Race Report Thread

[foo on patrol]

^^ You porkers! ^^

Foo

[PawPaw]

when and where'd you race Crawf?

Recently popped my racing cherry, jumped into C-grade with about 20-25 riders and was planning to sit back for my first race and see how things played out with a view of having a real crack on the next race.

[Crawf]

when and where'd you race Crawf?

Recently popped my racing cherry, jumped into C-grade with about 20-25 riders and was planning to sit back for my first race and see how things played out with a view of having a real crack on the next race.

Hey PawPaw, was at the Muzz, you may be able to spot me if you're about next time - i'm the only one NOT riding a carbon frame

[toppity]

^^ You porkers! ^^

Foo

no doubt mate..... no doubt. I'm trying to work on it.

[PawPaw]

Hey crawf, I'll look for the Farsports wheels too.

I found out last night why I raced crap on Saturday. Monday I had a raging fever, aching all over, totally exhausted.
This morning I had a full blown URTI and spent most of the day in bed. first bug in about 18 mths.
Am finding it easier to rein diet in this last week, so am 1kg lighter....another 12 to go.

Ah well, glad I have 2 weeks away in the tropics from tomorrow.

[twizzle]

Hmmm. First race in ages, only the third in five months... got smashed. Dropped after 20 minutes and spent the next hour riding to the finish on my own. Also stopped along the way to move the saddle, and had an off when I overcooked a corner and had to dive off the road to avoid a head on with a car. So allowing for the 3 minutes I lost along the way, I was only about a minute slower than C grade despite riding most of the way on my own.

But it was fun making the C grade group of four chase me for about five km before we came to a hill.

Reason for getting dropped: 70 seconds of climbing when my one minute power is classed as 'untrained', at about 60% of what I could make if I had GC genetics. TT coming up in three weeks, I will have my revenge!


Sent from my iThingy...

[nickobec]

Race Report - Peel District Cycling Club Port Kennedy Cycles Handicap - Serpentine

My first handicap on a flat course, I previously raced North Dandalup handicap, but as it started with a 5km climb, it was literally every rider for themselves. Today was supposed to be different, you start in a small group, you work with that group to catch the riders in front and stay ahead of the riders behind.

My tactics where simple, work with my group and pace myself. Expect to get caught by the fast guys from D grade, I ride with them regularly and know their abilities and ride with them to the finish ahead of the pursuers.

I was racing with my power meter, for the 1st time in over a month, mainly so manage my effort and also to record my effort.

I was suffering a mild case of gastro, I did not think it was going to cause me any problem, I did no have anything in my stomach.

Rolled up to the line, to see Dave who I usually share ticket collecting duties in D grade, lining up with the limit group with E grade. I started in group of 6, 4 D graders and Ben a new E grader who missed the start of the limit group. We started 7 minutes behind limit, 3 minutes ahead of strong D grade riders and 13 minutes ahead of scratch .

Everything went to plan for almost a lap. The group worked well, I took my turns, a minute or so on the front at 300w, a 30 seconds no efforts, 20 seconds of sprinting at 300w or more to get back on the group, 4 minutes at just under 200w, then repeat, we were averaging 38kmh. My heart rate was a little high, but I was not worried, I should of been able to keep this up for some time. Except we lost the new guy and Mark, about a third of the way into the lap. About two thirds way round, people started missing their turns, onto the home straight, with only two of us taking turns, then I was 4th and the front two were moving away. I spent the next couple of kms struggling to pull the two back and then I was in trouble.

The next lap, I managed to average 200w, but only 30kmh, I should of recovered by the time three fast D graders past me on the back straight, I tried to get on a wheel but could not managed it. On the finishing straight I was caught by Mark and Ben, stuck with them for the next half a lap, till they tagged on to the back of a fast moving C grade group. I was struggling now, suffering from cramps and only managing 180w and 28kmh,

The problem was I was seriously dehydrated. Normally I start a race well hydrated, but don't drink much during a race and end it slightly dehydrated. Today, due to the gastro, I started dehydrated and it went downhill from there, it was warmer than usual, I worked harder at the beginning of the race, did not drink enough and even before finishing the first lap, I was done. I should of realised this and pull out before the end of the second time. Instead I pushed on trying to finish, even as I realised I was dehydrated. However, that was quickly put out of my hands. I managed to break another spoke on my powertap wheel. For the first time ever, it burst the tube with a bang, blew the tyre of my rim, locking my rear wheel. A controlled skid to a stop and managed to stay upright. Glad that did not happen in a bunch.

