Race Report Thread

[Xplora]

The late flyer is usually a good plan 2+kms from the end - you can't let the sprinters get an early lead out, and you need the bunch to falsely believe you'll fail before the finish line. 600m is really where the sprinters are starting to lift the pace, and it's much easier to follow 1000 watts for 10 seconds before doing your real sprint.

Don't get frustrated either - there are many times the bunch isn't showing weakness, they are showing patience, and waiting for hot heads to lift the pace for you is very effective for saving your legs

[Bluejay87]

Yes I was thinking the same, but I guess because my cornering was so bad I was afraid if I went before the last corner I'd lose too much speed coming around it and probably get caught. Realistically though that's probably a rationalization I made and the real reason was I was being lazy and didn't want to go through 2kms of pure pain. I guess you have to be willing to do that if you want to win though! I guess I tried a compromise between a proper sprint finish and a a proper breakaway- probably always destined for failure.

[Xplora]

Yes I was thinking the same, but I guess because my cornering was so bad I was afraid if I went before the last corner I'd lose too much speed coming around it and probably get caught. Realistically though that's probably a rationalization I made and the real reason was I was being lazy and didn't want to go through 2kms of pure pain. I guess you have to be willing to do that if you want to win though! I guess I tried a compromise between a proper sprint finish and a a proper breakaway- probably always destined for failure.

Never up, never in. You can't be sure what your real strengths are just yet, and the "important" thing for my mind is accepting you can't win every race because some races are just not going to present good opportunities. Hot dogs are a real pain for the steady state rider, because the explosive/recovery cycle isn't so good for them, but a surging crit bunch in a straight line can be just as bad. Make sure you are enjoying your racing, end of the day if it's not fun, you'll get fed up with it fast.

[nickobec]

Cameron

Thanks for the tips, never really notice how much wider I take an apex from the rider in front.

2. By far the biggest thing slowing you through the corners is your brakes. (funny that) You slow down more than the others do before the corner even starts, and therefore you keep losing ground until you can start pedalling again

Truthfully I rarely touch my brakes in a race, it is more that well before the corner, I stop pedaling and sit up (and catch the wind), causing me to lose ground. I need to keep down, watch the wheel in front and keep pedaling.

[Parker]

hey Nickobec - Thanks for the chat this morning at the ATTA, I've checked out your Strava and I'll probably race D since I haven't raced mixed in a super long time - I'll see you on the weekend perhaps.

Oh and I won the women's C Grade series for the SmashFest criteriums as well, I should probably move up to B grade next year, I won it with two second places overall.

[Xplora]

Marconi B grade Dragway long circuit

Almost 50 riders tonight chasing double prizemoney, I slept about 4 hours last night and had a sluggish day at work so I figured I'd just hang around and try and help some breakers, never happened. I launched a quick attack from the gun, basically trying to control the race with some early work because Parramatta's riders tend to surge quite a lot and this just destroys me. This attacking worked well, I kept picking up great pace down the hill and wasn't too boxed in around the tight corners. Felt like I was hitting 600w each corner instead of 700 and I found I could keep the pace better. Recovered for 20 minutes in the middle, then basically stayed on the front or just behind for the next three laps. I tried to lead out my fellow Penrith rider Graham D (real unit of a bloke, great sprinter) but wasn't to be. I managed to pull 2-3 laps at 340-350w normalised, this is up 20w on earlier in the season! Very happy that I was able to mix it up, and even entered the final straight 3rd place, but not quite on the wheels in front so I got monstered. Still pulled 1200w on the straight, so it's not all bad. Getting stronger, stronger, stronger. Quicker and quicker. Hoping the weights is working

[Cul]

GCC Crit, Belmont Island - A/B Grade
Dist: 29km Avg: 37.6km

Friday arvo’s weather was sketchy at best, it looked like it was going to hammer down and the racing would be cancelled but alas the rain stayed away and we just had a solid SE wind to put up with. The turnout was reasonable at best, with a good showing of B Graders but only a handful of A Graders (this weekend was CV Tour of Bright). The end result was a combined A/B Grade race with approx. 15-20 riders. We got off to a pretty slow start with only a few riders interested in doing any work, if it weren’t for those riders we might as well sat in the pit area for 30 minutes. About 10 mins into the race we got moving with the pace going from slow to steady. I found myself in a good position for the first intermediate sprint at the 15min but could only manage second. This was perfect timing for a break though with one of the A Graders slipping off the front un-noticed he hung for a few laps but the bunch was reluctant to chase! I bridged the gap letting him know it was just the two of us, after pulling a few turns he slipped off my wheel and I was going it alone for a few laps before the remainder of the bunch decided I’d hung out on my own long enough.

