Couldn't avoid posting a mini report from today's race.
In a rush of ill-founded enthusiasm, I decided to try my luck in the
local series Group 1 again, instead of the somewhat lame Group 2.
Today's course was 4 laps of a hilly circuit for a total of 60km.
While the course is up and down the whole time, there are 2 hills
which stand out. The road surface was horrible with huge holes, frost
heaves, rocks sticking out, cracks, and lots of sand and gravel in the
turns.
But it was beautiful weather. Slight breeze, sun, and about 16C. Off
the bat I had trouble getting inot my pedal, so my good positioning at
the start line was for naught. But it didn't really matter, because
the lead car drove very slowly for the first 2km before letting
everyone go. Then it went as the say in Norwegian "ugly fast". We were
flying, and guys were bouncing in and out of potholes left and right.
On one of the hills, a guy next to me hit a hole which made him lose
control, so he swerved off the road on the left side, and slipped in
the soft gravel, only to swerve back across the road right for me. I
was ready to check him to the boards, but he managed to keep it
together. Then a fast down hill section where I tried in vain to get a
better position in the pack. The narrow road and poor surface combined
with high speed made it futile. So I hung on toward the back for
almost 2 laps before I lost contact on one of the hills. I really
tried all out, and sprinted for all I was worth to try to get back on.
No measured effort to reel them in, just hammer down. No dice. That's
when I realized my seatpost had slipped down a few cm probably when I
went through one of the innumerable holes.
Some guys rolled up behind, but I was wasted and lost contact with
them on the next hill.
A buddy of mine (who was busy trying to break away at the front when I
was getting dropped off the back!) said it was the fastest race of
this series for the last 2 years or so. The first lap even with the
slow first 2km had an average of 41km/h, the 2nd and 3rd laps averaged
almost 44km/h, before it calmed down a bit on the last lap to 41km/h.
Back to Group 2 for me. The Group 2 this time had a much better turn
out than last time, so it looks like it will be fun next time.
Joseph