Race Report Thread

[rogan]

Beaumont Rd, C Grade, this morning. Cold, with a moderate south-westerly breeze.

7 starters, and everyone was willing to give it a go, so it was good race despite the small numbers. Let's see, two Central Coast blokes, a new rider on blue and white (who said it was his first race), the bloke in the old style Hornsby (?) jersey, a guy in plain red and a guy in Caisse de Pargne kit. And me in Peloton Sports kit.

I jumped out of the first three hairpins, just to soften things up a bit. I made to jump out of the 4th, just to see what would happen. One bloke half-went and gave me a"look". Yep, just seeing who's paying attention. The bloke in the Hornsby jersey told me to ease up, and stop giving The Others a free ride, although I like to think they are suffering. Maybe one or two were, but all 6 were not. One of the CC guys tried a few things (his teammate helpfully chased him down a couple of times), and there were sundry other attacks. The new rider in blue and white had a good jump, and the CC guy was keen. The pace was stop start but never pedestrian.

So it came down to the last lap. We'd picked up a dropped B rider, who, after sitting on the back for a couple of laps, unhelpfully decided to swoop the bunch up the hill out of the bottom corner. The two CC guys were both near the front on the left, with the Hornsby guy to the right of them on the front. I was behind the Hornsby guy, with Mr blue and white boxed in. When the B grader went, we looked at each other, and the guy in blue and white found some space and jumped, probably near the top of the rise, about a km out. I got on the wheel of the stronger CC rider, who I think followed the Hornsby rider for a while then took off after the guy in blue and white. We passed the B grader (and told him to get out of our race...) and then caught the blue and white guy with 500 m to go. It was time.

Banged it up into the 50x13 and cranked it to 52 km/h round that last sweeping left hander and went past the CC guy and hit the front with maybe 300 m to go. I basically just held it at that level to the line. I could see the CC guy's shadow slowly closing, so with 50 m to go, I got out of the saddle and that was plenty. The Others were way back. The other CC guy got 3rd and blue and white held on for fourth. Maybe The Others had been softened up by my early attacks. Perhaps not.

So a first in C Grade, following a second last time I raced there. Time for B Grade at Beaumont at least. I will need to improve my corners, but I think I am strong enough to stay in a "normal" B Grade race (who took about 2 km out of us in 45 minutes - or about 3 km/h faster. We averaged just over 34, which is not fast - I have averaged near 37 km/h on that course in C Grade, but in a much larger bunch and more favourable conditions). Sunday the 18th.

Next race, maybe Heffron on Saturday and/or West Head on Sunday.

By the way Phil - I saw your sprint - you did well to hold them off. The front 5 took plenty of time out of your bunch, 2 minutes or so. They were attacking each other the last 3 laps or so that I saw.

[philip]

Nice report rogan, great stuff, sounds like a good win!

The front 5 took plenty of time out of your bunch, 2 minutes or so. They were attacking each other the last 3 laps or so that I saw.

Yeah not surprised, our last 2 laps weren't quick and those guys were obviously stronger than us

[mikesbytes]

Great riding rogan. Go to B, your ready!

[JV911]

congrats rogan

and nice work phil

[foo on patrol]

Hey Rogan, you need to think about you jumps to gain a real advantage from them. If you do it under the same circumstances, they will just suck off you. Hit them at the point where it is going to hurt them the most, and if you are feeling good, keep it going for quite some time to gauge how they will react to you.

Foo

[jacks1071]

Nice one. Are you training with power now....?

STILL waiting for my quarq

Not sure which model you require but I have some 172.5 quarq's (gxp) type available now (3x spare) - and I have fast access to some 175 gxp's but I expect they would all be sold-out within a week then we'll be back to waiting forever for them. Call me if interested as I've been too busy to use the forum much lately. You can get my phone number from the website.

[rogan]

Manly Warringah CC, West Head Race, C Grade, 2 laps, 42 km.

Didn't get out to Heffron on Saturday, but had a hit out with the club ride, after a week with hardly any riding (due to a range of factors...).

Moderate wind from the north (headwind heading out, tailwind coming back). Conditions were warm and humid (for this time of year) about 14 C at the start at 8 AM. Rode without arm warmers for the first time in 8 weeks...

Only one A Grader showed up so he went with B Grade, who had about 15 riders. Only 11 of us in C Grade. Dunno why the numbers are so low - this is high quality racing. C Grade here is definitely the hardest club C Grade I am aware of - and it's not just the parcours.

