A
Absent Husband
Guest
My race report from Saturday....
---
I finally managed to make my crit debut for 2006 on Saturday morning,
and
boy am I glad that I finally got there!! I had a great morning, and it
reminded me of how much I enjoy crit racing...
After a slow start to the morning, rode to the Murarrie circuit
arriving at
7:50am for an 8am start - I don't like to arrive too early, but this
was
pushing a bit much!! At least I knew my legs would be warm for the
race...
Signed up for Cat 2/Div 2, and got myself organised.
Race started at about 8:05 - 40min + 3 laps, with about 30 people in
the
field (by my rough count). Pace was very slow early, with the field
taking
the first few laps at only 31-32km/h. I was sitting at the back of the
front
third, and it seemed that no-one wanted to take charge up the front -
but
eventually things got 'organised' and the pace picked up to around
38km/h.
Cat 2/Div 1 (equiv. to C-Grade) was on the course at the same time as
us (I
guess we were equiv. to D-Grade), as well as Cat 3 (E-Grade??) - so
there
were 3 packs circling around the 1.5km circuit. This had the potential
to
get a bit confusing, and ended up making for some interesting times
when the
packs were overtaking.
I had managed to keep a position around mid-pack, sometimes a little
bit
more forward. The first time Div 1 passed us, the front riders in our
race
sped up and tried to retake them straight away!! Luckily, being in the
front
half, I was able to sit on their wheels as they headed passed. The
peloton
split in two, and the 'chase group' had to work hard to catch back up
to us.
A good tactical lesson for me (without the hard work!!) about staying
in
touch with the front-runners.....
This same 'trick' happened again when Div 1 inevitably caught up to
overtake
and the front riders pushed past again!! I was wondering if it was ego
or
adrenalin - but at least their tactics were clear and I knew what would
happen each time!! We reached the 20min mark and the whistle blew for
the
Prime lap. A guy in Credit Agricole kit took off straight away, but
no-one
seemed keen to chase (definitely not me - I just wanted to finish with
the
group!!), so he did a one-lap ITT to take the Prime - well done!!
Just passed 30min, and I was starting to feel the effort. We got passed
again by Div 1, and once again the leaders of our group took off - but
I was
two-thirds of the way back in the pack and missed the jump!! So much
for my
being super-aware of their tactics!! Lots of yells by people for them
to
"calm down - let Div 1 go!!", but they took off.... So I was stuck in
the
chase group - we all worked hard, and I even took a long turn trying to
bridge the gap back. Eventually we made it back on, which was very
satisfying (don't know what Div 1 thought of all this though - they
must
have been getting dizzy!!).
The chase effort had knackered me a bit, and so I drifted to the back
of the
field. I nearly got gapped off the back a few times, but thought there
was
no way I'd let myself get dropped, so I gritted the teeth and worked to
get
back up to mid-pack. Things felt much better once I settled into a
rhythm
there and a quick drink plus a few more steadier laps had me back and
feeling good again. A few people were obviously getting nervous though,
as
we had to drop two separate dropped bottles by the leaders (hope that
wasn't
a tactic to thin the field!!).
The "3 laps to go" sign came up, and I was feeling very happy to be
sitting
back up in the front third. The pace slowed again as people started
looking
around and waiting for something to happen. Then suddenly we had
reached the
bell lap and we were all still together!! I saw the guy in CA kit who
won
the prime moving an inside line, so I jumped on his wheel as I figured
he
might be a good bet to go at the finish... He moved up the front pretty
quickly, and so I was sitting at 2nd wheel heading down the back
street,
halfway through the last lap!!!!!
I soon discovered the tactical problems with this though, as I couldn't
tell
what was happening behind me. Who was gonna jump?? As we turned the
corner,
about 6-7 riders went flying past. Luckily, I was able to jump onto the
last
of them, and the pace went berserk as everyone else tried to come with
us. I
was happy to be holding their wheels, but had no more speed to add for
a
final finishing sprint..... As we came down the final straight to the
line,
two guys in front of me went all "Robbie vs Stuey" and started leaning
all
over each other - so I sat up and backed off just in case, and cruised
over
the line in about 10th place (although I don't think I would have made
up
any places if I'd sprinted any further!!).
Final stats - 31km at 37.4km/h average. I had a very fun morning, and
was
stoked with my efforts. It was great to be an active participant in the
crits for a change, instead of just hanging tough at the back trying
hard
not to get dropped!!!
