First race report - Friday 31/10 - Newcastle

[Mattsbike]

Hi all,

I have recently joined up with Hunter District Cycling Club and Friday saw my first ever attempt at a race - I am now completely addicted!

I entered the E Grade race at Kooragang Island with little idea of how to race or what to expect. The E Grade race is just a 1 lap sprint, covering around 7.5kms.

The start was good, I placed myself toward the back of the 10 man pack, just getting a feel of things. Mike (Avanti22) was also there and took the lead and held it for 3/4 of the race. The pace picked up to mid to high 30's toward the middle of the race and on a little climb the pack started to move.

I hung on and kept up with the leaders until a young fella leapt to the front with about 600m to go. Not knowing what to do, I put the head down and went with him. I thought I was going to explode!

I am very happy to report that the 31 year old legs didn't let me down and I managed to place second, and not too far behind the kid. (If you're reading this...well done mate!)

Some quick stats from the Garmin:
Distance: 7.26km
Time: 12:10
Avg Speed: 35.80km/h
Max Speed: 54.6km/h
Max HR: 190 bpm (yes I did nearly explode!)

Thanks to everyone for the information on this site. It has really helped in preparing for the race.

Can't wait for the next one on Friday!

Matt

[Boognoss]

Awesome work mate.

All this talk of racing is making me want to give it a go....

[sandman]

Matt

Well done on your first race mate, with the addiction you'll be attacking off the front and poking the Peleton at every opportunity in the next weeks so keep up the good work and keep those reports comming.

Pete

[RobRollin]

Well done mate, thats great work. Every person who has entered their first race should be commended!!

[531db]

7.5 km is a very short road race/crit even for E grade. Most clubs will give their lowest grade at least 20 km.

But anyway, congratulations!

[zozza]

Good one Matt, glad all went well and Congratulations on your new addiction

[zozza]

Awesome work mate.

All this talk of racing is making me want to give it a go....

Hey Boogy, come out to Eastern Creek this sunday and give it a go, You'll love it

[531db]

Good one Matt, glad all went well and Congratulations on your new addiction

Hey Zozza, where's the report for last nights's racing at the Regatta Centre?

[Avanti22]

Yeah was very very foolish to take the front spot haha as soon as I was there I knew what I'd done.... all kinds of obsenities were racing through my head haha. I tried to fall back but the guy behind me had his front tyre right up mine so I couldnt move I tried all sorts of things to let him know I wanted to fall back but nothing worked, oh so frustrating. So of course I lead for most of the race and got taken on the rise cos I selected to lower gear perhaps sprinting up the hill may have been the way to go I had about 1.5k to the finish so they would have lost their wind resistance behind me and reckon i still had the energy to sprint to the line. Only my third race ever so oh well these things happen its all a learning curve I'll know next time.

[leximack]

7.5km and only 12mins long is a really, really short race.
Well done though in getting out there and congrats on your 2nd place.
D grade for you next week

[Mattsbike]

Yeah, it is a short race, but it was good to give me a taste and also learn some racing etiquette and tactics.

I understand that the length of the race is restricted due to availability of daylight, i.e start 6pm, and be all done and dusted by 7pm to allow riders to get away before dark.

D Grade is two laps...hopefully I will be there soon!


Matt

edit: PS Leximack, I like your choice of steed mate!

[toolonglegs]

Yeah was very very foolish to take the front spot haha as soon as I was there I knew what I'd done.... all kinds of obsenities were racing through my head haha. I tried to fall back but the guy behind me had his front tyre right up mine so I couldnt move I tried all sorts of things to let him know I wanted to fall back but nothing worked, oh so frustrating.

Easy stop pedalling and roll.Someone would have gone past...don't feel pressured to work for everyone else.On a race that short you should have warmed up for about 30 minutes so that if you go to the front it is to attack...not give everyone a free ride.
Obviously it was team tactics for Matt

[Avanti22]

Well the ride over from work is prob about 30-40 mins so its a fairly decent warmup period. Yeah prob shoulda just free spun was just visualising his tyre hitting mine ive seen what happens then its not pretty.

As for sprints etc my garmin should be ariving late this week or early next week so matt and I can do some Zone training together prob start off with 80%HR which both of us can prob do quite comfortably then try and increase our tollerance of the higher speeds for longer at about 92-96%HR.

[giantrock]

Congrats on your first race that would have been so exciting. I think that you have made me realise that I need to train a lot more and get moving alot quicker before I enter a race. However I have caught up with a group that just goes for a Saturday stroll and then caught up with another guy who has been riding for a while so hopefully I will get a lot faster training with him. Was going to go this morning with the Active cycles group but had to pull out due to hubby having to go and load his truck this morning so had to stay home with Junior, but their is always next Friday.....