Psssssssssss
It was another beautiful spring day in the outer NW suburbs of Sydney for Parramatta's Club Championship. It was the first time this season that I've been able to race at our home course - a 7.3km lap with some ups and downs.
Club championships are different than the usual graded scratch races as they are replaced by age group scratch races. I raced in the (ahem) Elite group, though I believe one "E Salas'" time in one of the masters' categories would have won anyway...
The Elite men's race was to cover 10 laps of the fun up and down course and had around 25-30 starters from all different grades and quite a number of Penrith riders also turned up.
Race pace is a relative thing. The group of regular A-graders probably thought the pace was pedestrian for the first lap, though the rest of us had to work hard. One of them took off after about 500m, but decided to take a breather after a little while. The work was evenly shared for a bit, at what I felt was a strong pace. Numerous attacks were launched and I decided to have a go when two A-graders took off on lap 4, just after the up hill, across the false flat bit. Effing Elle! These guys were calling me through and I was trying my best, but it was hard enough just to stay on the wheel to take turns as well! I tried anyway with the hope that we could get far enough ahead so I could get third...
We stayed away for a little over one of the fastest laps I've ever done around Oakville. The other A-graders decided the break wasn't going to get away and we were chased down. This probably didn't bother my companions, but I was cooked and went back to try and recover at the back of the group. The pace picked up again and it was a killer staying on, but I was lucky and just held the wheel in front (though things were getting blurry!)
Into lap 7, about a quarter of the way and ... pssssss... flat tyre. All that effort gone to waste and didn't even finish. Apparently, the pace actually slowed after that and a (v. fast) rider got away solo to win.
Oh well, at least I rode with the big riders for a while - they really are at another level! Back to the normal B-grade for me next time.
Ritch