RR: Kew Boulevarde C Crit Mon, 1st Mar 2004

[jazmo]

RACE NEWS report with Nob Ias

40 mins + 3 laps

That was really hard work

Unfortunately, there was no D grade so I had to race C grade. There wer
about 9 starters

Attacks were coming almost right from the start. The attacks would ge
caught and then there'd be a counter attack so the pace was very fas
(for me) for the first half of the race

For those who don't know the circuit, it's oval(ish) in shape with th
finishing straight higher than the back straight. There is a 250m clim
before the finish which is very energy sapping

I thought I was going to get dropped every time we went up the hill
There is a sharpish turn before the hill and I wasn't managing it reall
well for the first few laps (was at the back of the bunch), but then
got the hang of it and managed to turn around it without losing groun
on the bunch. With 15 minutes to go a rider attacked and ended u
staying away for the whole race

The rest of us were racing for second and third place. I knew I didn'
have much of a chance in the final sprint. I managed to do a few turn
out front but at no point in the race was I able to muster enough energ
to attack. I was at the front powering up the climb on the final lap an
led the group down the back straight. Some guy took off early on th
back straight and flew past me before the final corner and up the hil
to the finish. Another guy flew past me in hot pursuit. These two guy
had looked to be amongst the strongest in the group

Then the rest of the bunch passed me. I was last. I got onto the bac
of the bunch and sprinted up the hill to the finish. Managed to sprin
past a rider in front of me to finish 2nd last. At least I made it t
the sprint

Overall I was pretty satisfied with my performancem though I've got
long way to go before I can win a race in C grade


-

 

[jazmo]

Originally posted by flyingdutc
>cool. well done

Thanks

>hopefully I can get down there next week. Im only up for commuting thi
>week as Im still at the tailend of a >cough/cold that expels half m
>lungs if I go too har

>what time do you get there

Got there at around 5:35 pm. Racing started at around 6:05 pm

>woz it your first try

Raced there once before about about 10 years ago. Have only just go
back into racing. It's my second race this year

>Always amazes me how even the slightest slope along beach >road make
>riders panic and they madly change down about 4 >gears and drop 10km/

Haven't experienced that myself in the bunches I've trained with. Fo
the hill on this circuit, I found that you either keep the same gear u
the climb as you had in the back straight and get out of the saddle an
sprint up OR drop a gear before the turn and stay in the saddle on th
way up (you're able to spin the pedals faster when you're in th
saddle). I think I prefer the latter and will do that from now on

>So the finishing line is the white-painted line at the top of th
>>hill, yeah? (overlloking the dights falls side...

Don't know about dights falls, but yeah, the white painted line at th
top of the hill is the finish. Racing is in a counter-clockwis
direction with left hand turns. (It doesn't follow the direction of th
arrows painted on the road)


-

 

[flyingdutch]

cool. well done

hopefully I can get down there next week. Im only up for commuting thi
week as Im still at the tailend of a cough/cold that expels half m
lungs if I go too har

what time do you get there? woz it your first try

Always amazes me how even the slightest slope along beach road make
riders panic and they madly change down about 4 gears and drop 10km/

So the finishing line is the white-painted line at the top of the hill
yeah? (overlloking the dights falls side...


-

 

[jazmo]

By the way, that was the last Monday night crit that Coburg is hosting
at Kew Blvd. Wednesday nights crits are still being held by Hawthorn
Cyling club where they have a much bigger turnout (don't know why that's
the case).



--

 

[flyingdutch]

yeah, i rode around it a couple of weeks ago to suss it out and followed
the arrows. lots of guys riding around going the 'correct' way

shall drop by tomorrow night. you be there?



--

 

[jazmo]

flyingdutch wrote:
> yeah, i rode around it a couple of weeks ago to suss it out and followed
> the arrows. lots of guys riding around going the 'correct' way
> shall drop by tomorrow night. you be there?


Nup, 36 degrees C is too hot for me to race :


-

 

[flyingdutch]

jazmo wrote:
> Nup, 36 degrees C is too hot for me to race



agreed. Im only going to wathc so I can suss out this caper for the
following week

36degrees does sound rough altho I thought the same halfway up Buffalo
in January nearing the end of the Alpine Classic (the beer afterwards
never tasted so goooooooood!)



--

 

[hippy]

36degC? That's just starting to warm up!

Nice report Jaz! I want more! ... saves me writing them... Some fro
you too flyingdutch

Mental Image: aus.bicycle team jerseys as we power up Ventoux, 18min u
on GC, yellow jersey WELL in hand... ;

What's with this "There is a 250m climb before the finish" business?!?
Are you trying to tell me I have to climb AND sprint?! No wonder I don'
race there! ( Actually, I have track that night )


-

 

[jazmo]

Originally posted by hippy
36degC? That's just starting to warm up!

