Race Report Thread

[philip]

Does anyone who was at Beaumont yesterday know who the photographer was or where to find the photos he took?

[mikesbytes]

Does anyone who was at Beaumont yesterday know who the photographer was or where to find the photos he took?

I've emailed Matt Ganon, he is going to find out.

[drubie]

Armidale CC graded scratch race, 30km.

So, it looks like another year in C grade for me, although the C grade looks tough with the addition of some returning riders.

We're third off in a bunch of 10 or so, the early pace is tough from the off and we shed all but 5 riders in the foothills on the way out of the out and back course. I feel OK, looking at the other riders I see one guy who should win it with three others who might drop with a little pressure, but we all have consistency problems weekend to weekend so it's hard to judge.

Stupidity and pride have me working off the front every 3 or so goes, pulling hard up the hills trying to wear the bunch down. I hear the heavy breathing and I know I can hurt all but one of them, so without being too obvious I try to lift the paceline fractionally every time I shuffle forward and take advantage of gaps in the paceline to come to the front more often.

At the turnaround all 5 are still here, shadowboxing begins in earnest as two of us start doing most of the work. I'm thinking a long fast pull down to the bottom of a small valley followed by a big effort up the hardest climb should split them, but the timing is critical as we're going fast enough a wheel suck will see a weaker rider dragged to the top.

We hit the climb, I'm marking the other rider I figure as the biggest threat only to realise he's marking me and we're dragging the other three over the hill. Too late! We're over it and onto the fast undulations home.

I'm not much of a sprinter - I can wind up to 60km/h recently but it takes me too long to get there and I have to judge the lead up. I get on the front and start working hard to no avail, the 5 riders strung out behind me and I'm unable to split them. Still, I pound it out until the last little rise where the sprint should begin in earnest but BANG VORP VORP VORP the other rider is out of my slipstream, out of the saddle and off down the road like a rifle shot with the others spread out all over the road trying to respond, pulling past me while I search for a skerrick of effort to lift my pace. I... start suffering and realise the mistake I've made. Despite a last big push I'm home fourth.

Still - has to be the most fun road race I've done so far - like the mobile game of chess you see professionals get up to but at half the speed. Awesome fun.

[JV911]

We're third off in a bunch of 10 or so, the early pace is tough...

i think you've been watching too much Biggest Looser...you wrote the whole report in the present tense

[drubie]

Hmmm, so I did JV911. At least I was consistant

[philip]

My first first

MWCC West Head today, B grade, 3 laps of the west head road (each lap ~21km, so entire race was ~63km).

Rolled out with a bunch of about 20-25 I think. It was the MWCC club championships so there were quite a number of blue jerseys. The weather seemed perfect until after the first couple of kms when we ran into quite thick fog, visibility would've only been ~20metres, it was a little crazy. I was hanging out at the back just chilling for most of the 1st lap, it was a very steady pace, you could've mistaken it for an easy sunday bunch ride. 3 laps is one more than usual for B grade so I guess everyone wanted to conserve their energy. 2nd lap was much the same, there were a few small attacks (one guy in particular tried a few times) but they never got very far - the bunch speed on the downhill parts was just too great for a small breakaway to last.

On the 3rd lap the pace lifted slightly and by the time we got to The Wall I found myself at the front and decided to put in an attack. I figured either I'd get away (hopefully with one or two others to help) and be able to stay away (unlikely) or at least make some people suffer a bit, so it was pretty much win-win so I went for it. I got away for a bit but was caught fairly soon after. I wanted to stay near the front after that because there was only 1/2 a lap left and I figured there was going to be a bit of jostling to get to the front, especially as there's a very sharp (sharper than Beauie) turnaround a few hundred metres before the finish. I got on ft_critical's wheel (he's very good at getting in good positions!) and stayed there as the pace was getting faster and faster towards the finish. On each small climb people were putting the hammer down so at that point I was glad the first 2 laps had been easy going. A few hundred metres before the turnaround point one guy took off and no one followed. I wasn't near enough to the front to follow, on one else went so he was let go. At the turnaround point (which was chaotic, I swear some people just don't know how to turn their bikes) I was in a great position, 5th or 6th wheel back. I waited a bit as it's an uphill sprint and around a bend so you can't see it before you get there, then saw an opening on the left and took off. The uphill sprint really suits me, I was catching the guy in front but didn't quite get there so thought I had 2nd place. Turns out that guy had had a mechanical on the first lap and sat a lap out, so I had actually got 1st!! ft_critical did well too, he was up there at the front.

[toolonglegs]

Nice one Philip ...shame you didn't think you had won when you crossed the line!...but a first is a first!...congrats.

[mikesbytes]

Good one Philip.

Next time West Head is on, I'll turn up and try to suck your wheel

[ft_critical]

My first first

MWCC West Head today, B grade, 3 laps of the west head road

Congratulations Philip(where are the fireworks smilies when you need them ACF Team?) It was a comprehensive victory, looking from behind, Philip had a good 10m on second place who was falling back.

I came in 5th; happy with that first race back after the crash and on a new course for me.

It was amusing to me that NSCC won A, B, C grades at the MWCC club championships. And based on the 6 man freight-train they put on the front of B grade for the last 5km, it wasn't as though they weren't trying. Secondly, that the A grade MWCC Club champions, well first and second, wore KOM team kit.

[JV911]

well done phil!!!

wasn't the fog crazy

[JV911]

Date: 17/4/2010
Event: LACC Crit
Location: SOP
Grade: C
Time: 35min +3 laps

A field of 15 lined up at SOP on Saturday arvo. Pace was easy for the 1st two laps which was fine by me. I went into the race having told myself to save energy and not to do too much work on the front (as fun as it is). Sure enough after 10 mins I was on the front but was toasted after doing 2 turns. I dropped back to try and hide in the bunch but kinda shot myself in the foot by dropping too far back. Was last at one point and with the attacks and yo-yoing pace at the front I was really feeling it. I dug deep and worked my way back to near the front as the pace eased in the latter part of the race. Whistle lap (3 to go) and there was an attack and I found myself being hung out to dry near the back but managing to hang on, more of the same for 2 laps to go and again for the bell lap. Coming out of the last corner the pace eased and the bunch spread out 5 wide. I spied a gap up the inside...I knew it was early, actually very early to go (well before the rise), but I thought "f@#$ it" and went anyway, out of the saddle, up through the gears blasting up the inside and into the lead. With the line approaching quickly I thought I was in but heard at least one person closing in. Summoning all that I could I got out of the saddle again in an attempt to hold on. In a photo finish I got pipped on the line and took 3rd...then the heaving started. I rolled to a stop and ditched my bike and helmet, almost ending up in the garden myself, trying to hold down my lunch, which thankfully it did. After several minutes I regained my composure and remounted and completed the cool-down lap.

So my best result (so far!) in C grade (although not the most satisfying of races having not down a lot of work) and another goal achieved.

Time: 47:57 (including warm down/dry heave lap)
Distance: 27.07km
Av Speed: 35.9km/h
Max Speed: 52.6km/h
Av Cadence: 88
Max Cadence: 120

[philip]

I rolled to a stop and ditched my bike and helmet, almost ending up in the garden myself, trying to hold down my lunch, which thankfully it did

haha that must've been quite a sight

So my best result (so far!) in C grade (although not the most satisfying of races having not down a lot of work) and another goal achieved.

Excellent work, always nice to achieve those goals.

[NotFlyingScot]

I rolled to a stop and ditched my bike and helmet, almost ending up in the garden myself, trying to hold down my lunch, which thankfully it did

haha that must've been quite a sight

So my best result (so far!) in C grade (although not the most satisfying of races having not down a lot of work) and another goal achieved.

Excellent work, always nice to achieve those goals.

Congratulations to the both of you on your results over the weekend. Now Jeremy if you had only come to the Snowy with us like Kev365428 that 3rd might have been a 1st
NFS

[JV911]

Now Jeremy if you had only come to the Snowy with us like Kev365428 that 3rd might have been a 1st

by the sounds of it i'd have moved up to B already

i reckon i just need to race more - last one was over a month ago on 14/3. thankfully there is plenty on over winter with both LACC and waratah holding races at homebush plus i'm going to make an effort to get out to the dragway esp for the enduros. i've highlighted 25 races that i'd like to do between now and christmas

[philip]

A grade at Beauie today:

I was going to do B grade but there was a big turnout again so I decided to smash myself in A grade again rather than battle it out in a big B grade field. Even A grade was big, started with 25-30 riders. I got dropped after only 15 minutes (average speed up till then was 42)! I wasn't the first to get dropped though. On the lap I dropped off there was a big break, 30-45 seconds, so it seems the field did slow down a bit, so if only I had hung on a little longer maybe I could've stayed with them a few more laps... so not much of a race report! I'll definitely go back to B grade for a while - the gap between A and B grades is pretty big! The other thing is is that I'm hesitant to move up the bunch in A - so I was always at the back which makes coming out of the turns hard.

[ft_critical]

1+ bottles of wine. 0600. Nothing to do, awake, mild headache. I will ride to Beaumont and see how I feel. Felt fine. I will ride on the back of B and see how I feel. Felt fine. Was a fast race - 40kmh. Nothing happened - 'group ride with numbers.'
Positioned myself in what I thought was a good spot for the sprint finish, 3rd wheel on the line moving up on the outside. Had heaps of energy. The field was too big though (50+ dwindled down to maybe 40). No gaps, everyone was too cautious and there was no sprint just five wide bunch rolling over the line at pace.

Lesson. Be at the very front of a big bunch if no-one has smashed it up.

