Race Report Thread

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jules21
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby jules21 » Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:53 pm

come to think of it the other one i'd nominate is at the Tour of East Gippsland, which is similar to Buller Crit. these are both improvised circuits though that aren't raced regularly - which I say is a good thing :)

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thelittlebattler
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby thelittlebattler » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:50 pm

VCC supercrits D grade

Ummm, so that was interesting... Heard the hospital was getting smashed with hail and buckets of water, but a suburb to the North I didn't get a drop. A look at the radar looked like stromlo should be ok, so optimistically went out for a look. Lightning flashing in the distance, but the track was dry, so I signed up and found a couple of familiar faces.

Rolled out at the front of the bunch and started easing into it, before a few voices started joking about the nice warm up. I started getting a tempo going, then looked around to find I was on my own 50m down the track. I figured people generally work pretty hard to get a gap like this, so I may as well take the free hit. It was a good way to spend a couple of laps, I highly recommend being off the front: It's just like riding solo off the back, only you get a psychological boost of being on the lead lap.
There wasn't a lot of sustained tempo at the front, so I burned some bikkies trying to go with a few little moves. I figured I may as well attack whenever the idea popped into my head, and then decide afterwards whether it was silly or not. Obviously they were mostly silly. At least I counted the laps properly this time, and was in fantastic position coming down to get the bell. I also noticed my mate was in 2nd wheel and deserving of a tow, so figured I'd give the lead-out job a go. That's where it gets wierd:

We were hooning around collarbone corner, when skippy the roo decided to join the lead out train. Unfortunately he couldn't hold a line properly, lost traction and skidded straight in front of me. I managed to get the front wheel clear, but his foot clipped the back wheel and stepped it out. I managed to hold it, but it was the 2nd Thursday in a row I scared the whole bunch on collarbone corner. That was enough excitement for me, so I dropped off and rolled in hoping that the bike was ok (it seems to be). At least my mate managed a podium.
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Mick Dee
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Mick Dee » Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:58 am

You would've felt rueful if you'd come off...

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Chris249 » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:37 am

Was it this guy?

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He's rubbish at holding his line, but at least he can bunny hop like Hans Rey!

Sorry, it's roo'd of me to joke about it.

Snakes at the velodrome, roos at the crit track....gotta love Canberra. :D
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thelittlebattler
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby thelittlebattler » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:58 am

Haha that's him!!! Glad he's ok. I didn't think of the bunny hop, but I doubt that would've ended well: There wasn't much roo'm...
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jules21
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby jules21 » Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:24 pm

had a bit of a mishap at today's crit. was entering the final corner in decent position, towards the front of the bunch. it was a big bunch and i was near the centre as we cornered into the finishing straight. i thought i had taken a reasonable line and wasn't trying to do anything crazy, but noticed the rider on my outside was cutting in towards me. we were both committed to our lines. it was pretty light contact, but enough to destabilise him and he went down after a bit of a wobble. luckily i stayed up. i went back to say sorry and he seemed cool about it. he didn't seem too injured. i suppose it was my fault but from my sketchy memory (it all happens quickly) i think he may have been a touch behind me, which may have been why i didn't pick his line up early enough. but then, i could be imagining that. i will be more careful from now on.

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foo on patrol
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:36 pm

So you weren't drifting out wide but he came in on you, Jules? If that's how it happened, then it's his fault for cutting in, not yours! :wink:

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jules21
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby jules21 » Sun Oct 26, 2014 6:43 pm

foo on patrol wrote:So you weren't drifting out wide but he came in on you, Jules? If that's how it happened, then it's his fault for cutting in, not yours! :wink:
i hadn't changed my line Foo, but then probably neither had he. we were on a collision course.

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foo on patrol
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby foo on patrol » Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:13 pm

Then that is what you call, Chit Happens in a race situation. :wink:

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ironhanglider
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby ironhanglider » Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:56 pm

Being on the outside in a corner is a leap of faith. You rely on everyone else being predictable and not touching a pedal or having to avoid an obstacle. If something goes wrong there is not a lot of room to escape. Starting wide and then cutting in close is a recipe for disaster.

If the outside rider is ahead they can force others to evade in the interests of self-preservation, however once the inside rider is able to put an elbow or shoulder onto their body, they become more likely to lose out. By the time bars are level the outside rider is in the more vulnerable position and will have to evade in the interests of self-preservation.

