St Kilda Festival Criteriums

Since this is practically on my front doorstep, and especially as judging by the weather the Kew Crits won't be on tonight, I was thinking of giving this a go:

http://tinyurl.com/6ghwe

So how does this day license business work? Do you have to purchase it beforehand or do you just rock up and buy it on the day? Does the process take long?

Did anyone take part in the Crits that Breakaway ran a couple of months ago in Albert Park? If so, what was the level like?

Cheers
Craigster.
(Back to bike commuting tomorrow for the first time in 3 months!)

 

If you haven't raced before, I wouldn't make your debut at the Festival crits. It's a very tight (single lane each way) hot-dog with a hill at one end. You'll just get dropped in the first couple of laps. Try the Port Melb course first to get some race fitness (they're also practically on your doostep).

 

note

link is to a PDF
1/2 mb

please note this when posting links
or post to site with html etc
say here http://www.breakawayevents.com.au/



ta


d


----------------------------------------------------------
Dallas

When in doubt, jiggle the cable.
----------------------------------------------------------

"Shabby" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]
>
> craigster_jd Wrote:
>> Since this is practically on my front doorstep, and especially as
>> judging by the weather the Kew Crits won't be on tonight, I was
>> thinking of giving this a go:
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/6ghwe
>>

 

Hill? On Fitzroy Street??? Not much of one compared to Kew...
When you say it's tight, do you mean they run it up and down one carriageway of the road (i.e. accross two lanes), or do they cross the tram tracks (accross all four lanes)?

Cheers,
Craigster.

 

i dunno this one but surely (ohoh, commonsense?) its across the tramtracks and using both sides of the street?

Do the StK crits Graigster. damn side easier than Kew (which I presume is rained out today?). Kew has become 'my everest' (no the hill aint THAT big). one day...

 

flyingdutch wrote:
> Do the StK crits Graigster. damn side easier than Kew (which I presume
> is rained out today?). Kew has become 'my everest' (no the hill aint
> THAT big). one day...
>

I'll never get racing with this luck, public holiday last Wed, rain rain
and more rain today.. I think I'll upgrade to full license on Sat and
look at doing StKilda crits..

Lets get some Sherpas to help out at Kew.. a cycling Tenzing?

cheers,
GPL

 

On the two lanes on the city (N?) side of the road, from opposite Leos up to The Saint.

It's not much of a hill, but it's where one of the U turns is. Hence, if you're on the back, the guys at the front are accelerating out of the corner (down hill) while you're still braking before the corner. And then you'll chase really hard to get back on and then have to brake hard again while the front guys are accelerating out of the corner. And it's gonna be single or double file becuase no more than two will be able to corner at the same time. Add to the fact that there's two corners every 500m, and it's a tough race, way tougher than a circuit like Kew, which is one hill every 1.5km or so, followed by a big recovery period.

But race if you want, it makes no difference to me. But it's gonna be soul destroying if you haven't ridden for a while.

The St Kilda festival is on. Do you honestly think they'd devote the whole of Fitzroy St to a bike race?

 

Great work dutchy. Giving advice on something you know nothing about, so someone else can go and spend $25 racing for 5 minutes.

Commonsense also tells you that getting 15000 people to a Festival requires some PT. Hence, they don;t stop trams (or cars) for four hours while a couple of hundred cyclists race.

 

aah, actually no. Shabby. I was referring to the SKCC crits at port melbourne, actually!
I agree with you. The Fitzroy St crits sound too 'hot'.
Dunno about being harder than Kew but seeing as presumably you have done both I bow to your greater experience.

PS <naievity engaged> the theory you mentioned re the lead riders getting away as they get round the 'top' corner and down the hill.
Doesnt this even out as you catch/approach at the next corner as they are now going 'up' whilst you are going down?
</naievity engaged>
...just askin... dont bite my head orf

 

Ah, referring to races by clubs instead of locations. No wonder I got lost:

"Carnegie is an easier race than Carnegie or Carnegie, but not Carnegie, man that one's hard"....

