Race Report Thread

[Xplora]

Cortisone injection this morning wasn't fun, but I was told about the details only afterwards. It works for 6 weeks, and I can't run or ride for a week. I'm guessing that means any exercise that engages the pelvis. How many things don't engage the pelvis? Pretty down about it and other things, to be honest. Seems I can't rely on my body to do anything intensive

[vosadrian]

Bugger Leigh! Sorry to hear.

I know the feeling. I have done my knee in again, so I am resting it for at least a few days. I should have known better. Last time I did this I was on a long ride and my worn out cleats became very difficult to click in so I had to really stamp them in. This time I had some new pedals on my new bike and I had the left done up too tight and it was hard to click in, so I was forcing it in and now my knee is swollen and sore!! I should have moved to unclipping the other foot at lights!! I am going to try rest and icing this time, and hopefully it will be OK in a week or so.

It is tough when your aging body prevents you from doing sport you like, but I'm not 25 anymore!!

[dalai47]

It is only a week Xplora! Just short of a month since I broke my collarbone and coming up to two weeks since the operation. Can only manage 15min @Z1 sitting upright on the trainer at the moment per day and not allowed to ride on the road another 4 weeks at least! Once I've paid for the operation I have a written off track bike to replace...

Worst thing it wasn't due to me doing something wrong. I was third wheel, guy in front of me had a brain fade and washed out his front wheel... All right in front of me at 55 km/hr!

[Xplora]

The devastating part is that I've had physical breakdowns from work, weights, guitar, drums, now the bike. Every single physical hobby I have attempted in the last 15 years has had really adverse effects on my health. I can deal with the week; the other 15 years gets me down. Doesn't feel like a temporary set back right now.

SMP Forma, can't recommend it right now. Might need to consider moving to a Domane frame to relieve some of the impact stress through the saddle. More money.

Adrian, make sure you have the Nurofen over the week unless you have been told not to by a doctor; ragged knees is an internal distress and ice is only helpful for the outside of the joint. Really sorry to hear about the knee!

Thanks for the encourage dalai - it's great to see you are so positive about the adversity.

[dalai47]

I alway try to look at the positives. Just think how fresh you will be... You will rip the legs off the opposition after a week off!

[toolonglegs]

How is Hip Bursitis diagnosised?... what are the symptoms?.
I am not a big fan of cortisone, had a few in my back, it is so strong and spreads itself around a fair bit that it just cures everything in it's path.

My last stage on Sunday was a bit of a disaster... 111 were still classified after the TT on Saturday. Sunday morning warming up in 7 or 8 degrees in heavy rain wasn't very motivating. They said they would neutralize the descent at the start, which they did, but usually you allow everyone to bunch up before signalling the start of the race... they didn't, we were strung out on a soaking wet single lane farm road descent and then suddenly the motos were gone and it was full on. GPM after 5kms again... idiotic. I missed the bunch again, nearly got back on but didn't in the wind. And that was it .
3 stages and a TT, didn't make the 10 km mark in any of the stages. Anyway after vomiting a dozen times for some strange reason I abandoned at 35k mark and got into the full bus.
Ok I admit I am not in great form and too heavy, but when you see the French TT champ for my federation go out the back you know it's tough. I think the big problem was have KOM's at the start of every stage, some people travelled 500kms for this race and never saw the peloton!.
Anyway it might be my last French stage race ever ... got an interesting job offer on the opposite side of the world... .

[Xplora]

TLL, an ultrasound shows it up, and tells them where to aim the cortisone. It basically feels like a sore bruise, its like sitting on a deep bruise on the bike seat right on. Plays havoc with the posture when sitting in a chair too.

Would be good to have you hurting the FPR boys again, if the work is in Oz

[toolonglegs]

No it would be across the ditch... but the M7 path would be much closer

[mrgolf]

Cootamundra Haycarters - a view from Bunch 3. 68kms, 530m, 44.6kmh.

First time Haycarter and first big interstate race. Wasn't too sure how it was going to play out for me as I was a little out of form coming into this and knew I needed to be on top of my game in order to contribute with some big hitters in the group. I was still getting my head around the fact that there were 2 more bunches behind us with even bigger hitters when we rolled out. I rode conservatively for the first 10kms til I knew my legs were working as there were about 20 in the group and my contribution wasn't going to add much, but I desperately didn't want to get dropped. After that my legs started to come good so I took more regular turns and started to feel a little more confident. Gap to front of race was 9 minutes.

By about 25kms, we had some bunches in our sights and we drew closer and closer. By the climbs after Cootamundra, we were within breathing distance, but weren't closing in. The group was working ok, but there were less people taking turns and there wasn't any firepower on the climbs. I was feeling quite strong at this point and was eager to reel them in, but it wasn't happening. It also started raining and some of the descents were a little worrying albeit pretty straight roads. Gap to front of race was 2 minutes.

With 5 kms to go we were engulfed by scratch and block and all road manners and etiquette went out the windows. There were people coming up both sides of the road and people squeezing other riders all over the place. At one point, I considered dropping back and sitting behind the bunch and just rolling in on my own. I persevered and worked my way up to the front. We were coming into outer Cootamundra now and the speed had noticeably picked up. The bunches ahead were drawing ever closer but time was running out. In the end, we rolled around the final corner for the final straight around the same time as the front of the mega bunch in front crossed the line. I reckon 98% of the field crossed the line within 2 minutes of each other. Only those who got dropped were outside that time window. It was pretty amazing handicapping. A windier day might have changed the outcome, but thats the way in unrolled.

Fastest most intense race I have ever done and a good lesson in believing in yourself and working in a big fast bunch.

[philip]

Hey Mr golf, I was at Coota too, both days, it was good racing. This race is pretty popular now, it just gets too big! 2 years ago when I was there there was huge crosswinds which made a much bigger selection on the bunches, there was no "mega bunch", it worked out better I think. Not sure how they will deal with it in the future.

I was in group 4 (5 mins ahead of scratch I think), we averaged 44km/h. I never really felt pushed during the race. Our bunch worked really well, it was fast, smooth, everyone was rolling through - until we caught the bunch ahead (30km or so in I think). After that the bunch was just too big, the pace really slowed up and I was sure we were going to get caught - but I guess it was just fast enough to only just stay away. I stayed at the front of the bunch because it was chaos further back. Moved right up coming into the finish to stay out of trouble but knew there was still a small bunch ahead of us so didn't contest it.

2nd day my legs were feeling pretty heavy - I think most other people's were too because we didn't start out as fast and scratch caught us, from memory soon after the start of the 2nd lap. I hung on and again there was a massive bunch that I stayed towards the front of. Right at the front people were being super aggressive because if you got stuck further back there were people across the whole road and it was hard to move up - so I stayed about 20 wheels back from the front which was more comfortable - but still pretty chaotic, it took 100% concentration to not make any mistakes. I really wanted a gel in the last 20km but didn't dare take my hands off the bars, it was that fast + close. Coming into the finish the inevitable happened, massive crash right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and swerved around into the gravel, got off my bike and ran back to the road cx style (I was very lucky not to go down!) and finished the race in the bunch - again there were 1 or 2 small bunches ahead of the "mega bunch".

I've come to the conclusion that being in a group close to scratch, you're going to have a hard time placing. Either scratch will catch you and there'll be faster guys than you at the finish, or you wont catch the slow groups ahead. Anyway, it's really great racing, you learn a lot from this type of race.

edit: strava link if you want to compare. Day 2

[rogan]

The devastating part is that I've had physical breakdowns from work, weights, guitar, drums, now the bike. Every single physical hobby I have attempted in the last 15 years has had really adverse effects on my health. I can deal with the week; the other 15 years gets me down. Doesn't feel like a temporary set back right now.

Bad luck X. I think you should give up the weights and the music! Guitar injuries?!

