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 were about 9 starters.

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

For those who don't know the circuit, it's oval(ish) in shape with the finishing straight higher than the back straight. There is a 250m climb 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 really well for the first few laps (was at the back of the bunch), but then I got the hang of it and managed to turn around it without losing ground on the bunch. With 15 minutes to go a rider attacked and ended up staying away for the whole race.

The rest of us were racing for second and third place. I knew I didn't have much of a chance in the final sprint. I managed to do a few turns out front but at no point in the race was I able to muster enough energy to attack. I was at the front powering up the climb on the final lap and led the group down the back straight. Some guy took off early on the back straight and flew past me before the final corner and up the hill to the finish. Another guy flew past me in hot pursuit. These two guys 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 back of the bunch and sprinted up the hill to the finish. Managed to sprint past a rider in front of me to finish 2nd last. At least I made it to the sprint.

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

 

[flyingdutch]

cool. well done!

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

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

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

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

 

[jazmo]

Originally posted by flyingdutch
>cool. well done!

Thanks!

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

>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 got back into racing. It's my second race this year.

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

Haven't experienced that myself in the bunches I've trained with. For the hill on this circuit, I found that you either keep the same gear up the climb as you had in the back straight and get out of the saddle and sprint up OR drop a gear before the turn and stay in the saddle on the way up (you're able to spin the pedals faster when you're in the 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 the >hill, yeah? (overlloking the dights falls side...)

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

 

[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]

Originally posted by 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?

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

 

[flyingdutch]

Originally posted by jazmo
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 from you too flyingdutch!

Mental Image: aus.bicycle team jerseys as we power up Ventoux,
18min up 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't 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 from you too flyingdutch!

Just following your lead.

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

Keep dreamin'

>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 I 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]

Originally posted by jazmo
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 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!!

 

[jazmo]

Originally posted by Unregistered
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.

 

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by jazmo
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 info

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

 

[flyingdutch]

Hey, cut it out!!!

youre scaring me with those speeds, guys

 

[hippy]

Average speeds don't really mean a lot, especially in races. ANYTHING could be happening. Head wind, tail wind, everyone raced the day before, lots of riders, few riders, fast bunch laps the C grade field forgetting that they were actually B graders, fast riders move up a grade leaving 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 race averages! hehe

 

[Unregistered]

Originally posted by flyingdutch
Hey, cut it out!!!

youre scaring me with those speeds, guys

Not nearly as scared as ?hitchy's Hell Ride report got me! 48kph and 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]

Originally posted by flyingdutch
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]

Originally posted by jazmo
...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. [/B]

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