 |
| "My first race amongst the A grade women" (Photo by Marisa Farrell) |
A recent win on the road meant it was finally time to make the move up to Women's A Grade. 45min + 3 laps. Went about my usual warm-up, a few words of advice from the coach, and pretty soon I was lined up amongst the fairly huge group of 20 starters. BikeForce, Prime Estate and SKCC Race Team were the few dominant teams there - I was a little nervous just looking around the field. Breath.
 |
| "Focus!" (Photo by Robbie Moore) |
The race kicked off and I was soon sitting amongst the peloton. 10 mins in - the attacks started being launched by those in the teams. Every couple of minutes someone would attempt a break. It was almost like sitting in a car of an L-plater - accelerate, slow, accelerate, slow. With some decent headwinds on the course, the attacks weren't going to last - just sit tight. Today was about learning to recognise the riders of the peloton - picking out their strengths - learning who the sprinters were, who the domestiques were. Knowing who your competitors are definitely goes a long way.
Beep..beep. I heard my timer go off. 3 laps to go. The pace started picking up. 2 more attempted attacks. Patience. Patience. I started making my way up to the front of the field. 2 laps to go - swamped. Lost my position up the front. Bell lap. Managed to creep up to the front of the peloton. Round the last bend before the final corner, Prime Estate lead out went with sprinter Nicole Whitburn. BikeForce chick tailing them. (Note to self: Gotta start learning some names soon). Boxed in. Crap. They already had 2 bike lengths gap. Saw a space and jumped. Out of the final corner, I stood up and sprinted. Too late. Managed to close it down to 1 bike length settling in for 4th/5th position. (probably needed a photo finish but they only paid down to 3rd anyways.) Top 5 placing in my first race up a grade - stoked!!!
 |
| "Racing amongst the men" (Photo by Marisa Farrell) |
Adrenaline still pumping, a few lessons learnt from the earlier race - I was onto race number 2 for the day - men's D Grade. I hurriedly signed up, grabbed 2 snake lollies from the rego desk and was soon lined up ready to go. 37 starters. A much bigger field. 40 mins + 3 laps. The field was a little strung out at the start, with the riders not really sure what to do. Riders were jittery with that being the first crit of the season. We had riders trying to overtake on the inside of the corners. One guy who did that even screamed - "Give me a chance!" Suicide attempt I call it. Nervy peloton - best stay up the front, and focus!!
10mins + 3 laps. I was really starting to tire. My sinuses had started to play up again from the hayfever. Should have had some energy food during the break. Running out of fuel. 2 riders jumped and went for the break eventually managing to gain about 1/3 lap from us. I spotted fella BikeNow compatriot Tommy Weereratne coming on the outside and immediately jumped on his wheel to chase them down. He was pushing the pace really high - I dug hard, and hung on. We caught them. Great chasing Tommy!! "Keep left!" "Keep left!" We heard the dreaded sound of the marshals telling us to keep left and slow down to let the B-graders lap us. The bunch immediate caught on and swamped us.
2 laps to go. Someone in front of me swerve. Sitting tight on his wheel I followed. Guy behind me clipped my wheel. Arggh. I stayed up. "No crossing wheels!!" someone shouted. "Thank you!!" No crashes. Phew. 1 lap to go. Not much left in the legs. Dug hard. 2 guys went off - I had nothing left in me to chase. Needed fuel. Out of the final corner - I tried a sprint. Finished somewhere in the top 10 - 7th I think.
Great racing overall and I was happy with the season opener. Lot of learning - tonnes of adrenaline! Am already hungry for the next win. Time to train hard and build on the experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment