The race of truth - Kew Boulevard ITT C Grade - 3rd Place

The say the individual time trial is the race of truth, but sometimes the truth hurts. Today I had the aim of bettering my time from my previous attempt a couple of months ago given all the dedicated training and racing I have completed. Conditions were great besides from a wet road with a light breeze going out and the sun was shining.

I had a few simple ideas: keep my heart rate at my anerobic threshold (AT), attack the climbs and just hurt the whole way. On the way out and passed my first rider ahead of me and I had my sights on the next. Unfortunately this wasn't to be but I am hoping that I may have gained some time on him, but it is hard to tell. By the stage, the A grade were unleashed on the track and these guys rode past me like I was standing still. The sound of a full rear disc is a unique sound and it was one I heard constantly heard passing me.

I rode hard and to my plan managing to beat my old time. Unfortunately this was only by 10-20 seconds which was a little disappointing but I was content there as wasn't a huge amount left (it took me a little while to recover). I am looking forward to seeing the results as unfortunately I couldn't stick around afterwards.

Northern Combine Woodend - C Grade

Today was another fine day of racing with the Northern Combine. After a few initial attempts of a breakaway in the opening k's, one was successful (unfortunately I wasn't in this particular one) and they held on (just) to the end. On the first lap the pace was on with B grade appearing in the distance until it relaxed into a more steady rhythm. I felt a lot better today spending more time on the front, off the front, chasing breakaways and just for the hell of it, doing a big turn in the final k's to really test the legs (it turned out the breakaway's weren't that far ahead). I fought all the way to the line finishing again in the top 10 (just). I knew my big turn wouldn't help my finish as a few riders exploded past me, but it was an important test to push me that bit harder in preparation for future weeks. 

 More importantly, I backed it up today with 90kms of recovery with a couple of TT intervals thrown in. My training regime is slowly but surely turning up the intensity while maintaining decent k's finishing up with just over 350km for the week. The last 30km's were completed on my ergo annoying the hell out of my girlfriend trying to watch TV.

Getting ready for the Gippsland 3 day tour

Today I have been readying myself for the Gippsland 3 Day Tour. I restrained myself to a vary gentle coffee ride down Beach Rd with a stop at Cafe Racer. This will will be my first multi-day race and racing in B grade will be tough with a total of 190kms over 3 days. 

Stage 1  2 laps (total 51km) with KOM and sprints on laps 1 & 2.
Stage 2  8.77km Individual Time Trial:
Stage 3  4 laps (total 68km) with KOM on laps 2, 3 & 4 and sprints on laps 1, 2 & 3
Stage 4  2 laps (Total 60km) with KOM and sprint on laps 1 & 2.

 Here is my check list:
- Avanti Quantum with a rear cassette suitable for the conditions
- Garmin 500 bike computer fully charged 
- Kurt Kinetic fluid trainer to warm up on for the time trial
- Spares include tyres, tubes, cassette & a few basic tools (pumps, allen keys etc)
- Clean cycling kit (s) including cold/wet weather gear 
- Freshly shaved legs (I feel this is the most important item)
- Food products include sports drinks, gels, muesli bars and protein powders
- Chamois cream provided by Aussie Butt Cream
- And Most importantly the camera to take photos off the race 

Northern Combine Broadford Handicap - 13min bunch

Today was tough. 99kms and my bunch only had a 13min over the scratch guys. The pace was flat out for the first lap with the entire bunch rotating and working well to start with. Unfortunately as early as the first sharp climb people started to vacate our group. By the second lap unfortunately the rotations were inconsistent and becoming less frequent. The pain was starting to show on the group. I personally cramped on multiple occasions (how do you stretch out a quad cramp while riding?) but decided to just keep going.  I was considering pulling out after 2 laps, but we got caught by a large bunch and I was able to sit in and recover a little.

I kept going with the help of a few gels and the finishing was starting to look interesting. Unfortunately my new bunch never managed to catch the rest of the field. Personally I was just happy to have finished with the main bunch. Reviewing my Garmin data, I noticed my average heart rate was 162bpm which probably explains why I was in pain by the end. To date this has been my hardest race. On the way home to assist my recovery, I thought I deserved some fried chicken from the kernel.

Defensive Cycling: a beginers guide

The more you cycle, the more likely you are to eventually bite the bitumen based on the number of hours you are riding exposing yourself to any number of threats. For examples here are some I have seen over Easter:

- animals including wild life (emu's, kangaroos) and dogs
- cars (the most dangerous beast of all, one skidded to a halt behind us today scaring the bejesus out of me)
- other cyclists including just plain angry human beings and beginners like myself
- obstacles on the road including glass, stones, oil, water and cow poop (if your in the country) 
- fog (if you can't see the car, its a sure bet it can't see you)

You can reduce the exposure as much as possible by riding within your limits, not overlapping wheels, maintaining your equipment and always making sure you keep your thumbs under your bars. But this is no reason not to ride as the benefits far outweigh the risks. I blame this post on the recent work safety programs I have undertaken. The most important thing is to get home safely so you can re-fuel and go riding again!!!

CCCC Glenvale Crit: C Grade. Cycling Superstitions.

I have finally become reasonable at crit racing and the season has basically come to an end. Even though I wore the unlucky number 13 upside down and didn't shave my legs on the day of a race (both are required to to cancel out bad cycling luck), a early break got away and stayed away till the end. This meant speeds were slightly higher in C grade averaging just over 40km/h, but no one was working together and my couple of attempts at the front were futile.

On the last lap I was working a hard turn at the front attempting to chase the leaders who had long gone and was promptly cut off mid corner by a guy who decided he liked the look of my line. Luckily it didn't cause a accident behind me and was absolutely not necessary as there were no placings to be had. Oh well, next week is the last crit to prove myself in C grade before I switch to the winter road season. On a side note, it is interesting to point out that there is significant cultural differences between clubs. All in all, I prefer my local club races which have been known to end in a sprint finish to the bar for a scotch and cola.

CCCC Glenvale Crit: C Grade . New track and new pain face

 It was good to ride a new track today and a new Grade. Unfortunately I had to wear a not very fashionable fluro green head band, signifying that I was a newbie but at least it matched my bike. I had no real game plan today except to sit in and get comfortable with the circuit and practice pain faces for the camera. This is only because last week I was told off for smiling because racing is serious business. It was a great little square circuit with wide corners which allowed for some higher speeds. Overall we managed a average of 40km/h.

It was kept interesting with a constant stream of people trying to break away, I had a bit of a dip to keep things interesting but as usual nothing would stick and it came down to a sprint finish. I went a bit early on the last lap (again) and was first through  last corner but couldn't hold on for even a place. I manged to finish comfortable inside the top 10, but it is probably time to start some more dedicated sprint training. Luckily I got chatting to Steele von Hoff from the Genesys Pro Cycling team yesterday and got some tips. Time to practice my 3 out and back just at Bill Dove told us in Adelaide.