The second intermediate sprint at the 30min mark I wasn’t even close to being in contention but post sprint easy rolling it provided a great opportunity to move up the bunch with only 10mins +3 laps to go. A few A Graders had the same idea which resulted in the pace of the bunch ramping up dramatically; I was getting quite flustered as the faster riders on the front moved away, I was much faster through the corners than the rider in front of me which resulted in me rep’n the MTB skills and overtaking him in the dirt on the outside of the course after he didn’t hold his line and swung out… “3” to go, I spent the final 3 laps sitting about 2nd and 3rd wheel just hanging on almost hoping we’d get a gap and run away with it… That wasn’t to be unfortunately, 2nd wheel and the final bend for the sprint, hammering for the line I just didn’t have the gusto on the sprint and ended up 4th Place.

Not dissatisfied with the result, it was a very tactical race particularly by the A Graders that said despite the fire power only one of the five A Graders were in the Top 4. Like last week the race highlighted the need to do some serious sprint work in training.

[Bluejay87]

Penrith Cycling Club - International Regatta Centre - D Grade

Fun but ultimately frustrating race tonight. Biggest turn out for a D-Grade race I've seen in Sydney (only my fourth race though), with maybe 15-20 riders. Nice smooth, fast and fun course without any crazy hairpins, although it did have some pretty heavy crosswinds. Stayed towards the front of the bunch for most of the race, taking my share of turns, although I was always trying to save some in the tank. Coming into the last straight, I competed in my first proper sprint finish and nabbed second........but it later turned out there was a 3 man breakaway ahead of us which I had no idea about. They must have gone off the front in the short time that I was in the middle of the group, around the 3rd lap. Couldn't believe it. Apparently someone said something about organizing a chase but I didn't hear anything. I would have thought people would have made a bigger fuss and tried to organize something if they knew they were off the front, but instead everyone was taking soft turns in the last 2 laps and nobody was saying anything. A few people went off the front a couple times but never very far and it didn't seem like they were trying to bridge the gap, at least to me.

I definitely failed for not noticing the disappearance of 3 riders off the front but I feel frustrated it wasn't made more apparent to me. I would have been willing to push a lot harder to bridge the gap. Would have been fun, oh well.

[Xplora]

Valuable lesson learn Blue. Remember the other riders owe you nothing, expecting something only makes you disappointed

[Xplora]

Thread resurrection!

Marconi B grade - Eastern Creek Dragway

Enjoyed tonight, spent a truckload of time shadowboxing at the front, I think I managed to stay in the top 5 of 34 for 40 minutes of our shortened 45 minute race. Lots of time on the front, I'm noticing that I'm managing more time in the wind each race. Feeling like we (team breakaway) lack the commitment to go deep to build a gap. I was allowed to have 50m on the bunch a few times, only had a couple bridging moves, bit soft really. I picked the early bell but I didn't really recover enough to factor in it. Not quite sure how to cope with that - VO2Max power after spending most of the race at threshold seems to be a killer for me, but I'm improving every race. Worry about winning in a couple months after some build phases.

[jules21]

disastrous race for me this evening. got a dinner appt wrong (it was last night) so unnecessarily signed up for B instead of C (earlier start). how much harder could it be? from the limit, i was on the limit. i looked down at my power meter as I powered up the hill and saw 800w - but the field was disappearing from me! who are these superhumans?! i couldn't understand it. after about 5 laps i became unhitched and rolled around until they caught me and I had another go. i lasted another few laps, before I got dropped again and called it a night. when i got back to the pits, i noticed a broken spoke and a rear wheel rubbing hard up against the brakes...