Anyway, I've been in form lately so was very confident of doing well today. On the way out, it was a reasonable pace, but when wehit the Wall up to Commodore Heights, a couple of riders really took off, and I burnt plenty of matches to get on. There were 5 of us with a good 50 m gap on The Others at the turnaround. 3 of them got back on, and 3 didn't. I had a song in my head, Beaten Up in Love by the Doves for most of the race. Which is better than the usual - Dora the Explorer or other crap.

Then we were 8. Let's see, a Manly rider with no number, a guy on royal blue jersey and a strong rider in a dark blue jersey. A Bicisport rider who was very good up the hills, two guys in black/grey kit, and me. I've forgotten someone, so apologies to them. Mr dark blue did some powerful efforts on the front, and really kept the pace high on the second half of the first lap and well into the second lap. He was on the front for probably 80% of the middle half of the race (ie. excluding the first and last quarters). And going well too, there were no real attacks in that section. I jumped out of the corner before the finish line, at the end of the first lap, hoping one or two riders would come with me. They didn't, but Mr dark blue dragged the bunch up to me. I honestly don't know what he was doing, he knew, from what he said later, that that's not the primo way to win a race. Maybe he was after a really hard training ride. But he was definitely the strongest rider in the bunch, and if he'd saved his matches... Anyway, in that situation, if someone really wants to sit on the front and maintain a good pace but not split the bunch the only thing to do is to let them continue. So we did.

The bicisport rider really jumped up the Wall the second time, and I was sure we were gong to split, or at least I was. Not a fan of short steep climbs, and I was last wheel over the top, but only 30 m back. On West Head Rd you can hit 65-70 through those dips if you are chasing, so I did that and with another significant effort was on by the carpark turnaround. The 3-4 km after the carpark is not difficult terrain, but after that there are 4 drags back to Elvina, starting with the double hill with about 7 km to go. We went hard up that, but we were still 8.

The next hill is not hard or long, but someone really went for it, and I was not on the best wheel. I had one of those "now or never" moments and gave it everything to get on. Even the head music stopped, all I could think of was "get on that darn wheel", or words to that effect. Then we were 6, two dropped, who I think were Mr Bicisport, and Mr royal blue (whose wheel I had been on). I don't think they got on again, I certainly didn't see them again.

Up to the carpark start/finish is a bit of a drag, not steep at all. But seriously, we were doing 35 or 40 up there, so someone was feeling OK, but it wasn't me. We crested the hill and went down to the turnaround, got around 4th wheel in a group of 6, on Mr dark blue's wheel, which was perfect from a strategic point of view. Took the turn well (thanks Beaumont) and it's 500 m to go - slight uphill which slopes up to about 4% for the last 100m. The three in front of me settled before someone went for it from about 300m out. I had enough to keep a kind of effort rhythm going to the finish, but not to go with any real effort, which was a suboptimal outcome. Anyway, one of the blokes in black kit won it, from the bloke in light blue Manly, and then Mr dark blue. I got 4th, about 10-15 m back. And frankly, I had nothing left. Second hardest race I have been in this year (hardest was the first time I raced at West Head!). I reckon if I go hard, feel stuffed and finish with the front bunch when the pack has splintered, well that's a reasonable result. Average speed was 33 km/h. I've gone 11th, 6th and 4th at West Head, although in admittedly smaller bunches each time.

They said that next month they aren't doing the West Head road race but a time trial from Illawong Bay to the top Rangers Hut. My best time for that is 14'40", although that was with other riders in the middle of a club ride. We shall see.

[JV911]

Dunno why the numbers are so low

I think everyone was at WSID for the enduros!

Not much to report - my first enduro (twice as long as SOP Crits), big turnout, warm, windy, lovely smell coming from the tip and a great soundtrack from the cars at EC

was slow getting off the line and ended up too far back, spent the next few laps working my way back up the field which was tiring and had me wondering if I’d make it through the 1.5hours. To make matters worse I kept getting carved up through the corners with riders not holding their line and/or going into the corner too slow instead of being smooth, so I had to get out of the saddle coming out of the corners to prevent gaps opening up.

Recovered during the middle part of the race and actually felt good towards the end. Coming out of the last corner and onto the straight the bunch slowed and I found myself on the front into the headwind. I was flicking the elbow like mad but no one wanted to roll through. No problem I thought so put my head down and kept on truckin'. Unfortunately and to my surprise we got the bell (I thought we'd have another lap). Hearing the bell everyone turned up the heat and in the blink of an eye I’d dropped back to about 15th. I had to dig deep into the suitcase of courage to stick with the bunch on the final lap and rolled across the line mid-pack.

Overall very happy for my race at WSID but I’ll play my cards a little differently next time

[leximack]

Dunno why the numbers are so low

I think everyone was at WSID for the enduros!

Not much to report - my first enduro (twice as long as SOP Crits), big turnout, warm, windy, lovely smell coming from the tip and a great soundtrack from the cars at EC

was slow getting off the line and ended up too far back, spent the next few laps working my way back up the field which was tiring and had me wondering if I’d make it through the 1.5hours. To make matters worse I kept getting carved up through the corners with riders not holding their line and/or going into the corner too slow instead of being smooth, so I had to get out of the saddle coming out of the corners to prevent gaps opening up.

Recovered during the middle part of the race and actually felt good towards the end. Coming out of the last corner and onto the straight the bunch slowed and I found myself on the front into the headwind. I was flicking the elbow like mad but no one wanted to roll through. No problem I thought so put my head down and kept on truckin'. Unfortunately and to my surprise we got the bell (I thought we'd have another lap). Hearing the bell everyone turned up the heat and in the blink of an eye I’d dropped back to about 15th. I had to dig deep into the suitcase of courage to stick with the bunch on the final lap and rolled across the line mid-pack.

Overall very happy for my race at WSID but I’ll play my cards a little differently next time

I was there also as was a few other Footpath Racers (Lou, Ehly and Shaun)
I remember seeing the Teschner rolling along, didnt want to interupt you during the race though and didnt see you afterwards to say hello, maybe next time

Not much to report on my end either, made an effort to stay at the front of the pack for the whole race (IMO its much safer, more predictable and people hold there lines better at the front plus you can see any attempted breakaways better)
Put in a few attacks here and there to try and spread the field a bit, no idea if it worked or not, i felt good though throughout, tried to stay out of the wind down the main straight as the headwind was brutal. The bell lap went one lap early IMO so not really ready for it, there was one guy 40-50m ahead so an effort was made to real him back in, Lou went mental and bridged the gap with a few of us in tow, i assume a few people might have dropped off at this stage as the last lap was done at a high speed. Found Shauns wheel on the last corner and held on for as long as i could, basically was at Max for the whole final straight and just really hanging onto his wheel, pulled out from Shauns wheel and rolled over the line for 4th. Pretty happy with how it all went, i need to do some sprint training though as i am really bad in this area.
The 25km ride home was torture though as i had to face the Brutal headwind the whole way, not much fun after racing for 1.5hrs.
Good day though and good to be out on the bike.

No racing next weekend, riding to Litghow instead

Don

[JV911]

I remember seeing the Teschner rolling along, didnt want to interupt you during the race though and didnt see you afterwards to say hello, maybe next time

really? say g'day next time (1/8 at WSID)

[aeroslave]

Hello Jeremy, so your the one with the u - beaut Teschner nice to have raced with you.

It was a nice tiring race for me....perfect race back after a bout of Bronchitis a fortnight ago ha ha! Not!

When I saw a lone man breakaway getting a respectable gap,....man this will hurt

Caught him on the 2nd bend and when I
Looked behind, Donny and Shaun are looking good...And bonus...we split the bunch . Problem...I hit 201 on my HRM he he he Must find air ha ha ha ...find a wheel quick nyak nyak nyak...

Happy to roll just behind the place getters...looking forward to racing more the following weeks hopefully with the FPRs...fun indeed!

[rogan]

Sat 17 July. Heffron Park Randwick Botany CC C Grade. 14 laps or ~28 km. Conditions sunny and mild, with a light (for Heffron) SE breeze.

My old stomping ground, raced here hundreds of times from '89 to '96. But not once since. Also, the site of my highest speed crash, a 46 km/h through the tennis court corner, on Australia Day B Grade in 1993 (rear tyre had goneflat. Road rash only, but you can still clearly see the scar on my calf and lycra burn on my hip).

Being a family friendly time, the GLW and kids came along. My wife had NEVER seen me race.

I broke a spoke literally on the starting line. RS500 wheels, so plenty of other spokes. Loosened the rear brakes so it didn't rub, and decided to race anyway. But also decided I would sit at the back and not push it, esp through the corners. That lasted about a lap and a half.

The race itself:

About 15 riders.