[philip]

Beauie this morning:

Heaps smaller turn out today than the last 2 races, probably because the last race was only on last Monday and a few people are at Canberra. Given the small turnout they decided to have a handicap race which was a cool idea, I haven't done a handicap before so it was interesting. 12 laps in total, I went in B grade (biggest bunch, 15-20) and we actually worked quite well together and caught D and C grade within about 4 laps. A grade (only 4 or 5 riders) caught us at about lap 7 or 8 (forgot to keep count, I had no idea what lap we were on until the 2 laps to go sign went up) and we stayed with them. I thought the pace was going to pick up a lot after A grade caught us, but it didn't - they had done pretty well to catch us that quickly given there weren't many of them. There were a couple of attempts at attacks but they didn't work, one of them I thought I had made it across but then I looked back and found I'd brought the whole bunch with me. So it ended with a bunch sprint, the A graders working well together to get the places. At one stage coming up to the line I thought I might get 3rd but then 2 guys flew past me like I was standing still so I got 5th, the sprint was just too fast for me. Fun race!

[mikesbytes]

Sounds similar to the Handicap crits we have at DHBC, except B grade usually wins

[philip]

Beauie again:

Another small turnout, not sure why this week, so another handicap. I really like these handicap races, it makes it a lot more interesting. They gave D and C grades a bigger gap this time and shortened it to 10 laps (was 12 last time). B grade for me, we were the biggest bunch by far, 15-20 or so. We started off working very well for the first 5-6 laps or so and caught D and C grade in that time. There was the mother of all burglars in D grade though, he really should've been in B grade, we were only very gradually catching up to him and he had nearly a lap on us so there was no way we were going to catch him. After 6-7 laps the B grade paceline started getting messy, I guess people were getting tired and others wanted to push it - we still had a few hundred metres on A grade so it was looking good for us if we kept the pace up. 2 laps to go, A grade are still a way off and a few of us keep rolling around so I was pretty sure they wouldn't get us. Last lap I still didn't think they'd catch us, then from the bottom corner one B grader took off and I was a few wheels back from him, no one else started to chase so I thought bugger this, can't let him get away now, so went around and dug hard to catch him. I thought that was it for me, only a hundred metres or so till the sprint so I stayed on his wheel trying to catch my breath - then a few people started going around us so I flicked it into the 11 and went for it on the left anyway, I passed a couple of riders then see an A grader going hard on the right - they did catch us!!! They must've gone really hard on the last lap, we weren't exactly taking it easy. So I give it all I've got and get 2nd in the sprint to the A grader. 3rd overall as there was that D grader way ahead.

[foo on patrol]

Good effort there Philip! It's all about pushing that bit harder, when you think you have nothing left.

[JV911]

So I give it all I've got and get 2nd in the sprint to the A grader. 3rd overall as there was that D grader way ahead.

nice one phil!

not much to report from waratah C grade today at SOP - a fair field of probably 25 or so riders. pace was steady with only a few breakaways, on of which i chased down myself (which i was quite proud of:) ) but once i caught the others seemed resigned to the fact that they would get caught and sat up. i did a few turns on the front and put in a couple half-hearted attacks of my own. got a bit messy in a couple of times mixing it with D grade. was well positioned in 6th or so going into the bell lap so thought i'd have a crack at it down the back straight - i attacked up the right side moving into the lead and getting a few metres on the field. led through the last corner and over the hump but didnt have the legs or lungs and got mowed down. oh well, live and learn and had fun doing so.

Time: 56:47
Distance: 35.95 km
Avg Speed 38.0km/h

[odd_omelette]

I too was in that race this morning at SOP and the pace seemed to ebb and flow a lot hence D grade trying to lap us. Either they were fast today or we were freewheeling too much? Nearly got wiped out when i wanted to pick up the pace out front so at least i know my brakes work The guy apologised afterwards which was commendable and just informed him to take a quick peek whenever you drift across...a tip a lot of riders should employ. All in all i was happy with the outcome of todays effort even though i started the sprint way too late and came 5th or 6th which is fine as i probably didnt put in enough work pulling the group anyhow. Im still learning how my new bike behaves as its only the third time riding my baby so got to keep racing you kids and justify the flashy equipment. Til we race again.....

Daniel

* Jeremy - im guessing you're the guy with the red/black Jawbones? I was in the Penrith jersey *thumbs up*

[toolonglegs]

Noice one Philip...f'n burglars...really is time they sorted out a way to restrict that happening.Never happens here which makes the racing a lot fairer for some reason .Anyway congrats on the 2nd!.
I love reading about all the old course's back in Sydney ...especially on days when I am too sick to race .

[JV911]

Im still learning how my new bike behaves as its only the third time riding my baby so got to keep racing you kids and justify the flashy equipment. Til we race again...
* Jeremy - im guessing you're the guy with the red/black Jawbones? I was in the Penrith jersey *thumbs up*

yep jawbones. was my first race on the new teschner...was bloody awesome

penrith jersey and half-sleeve of tatts?

[philip]

So my dad was there watching the race with his video camera - he has lots to learn, at the moment he is perhaps the worst cameraman on the planet - 3 seconds of useable video from the sprint:

funny that I don't remember that car being there in front of us at all!