Of course the dynamics can change rapidly when riders are travelling at different speeds. A sudden dive down the inside can be disastrous if the aggressor doesn't get level and may find himself running out of road. If he does get level and surprises the others in the process he will not be popular, particularly if it results in being wide and slow on the exit to the corner. That would likely bring swift retribution from the bunch. Coming around the outside leaves you vulnerable so what are you to do? The safest options are not the most competitive ones. Be aware of your surroundings and have a little margin for others error is the best approach.

In this instance it sounds like the other rider brought about his own crash.

Unfortunately not enough time is spent on skill development. I used to ride in a training bunch once a week where rubbing elbows and bumping was actively encouraged. It was standard practice to put a hand on someone's shoulder whilst you checked for traffic, or to put a hand on their hip as a polite way to ask for room. Now that just freaks people out.

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jules21
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby jules21 » Mon Oct 27, 2014 9:55 am

i agree on being used to rubbing, Cam. yesterday's race was crowded and messy, with a bit of contact here and there. i don't mind, so long as it's reasonable. you need to be capable of adjusting your line and soaking up mild bumps. however in this instance (final corner crash) we were all cranked over so any contact was not ideal. as you said, if i'd have been the rider on the outside, i'd probably have crashed if i couldn't adjust my line.

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Row-D » Mon Oct 27, 2014 10:53 am

Waratah's Heffron A Grade

It was my first race at Heffron and I was actually pleasantly surprised after all I'd heard about it. The track was wider than I expected and whilst bumpy, it is no where near as bad as people have made out.

It was a very hot morning and about 25 riders lined up at the start. The first half of the race saw a few attempted breaks (including a couple from myself) but nothing stuck and the bunch was still pretty much all together going into the Prime. I worked hard in the Prime lap to hold position near the front and as expected just after the sprint a couple or riders went clear. I jumped across to them and we were joined shortly after by two more.

After a couple of short turns I found myself in 4th wheel and the guy ahead of me had left a gap to the front two. The pace was on and he was really struggling to close it down. He flicked an elbow for me to come through but we had just caught C grade and there was no room for me to come by him. By the time we were passed C there were about 3 bike lengths to the front pair. I rolled by, closed the gap and then rolled through for a turn. Only when I came off the front and rolled back did I realise that the other two riders hadn't made it across the gap and we were down to 3 in the break.

After another lap or so I was really starting to suffer. The other two riders seemed to be doing it easier than me and Brad from Manly in particular was taking much longer turns than I was able to hold. But then the 3rd rider skipped a turn and I realised I wasn't the only one suffering, The next time I came back from my turn he was gone and it was just the two of us left. Brad kept driving long turns on the front and I was hanging on as best I could but contributing less than a quarter of each lap on the front.

All this time the bunch was holding us to about 20 seconds and I realised I wasn't going to be able to keep rolling turns as I was pretty cooked. The next time we went around the top corner they had closed up quite a bit and I decided they were coming back to us so I eased off, had a drink and went back into the bunch. Brad stayed out on his own and just kept the pressure on. As I went back in somebody asked me if it was Cancellara up ahead!

I slotted into the bunch at about 8th wheel and quickly realised that there were only about 3 riders really chasing and a couple who, while not blocking, were definitely not helping the chase. Off the front Brad just kept rolling and in the end with an awesome effort held everybody off for the win. In retrospect I probably should have just sucked his wheel for the rest of the race but you live and learn.

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Derny Driver
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Derny Driver » Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:15 am

Row-D wrote:Waratah's Heffron A Grade

.... Off the front Brad just kept rolling and in the end with an awesome effort held everybody off for the win. In retrospect I probably should have just sucked his wheel for the rest of the race but you live and learn.
The guy who won is a very accomplished rider, you did extremely well to swap off with him. Very impressive.
When you are cooked it is good etiquette to tell the guy that you are going to sit on but wont contest the sprint. Its also possible that by sitting on for a few laps you may recover and be able to help him out with a short pull or two.
But you rode a great race i reckon.

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby cerb » Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:23 am

SKCC B-Grade Crit
42km, avg. 43.1kph

Seems it was a messy affair in all grades at SKCC yesterday! The field was twice the size of the past few weeks and there were a lot of faces I didn't recognise around. Skill level seemed to be waaay down on usual and there were lots of people trying to dive under on corners.