Mostly RBCC riders, with a Waratah Vet and two Endeavour Cycles jerseys (Sutherland? or Southern Cross?). One bloke jumped off the line, and quickly got himself about a hundred metres. Two others went up and joined him. The bunch was like, well, whatever, so at the end of the second lap, I cranked it up to 43 up the straight into the cross-headwind, and got us close to them, then with a few more efforts, we caught the breakaways. Attacks were continual throughout the race, with a young RBCC rider trying his luck several times, and one of the Endeavour riders being particularly strong. At one point, I did my catch the break up the straight routine again, and me and another bloke caught them, and got 5 of us off the front. But the bunch must have tried a bit harder, and it came back together (but I think we lost a couple of riders there). I was largely comfortable the whole race, and reckon I probably could have raced B Grade. Even A Grade didn't whip past, unlike say Beaumont or the Waratahs at ECR.

Anyway, after a bit of an effort early on the last lap, we were well together for the last loop around the netball court, and coming onto the straight, there was a bit of jockeying coming onto the straight, so I jumped right at the start of the straight, from about 400 m. Crank it to 52 and hold if for as long as possible. That's how I "sprint". And with about 150 m to go, one of the Endeavour blokes came past me. So I was second. The Waratah bloke got third. Average 35 km/h. Went round the track, congratulated the Endeavour bloke, etc. Came back, claimed 2nd. "No, you were third". Eh? "Three people called it. You were third." No way, but OK, whatever, that's racing.

Go to the presentation, turns out that the first breakaway, we only caught 2 of 3, an RBCC bloke didn't get caught and stayed away the whole race. In *C* Grade. Not only is that a great effort, it's a sure sign that he should be riding B Grade. He's going up to B Grade. Apparently he was 200-300m ahead for the whole race. I said to the Endeavour bloke (who'd done more work than anyone, and was clearly the strongest in the bunch, but of course had been chasing the breakaway), that if I had known, I would have worked with him more smoothly. No wonder they were so sure I was third...

Dunno when I'll get out there again, but it's a great race, would be even better with an intact rear wheel. And when I do get there, I'll have a crack at B Grade.

[Beanzy]

Hi Rogan,

Im guessing you were the peleton sports rider?

Im not hard to miss!

It was a bit ungentlmenely of the lad who broke away on the first corner before everyone had clipped in. Bit i guess it set the scene for the race. Yes it was attack after attack. The young fella attacking was from easts and is definately a b grade contender.

Suprised you didnt notice the fella away.

After more chasing i just couldnt be arsed racing for 2nd or third. As well as my lung being in my throat.

There are a few in C grade that are more than capable of B grade. The breakway fella has more than proved that.

Strange for Heffron that there was barely any wind!

See ya next time.

[JV911]

Saturday LACC SOP Crit (45min + 3laps)

Perfect weather greeted the 1st round of the run property series and the extra prize money on offer drew a more riders than normal, including 3 burglars but my count.

Bloody FAST from the get go and I spent the opening laps working my way to the leaders. Once near the front I threw in an early attack and opened up a small gap but this was too difficult to maintain given the pace of the race. I was caught and the next time round we got the whistle for the prime sprint. I led out the lap but got passed so I settled back into the bunch. The pace eased a bit after the sprint and someone yelled out “get a move on”, or words to that effect, to which I replied “get to the front then and do some work”, which drew agreeance from the peloton

After a bit of a breather and working my way back to “the front end of the main field” I was sitting 3rd wheel when the rider in 2nd attacked, I went with him and sat on his wheel until he flicked his elbow and I took the lead. Once again our break was quickly shut down and I settled in for another quick breather.

Knowing there was just a handful of laps to go I strategically positioned myself in 3rd wheel. When we got the whistle signalling 3 laps to go there was much jockeying for position but I held firm. On the final lap the guy sitting second attacked and just rode away from everyone, I spent the lap trying to close the gap but to no avail. In hindsight it may have been wiser to race for second instead of blowing myself up trying to catch – rolled over the line in about 10th.

Don’t have my Garmin handy but average speed was over 39km/h

Sunday Waratah SOP Crit (50mins +1lap)

Not a lot to report – a far more orderly race with a more relaxed pace compared with the mayhem of Saturday’s race. There was myself and 3 others doing the bulk of the work on the front and at one point we got a little gap on the field but got shut down. The relatively relaxed pace meant there were plenty of fresh legs to contest the sprint for the line when we got an early bell (I think the comish messed up as D grade finished after us) which caught me unaware and not in an ideal position. I made up as much room as I could on the back straight but did not have an ideal line through the last corner…I had to take the long way around the outside coming onto the straight and was blocked momentarily by an E grader. I would not have liked to have been in the comish’s shoes trying to pick the winner as there were at least 10 riders going for it. Another top 10 finish – a bit disappointing but that’s racing.