[dalai47]

i looked down at my power meter as I powered up the hill and saw 800w

Haven't raced there for a few years now, but was consistently north of 1K W each lap up that hill @75kg...

Don't look down, just work to make sure you stay on the wheel in front... If that doesn't work, try and sneak through towards the front before the nuetral section at the hairpin. If you are towrds the front, even if you slip down the bunch a little up the climb you should at least stay in the bunch a little longer.

[jamescbdunn]

Yeah, HCC is a special kinda course. Last night I delivered 25 efforts 5s or longer @1000w, (north of 80kg though), and that was just sitting in in A-grade for 40mins!

See this vid for a few examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4cMnl2YFaI

[jules21]

i can touch 1200w but only a few times and i can't hold it. i'm pretty sure i would get quickly cooked trying to hold A grade. i'm also 80+kg.

congrats on 2nd place james - i wouldn't have thought that possible at your weight.

here are my numbers from last night. i lost touch on the 7th lap.

[Xplora]

Classic crit output, massive work there... I definitely don't pull that kind of wattage every lap around Sydney in B grade!

[jules21]

Classic crit output, massive work there... I definitely don't pull that kind of wattage every lap around Sydney in B grade!

it's only cos of the hill you need to put that power out - it's for a short period, then you basically roll and recover until the next lap

[Parker]

B Grade Women's at Twilight Crits - Perth - Claremont Showgrounds

Um just I jumped up to women's B, I decided that since there was eight weeks of racing it would give me a chance to improve. Last week I got third place cause there were three women in the race...

This week I got so last it's really not funny but I'm okay with it, sometimes you've gotta loose in order to learn how to win. It's a fair jump from C to B, so I'm hanging in there and by the time this series finishes I will finish with someone in B... it'll make me faster. Right?

Most importantly I'm not getting lapped by C and D who're starting after us by about a minute. I was faster this week than last week, I've started trainig with a coach as well because I've got my eyes set on the Rottnest TT in March.

[Xplora]

It's the way forward, Parker... I'm feeling I need to move to A, but I need to get my snap worked out a bit more to survive.

[jamescbdunn]

Thanks Jules, I don't think of myself as a whippet, and I certainly don't feel that way racing on Wednesdays...

The race certainly needs to play out a certain way for a sprinter to have much chance at HCC, there were several unsuccessful break attempts, but it came back together just at the right time on the last lap. Most (all?) of my results at Hawthorn have come from that sort of race. My challenge is usually getting through the first half of the race, one week avg. power was 350w for the first 9mins!!

[SquareWheels]

B Grade Women's at Twilight Crits - Perth - Claremont Showgrounds

Hi Parker,

are the Claremont crits on every Wednesday for quite a while yet? If so is it free entry for spectators?

I am wanting to take my 10 year old along for a look. She loves watching the cycling with me (on telly) but wants to watch the woman race.

Cheers

[skull]

That said, you've got 2nd, 3rd and 1st in your last 3 B grade outings so I have my eye on you as well .

R

SNAP

[Xplora]

Waratahs Age Race at SMSP 30 to 39yo

Short and sweet. I was dreading this one, you get exposed to a few A graders and maybe A++ so the plan was sit in a bit and see how we went. I ended attacking hard several times and this was the pattern of the race. Basically a D grade surge fest except with very strong A graders lol

I dropped my bottle after 5 laps and hesitated. 6 seconds later I was dropped. I am Never racing in humidity without two bottles after that. I had a chance today but not without water. A backup bottle would have solved that. I am definitely feeling like I could handle A grade now. Hopefully a result tomorrow!

[Bluejay87]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has dropped a bottle in a race before. I did it in my last race while I was near the front and was so glad I didn't wipe out the peloton.

[singlespeedscott]

With a 40-60min crit you should be right to get by without a bottle. Just down one bottle before the start and another after you finish. You wouldn't be able to use one for a points race on the track.

[foo on patrol]

Good hydration is the secret to track racing, especially in a 50klm points score race.

Foo