Race Report Thread

[mikesbytes]

So my dad was there watching the race with his video camera - he has lots to learn, at the moment he is perhaps the worst cameraman on the planet - 3 seconds of useable video from the sprint:

funny that I don't remember that car being there in front of us at all!

Disqualified for taking both hands off the handlebars

[toolonglegs]

Have they moved the finish line at Beauies?...looks much closer to the S's?.
Disqualified for hands off the bars...now there's a old nanny rule if I ever heard one!.

[philip]

haha I haven't heard of that one before

Have they moved the finish line at Beauies?...looks much closer to the S's?.

I don't think so, it's fairly close to that steep sidestreet, I think it's just the camera angle that you can't see the line/tent and stuff. Also he did sit up pretty early, he had a few metres on me at least.

[odd_omelette]

penrith jersey and half-sleeve of tatts?

Yes sir, that would be me.

[foo on patrol]

Yep! Gotta have one hand at least on the bars. Used too be lose of race and $25 fine, back in the 70s.

[toolonglegs]

Yep! Gotta have one hand at least on the bars. Used too be lose of race and $25 fine, back in the 70s.

70's?...how old are you foo?.
Stupid rule all the same...yeah safety safety...you've just finished a either full on bunch sprint or a solo attack and they think you don't have the skill to ride no hands...most of us tried no hands at 5 years old .
We don't have that rule btw...but we do have to wear helmets in races .

[ft_critical]

So my dad was there watching the race with his video camera - he has lots to learn, at the moment he is perhaps the worst cameraman on the planet - 3 seconds of useable video from the sprint:

Good work Philip. At least you are one of the people in the video. When my Dad took video at the WMG he videoed everyone in NSCC kit. Everyong except me.

'You were too far away,' he says. 'You should have been nearer the front.' Yeah thanks for that.

Disqualified for taking both hands off the handlebars

I have had that rule stated in the pre-race briefing at Beaumont last year.

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

[

Disqualified for taking both hands off the handlebars

I have had that rule stated in the pre-race briefing at Beaumont last year.

Same at Waratah's

[JV911]

Yes sir, that would be me.

nice ink!

i've seen you round the traps - i'll say g'day next time

[ft_critical]

Looks like a slow weekend for racing, so I will post a report.
Two names at EC A's on Sunday. Nice weather compared to the rain on the coast, well 8deg and no rain anyway.
4man break led off on lap two. Penrith massed on the front after about 20min. The sign that activities were about to commence. KS made a mini move. PM took off his vest and I thought that that was the time to take his wheel. I followed as he made two small breaks, but I couldn't go a third time. KS had to bridge to the break but I couldn't follow him either. That was THE move. So I was bunch fodder again. I did some attacking and bridging so I was an animator of the race. After bridging to the Penrith 'Captain,' I had to look inside for something because I was OTB by 4 bike lengths. Luckily the cupboard was not bare.

We shelled about half the starters. It was fast at 40.5kmh for 80min. Around the top turn I was on the front as I made a pretty pathetic attack. That was it, I rolled over in the middle of the field.

It was good to be in a hard race though. There are still a lot of people sitting in. Which is fine, except they are just sitting in all race. Sitting in across the finish line. If there wasn't someone in front of them I suspect they would get lost.

Lessons: I need another two intervals in the race match book. (Need to work on that in training) and
If I lean over further, I corner, much faster. I read this is to do with reducing the diameter of the wheel in cornering. And here I mean realling leaning it over.

[toolonglegs]

Lean it over till your knee pads touch then back off a bit.
Next time huh? .

[Zujan]

Looks like a slow weekend for racing, so I will post a report.
Two names at EC A's on Sunday. Nice weather compared to the rain on the coast, well 8deg and no rain anyway.
4man break led off on lap two. Penrith massed on the front after about 20min. The sign that activities were about to commence. KS made a mini move. PM took off his vest and I thought that that was the time to take his wheel. I followed as he made two small breaks, but I couldn't go a third time. KS had to bridge to the break but I couldn't follow him either. That was THE move. So I was bunch fodder again. I did some attacking and bridging so I was an animator of the race. After bridging to the Penrith 'Captain,' I had to look inside for something because I was OTB by 4 bike lengths. Luckily the cupboard was not bare.

We shelled about half the starters. It was fast at 40.5kmh for 80min. Around the top turn I was on the front as I made a pretty pathetic attack. That was it, I rolled over in the middle of the field.

It was good to be in a hard race though. There are still a lot of people sitting in. Which is fine, except they are just sitting in all race. Sitting in across the finish line. If there wasn't someone in front of them I suspect they would get lost.

Lessons: I need another two intervals in the race match book. (Need to work on that in training) and
If I lean over further, I corner, much faster. I read this is to do with reducing the diameter of the wheel in cornering. And here I mean realling leaning it over.

Hey mate, you had good race.........you are one strong cookie!
With 2 laps to go I had, and I really mean it; a huge cramp in my left leg.......Jesus, that was painful. I almost fell off the bike, my left leg just went into limp mode.......today I could barely walk! I never had cramp in my whole riding career (3 yrs now) and this wasn’t a pleasant experience at all! Hope to recover till Saturday!

[ft_critical]

Hope to recover till Saturday!

Hi Sasha, hope you get better, There is a good sequence on Ernie of you and me going down the straight side-by-side. That was a tough race.

