WCMCC Two Day Stage Race - Oct 1 & 2 2006.
Another first for me, a multi stage bike race. The
race had four stages over two days. Overall placings
were determined by points scored in each stage. There
was 5 points for starting then 10, 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 points
for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. There
were four grades (A to D) - I was in B-grade.
Stage 1. 11km ITT. The first two stages were on the same
circuit at Herne Hill which is in a wine growing area near
Perth. The TT was one lap of the circuit. I was targeting
the TT as in the past I'd done relatively better at TTing.
In the end, I was disappointed with my effort, failing
to go inside my age standard. The course was a bit tricky
but I cursed myself for not doing better. I got 4th on the
stage with an average speed of about 37.5kph. I was hoping
to do over 38kph average. Anyway, points on the board and
4th overall going into stage 2.
Stage 2. 55km Road Race. 5 laps of the Herne Hill circuit.
This was a fairly uneventful race. There were a few attacks,
I had a go myself but it all came together in the end for a
bunch sprint. I was determined not to get boxed in as I had
last time I raced this circuit and found some space out on the
right. However, I misjudged the distance to the finish and
went to early. I was in the front with about 100m to go
but got swamped and ended up about 10th. After two stages,
I'm sitting about 7th overall.
Stage 3. 60km Road Race at Pickering Brook. 8 laps of a
hilly course. I'd raced here once before and managed to stay
with the bunch for the whole race. I'm not a climber so today
my plan was just to keep up and see what happened at the end.
On the first lap, a rider took a flyer off the front. The
pace of the bunch was pretty high as they tried to catch him.
He ended up staying away for 4 laps but was caught. In the
process, I was getting into serious trouble at the back of
the pack. My problem was more mental than physical though -
I just didn't seem to be able to get the heart rate up when
I needed the effort up the hill. Then, as I was being slowly
dropped on the climb, I noticed a horrid rattle coming from
my bike. My bidon cage was coming loose and threatening to
fall off into my back wheel. There was a frame pump attached
there as well. So, I erred on the side of safety and pulled
out of the race after completing 5 laps. After this, I was
feeling pretty down and having trouble psyching myself up for
the last stage.
Stage 4. 40min plus 2 laps Criterium at Kewdale. Last stage
and the points table was all pretty close. I'd had something
to eat and drink since the morning and was feeling a bit better.
The crit was going to be interesting as there was only a couple
of points between 1st and 2nd and I was equal 8th overall. There
was much poring over the results table before the race with at
least one rider writing numbers on his arm. Even though it was
a short race, there were several sub-races going on as riders
tried to protect their position. I knew who I wanted to finish
in front of and that was my main goal. There was lots of attacking
and a number of breakaways. I stayed out of trouble towards the
rear. My plan was to get into a breakaway when we had about 10
minutes to go. In the end, two riders got away with 15mins to
go. I thought they had a chance so jumped and made the gap.
We started working but one of us wasn't really putting in.
We stayed away for about a lap but the rider who was equal 8th
with me at the start of the race pulled us all back. As he passed
me he gave me a wry smile and made some remark about being a
[censored] for getting away. So, after all that, it ended with a bunch
sprint. Despite the earlier efforts, I felt I had some legs
and again, was determined to not get boxed in. I moved to the
right before the final corner and got around with about 10
riders in front. Then the sprint started and the road opened
up. I grabbed some gears and put my head down. Amazingly,
I was passing riders on my left and right. Suddenly, there
was only one rider in front and I was gaining on him. I wasn't
sure exactly where the line was but kept going. In the end,
I ran out of space and got 2nd which I was more than happy with
and much better than I expected. Top speed in the sprint was
about 53kph. This was my best result at B-grade in any race.
In the wash-up, I ended up with fifth over-all. 1 point behind
the rider who came fourth. He'd got 6th in the crit. The rider
who started equal 8th with me at the start of the day got 6th.
We were all helped by some higher ranked riders not starting the
last stage.
It was all good fun and there was lots of post-mortem discussion
about the races etc. The turn around in my state of mind from
the morning race was marked. I was feeling [censored] and disappointed
then for the crit, I was energized and very happy to get 2nd.
Results and photos for all races should be on the WCMCC web site
soon.
DeF
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e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
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