Saturday 14 May 2011

Northen Combine - C grade. 4th place

Today's a road race was out near Hanging Rock. To describe it in one word, I would use cold. To use a second word, I would use windy. But I was still glad to race as there was no rain unlike everyone else in Melbourne. As I am still learning, today I learned that I need more clothing in these conditions, long sleeves and a normal bib didn't cut it. Conditions were tough and to top it off, C grade had to race 90kms which is getting past my comfort zone. Additionally, there was 700m of vertical climbing. The racing had two speeds today: super fast & slow. I spent a bit of energy bridging across to a threatening break which was unfortunately shut down but I could feel my legs were starting to cramp and I was thinking finishing with the bunch would be a good outcome.

I have never done too much descending, but today I started to feel a little bit more comfortable and hit just over 73km/h which is my highest speed on my Garmin to date. As we entered the final 10 k's the bunch was tired and the pace was slow enough for me to be in my recovery (E1) zone. As we all turned the second last corner, the pace finally was starting to lift and I started following wheels working my way to the front. At one point I even hit the front of the peloton but I was able to pace myself and not blow up. Hitting the last corner, it was 1km up hill finish. I could feel my legs starting to cramp, but I decided to ignore them and kept myself close to the front. Up the final hill I let loose with everything I had left and passed a few riders which was enough for me to roll come 4th. I was very happy but barely able to ride my bike back to the car.

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