ACTVCC Criterium Championships M3. 30 min + 2 laps
Well this might be the last race report I post in this thread for a while.
A new job opportunity opened up for SWMBO and we will be leaving the sunny climbs of Canberra for the wilds of the Middle-East (Glen Waverley) in Melbourne.
The Setup.
The weather was just about perfect for racing, it was sunny, and cool, however there was significant breeze coming from the Southeast which would mean that the downhill part of the circuit would be into a cross-headwind.
Our competition for the day would be drawn from a selection of grades from the winner of last week’s A grade race, to E grade. Whilst we were approaching this race with a bit more pedigree than last year, our preparation was far from ideal. In the last few weeks I have managed very little saddle time with mid-week racing being put aside for other tasks. John hadn’t been able to get out much either, so as a pair we were quite underdone. To add further insult I tried out a new weight-loss method by having a tooth removed on Thursday, but that seemed to knock me around quite a bit, however I was at least feeling better by Sunday.
The Plan.
We suspected that the race would be similar to last year, which had 2 A grade, 1 B grade, ourselves and one from E grade, and predictably it broke down into a pair of leaders, a pair of chasers, and a lone straggler. Therefore since we thought that we were better this year we would try to hang onto the leaders for the whole race, and maybe try and surprise them near the end if we were feeling comfortable.
The Race.
This year as well has having a couple of extra numbers from both A and E grades, there was a decision to start both the M3 and M4 riders in the same bunch, with identifying tags for the older riders. So it was a bunch of 14 that faced the starter. Curiously there was more talent in the older age group with 3 A, 3 B and one C grade rider.
The race got underway at a fairly steady pace. Predictably no one really wanted to go to the front into the teeth of the wind on the downhill stretch, and we found ourselves moving forward because I preferred that rather than braking on that stretch. We did a turn on the front and of course no one wanted to come past. (Why is it that no one wants to overtake us?) I wasn’t having any of that and after a lap of this I made it fairly obvious that our turn was done. However it was apparently going to be one of those races.
The next time we went to the front the same thing happened, so all of a sudden the pace dropped to a happy 30km/h whilst we waited for the inevitable attack. Sure enough Bruce from M4 obliged, and seeing the M4 tag on his back, I knew that we had no interest in chasing him. Amusingly enough the others seemed to think that we would, so they continued to dawdle around after us whilst Bruce continued to ride away. This was actually the one time when sitting on the front of the bunch was a tactical advantage. The longer we sat there tapping out tempo, the bigger the gap became, and the less time there was to close it. This meant that the longer it went on, the more likely it was that there would have to be a determined fast chase required in order to bring him back, and we could profit from that since a hard fast finish would play into our hands.
Eventually the chase started and it was the M4 riders leading the way, and we cheerfully tacked onto the back. However the pace began to take a toll and the gaps were starting to open up in the middle, which is not something that you want to see when you are at the back. We started to push through the gap, when all of a sudden Steve (M3) took off from the front, with Nathan (M3) hot on his heels. With only half a dozen minutes to go before the 2 lap board, we knew that this was the moment of decision, so we picked our way through the stragglers, and set off after our two rivals. I was particularly pleased that we managed to do this without collecting a Klingon, which would have posed a problem to us.
John put in a sustained burst of power, but it was not enough to get onto the wheel of Nathan, who had not quite been able to follow Steve. Going into the last 2 laps it was 3 bikes time-trialling toward the finish, with most of the rest in a bunch behind. Bruce was swept up somewhere in the process and had retreated to the shelter of the bunch.
We failed to catch Nathan, but going into the last lap I could see that the bunch was finally getting serious, and were starting to close the gap to us. I continued to shout encouragement to John, who responded with all the power he could muster and in the end we managed to hold the bunch off by 2 or 3 seconds for a hard-earned 3rd place.
So ends a riding partnership with John, and in many ways it was a fitting end to have fought off a rampaging bunch to finish with a minor placing after a hard race. Together we have come from being at the back of F grade to progress through to the back of A grade (on the flat). We have raced whenever the opportunity presented, took advantage of favourable conditions when we could, and suffered when we couldn’t. All the time we managed to enjoy ourselves and demonstrate that vision impaired riders on tandems can race in the company of single riders pretty seamlessly. I can only hope that John will be able to continue racing with other pilots and continue to progress. He might be too old to harbour thoughts of Paralympic representation, but perhaps through his efforts, we can open up more opportunities for younger riders so that they can get some proper race experience, that might turn into greater competition at the elite para-cycling levels. Whilst Australia does have some truly elite para-cyclists, there is a severe lack of depth, so there is a need for sub-elite riders to continue to make their presence felt and ensure that the opportunities to develop the next generation of elite riders continue to be around. Moreover wherever there are tandem stokers, there is a shortage of race pilots, because life means that any particular pilot may not be available on every occasion that the stoker could race, so I would recommend that anyone who reads this thread, consider making contact with a tandem stoker, and offer to go for a ride, and maybe race once in a while. You don’t need to be an extraordinary rider to make a real difference.
Cheers,
Cameron