kms the chain skipped every time it went through the derailleur.

The health wasn't too bad though so I kept going as hard as possible, considering the skipping.

I crossed the line a few seconds under 40mins, lost 1:07 in the chain drop and a further 30 odd seconds in the skipping.

Came 3rd overall in the DH champs, not far off 2nd and a little bit back on the handicap results. Next year hopefully the form is better and mechanical issues disappear.


dist - 24.7kms
time - 39min 57sec
speed - 37.1m/hr avg (69.8 km/hr max)
cadence - 95 avg (120 max)
heart rate - 173 HR avg (180 max)
Power - 264w NP
n=10 (2013 & 2004 roads,2010 track,2x 2009 foldups,1990 hybrid,1992 trainer,2007 rental,1970's step through,1980's zeus)

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