>Nice report Jaz! I want more! ... saves me writing them... Some fro
>you too flyingdutch

Just following your lead. ;

>Mental Image: aus.bicycle team jerseys as we power up >Ventoux, 8min u
>on GC, yellow jersey WELL in hand... ;

Keep dreamin' :rolleyes

>Wat's with this "There is a 250m climb before the finish" >business?!?
>Are you trying to tell me I have to climb AND sprint?! No wonder
>don't race there! ( Actually, I have track that night )

It's a right pain in the rear, but it's bloody good training


-

 

[Unregistered]

jazmo wrote:
> RACE NEWS report with Nob Ias.
> 40 mins + 3 laps.
> That was really hard work. ...


I second the "nice report" comments

What was the average speed for the C grade bunch, or more to the point
what sort of speed was it doing up the hill? Been thinking of doing
Wednesday pm with HCC and wondering which grade to try

B Grade vets on a Wednesday morning (fairly small fields = only a fe
workers) seems to average about 35-36kph for 40-45 minutes. On slowe
laps the hill goes at about 28-30 kph. On faster ones maybe 32-33. 20
laps of the faster ones hurts!


-

 

[jazmo]

Unregistered wrote:
> I second the "nice report" comments.
> What was the average speed for the C grade bunch, or more to the point,
> what sort of speed was it doing up the hill? Been thinking of doing a
> Wednesday pm with HCC and wondering which grade to try.
> B Grade vets on a Wednesday morning (fairly small fields = only a few
> workers) seems to average about 35-36kph for 40-45 minutes. On slower
> laps the hill goes at about 28-30 kph. On faster ones maybe 32-33. 20+
> laps of the faster ones hurts!!


Up the hill it was generally around the 29 - 30km/h mark at the top
That's with me leading the bunch anyway

With regards to the average speed, I don't think we were as fast as 35
36 km/h. Can't really say to be honest. I didn't look at my compute
after the race. - Sorry


-

 

[Unregistered]

jazmo wrote:
> Up the hill it was generally around the 29 - 30km/h mark at the top.
> That's with me leading the bunch anyway.
> With regards to the average speed, I don't think we were as fast as 35-
> 36 km/h. Can't really say to be honest. I didn't look at my computer
> after the race. - Sorry.


No worries, thanks for the inf

A mate tried the Wed pm C grade one night and got dropped (along wit
half the field) after 20 minutes of 38kph average - insane! Glad to hea
not all C grade rides go at that pace :


-

 

[hippy]

Average speeds don't really mean a lot, especially in races. ANYTHIN
could be happening. Head wind, tail wind, everyone raced the day before
lots of riders, few riders, fast bunch laps the C grade field forgettin
that they were actually B graders, fast riders move up a grade leavin
you there to lap the field, hot day, cold day, wet day, pay day..

dutchie, strap on your helmet and go racing man! :

Now, after saying that, I want to go and check some rac
averages! hehe ;


-

 

[flyingdutch]

Hey, cut it out!!

youre scaring me with those speeds, guy


-

 

[Unregistered]

flyingdutch wrote:
> Hey, cut it out!!!
> youre scaring me with those speeds, guys


Not nearly as scared as ?hitchy's Hell Ride report got me! 48kph an
surging ... now I know why I've never tried it and likely never will


-

 

[Bluenose]

Hi,

I've only been riding for about 18 months and in that time I've met a
fair few people with varying abilities. 1 friend has gone from E-Grade
to A-grade in one crit season and has only been riding the same amount
of time as myself.

Anyway, I continuely got nagged about giving racing a go and like
yourself I was abit nervous about how I would perform etc. especially
when you hear the average speeds the different grades do.

At the end of the day I caved in to peer group pressure and got my
racing licence. I've had 2 crit races in E-Grade and I've made huge
mistakes in both. In my first race we were told 40mins and 2 laps. After
the 40 mins I heard the bell go...I thought it ment there were 2 laps
left but I soon found to my horror that it in fact ment 1 lap as the
pack planted it from the final corner. I went from 2nd last to 6th (15
of us in total, average speed 35km) so that was hugely disappointing. In
my 2nd race it was early morning with the forecast temp to reach 34c it
in fact reached 42c that day and to say the ride was hell people pulled
out after only 2 laps as the pace and the temp was making life
difficult. I pulled my weight and did my turns....tried to make a
breakaway...you got to try these things. At the 25 min mark I started to
get shivers and feeling cold which on a real hot day is a BIG warning
sign for heat stress. On the 30 min mark I decided that I wasn't going
to push myself for another 10 mins + 2 laps. So I backed off and pulled
over....can you imagine how I felt when I pulled up only to hear the
bell (the bell the bell!!!) They'd cut the race down due to the heat. I
only had to role around 1 more lap to get a 5th place as there were only
4 people left....5th place would have been a paid placing!

