Background
Well after plodding around in D Grade a little since deciding I should get my butt back on the roadie (or being told to by Lotte
) I had moved up to C-Grade last week for a race. All went well in the C-Grade race and I didn't really have any problems with the speed (39.4ave) of the race and ended up finishing about 15m off the winner in about 9th. My goal had been to move up to B-Grade by the end of the year or beginning of next year.
This weekend just gone, a number of things needing to be done were making it look like I wouldn't have time to race on Saturday morning. In order to try and fit everything in I decided I might as well move up to B-Grade as they race first in the morning, followed by A and then C,D,E later in the morning.
I rode to the race as per usual and showed up about 30mins before the start. The great thing about B Grade being the first race of the day is that the track is empty so I could use it to keep the legs warm before the race. I did a lap then decided I should enter and got my number on (I am not very flexible so putting it on can be a task and a half). B Grade had been split in to B and B-1. I opted for B-1 as apparently it is slower. Almost exhaused from the number incident I headed out for another lap to stop my legs going to sleep and then decided that the beginning of the race was nearing so it wouldn't hurt to sit around a litte.
After the usual pre race talk we were off in a Big bunch with directions to keep it easy until the first corner. The pace was reasonable and I was surprised that it wasn't faster. I settled into a good position about 10th wheel and was feeling pretty good. An attack off the front was pretty much ignored and we got them back a couple of laps later. Another attack by 2 guys went off the front and the pace lifted a little but was still ok. I ended up on the front (somewhere I wasn't keen on being ) and I decided that I would lift a little and try and bring the 2 guys out front back to the bunch. I did a reasonable turn and had halved the gap. I was starting to hurt a little so I moved aside and let the others take over. The bunch seemed to be moving a little quicker (or I was now tired) and caught the two guys after another 1/2 lap. Then the bunch surged pretty hard (mabye to hurt the breakaway guys) and I had to work pretty hard to keep in the bunch and not slip out the back. The prime came and I didn't contest although I made sure I was near the front without competeing in the sprint as I didn't want to risk another surge occuring with me further down the field. The rest of the race was spent trying to keep near the front of the bunch and I did another turn on the front for a bit. Finally we got the 3 lap sign and the pace dropped a little and the bunch spread out about 7 wide. For the next two laps we surged around the track until we recieved the 1 Lap bell thing. The bunch slowed with noone wanting to be on the front and I took this opportunity to move up a little closer to the front. Once we hit the back straight it was pretty much on with some bloke pulling a stupid move down the inside on the grass and then cutting back onto the track just before the second last corner. Fearing the worst alot of people slowed while the rest of the bunch put the hammer down. I chased pretty hard but was now a fair way off the guys in front. I kept the power on to the line and finished feeling fine. Average was 40.5 and distance was actually shorter than C Grade the week before (I noticed the 3 Lap sign went up at about 38mins).
I handed my number in and rode home feeling pretty good. Surprisingly my legs felt ok, however they took a while to wake up this morning. So from now on I will race B-1 with the goal of stepping up to B (much smaller bunch so probably a fair bit more work to pull the same speed).
Well after plodding around in D Grade a little since deciding I should get my butt back on the roadie (or being told to by Lotte
) I had moved up to C-Grade last week for a race. All went well in the C-Grade race and I didn't really have any problems with the speed (39.4ave) of the race and ended up finishing about 15m off the winner in about 9th. My goal had been to move up to B-Grade by the end of the year or beginning of next year.This weekend just gone, a number of things needing to be done were making it look like I wouldn't have time to race on Saturday morning. In order to try and fit everything in I decided I might as well move up to B-Grade as they race first in the morning, followed by A and then C,D,E later in the morning.
I rode to the race as per usual and showed up about 30mins before the start. The great thing about B Grade being the first race of the day is that the track is empty so I could use it to keep the legs warm before the race. I did a lap then decided I should enter and got my number on (I am not very flexible so putting it on can be a task and a half). B Grade had been split in to B and B-1. I opted for B-1 as apparently it is slower. Almost exhaused from the number incident I headed out for another lap to stop my legs going to sleep and then decided that the beginning of the race was nearing so it wouldn't hurt to sit around a litte.
After the usual pre race talk we were off in a Big bunch with directions to keep it easy until the first corner. The pace was reasonable and I was surprised that it wasn't faster. I settled into a good position about 10th wheel and was feeling pretty good. An attack off the front was pretty much ignored and we got them back a couple of laps later. Another attack by 2 guys went off the front and the pace lifted a little but was still ok. I ended up on the front (somewhere I wasn't keen on being
) and I decided that I would lift a little and try and bring the 2 guys out front back to the bunch. I did a reasonable turn and had halved the gap. I was starting to hurt a little so I moved aside and let the others take over. The bunch seemed to be moving a little quicker (or I was now tired) and caught the two guys after another 1/2 lap. Then the bunch surged pretty hard (mabye to hurt the breakaway guys) and I had to work pretty hard to keep in the bunch and not slip out the back. The prime came and I didn't contest although I made sure I was near the front without competeing in the sprint as I didn't want to risk another surge occuring with me further down the field. The rest of the race was spent trying to keep near the front of the bunch and I did another turn on the front for a bit. Finally we got the 3 lap sign and the pace dropped a little and the bunch spread out about 7 wide. For the next two laps we surged around the track until we recieved the 1 Lap bell thing. The bunch slowed with noone wanting to be on the front and I took this opportunity to move up a little closer to the front. Once we hit the back straight it was pretty much on with some bloke pulling a stupid move down the inside on the grass and then cutting back onto the track just before the second last corner. Fearing the worst alot of people slowed while the rest of the bunch put the hammer down. I chased pretty hard but was now a fair way off the guys in front. I kept the power on to the line and finished feeling fine. Average was 40.5 and distance was actually shorter than C Grade the week before (I noticed the 3 Lap sign went up at about 38mins). I handed my number in and rode home feeling pretty good. Surprisingly my legs felt ok, however they took a while to wake up this morning. So from now on I will race B-1 with the goal of stepping up to B (much smaller bunch so probably a fair bit more work to pull the same speed).