---
Cheers all,
Abby
---
I finally managed to make my crit debut for 2006 on Saturday morning,
and
boy am I glad that I finally got there!! I had a great morning, and it
reminded me of how much I enjoy crit racing...
After a slow start to the morning, rode to the Murarrie circuit
arriving at
7:50am for an 8am start - I don't like to arrive too early, but this
was
pushing a bit much!! At least I knew my legs would be warm for the
race...
Signed up for Cat 2/Div 2, and got myself organised.
Race started at about 8:05 - 40min + 3 laps, with about 30 people in
the
field (by my rough count). Pace was very slow early, with the field
taking
the first few laps at only 31-32km/h. I was sitting at the back of the
front
third, and it seemed that no-one wanted to take charge up the front -
but
eventually things got 'organised' and the pace picked up to around
38km/h.
Cat 2/Div 1 (equiv. to C-Grade) was on the course at the same time as
us (I
guess we were equiv. to D-Grade), as well as Cat 3 (E-Grade??) - so
there
were 3 packs circling around the 1.5km circuit. This had the potential
to
get a bit confusing, and ended up making for some interesting times
when the
packs were overtaking.
I had managed to keep a position around mid-pack, sometimes a little
bit
more forward. The first time Div 1 passed us, the front riders in our
race
sped up and tried to retake them straight away!! Luckily, being in the
front
half, I was able to sit on their wheels as they headed passed. The
peloton
split in two, and the 'chase group' had to work hard to catch back up
to us.
A good tactical lesson for me (without the hard work!!) about staying
in
touch with the front-runners.....
This same 'trick' happened again when Div 1 inevitably caught up to
overtake
and the front riders pushed past again!! I was wondering if it was ego
or
adrenalin - but at least their tactics were clear and I knew what would
happen each time!! We reached the 20min mark and the whistle blew for
the
Prime lap. A guy in Credit Agricole kit took off straight away, but
no-one
seemed keen to chase (definitely not me - I just wanted to finish with
the
group!!), so he did a one-lap ITT to take the Prime - well done!!
Just passed 30min, and I was starting to feel the effort. We got passed
again by Div 1, and once again the leaders of our group took off - but
I was
two-thirds of the way back in the pack and missed the jump!! So much
for my
being super-aware of their tactics!! Lots of yells by people for them
to
"calm down - let Div 1 go!!", but they took off.... So I was stuck in
the
chase group - we all worked hard, and I even took a long turn trying to
bridge the gap back. Eventually we made it back on, which was very
satisfying (don't know what Div 1 thought of all this though - they
must
have been getting dizzy!!).
The chase effort had knackered me a bit, and so I drifted to the back
of the
field. I nearly got gapped off the back a few times, but thought there
was
no way I'd let myself get dropped, so I gritted the teeth and worked to
get
back up to mid-pack. Things felt much better once I settled into a
rhythm
there and a quick drink plus a few more steadier laps had me back and
feeling good again. A few people were obviously getting nervous though,
as
we had to drop two separate dropped bottles by the leaders (hope that
wasn't
a tactic to thin the field!!).
The "3 laps to go" sign came up, and I was feeling very happy to be
sitting
back up in the front third. The pace slowed again as people started
looking
around and waiting for something to happen. Then suddenly we had
reached the
bell lap and we were all still together!! I saw the guy in CA kit who
won
the prime moving an inside line, so I jumped on his wheel as I figured
he
might be a good bet to go at the finish... He moved up the front pretty
quickly, and so I was sitting at 2nd wheel heading down the back
street,
halfway through the last lap!!!!!
I soon discovered the tactical problems with this though, as I couldn't
tell
what was happening behind me. Who was gonna jump?? As we turned the
corner,
about 6-7 riders went flying past. Luckily, I was able to jump onto the
last
of them, and the pace went berserk as everyone else tried to come with
us. I
was happy to be holding their wheels, but had no more speed to add for
a
final finishing sprint..... As we came down the final straight to the
line,
two guys in front of me went all "Robbie vs Stuey" and started leaning
all
over each other - so I sat up and backed off just in case, and cruised
over
the line in about 10th place (although I don't think I would have made
up
any places if I'd sprinted any further!!).
Final stats - 31km at 37.4km/h average. I had a very fun morning, and
was
stoked with my efforts. It was great to be an active participant in the
crits for a change, instead of just hanging tough at the back trying
hard
not to get dropped!!!
---
Cheers all,
Abby