So the moral of the story is to get out there and give it a go. I'm sure
glad I did because I've enjoyed it a great deal....even with my stuff
ups.

The most important thing is to go out there and enjoy
yourself....winning will come eventually.

Cheers

flyingdutch wrote:
>
> Hey, cut it out!!!
>
> youre scaring me with those speeds, guys
>
> --

 

[Bluenose]

Oh and the average for the 2nd race even in the heat was 37km!



Bluenose wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I've only been riding for about 18 months and in that time I've met a
> fair few people with varying abilities. 1 friend has gone from E-Grade
> to A-grade in one crit season and has only been riding the same amount
> of time as myself.
>
> Anyway, I continuely got nagged about giving racing a go and like
> yourself I was abit nervous about how I would perform etc. especially
> when you hear the average speeds the different grades do.
>
> At the end of the day I caved in to peer group pressure and got my
> racing licence. I've had 2 crit races in E-Grade and I've made huge
> mistakes in both. In my first race we were told 40mins and 2 laps. After
> the 40 mins I heard the bell go...I thought it ment there were 2 laps
> left but I soon found to my horror that it in fact ment 1 lap as the
> pack planted it from the final corner. I went from 2nd last to 6th (15
> of us in total, average speed 35km) so that was hugely disappointing. In
> my 2nd race it was early morning with the forecast temp to reach 34c it
> in fact reached 42c that day and to say the ride was hell people pulled
> out after only 2 laps as the pace and the temp was making life
> difficult. I pulled my weight and did my turns....tried to make a
> breakaway...you got to try these things. At the 25 min mark I started to
> get shivers and feeling cold which on a real hot day is a BIG warning
> sign for heat stress. On the 30 min mark I decided that I wasn't going
> to push myself for another 10 mins + 2 laps. So I backed off and pulled
> over....can you imagine how I felt when I pulled up only to hear the
> bell (the bell the bell!!!) They'd cut the race down due to the heat. I
> only had to role around 1 more lap to get a 5th place as there were only
> 4 people left....5th place would have been a paid placing!
>
> So the moral of the story is to get out there and give it a go. I'm sure
> glad I did because I've enjoyed it a great deal....even with my stuff
> ups.
>
> The most important thing is to go out there and enjoy
> yourself....winning will come eventually.
>
> Cheers

 

[jazmo]

flyingdutch wrote:
> Hey, cut it out!!!
> youre scaring me with those speeds, guys



Flyingdutch, give it a go. At least try D grade. Speeds in a bunch tend
to be much higher than what you can do on your own.

....and regarding the Hell Ride, if you're riding C grade, you can easily
ride with the bunch at 48 km/h. It's amazing how you just get dragged
along with the bunch when it's that big.



--

 

[hippy]

jazmo wrote:
> ...and regarding the Hell Ride, if you're riding C grade, you can easily
> ride with the bunch at 48 km/h. It's amazing how you just get dragged
> along with the bunch when it's that big.



Pfft!

Gee, not much of a "hell" ride if a "C" grader can keep up!

Reckon my Nan could tag along? Can I bring the kids? Is their a picnic
lunch stop in the middle or do we eat as we roll?

"Sprint!" "Hang on, can we go one at a time? It'd be safer that way."
"Okay, I'll adjust my training wheels while you file through.."

hippy Please, Lord of Evil Posting, I beg of thee, let the cretins
remain unaware that the sarcasm doth drip thick from this Courier 9pt...



--

 

[K&C Russell]

"jazmo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:fgV0c.10189$%[email protected]...
> Unregistered wrote:
> > I second the "nice report" comments.
> > What was the average speed for the C grade bunch, or more to the
point,
> > what sort of speed was it doing up the hill? Been thinking of doing a
> > Wednesday pm with HCC and wondering which grade to try.
> > B Grade vets on a Wednesday morning (fairly small fields = only a few
> > workers) seems to average about 35-36kph for 40-45 minutes. On slower
> > laps the hill goes at about 28-30 kph. On faster ones maybe 32-33. 20+
> > laps of the faster ones hurts!!
>
>
>
> Up the hill it was generally around the 29 - 30km/h mark at the top.
> That's with me leading the bunch anyway.
>
> With regards to the average speed, I don't think we were as fast as 35-
> 36 km/h. Can't really say to be honest. I didn't look at my computer
> after the race. - Sorry.
>
>
I was the "unfortunate" to puncture 20mins in, after chasing down a couple
of breaks, the ave was 35kmph at that stage. I watched the race while
changing tubes (no spare wheel, I rode from work), I don't think the pace
slowed. It was a good race with a series of attacks. Wished I had have
been out there to help close down the final break, the guy rode well.

Unfortunately it was the last night for Mon Crits, HCC continue until end of
Daylight Saving.

I can't understand why more riders don't do Mon particularly when they know
Wed is going to be hot. Perhaps they are recovering from Sat/Sun rides.

Kevin