But seriously, follow doctors orders, and you will be back up before you know it.

[vosadrian]

Adrian, make sure you have the Nurofen over the week unless you have been told not to by a doctor; ragged knees is an internal distress and ice is only helpful for the outside of the joint. Really sorry to hear about the knee!

Same thing happened to me almost a year ago. Should be back to normal in a few weeks. Rest this week and than ease back into the following 1-2 weeks. At least I can confirm what caused it now and be careful in future. Last time it could have been any one of about 5 things, as I had done about 1500+ kms in the preceding month and it occurred on a 150ish km ride which is a lot for me on both counts. This time the common thing of the ride immediately preceding the injury is the pedal/cleat issue, so I will take special care of that in future.

Hope you get your injury sorted quickly. It is difficult ramping down when you are in good form!!

[toolonglegs]

How it's done

[nickobec]

Have posted here for a few weeks, you can find the race reports for that time on my blog

PDDC C grade
Dog Hill circuit Baldivis
10 May 2014

I had not trained or ridden since Monday, so I was looking to take it easy, particularly as it was the biggest group of the year so far with 20 riders. Also just after the finish line, a land owner was burning off, which meant preventive use of Ventolin every lap.

Half a lap in and a couple of people I regularly socially ride with were trying to make it hard so I joined in. Did a a couple of long hard turns and kept at the front of the race. After a lap and a half of the 10.8km circuit I eased back. There was plenty of other people trying to keep the pace high and chasing down any escapes.

That was until the start of the third lap, the pace slowed into the headwind, so I went to the front to drive the pace. Except nobody followed my wheel and instead I ended up off the front. Three laps solo was going to be difficult, so time to make a show of it. Kept the pace up, made sure the bunch saw me taking my required shot of Ventolin, then hit the accelerator briefly, before settling down to a pace I could keep for 30km.

After a couple of kilometers I got reeled back in. As I slid down the bunch, I was happy I had achieved my goal. The pace had picked up.

I sat at the back chatting with Mark, who I spent the previous race trying to drop. We knew at this pace, it was going to be a bunch sprint and not knowing most the riders, both of us were not looking forward to that. He suggested next lap I should try the same attack, get a gap and he would join me. I told him, that was beyond me, even that little dig had taken something from me.

It did not really matter the pace was high for the next lap and I would of struggled to get away. During this lap, the battery in my power meter gave up. Normally this would not be a problem, except I had finally after 5 years been taken off beta blockers, a performance decreasing drug that lowers your heart rate. So I had no way of effectively measuring my level of exertion other than a heart rate which I had little experience with unfettered by beta blockers and perceived exertion.

Start of the final lap, the bunch slowed, I went to the front to drive it, Again I was off the front. This time it was ride hard to get a gap, my heart rate hit 175. Something I use to only get at the end of a race. After a couple of minutes, I decided to ease back and sit on 172 for as long as possible. I was the joined by Mark and the two of us set off to ride as hard as possible and get away. My heart rate sat on 175+ as we try to keep our break.

It was only as we swung onto Dog Hill Road for the final time with less than 3km to go, I dare to glance behind, the bunch was strung out and chasing hard, still we had a chance. My arms were being to shake uncontrollably, which is usual the sign I gave it all on a TT. Except we were 3km from the finish, I kept going

With a little over a km to go we were caught, just on the slight rise. Ant launched a blistering counter attack, but nobody followed and I swung on the back of the bunch. I managed to hold on until 400m to go, when they caught Ant, the pace picked up and I was out the back with Ant and a couple of others. I crossed the line in 15th or 16th place absolutely spent.

[Ignoto]

Numbers were down this weekend at the Crits as most of the big guns were down south for Battle of the Border. But we managed to have a pretty decent field of 25-30 riders in B-Grade this morning.