Nope, referring to races by suburb or street still seems easier to me.

QUOTE=flyingdutch]
PS <naievity engaged> the theory you mentioned re the lead riders getting away as they get round the 'top' corner and down the hill.
Doesnt this even out as you catch/approach at the next corner as they are now going 'up' whilst you are going down?
</naievity engaged>
...just askin... dont bite my head orf [/QUOTE]

The bottom section (Leos) is flat. Hence, you get nothing back on the bottom corner.

The slingshot effect means at the back you're either sptinting like mad or braking as hard as you can (similar to any crit, but magnifed because of the tightness of the corner, the short distance between corners and the narrowness of the course. There is no chance to rest, and if you corner like that 60 times in a race you won't have anything left for the sprint. The only place to ride them is at the front, and there's minimal opportunities to pass and slot into the train.

Oh, and to add to the fun for a newbie, the corners are right handers, which most people (trackies included) can;t ride agressively as they can through left handers.

 

Alright, Alright already! Give a guy a break

Geez my some total of crits in Melbourne is Kew approx 10 times and SKCC @ Port Melbourne twice (2 3rds, hence my reference to it being easier ) As I have raced next to/in front of/behind Craigster I was trying (unsuccessfully) to give him a relativ point of reference.
Apologies, shall never try and help anyone again.

That's just plain 'wrong' !
Is there a particular reason they are running em clockwise?
Does the course necessitate that?

F"shant stand on left side of corners"Dutch

 

Fair enough.

Standard practice with hot dog courses. Always annoying if you don't do many of them. (Dalmore Drive in Scoresby is another example).

 

I wouldn't worry. I think the rain is getting to everyone today, myself included.

I seem to remember this having been discussed before:

http://tinyurl.com/45zo2

(For Dallas's benefit, no there isn't a PDF file at the end of this link )


Cheers,
Craigster.

 

Shabby wrote:
> flyingdutch Wrote:
>>Is there a particular reason they are running em clockwise?
>>Does the course necessitate that?
>
> Standard practice with hot dog courses. Always annoying if you don't do
> many of them. (Dalmore Drive in Scoresby is another example).

I hate hotdogs - the courses and the 'food' item.

Is the competition level at the St. Kilda fest crits generally higher?
i.e. are the 'better' guys more likely to come out and play here?

hippy

 

If Glenvale gets cancelled it will be very tough. Otherwise, just tough. Any race that's a bit different will get more people turning up.

It's not really your sort of course, big fella. It's one for the skinny roadie types who train and eat right and enjoy hurting for an hour.

(Hmmm, all this rain is making me thirsty, must be Beer O'clock).

 

"Damn their eyes!"

marty feldman - young frankenstien

 

Shabby wrote:
> If Glenvale gets cancelled it will be very tough. Otherwise, just
> tough. Any race that's a bit different will get more people turning up.

Glenvale might get cancelled but this one wouldn't?

> It's not really your sort of course, big fella. It's one for the skinny
> roadie types who train and eat right and enjoy hurting for an hour.

So are you racing?

> (Hmmm, all this rain is making me thirsty, must be Beer O'clock).

Beer? Hmm.. maybe you're not?

hippy

 

Skinny? No
Roadie? No
Train? Not this year.
Enjoy hurting? Yes, but not for an hour (6 laps with 4.5 behind a motorbike for me thanks).

 

Shabby wrote:
> Skinny? No
> Roadie? No
> Train? Not this year.
> Enjoy hurting? Yes, but not for an hour (6 laps with 4.5 behind a
> motorbike for me thanks).

hehe

Weren't you at Glenvale this year or have I confused you with someone
else on here?

hippy
- needs beer to block out 'driving' to work..

 

Glenvale doesn't hurt for an hour. You roll around for about 50 minutes chasing down half assed attacks, then go flat out for about 5 or 10 minutes.