Turned up to kew having placed 3rd last week (my first ever placing!) quietly confident that I knew what I did wrong and what I would do differently this week. Of course so many other things change that who knows how i would go with it.
The race started ordinarily enough, its seemed to start a bit slower for the last few weeks, however I'm beginning to think that it could have something to do with me improving, and getting used to racing.
Last week I pretty much stayed in the first 5, this week I usually managed to stay comfortably in the front 10 (wheel-sucking all the way - yeah baby!). I usually lost places to people who came tearing down the hill and up into the back straight as the leaders slowed into the wind.
One of the guys that beat me was doing a _lot_ of work on the front of the pack today, especially at the start, and I was happy enought to let him do so. A few people took off as the intermediate sprint was anounced, and it seemed to spread the field out for that lap at least. I went with a few of them, and by the time we came out of the hairpin, and 1/2 way up the hill I was in about 3rd or 4th place. It was here that I backed off, deciding to keep my energy for the end - some people seemed really keen for that inner-tube
The next few laps it seemed a lot of the pack came back together (last week im sure that more than 1/2 the pack disappeared around the time of the sprint) and when 3 to go was anounced, I was fairly sure in my mind where I wanted to be and how I wanted to go about finishing.
On the last lap, i was settled in about 5th place, until the back straight where a few people came flying up to really bunch people up into the hairpin. I had been able to check what sort of line I wanted to take through the hairpin a few times and set myself up to take the line again. Because of the bunching, I ended up behind a rider who wanted to cut across it quite sharply slowing him down and thus slowing me down quite a bit.
I'm pretty sure there was about 7-10 riders ahead of me at about this time, so I started to spin up the hill and overtaking people quite comfortably. I knew from last week that it was too early for me to really kick at this point, but when I came around the last little bend, I changed gears and took off, launching up the hill and over the line for the Win!
I cant remember how many people I overtook, but at times it seemed as though they were standing still. There may have been someone coming up close on my left but tunnel vision had kicked in pretty hard I think
I think Dutchy was impressed that i didnt look back this time! (I had legs left this time so I wasnt so worried about how soon I'd get caught) Since I didnt look back, I have no idea how close anyone else was, but I felt really good going over the line (no it wasn't just that i was first! )
For the first time I can remember during a race, it felt as though I had plenty of time to think things through, being able to comfortably take notice of things. Check out what sort of gears people were using at times, how my breathing was going. I remember looking down, thinking that my cadence had been quite high for a while and started pushing a heavier gear for a little just to have a change. I guess things like this could indicate that its time to step up a grade.
Some stats:
Time: 31 mins
Dist: 17.5kms
Ave Speed: 34.5 km/h
Max Speed: 51.5 km/h
Ave HR: 162bpm
Max HR: 188 (sprinting up the hill)
Ave Cadence: 95rpm
Interesting stat: Ave HR for this crit has come down constantly since I started to monitor it back in january. Could be some training is paying off, or I'm getting used to racing and riding this circuit - either way, thanks anyone/everyone who i have gleaned info from
22 feb: 162
15 feb: 168
8 feb: 172
25 jan: 176
18 jan 175
The race started ordinarily enough, its seemed to start a bit slower for the last few weeks, however I'm beginning to think that it could have something to do with me improving, and getting used to racing.
Last week I pretty much stayed in the first 5, this week I usually managed to stay comfortably in the front 10 (wheel-sucking all the way - yeah baby!). I usually lost places to people who came tearing down the hill and up into the back straight as the leaders slowed into the wind.
One of the guys that beat me was doing a _lot_ of work on the front of the pack today, especially at the start, and I was happy enought to let him do so. A few people took off as the intermediate sprint was anounced, and it seemed to spread the field out for that lap at least. I went with a few of them, and by the time we came out of the hairpin, and 1/2 way up the hill I was in about 3rd or 4th place. It was here that I backed off, deciding to keep my energy for the end - some people seemed really keen for that inner-tube
The next few laps it seemed a lot of the pack came back together (last week im sure that more than 1/2 the pack disappeared around the time of the sprint) and when 3 to go was anounced, I was fairly sure in my mind where I wanted to be and how I wanted to go about finishing.
On the last lap, i was settled in about 5th place, until the back straight where a few people came flying up to really bunch people up into the hairpin. I had been able to check what sort of line I wanted to take through the hairpin a few times and set myself up to take the line again. Because of the bunching, I ended up behind a rider who wanted to cut across it quite sharply slowing him down and thus slowing me down quite a bit.
I'm pretty sure there was about 7-10 riders ahead of me at about this time, so I started to spin up the hill and overtaking people quite comfortably. I knew from last week that it was too early for me to really kick at this point, but when I came around the last little bend, I changed gears and took off, launching up the hill and over the line for the Win!
I cant remember how many people I overtook, but at times it seemed as though they were standing still. There may have been someone coming up close on my left but tunnel vision had kicked in pretty hard I think
I think Dutchy was impressed that i didnt look back this time! (I had legs left this time so I wasnt so worried about how soon I'd get caught) Since I didnt look back, I have no idea how close anyone else was, but I felt really good going over the line (no it wasn't just that i was first! )
For the first time I can remember during a race, it felt as though I had plenty of time to think things through, being able to comfortably take notice of things. Check out what sort of gears people were using at times, how my breathing was going. I remember looking down, thinking that my cadence had been quite high for a while and started pushing a heavier gear for a little just to have a change. I guess things like this could indicate that its time to step up a grade.
Some stats:
Time: 31 mins
Dist: 17.5kms
Ave Speed: 34.5 km/h
Max Speed: 51.5 km/h
Ave HR: 162bpm
Max HR: 188 (sprinting up the hill)
Ave Cadence: 95rpm
Interesting stat: Ave HR for this crit has come down constantly since I started to monitor it back in january. Could be some training is paying off, or I'm getting used to racing and riding this circuit - either way, thanks anyone/everyone who i have gleaned info from
22 feb: 162
15 feb: 168
8 feb: 172
25 jan: 176
18 jan 175