I could of repaired the damage, but given my condition and the probability of being lapped, I took the offer from our new commissaire and got a lift back to the finish.

Lesson learnt today, understand your body better and when it does not perform properly, stop racing.

ps Replaced all the spokes on my powertap wheel last night.

[foo on patrol]

You probably set yourself back a bit in your fitness level Nickobec, by racing with the gastro not out your system fully.

Foo

[foo on patrol]

You certainly have some interesting moments Twizzle!

Foo

[toolonglegs]

Well done you 2 for getting out there in non peak form!.
My race report for today is so boring I am tempted to put it in the training thread!.
Turned up... no team mates, so thought I would play up a bit for the first hour. Tough course with two good up / downs ... but 900 kms driving Friday arvy / night and 500 hard km's on holiday in the heat of Spain left me pretty tired. To tell the truth my heart totally wasn't in it and I felt like my mind was drifting away to lala land. Felt like pulling out at half way and every lap of the 9 laps after that... but ended up finishing up in the peloton easily enough. No heroics... just a good 80km training race at 36-37 av ( very slow in parts and hard in others but over all pretty easy ).
Another hard week coming up but with shorter rides and more rest... just lots of 2/3 x 20 minutes hard and some VO2 efforts / tests as well... then hopefully TT's on the 26th and 2nd in fine form!.

[skull]

But it was fun making the C grade group of four chase me for about five km before we came to a hill.
.

yes, b*st*rd

I raced C grade.

Another great race, once again windy GRRR.
The bunch didn't really get organised at the start and no one really wanted to do a turn, so only a couple of us actually pulled out the front. Fair enough, it is a race and just makes for better training for me.

I made an attack a couple hundred metres from Mt Tennant and a few others come along. From there we worked together to maintain the break.
Finish was a uphill sprint, 2 of the guys were not going to contest and with a couple hundred to go I put in an effort and the other rider let me have it.

Also I ended up winning last weeks race as the first place getter got disqualified, so 2 in row. Yay Me! I am definitely gonna have a run at B grade next week, I was thinking about doing it on Sat but the wind put me off.

[toppity]

well done Skull, good luck in B grade.

[Baldy]

Skull is back.

[skull]

Just got a power metre today too, so seriousness goes up a couple of levels

Sent from my not an I device using Tapatalk 2

[twizzle]

Just got a power metre today too, so seriousness goes up a couple of levels

Sent from my not an I device using Tapatalk 2

What'd ya get?


Sent from my iThingy...

[skull]

A quarq 975. Walked into TLC yesterday to talk bikes and they happened to have a second hand one there at a great price.

I was about to buy hollowgram cranks and SRM brand new but this was too good a deal to pass over.

Just lucky they had that there and it was BB30.

Sent from my not iDevice using Tapatalk 2

[twizzle]

You certainly have some interesting moments Twizzle!

Foo

Just to clarify, I had "an off" in rallying terms (hobbies from a former life), I didn't actually come off the bike... I just had a major off-road excursion. Luckily I managed to get rid of most of the speed before leaving the asphalt, and therefore didn't end up in the (small) drainage ditch, because that most definitely would have resulted in an "endo". Scared the crackers out of the corner marshall and some car drivers as well. I couldn't work out where I'd gone wrong... but I realised afterward that the front brakes are crap compared to what I had gotten used to (mini-v's on the cross bike), so I was probably just carrying way too much speed into the corner (~ 45kph).

[twizzle]

A quarq 975. Walked into TLC yesterday to talk bikes and they happened to have a second hand one there at a great price.

I was about to buy hollowgram cranks and SRM brand new but this was too good a deal to pass over.

Just lucky they had that there and it was BB30.

Sent from my not iDevice using Tapatalk 2

Noice - what software are you going to run?