All in all, it was pretty uneventful, there was a particular team that had 5 guys there (who won the points race last week) so I figured they'd be riding for one individual and didn't really bother bridging any attacks. Other than doing a quick turn on the front a couple times for 10-15 at a time, I largely stayed in the pack (which showed on my average HR 165 ) Obviously with some big names out, the pace was quiet slow which was annoying, so I devised a plan with a couple of mates that straight after the prime, we'd have a crack at a breakaway.

Generally, the prime is called at the half way mark for us, but we got to the 25 minute mark, nothing. 30 Minute mark, nothing, 35 minute mark and nothing. I was wondering if the commissionaire's had forgotten about it. Finally, at the 40 minute mark, the whistle went. The late prime was fine by me, meant we'd have less time as a breakaway and hopefully a better chance at getting away. Unfortunately, other individuals tried to jump on which resulted in the entire group closing the gap we tried to establish.

Owell, I slunk back a few places, caught my breath and tried to save some kind of energy for the final sprint. I followed the wheel of the "team leader" I mentioned earlier who should be up in A-Grade, I knew I didn't have the raw power to match him, but he's a good couple of inches taller than me so I figured I'd at least get some drafting of it. Unfortunately with 500m to go, he pulled away and I just couldn't match his legs. I had a crack and got pipped around 20m to go by three others resulting in missing the podium by less than half a bike

Looking at my pacing, it was the huge drop off in power after 20 seconds that cost me. I was pushing out over 850w for 20 seconds then BAM, it went from 833 watts to 490 just when I needed to finish strong.... Bugger! I guess it came down to me being in the wind a couple seconds longer than I should have, so I'll need to start my "attack" later now!

[happysumo]

A grade debut today. Bloody hell, it's a rude wake-up call!

Got pipped for good with 2 laps to go, 90km in, but learned heaps. Biggest difference in stepping up to A, I think so far, is the intensity and regularity of attacks. Every time the road went up, pain dial turned up to 11 for me.

Time for a healthy diet of 1,2 and 3 minute intervals & long-ass days in the saddle.

[foo on patrol]

Haha suck it up mate, it will get easier!

Foo

[happysumo]

Totally! Was wicked fun getting smashed to bits. Feels like stepping up from D to C grade again

Personally actually quite happy with today. Looking back over the data, and it's definitely the hardest and most intense ride I've done, so I have taken a lot away from it.

[toolonglegs]

Got it on strava?

[happysumo]

http://www.strava.com/activities/142023247" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GoldenCheetah has the normalized power as ~295w. Must be using different algorithms or something? GC also showed that my W'Bal figure went negative three times, with the lowest being -2kj. Essentially meaning I dipped waaaaayyyy further into the red than I ever have before

[foo on patrol]

Sometimes it is good going into the red, because it pushes you past you comfort zone and that is good! The secret is knowing how far you can push it, before it is to far.

Foo

[MDL]

Just finished the Battle On the Border in Masters A - Happy with 3 out of 4 stages. Went into it with not much prep due to work and family. Having a very quite week leading upto it really killed. Was only able to ride the day before and did a nice hour at tempo to try to get the the legs ticking over. Nothing on the hills leading in i knew this was going to be an issue to start with. Dropped on the first day due to someone dropping a chain in front of me, couldn't get back on due to a mate smashing the downhill.

TT - happy with the time came in 23rd out of 86, new pwr PB, still on the roadie with TT bars. Got done again but 30 sec by a guy with same weight and less pwr..... go figure. But happy.
Crit- Held on with the pack for the race - Front gears decided to change from large to small on the pwr climb. So dropped from mid pack to back. Just wanted to finish with grp which i managed.
RR last stage - 80 people - finished 16th, aim was to finished with the front pack. Got there - small break away on the home stretch, managed the hills alot better. Would have loved to keep racing for a few more days as the legs are getting better as the racing is going. Oh well.

Finished 32 out of 80ish - happy with this, would have been top 10 bar the issue on the first stage.

