Hi all,
Not as hardcore as the Epic *laughs*, but heere's my RR nonetheless...
----
On Saturday, I once again headed out for the Saturday morning criterium
races at the Murrarie circuit.
I felt good about racing on Saturday. I'd had a good, consistent week
of
riding, and the legs felt good. The only unknown variable for me was a
slight change in cleat position. My knees had felt a little 'weird'
(very
scientific, I know!) over the last couple of weeks. So I did a bit of
internet research on seat position. I ended up deciding it wasn't that,
but some relted articles led me to tinker with my cleats a little. I
moved them forward (towards my toes) by 2-3 millimetres, to see if that
would help...
The ride to the races was nice and wuick. My new cleat position felt
good - nice and responsive. Plus my legs were feeling snappy, so it was
a good sign for the race ahead.
I'd left much later than usual, after hitting the 'snooze' button on my
alarm (I am such a fool!!), so arrived at the race with just under 15
minutes until start. I saw Mick there, which was great. Said hello,
then
dashed over to register and get 'set up' for the race.
My goals were similar to last week. I wanted to sit in the middle third
of the peloton for most of the race, be ready for the surge at the
prime when it came, and finish in amongst the peloton at the end of the
race. I had learnt from last week nutrition-wise (finally!), and about
an hour before the race (when still at home) I'd eaten a peanut butter
and strawberry jam sandwich on multi-grain bread.
I won't bore you with too many details about the race itself. Suffice
to say that it went very well for me!! Once again, I felt like I was
working hard - but this time I wasn't constantly being pushed to the
back of the field. I was able to hold generally hold my position in the
middle third of the peloton, which was great for me. Even better, at no
stage near the end was I gapped off the back, and having to struggle to
get back on.
Lesson this week: Afer the prime, I was still comfortably with the
peloton, and so was there to see someone go for a solo breakaway
straight away. I wondered how he'd go... He was a Balmoral rider, and I
watched wit interest as 4 other Balmoral riders moved to the front of
the peloton. They then all sat up and soft-pedalled for a while - the
speed dropped right back to only 34-35km/h! I heard some guys yelling
at them to work harder, but the Balmoral boys told them that if they
wanted to chase, they were welcome to come up the front... So that's
how you 'control the peloton' and protect one of your riders trying to
break away! I was glad to be close enough to see this happen...
The last couple of laps were messy, as well. Near the end of the 2nd
last
lap, one rider tried a ridiculous manouvre from mid-pack to try and
advance. He cut right across one person, which sent a conga line of 4
cyclists off the track (and out of the race). Luckily they all stayed
upright, but their race was over... Also, on the very last corner of
the entire race, a similar thing happened. One guy swung very wide, and
cut across the line of a few guys. They all had to bail out into the
'field' to avoid an accident. Luckily, I avoided all of these, but was
in a good position to learn for next time.
Best part for me was that my wife & kids turned up to watch the last 10
minutes of the race - so I had a cheer squad!! If I'd known they were
coming earlier, I would have put myself in a position to go for a solo
breakway just after they arrived.... *laughs* OK, maybe not. But it was
great to hear their cheers in the tough closing stages!!
----
Cheers all,
Abby