From the start I sat in good position and covered some attacks, generally feeling good. Then about 6 laps in I suddenly felt terrible (no power and felt sick) and drifted to the back of the bunch. This feeling continued on for the next 40mins and I was struggling to not get dropped as I dangled at the back and sprinted out of every corner. I knew I needed to move back up to make it easier on myself, but just couldn't push out any power to move up the bunch... Suddenly, with about 10mins remaining, I realised I was feeling ok again and easily moved from the back of the bunch to the top 15 inside 2 laps. Very strange, but I wasn't about to complain!

TBH I have no idea what was happening (in terms of the race) during the first ~45mins - I was just trying to hold on, so upon getting to the front again, I ascertained that it was all together still and going to be a sprint. I held good position coming into 3 laps to go and we suddenly got a yellow flag on course (neutralised race) as a D-Grader had gone down on the final corner of their race. Despite being neutralised, every man and his dog swarmed to the front with the promise of finally being able to win a race whispering to their self concious... I went from ~15th and in a bunch fairly strung out at two riders wide, to about 40th and about 6 riders wide in a matter of seconds.

The race director put us back under race conditions after only half a lap of neutral and promplty gave us the 2 laps to go sign... With no extra time/laps to sort out the bunch again it was chaos. People of all abilities/fitness levels tried to move themselves up for the final lap... I managed to slot my way straight up through the middle of the bunch (everyone else was trying to move around the outsides) and pop up back in about 15th position again, however, now there was only a lap to go and there were big gaps forming everywhere due to people dropping wheels and not being able to close them. I closed the gaps and moved myself into a good position with ~200m before the final corner and figured I needed to launch in order to get around the bunch of 5 who were still 15m ahead of me. I easily closed the gap on them into the corner and was ready to sling shot out carrying ~2kph speed more than the front guys until... the guy I was closing on quickly hit his brakes, locked up his rear wheel and started sliding out.

Split second decision was to avoid the impending crash, so I straightened up and bunny hopped the gutter avoiding power pole, a couple of people, bunny hopped a driveway and stopped before a fence. Strava had me doing 54kph at the time of ejection, so I was pretty happy with my efforts to eject unscathyed!

The guy in front managed to hold it together afterall, but I was happy to bail rather than risk being involved in a crash or have to slam on my brakes to hard I would have done the same thing to anyone coming along behind me...

All in all, sketchy race. Happy I held on and felt normal again by the end of the race. I'm guessing my nutrition was wrong - I did feel a bit sick riding down to the race, so maybe I'll only eat 500g of museli for next week instead of the whole 1kg! :lol:

I definately have the speed to be there at the finish, just need to work out how to consistantly put myself into a podium position!

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby jules21 » Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:41 am

nice one Cerb. that's a mistake to put the 2 laps sign out when the bunch is gruppo compacto. although i shouldn't be handing out advice at the moment..

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Row-D » Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:47 am

Derny Driver wrote:The guy who won is a very accomplished rider, you did extremely well to swap off with him. Very impressive.
When you are cooked it is good etiquette to tell the guy that you are going to sit on but wont contest the sprint. Its also possible that by sitting on for a few laps you may recover and be able to help him out with a short pull or two.
But you rode a great race i reckon.
Thanks DD. If I'd chosen (and been able) to stay with him I would definitely have let him know I was going to sit on and not contest the sprint but I really thought the bunch was going to swallow us up soon. I figured by sitting up I could save a little in the legs and still potentially be in with a shot. In the end I finished solidly in the bunch but certainly wasn't contesting any sprints!

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Cul » Mon Oct 27, 2014 12:52 pm

Cerb, sounds like a good day out despite the incident, ever considered MTB racing! :wink: I would reconsider eating 1kg of muesli though, that !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! will weigh you down :shock:

Unfortunately I couldn't make it, shattered as I was feeling good! Looking forward to next weekend, and hoping to get to FCC's crits at VU on Wednesday :-)
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby cerb » Mon Oct 27, 2014 2:36 pm

Cul - I did a lot of MTB until I was about 15 and when a few people moved away, I found I had no freinds to ride with anymore.

Many years off the bike and the wife convinced me to try road biking. Now i'm hooked!

Still keen to get back into some MTB, but don't have a bike, the excess $$ for the bike, or the time to do so at this point!