[rogan]

Beanzy said:

Im guessing you were the peleton sports rider?

Im not hard to miss!

...

Suprised you didnt notice the fella away.

Yep, I was the Peloton Sports rider. Slower through the corners than I should be, which you probably noticed. I'd be faster without a broken spoke!

Given the description, I think I know who you were...

In my experience at the track, a C Grade breakaway like that is unheard of! I don't recall it happening in all the years I went there (although I was mostly in other grades). I spose I just assumed that when we picked up that first break, we picked them ALL up.

With the family there, and having made it to the end, I had to put a sprint on. Of course, having never been to a bike race before, they had no idea what was going on or which grade was what, etc etc. My wife saw the finish but reckons she never heard the bell, the kids had no idea.

Speaking of which, it was one of my kids who was yelling out "Hi Dad" and "see you dad" every time past the finish line.

Cheers Beanzy, and see you out there next time...

[Chuck]

Saturday LACC SOP Crit (45min + 3laps)

Perfect weather greeted the 1st round of the run property series and the extra prize money on offer drew a more riders than normal, including 3 burglars but my count.

Bloody FAST from the get go and I spent the opening laps working my way to the leaders. Once near the front I threw in an early attack and opened up a small gap but this was too difficult to maintain given the pace of the race. I was caught and the next time round we got the whistle for the prime sprint. I led out the lap but got passed so I settled back into the bunch. The pace eased a bit after the sprint and someone yelled out “get a move on”, or words to that effect, to which I replied “get to the front then and do some work”, which drew agreeance from the peloton

After a bit of a breather and working my way back to “the front end of the main field” I was sitting 3rd wheel when the rider in 2nd attacked, I went with him and sat on his wheel until he flicked his elbow and I took the lead. Once again our break was quickly shut down and I settled in for another quick breather.

Knowing there was just a handful of laps to go I strategically positioned myself in 3rd wheel. When we got the whistle signalling 3 laps to go there was much jockeying for position but I held firm. On the final lap the guy sitting second attacked and just rode away from everyone, I spent the lap trying to close the gap but to no avail. In hindsight it may have been wiser to race for second instead of blowing myself up trying to catch – rolled over the line in about 10th.

Don’t have my Garmin handy but average speed was over 39km/h

Sunday Waratah SOP Crit (50mins +1lap)

Not a lot to report – a far more orderly race with a more relaxed pace compared with the mayhem of Saturday’s race. There was myself and 3 others doing the bulk of the work on the front and at one point we got a little gap on the field but got shut down. The relatively relaxed pace meant there were plenty of fresh legs to contest the sprint for the line when we got an early bell (I think the comish messed up as D grade finished after us) which caught me unaware and not in an ideal position. I made up as much room as I could on the back straight but did not have an ideal line through the last corner…I had to take the long way around the outside coming onto the straight and was blocked momentarily by an E grader. I would not have liked to have been in the comish’s shoes trying to pick the winner as there were at least 10 riders going for it. Another top 10 finish – a bit disappointing but that’s racing.

I hope they were'nt C grade races mate

[JV911]

I hope they were'nt C grade races mate

ummm...yep

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

Anyone who finishes top 10 C grade Waratahs can comfortably race B grade Waratahs.

[aeroslave]

Anyone who finishes top 10 C grade Waratahs can comfortably race B grade Waratahs.

hmmmm

[leximack]

Anyone who finishes top 10 C grade Waratahs can comfortably race B grade Waratahs.

hmmmm

probably correct, but would mean going from Top 10 being competitive to being a Mid-back of the pack making up the numbers rider

[Burt 'Pigeon Racer' Jones]

You C Graders might surprise yourselves.

Give it a go.

What have you got to lose?

[foo on patrol]

The race and bragging rights!

[Chuck]

You C Graders might surprise yourselves.

Give it a go.

What have you got to lose?

Agree, I know those guys are definitely up to it

Hey Burt I'm not sure about your "Location" anymore. You know I'm rooting for ya, it just looks a little hopeless, you having a life and all....

[JV911]

You C Graders might surprise yourselves.

Give it a go.

What have you got to lose?

my two goals for this year are to win in C (achieved) and to step up to B-grade

my training plan has me making a B-grade debut in september...so look out!

[ft_critical]

my two goals for this year are to win in C (achieved) and to step up to B-grade

my training plan has me making a B-grade debut in september...so look out!

Isn't the unwritten rule you have to win in Summer? Just another rule, like not attacking the Yellow Jersey