Here is my quick run down of events.
Stage 1 - Criterium
48kms, 1:04:45, 44.6km/h
"A timed event" on the CSV website means being told at the starting line "This tour is on points, top 10 get awarded points". A grade had 17-18 starters or so. A quick flat race with no major incidents. Late in the race we had to watch out for the C grader who took a dive. Coming over the line at around the 55min mark a rider sprinted over the line and threw his arms up, he 'claimed' the win... er... The rest of us looked around and collectively thought "wtf?". We rolled past him as he started yelling something about the chequered flag being shown. No '3 to go' yet buddy, keep riding! Then he did the same again next lap. Again, we kept rolling. My plan was to finish with the bunch so I sat on the back on the final corner (300-400m to go). Cranking away I had plenty of room on the outside so I cranked past a few and placed 7th. 8 points.
Stage 2 - Road Race
102kms, 2:50:20, 35.8km/h, 1305m ascent
I did a lap of the course in the car just to see how hilly it was. Yep, some hilly bits for sure. We were informed of "Double points for today" AFTER the stage had officially started. Fair enough, but hmmm. The plan was to still be with the bunch at the 1/2 way mark. Done. I did my share of things, even taking the first lap wombat points from Jono! Hilltop accelerations were the call of the day. I held onto four or so of these but on the fourth lap I was popped off the back at the very top of the 1km@9%er. I lasted 75kms. We had already shelled a number of riders, so I guessed there wasn't more than 10 riders ahead. A 27km ITT and I came over the line a few mins down in 9th place. 12 points. 5 or 6 of drink bottles used during the race, thanks to (my) Von who was handing these out to me. She was also helping a few other riders out with bottles.
Stage 3 - 1:20 ITT
Cycle2Max climb, 14:37
Setting a PB the other week up the 1:20 when I was soaking wet meant it shouldn't be hard to better that in the perfect conditions we had. I was looking for more points, it didn't matter what points, the goal was consistency! In B grade the climbers are sorted out very quickly once the road turns up (as I found out at the Mt William Classic). In A grade, everyone was strong enough that hills are not much bother. OK, this isn't entirely true, especially for the DNS entrants! 14:37. A PB by 22 seconds so I couldn't ask for more than that. 10th place. 1 point (I think?).
A great weekend overall. Lots of familiar faces from Mt William and from HCC. Thanks go to Tim at TopGear Cycles in Doncaster East who did a nice deal for me on a new kit for this weekend. No sponsorship to go with, but I was looking neater. I'll upload a few pics to the usual place in a day or so.
Lama
Stage 1 - Criterium
48kms, 1:04:45, 44.6km/h
"A timed event" on the CSV website means being told at the starting line "This tour is on points, top 10 get awarded points". A grade had 17-18 starters or so. A quick flat race with no major incidents. Late in the race we had to watch out for the C grader who took a dive. Coming over the line at around the 55min mark a rider sprinted over the line and threw his arms up, he 'claimed' the win... er... The rest of us looked around and collectively thought "wtf?". We rolled past him as he started yelling something about the chequered flag being shown. No '3 to go' yet buddy, keep riding! Then he did the same again next lap. Again, we kept rolling. My plan was to finish with the bunch so I sat on the back on the final corner (300-400m to go). Cranking away I had plenty of room on the outside so I cranked past a few and placed 7th. 8 points.
Stage 2 - Road Race
102kms, 2:50:20, 35.8km/h, 1305m ascent
I did a lap of the course in the car just to see how hilly it was. Yep, some hilly bits for sure. We were informed of "Double points for today" AFTER the stage had officially started. Fair enough, but hmmm. The plan was to still be with the bunch at the 1/2 way mark. Done. I did my share of things, even taking the first lap wombat points from Jono! Hilltop accelerations were the call of the day. I held onto four or so of these but on the fourth lap I was popped off the back at the very top of the 1km@9%er. I lasted 75kms. We had already shelled a number of riders, so I guessed there wasn't more than 10 riders ahead. A 27km ITT and I came over the line a few mins down in 9th place. 12 points. 5 or 6 of drink bottles used during the race, thanks to (my) Von who was handing these out to me. She was also helping a few other riders out with bottles.
Stage 3 - 1:20 ITT
Cycle2Max climb, 14:37
Setting a PB the other week up the 1:20 when I was soaking wet meant it shouldn't be hard to better that in the perfect conditions we had. I was looking for more points, it didn't matter what points, the goal was consistency! In B grade the climbers are sorted out very quickly once the road turns up (as I found out at the Mt William Classic). In A grade, everyone was strong enough that hills are not much bother. OK, this isn't entirely true, especially for the DNS entrants! 14:37. A PB by 22 seconds so I couldn't ask for more than that. 10th place. 1 point (I think?).
A great weekend overall. Lots of familiar faces from Mt William and from HCC. Thanks go to Tim at TopGear Cycles in Doncaster East who did a nice deal for me on a new kit for this weekend. No sponsorship to go with, but I was looking neater. I'll upload a few pics to the usual place in a day or so.
Lama