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Cul » Mon Oct 27, 2014 2:51 pm

cerb wrote:Many years off the bike and the wife convinced me to try road biking. Now i'm hooked!
I bet she is regretting that decision, unless of course she rides! 8)
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Crawf » Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:45 pm

Anyone do the G2I?

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Xplora » Wed Oct 29, 2014 12:57 am

Marconi B grade - Short GP circuit - 1st place 8)

Man, this version of the GP circuit is just right for me. I don't go so well on the hyperexplosive hotdog circuits but some gentle undulations without too many technical corners, zing!
Short one lap warmup and a quick duck into the entry table for more pins for the number. Too much flapping :lol: and then a quick start. I'd resolved to stay out of the wind, a block headwind on the 1km finish straight meant no one was taking off in 53/11 today. Midway led out and I was mindful to give them enough breathing space, but also accepting that all Penrith down the road was too obvious on the first lap, even if none of us had club kit today. This pace kept up for a couple more laps with a number of moves and some smart work from the bunch, allowing some space to the breaks to let people show their hand. Mark C (beast from NSCC) ended up with a decent gap with some others, and a few different attacks turned into an 8 man break (of a 38 man field?) and I was very lucky that I manage to join the group when I did. Strong pace put 50m on the bunch, which became 100m within a lap, and it turned into 150m before we stopped marking time.

This gap was going to blow out to 500+ metres with some great soft turns in the bunch. They just didn't have the motivation to close down the gap - while the break was fairly sloppy, hard painful turns relying on strong legs from 3-4 riders to build the gap. I was basically using sprint power to bridge minigaps that kept opening, I think I considered sitting up twice, very very intense pace. The sting left the turns as tired legs stopped fighting us, power dropped from 290-300/lap to 260-270/lap and we started to roll much better for about 30 minutes. We peeled off the laps with various shouting for safety and motivation (apparently someone was miffed at me, but 8 blokes on the rivet make mistakes, I know I did, so the verbals help keep the ship upright) and 20 minutes to go there is some lack of discipline - one rider wanted to leave the break but didn't find more fresh legs to join him - so I was sooo happy to see "two laps left".

Now, I've traditionally looked at attacking with a lap left but I just didn't have the legs tonight for a flyer. I resolve that a sprint is going to happen, and I know that Mark C is the strongest rider out there. Just so much power, he's going to put us all in the hurtbox. I've got my wheel. No one is going to take the wheel tonight. Mark has been taking extra turns all night, he's seriously awesome but everyone gets tired and a block headwind on the final straight means no one is getting away. I rolled one short turn as the bell is rung, and then kept an eye on my wheel. I've warned my allies to watch out for Mark's attack, and we keep eyes on him just in case. We charge down past Capitol Hill with my mate Chris on the front. He's been redlined for 40 minutes now, I know he's not going to factor but he pulls a massive turn for 300m with Mark on his wheel, and me in third. He peels off with Mark going around the final corner, who clearly has realised he has become the lead out for 7 others without asking for it. We come down the hill and about 600 to go I jump 5 gears and start trying to build some pace. Everyone clearly knows that on the wheel is safer than in the air, but I have decided that I'm much harder to overtake if I'm already sprinting so I unleash the 5 seconds kick, then keep mashing for 25 more.

I see them coming up around my wheel and I just keep pouring into the pedals - two wheels kicked too early and couldn't get to the line, and another left it too late. In the end, I got it by half a length because I was able to put a longer kick. First time I've won a sprint that long, and against so many people. Mark C wasn't too impressed about getting shanked on the final straight but I am starting to realise that being a strong breaker has to go hand in hand with strong sprint tactics. I don't think any of us were going to do any Cav impressions tonight, but you don't need to be a great sprinter, just a better sprinter than your opponents of the day!

Full credit to the boys in the break, most of us ducked a couple turns because the pace was so strong, we built a huge gap together and it was safe and enjoyable. Really like the Marconi races, and love that short GP track!

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby Hugh Stone old » Wed Oct 29, 2014 7:18 am

Great work Xplora - well deserved and a great write up.

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jules21
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby jules21 » Wed Oct 29, 2014 8:10 am

congrats Xplora, you'll be walking around with a spring in your step for the rest of the week!

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g-boaf
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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby g-boaf » Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:20 pm

Way to go Xplora! :)

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Re: Race Report Thread

Postby rogan » Wed Oct 29, 2014 2:23 pm

Sandbagger! :D
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