Decided to go down to St Kilda criteriums and have a go at one of these fabled races that DONT include a hill! (unlike my only other experiences at Kew).
Having fitted a nice new shiny cluster with a 12-26T (as opposed to my comical 13-29T) I rode down there and tried to locate the course.
Had been there before but my first impression was "What the F4ck is that smell?@$#@???". Oh, goody. the course goes around the Port Melbourne transfer station (read tip/dump).
Found the start and spotted some people putting up a jumping castle! Oh, hang on... its just like on tellie! One of those big inflatable arches. boy, these people have money. Go and sign up. "$15 bucks thanks". WTF???
Must include post-race latte or summat 🙄
Cant see any familiar faces. start to roll around course to suss it out.
Dead flat. hmmm. this might be a fast pace compared to Kew.
Spot one of the guys (sorry, hopeless with names. really good with faces tho...) from the aboc sprint-training session last Saturday. Guy from StK on a noice C40.
The course is a real mix of real rough and real smooth. a few nastee bumps going into corners which must remember. Ride around with a guy, Justen. He's raced out at Glenvale and Sandown(?) and reckons the average speeds are about 36-7kph. [censored]. that's the same as KEW.
And there's no HILL!!! Must be mistaken, im thinking.
Do some of them HCLR's Carl showed me and try to remember all the things/advice people have mentioned 😕
We set off. Wow! sloooow. must be some psychology-thing 🙄
I get up to about 3-4th wheel. People get the usual spooks at the corners.
Good. I like corners. their loss. A couple of guys try the occasional flier out of the corners but people quickly jump on them and bring them back.
(I remember someone saying Dgrade always stay together and end in a sprint finish. Hope something Carl said sticks with me).
One young guy (flemington) keeps doing mini-attacks.
Either he is good and trying to suss out who is strong or he dont like his chances in a sprint-finish Im guessin. He has a strong flemington girl who also keeps doing the same. What's their game?
We start to pick up the pace (well, 45kph) and now in single file and chain-ganging or doing half a lap each to keep the pressure on. I do this once and think. "Why?". So the word 'Gapping' starts to bounce a round in my head.
(get out of my head, Carl 😉 ).
So next turn at the front i just slow down and SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE.
Haha! People are just sheep.
Carl's words of wisdom (Everyone is riding FOR you, they just dont realise it) come to me. I drop back to about 10th to take a look at everyone.
The same suspects are in the front 6-8. At the 28min mark as we go into the final corner I decide Im feeling good and try something.
I go in wide and out wide in my 53-13T and do 12 hardish strokes and ease up. I look back. 2 younge guys are going nuts trying to get on my wheel and the rest are about 20m back. hmmmmm. All together again and I slip back into about 5th wheel. Im quite pleasantly surprised at how OK Im feeling.
Now think... what to do???... What would Carl be telling me if he were next to me???...Stop thinking...3laps to go...
Obviously this IS gonna be a sprint finish. Just nail that last corner and find a wheel on exit, right?
3rd lap out and people are getting jumpy. the pace is getting up and up.
2 laps out and the corners are getting hairier. decide to go to the outside where there is less bumps and more room to keep speed up.
We get the bell and the young flemington guy jumps on the left.
He doesnt get anywhere and 3-4 people pull him in. Im still counting on that last corner. The back straight is comical. we slow down to 35kph and people are almost sitting up!!!
The flemington girl goes but also gets nowhere.
About 100m metres from that last corner Im 6th wheel.
Im guessing the players are gonna be a guy in a white jersey (my age?), a young brunswick dude on a single chainring and the tallest/strongest looking guy who I have been drafting for much of the race.
With about 30m from the corner the 'white' guy jumps. the brunswick kid gets his wheel and Im on his. They are travelling now and Im thinking they will be coming out of the corner wide.
Sh1t!!! They round tight and i go wide. BUGGER@%#$$!
The tall guy comes up on my left but i hear a crunch of gears so he's out.
Move to my left and try to get on the 2 leaders. By 100m out of the corner they are about 20m ahead of me.
Gun it, damn it. Gun it! Stand and grind it. Forget how much it hurts. its only gonna last a few more seconds. I look up. we are about 100m out and Im closing. Sh!t. Unless there are a bunch about to swamp me Im getting 3RD here.
Shut up. RIDE!!!
Grinding. Hurting. Stars.
I look up as I see the arch out of the corner of my eye with about 5 metres to go.
I finish a length back for third. Wooooooohooooooooo!!!!
I placed. i placed.
But i reckon if there had been 20 more metres I coulda won 😠 😠
😠
I had to swerve right to avoid running up the brunswick kid's [censored].
They really slowed, but then again they could, couldnt they!!!
We roll around after and i pat the 2 leaders on the back.
Geee. 1st and 2nd sure looks like it hurts!
Im already mad at myself for screwing that last corner up.
perhaps I shouldnt have pinned so much on it?
Perhaps I should been in a bigger gear? (was sprinting in 13-53T but not getting over the top of it)
Perhaps I should shut up and enjoy my first ever place!!!
I pull over at the end and wonder what to do.
Wonder how much 3rd place pays? Who cares, its my first 😄
I hand in my number and the lady hands me...
A little yellow envelope. $20. Hah. My money back and more.
Im getting out of the graphic design business and turning Pro!
I'd like to thank my mom+dad, Hippy et al for advice and Carl for some of the tactical stuff which up until now had been all theory and 200m up the road at Kew!!!
And guess what? 36min, 22.5km distance and 36.5 average.
Jeez. I have been doing that at Kew WITH A HILL!!!
Mental note to self: ride flat crits
😄 😄 😄