E Grade
This was my very first race so I didn't know what to expect. Lindsay suggested E grade so I spent some time looking up what the average speed to expect was on the RBCC website. It was faster then the average speed I have seen on most of my regular rides, so the nerves were already setting in.
I started last night making adjustments to my bike to make it look less like a commuter. I flipped the stem and put it down a few notches, positioning is a bit more like my track bike now. Removed my lights, saddle bag and all other unnecessary items (in hindsight I should have dropped my water bottles as I didn't have time to think about drinking). Got up early this morning (not slowies early) and cleaned and oiled my chain then took it for a few laps of the block - everything was running pretty smooth and I was pleased with my new position on the bike.
I drove to Heffron park as I had never been there and my wife wanted to come and watch my first race (more pressure!). We got there very early at 1pm and I was the first Senior rider around. Sat and watched the juniors do their races. Michael and Bill turned up shortly after and we all proceeded to sign up for the race.
Michael then gave me a few tips as we went around the track doing a warm-up lap. I then did a second lap and tried some of the corners at speed as I'd never been to Heffron Park before. This was a little daunting and I just kept telling myself what I'd been told - trust the bike and the tyres.
At the start of the race I positioned myself near the other DHBC riders - there were 5 of us in E grade. The start was called by Beanzy and we moved off the line. It took me 3 goes to get my foot in the pedal which I put down to being so nervous. The pace was reasonable and I found the biggest bloke in the bunch to sit behind. My strategy, if you could call it that, was to try and stay in second wheel as long as possible and not spend more then a lap on the front, which given the number of riders in the race seemed fair.
It was all blown almost immediately when Michael and the young guy took off in a breakaway. This was very early in the race and they weren't caught by the bunch. I don't really know what happened between then and the last lap, we all just rode around watching the breakaway stay at least 100m away, with no one wanting to chase them down. There was some excitement when a football rolled across the track and a few unleashed dogs dangerously close to the side.
It then became a race between the main peloton. At one stage guy whose wheel I was sitting on rode off into the grass in what I believe was a move to shake me. He was right, I didn't follow.
On the last lap Michael Kennedy (we've only just met, I think this is right), did a good spell on the front for most of the lap. Coming over the 'pimples' I believe they are called I decided to take an early sprint but everyone stuck on my wheel and was right there for the last corner. Coming down the final straight I started sprinting right out of the corner, which was far to early. I blew up with about 70m to go, completely expecting to be overtaken, but rolled across the line doing about 25km/h. The other riders must have tried to come with me in the sprint and also suffered the same fate, I'm not quite sure what happened.
I then spent the next 5 minutes lying on the ground. I think warm-down laps are over-rated.
Overall, it was a very unexpected 3rd place. I hit a new maximum heart rate the in final sprint - 197 bpm. Well done to Michael for his first victory, he did it almost all by himself (the skinny kid wouldn't have offered much drafting advantage!).
Here is the lap data from my computer. The distance includes my warm up laps (not shown) -
Code: Select all
Time Distance Split time Split distance Split speed Speed chg. last Speed vs avg. Avg. HR Avg. cadence
14:57 6.14 4:37 2.07 26.9 -0.59 -3.21 158 (82%) 89.1
18:43 8.14 3:46 2.00 31.7 4.89 1.68 176 (91%) 83.8
22:17 10.18 3:33 2.04 34.4 2.69 4.37 184 (95%) 99.3
26:02 12.19 3:45 2.01 32.2 -2.26 2.12 176 (91%) 94.6
29:53 14.20 3:52 2.01 31.1 -1.05 1.06 172 (89%) 85.4
33:33 16.20 3:40 2.01 32.8 1.71 2.77 180 (93%) 90.2
37:19 18.23 3:45 2.02 32.2 -0.63 2.15 183 (94%) 93.4
41:16 20.24 3:57 2.02 30.6 -1.60 0.55 177 (91%) 91.2
45:09 22.28 3:52 2.03 31.6 0.94 1.49 178 (92%) 88.9
48:43 24.28 3:35 2.01 33.6 2.03 3.53 184 (95%) 92.9
Partly cloudy. Light northwest winds tending moderate northeast in the afternoon.