MDL

[Cul]

GCC Presidents Handicap
Middle Bunch

Coming into this race I didn’t expect much as I hadn’t been riding nearly enough the last two weeks… But it was a flat course and if anything suited me so I was up for giving it a red hot crack. I packed the bike in the car, got dressed and headed off to the race. On arriving there was plenty of riders around looks like a big field!

The race start was fairly uneventful, the first lap was hard and fast with the bunch sharing the work. After the first lap I was hoping we could keep up the pace, but few dropped off as the scratch bunch come racing past (they were a lap behind). I opted to bridge the gap to the scratch bunch with fellow bunch mate and LLC rider Barrie, hanging a few meters off the back of their bunch. Their pace was too fast for me in the wind but they did take a while to disappear into distance.

I looked back only to see the bunch a couple of hundred meters behind me and Barrie tailing off too , at this pointed I wondered do I keep it up or ease up and let the bunch catch me before burning too many matches; I opted for the latter knowing that it would be a long four laps out by myself. After heading back to the bunch I discovered their reluctance to do any work myself and another rider on an older Cervelo did a majority of the work on the front with the individuals slowly dropping off as each lap went passed.

On the bell lap, we got a time to the next bunch; trying to encourage the group down the every so long fast Murradoc rd section of the course I barked a few instructions “short sharp turns” again this fell on deaf ears finding myself at the front of the bunch doing most of the work again… We caught and swallowed up the bunch in front around the back half of the course only a few km’s from the finish. Our bunch was now 4 people bigger and everyone champing at the bit for the sprint despite the leader being 2mins up the road.

We rounded the final corner about 600m out the Cervelo rider jumped, I grabbed a wheel while thinking out loud “way too early” two others from the bunch wound up and pulled alongside; “fark I’m on the inside”, the Cervelo rider ran out of legs about 150m from the line – doubled fark, now I was boxed in and slowing! I managed to pull out behind the other two and give it some stick. I ended up 4th, the spilt between 2nd and 4th being only 0.143 of a second!!!

We were all pretty cuffed with the finish and the race as a whole – it was a good hit out with a few comments about how hard I was pulling on the front of the bunch (really it didn’t seem hard). The flat course suited me well and I left the race with a big smile on my face and now knowing why I spend a fair bit of my time on the trainer.

Full Flight, Mid Sprint (white helmet)

[foo on patrol]

Good going MDL.

Sometimes, it is better to get yourself into a rythm, Cul and just stay out there.

Foo

[Tarquin]

Tough handicap race today, but not too long which was good.

36.3km, 639m elevation so lots of climbing, two laps of a CAT 3 finishing at the top on the second lap.

Avg Max
Speed 30.9km/h 85.3km/h
Cadence 86
Power 289W 939W
Weighted average of 300w.

Close to my best numbers I've produced but still not feeling at my best, I had a month off and this is only the end of the second week back on he bike I need to gain a bit more stamina yet I think, need to get some longer training rides in during the week, but time, darkness and the cold is against me! It's now close to freezing or below in the mornings and usually foggy as hell which is dangerous. Just dark in the evening and people are usually in a rush to get home...

The second time up the climb I cracked half way up, I had been doing a lot of turns on the flat to try and stay away which won't help and we had been caught by the scratch group at the bottom of the climb so the pace was quicker, but not super fast. I started the climb on the front of the group knowing I would probably slide back a little, but it kicked up steeper by 3% or so and I couldn't hold on. I dropped 45 seconds on the second half of the climb compared to the first time round, averaged 300w on that section but nowhere near enough to keep up with the fast boys.

It didn't matter in the end as we didn't catch all the groups who were in front of us so they took all the placings in the end!

Lost my drink AGAIN, becoming a real pain. I've changed the cages to the Elite cages as used by most of the pro teams, using the Elite bottles that should clip in but it still bounced out! Super stiff frame, poor roads and I'm using a large bottle, so perhaps when its half empty the water sloshing can help it gain some momentum. Its annoying and dangerous. Not sure what to do, add skateboard grip tape or something to the cage to try and retain it, or use 500ml bottles not 750?!