I will be doing Landsdowne then the Cervelo Cup all with Waratahs. I expect the later to be really, really hard.

[Zujan]

That was a tough race.

Ye I agree, for some reason I found it to be much harder than ECR race 2 weeks ago....

I will be doing Landsdowne then the Cervelo Cup all with Waratahs. I expect the later to be really, really hard.

On saturday I will be racing at Penrith,Sydney Road Titles, may race at Landsdowne on Sunday but that depends on wife blessing...hahaha
And then will race both Cervelo races, at ECD and Penrith......

[stevecassidy]

D grade Waratah's at Eastern Creek

My second time around at the raceway, the goal this time was to try to get a decent position for the sprints and give it a go.

Seems there's a great reluctance to go on the front in D grade with the green jersey being left to do a huge amount of work. Although I know I should hide away to conserve some energy I can't stand the pace slowing so much so spent a lap or so at the front. Come time for the prim I manage to keep a good position just behind the front of the bunch and try to hold a wheel heading down the hill but just didn't have the legs to stay with the acceleration. Second half of the race was similarly uneventful and I had even less legs for the final sprint which I watched recede down the hill in front of me.

I had thoughts of going for a breakaway just to make things more interesting, at the moment I think it would be the only way I'd get anywhere near the front, I can't imagine I'd be able to maintain it for too long though.

So how do I develop that final sprint? Is it just a matter of more kms on the bike or specific training?

Steve

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

There are still a lot of people sitting in. Which is fine, except they are just sitting in all race.

The more you race with the Waratah's, the more you'll get used to it.

The only time you'll see them towards the front of the bunch is on the last lap, 200 metres from the line.

[mikesbytes]

On Sunday I went for a training ride to Waterfall on my fixie and got rained on, should of come out to EC ah! I'm guessing that 40.5kph average speed is probably hiding the dynamics of the race? IE it was tougher than that?

I'm seriously thinking of having a crack at A grade next time I race vets, I'll be one of those 'sit ins' probably hanging on for dear life.

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

I'm seriously thinking of having a crack at A grade next time I race vets, I'll be one of those 'sit ins' probably hanging on for dear life.

It has to be put in perspective Mike.

If you want to try an easier A grade Waratah's race, then go to one of the meets at SOP/Tennis Centre.

If you want something that's a bit more testing, then try them at Lansdowne.

If you really want a work out, then try them at E/Creek.

[JV911]

If you want to try an easier A grade Waratah's race, then go to one of the meets at SOP/Tennis Centre.

how does the dragway compare to SOP?

got my 1st enduro there on 6/6

[Zujan]

If you want to try an easier A grade Waratah's race, then go to one of the meets at SOP/Tennis Centre.

how does the dragway compare to SOP?

got my 1st enduro there on 6/6

Ha, well........first of all, SOP is only a 65min race, typical crit, fast, compact, flat.......good bicycling handling skills required.........me personally do not like it very much..........at final sprints there will be pushing, elbowing and all that goes with it.....highly recommended that you stay on the front as that tight last corner before home straight stretches out a lot so if you sit on the back you will have to work hard every lap not to lose contact......ECD is 120min race, much longer, no tight corners (apart that roundabout)and if you have good legs you will have no problem to sit in regardless of your bicycling handling skills, as you know home straight is long, very long and wide.......and is BTW,ECD is my favourite race on Sydney calendar!

[JV911]

that tight last corner before home straight stretches out a lot so if you sit on the back you will have to work hard every lap not to lose contact

yea i've learnt that the hard way

was trying to hide in the bunch and save energy but shot myself in the foot doing so. front 6 is the place to be

[mikesbytes]

I'm seriously thinking of having a crack at A grade next time I race vets, I'll be one of those 'sit ins' probably hanging on for dear life.

It has to be put in perspective Mike.

If you want to try an easier A grade Waratah's race, then go to one of the meets at SOP/Tennis Centre.

If you want something that's a bit more testing, then try them at Lansdowne.

If you really want a work out, then try them at E/Creek.

I think I want all 3, variety is the spice of life. Tennis Centre is easy, I can ride there. I can ride to Lansdowne too but its a bit of a stretch. ECRW & ECDW requires me to encourage team mates to race so I can bulge a ride.

First time at the Tennis Centre I nearly smacked the wall, I sprinted thru the corner just after the start/finish not realising that I over-steered and had to cut the power for a couple of seconds for a quick correction. I don't mind the sharp corner, I'm quite happy to use the gutter when I've got free air.

Landsdowne I've ridden twice, once not long after I first started racing and found the hill really big and last year for the Crit qualification for the World Masters Games, I had ridden in the finals of the scratch race at DGV the previous evening and was still smashed, that time I found the hill to be much less signficant.

Ridden ECRW once and ECRW/ECDW once, they got us to wind thru the carpark, so I'm not sure how it compares with ECDW by itself, but I found ECRW to be quite good, some undulation but not excessive.

[JV911]

nothing to report - SOP Crits were called off on saturday

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

All the more reason for you to have ridden over to Lansdowne on Sunday for the Waratah's.

[mikesbytes]

All the more reason for you to have ridden over to Lansdowne on Sunday for the Waratah's.

Only if you were slow getting your entry in for Dinnerval