[toolonglegs]

Another training race today ... 65kms at 37 av and nearly 37° C as well .That's hot for here!. I lost nearly 3 kgs of fluids even though I took in two full bidons. Some people were white with salt and brains weren't working well with the amount of bottles being dropped etc. It was super windy which made it all the more fun. Also a Cat 1 / 2 race just to make it that much harder. Unluckily I broke away with a very strong Cat1 rider chasing down a 3 man break but I was suffering and he attacked me and that was the break that stayed away. I just stayed in the ever shrinking bunch after that.
All good fun and good idea for where I need to be at next year... plus I am now the lightest I have been since 2000 .
After our race the real race horses took off for 120 kms of the same course... DN1 ( Division National 1 ) & a few pro jerseys from the French teams ... you just need to look at the bodies on those guys to know they are built for speed!.

[toppity]

Quality field buy the sound of it TLL.

Below is the 3 man heavyweight breakaway from a couple of weeks ago. God I need to loose at least 10kg. I'm on the front.

[toolonglegs]

some horsepower in that photo!... did you stay away?.
I have lost about 14 kgs this year and the difference is rather nice!. Saying that I was the biggest in the race yesterday by far ( even though I weighed in under 90 at the finish! )...90 percent of the field yesterday were Cat 1 riders so I was happy just to finish, especially as I am really starting to feel the amount of high intensity training I have been doing lately... might do a final race this Saturday before tapering for my timetrials... but 2 hours racing at the 38-40 they are predicting might do more damage than good!.

[toppity]

Yes TLL, we stayed away. It was an up and down course, not really suited to big blokes, but we managed.

14kg is a good effort for the year. I've got to kick about 10kg. I can't train as hard as I'd like so that is as realistic as I can be. That form had me going well in B grade races, so that would be nice again.

Do you look forward to the time trials? I have to be honest, they aren't my favourite thing.

[toolonglegs]

Never done a solo time trial before ( just 2 team TT's and 2 short prolouges ( 2.5kms and 6kms ). So it should be interesting... I am a big diesel so should be ok if I get the pacing right. The 2 that I need to do well in are a bit rolling for my liking... Have to place in the top 6 for my age to make it into the nationals. So if I can hold a 40+ av for 20kms I will be right.
I think my position is good... But losing that last 5 to 8 kgs would of helped no end with frontal mass .
Anyway Sunday after next I will know .

[foo on patrol]

If you can get off your bike and walk properly at the end of a time trial, you have not ridden hard enough!

Foo

[nickobec]

Race Report - PDCC Wandi points race D Grade

This was my first points race, I did not know what to expect other than a lot of sprinting and after my problems last week, I was a little worried about staying with bunch. This was exacerbated when my stomach duplicated the effects of the gastro incident of the week before. This week I made sure I was well hydrated.

First lap was at a decent pace, not as pace as the last grade race here. I settled in as ticket collector and waited for the sprint, when it came, it was fast, I crossed the line in about 8th place out of 14, and the riders in front had a 20m gap. The next couple of kms I worked hard, particularly up one of the climbs and dragged myself and a couple of others back on.

The next sprint I was better prepared, crossed the line in about 8th place again, but much closer to the riders in front, and according to Strava covered the last 500m at 43.5kmh. I was expecting a few of the riders to keep going hard, but the pace was taking its' toll and they slowed pretty quickly. The 3rd lap was much like the first two, a steady pace, nobody really trying to escape and I was sitting on the back.

The 3rd sprint was a slightly slower version of the 2nd, it was still way to quick for me, maybe 6th or 7th, stills we were dropping a few riders and everybody seem tired. Knowing I could not match most of the bunch in a sprint, I took off up the climb on Bodemore road, my aim to force the pace, get the bunch to split into 2, get in the first small group and get a couple of points. Except that climb is 5km from the finish and everybody knows I do suicidal attacks, so they left me out there, I slowed, got caught by the bunch and ended up hanging 10 to 15m of the back of the bunch for the final few kms. Did not see WizzFizz take the final 5 points, I was further back picking off tired riders but no points for 7th or 8th.

For my next points race I will be better prepared, but first a need to develop a sprint.