On the topic of breaks
Penrith Club Criterium at Regatta Centre 6/1 C grade 1st place
Had a chat to the Commissaire about what grade I should run, because I don't want to aimlessly promote myself. He started listing off some of my achievements which didn't resemble my palmares at all (I never thought I could use that in a sentence). I have a relative at the club who has been around a lot longer than me, and has done quite well. I figured they were getting me mixed up with him... so he said C grade would be fine for me despite promotion at Waratahs to B. (supposed to be tougher outside the Vets?)
So I spot my mate from Kangazilla, Charlie, say gday to Dave who helped me out a lot at the recent Enduro race, and tried to not look embarrassed in the skinsuit and booties. Gosh its a tryhard look. Anyways, we get the nod that this would be about an hour long and if we keep a good pace then we'll get 7 laps instead of 6 - I'm in disbelief because I'm assuming its 45 for C. I've blitzed myself yesterday, and I have had a terrible prep. Maccas cheeseburger meal on the way because I'm hungry, managed to buy tubes with the wrong sized stem. Simon, who works for Trek and races with the NRV team gave me a Bontrager 80mm tube, I think it might be latex too!? Anyways, I was freaking out and he saved my bacon. BUY A TREK. THEY ARE GOOD. When the customer service extends to race day, you can't say no to that.
So we roll out, I want to push the pace with some VO2Max for a couple minutes on the front to establish the race. I hate being the victim of bunch failure, so I figure let's dictate terms. Roll off once we hit the bridge and collect some tickets. I eyeball the whole line, noting the riders struggling already. Mental note. Awesome tactic at Penrith. Must do it again. I collect some tickets and recover; we sail around to the finish line and I decide its time to test the bunch. The wind has arrived, and the gentle breeze is getting stronger. Smash it into the wind, and the bunch goes nowhere. No response. I take off. I'm going to make them work for it, and if I can sail off into the sunset, then let's do it. Pick up 100m or so, they gather themselves and bridge the gap after a lap. That's cool. I found out what I needed to know. More tickets for a lap or so, and it looks like we're at the halfway point. I end up on the front at some point, and I'm not keen on being a hero dragging the bunch up the straight. We were doing 28kmh up half the straight with the wind coming at us, gusting so hard. I thought someone would try and come over the top of me, but it never happened. I've ridden the front trying to slow the pace before, didn't work well but I think it works well if no one wants to take the front. Less rest, but a lot more rest than nothing. I'm letting everyone recover, but that's OK. I am going to attack soon
The bunch is in absolute disarray, 2-3 pacelines down the straight, and it's looking great. Turn to a couple older guys and have a chuckle about the headwind. I'm not sure how the conversation turned to attack, but we agree to have a dig. Fantastic work from the guy who was to come 3rd later, putting us up to 52kmh on the southern straight out of the wind, I came through and pushed to 55 (hindsight moment - bad paceline work) and we put some time on a suffering bunch. I really didn't notice a lot of relief from the wind behind the bunch at all earlier, and their legs agreed. We roll some great turns, and spend a lap off the front. Charlie and another tall guy manage to bridge the gap, and one of the two breakers has disappeared, the other has admitted he has nothing left. I don't think its cool to drop people, even if they are suffering, because they've done the work and deserve some protection while they recover, so we spend the next lap putting on some serious time on the bunch. I'm even up on the hoods blocking the wind to help the guys stay on the wheel. (I can't just shout at them to hold the wheel
) Somehow, 4 manage to bridge the gap (awesome effort from them, I couldn't see the bunch) and we're 2 laps from the end. I've decided this is the winning break, and we've got a few likely characters. I've committed to trying to keep Charlie with me to the finish, and I'm trying to figure out how to tell him to stop taking turns LOL
I'm a bit hazy on what happened at this point. I thought the bunch caught us, but I think we were just being lapped by A or B grade, who were SCREAMING past us. While we were plebbing away at 32kmh down the straight into the wind, they must have been keeping 45. Big engines. Anyways, once that settles down, and we're starting to stretch out the break, and Charlie gets a gentle call that we're taking off and can't keep people in the break anymore. Too much strength in the 8. I don't think he realised that my gameplan is to sprint to make the gap, rather than the line, so I'm being a pain shouting orders about when to roll off. Way too many orders, but it was a tough day, too many guys were trying to take long turns and cooking. I'm sure that's why the bunch fell apart trying to chase. I "gently" remind Charlie that he needs to give me another turn as we swing towards the bridge, and I'm not leaving him to get devoured by the bunch (I hate that), and we take another controlled run through the S's. I didn't have a specific sprint agreement, but Charlie was the first to jump. I reckon he put on 5 seconds, and I was worried that he might lift, but he faded and sat up once I put a wheel on him. Timed his sprint too early, given the wind? Not sure, but we'll have to do some practice because he was psyched out - I don't consider myself a sprinter, these breakaways are not bravado, they are necessary for survival to the podium
Picked up the prizemoney and a quiet resolution that I'm promoting myself to B grade everywhere. It wasn't the strongest bunch today, but I managed to dominate proceedings through good tactics and teamwork in tough conditions. Even if I'm not the strongest rider out there, I'm getting a better and better understanding of what needs to be done to win, and making that happen. Sometimes that is inviting people to join my strategy, sometimes it is forcing their hand, sometimes it is barking like Gunnery Sargeant Hartmann. People will take a lot of crap if you are doing your turns and leading the attack.
Forcing them to fear you is hard work, but I think it can be done if you're really careful with the matchbook.
Had a great race, and got to chat with a few guys afterwards. Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow
