Hi Guys,
Well we won the Central Division Team Time Trial at Kooragang Island for Team Newrad Gateshead. The flu had not cleared but I was able to breathe ok and pitied the poor guys behind me when I had to clear the tubes (always tried to do it at the end of a turn though). Different team this time with me, Brett Lambkin, Geoff Troup, and Nathan Stewart swapping in for Brett James. We got off to a shocking start when Geoff's back wheel slipped the limiting screws and smacked into his frame. We all stood around for 30secs to see if he could fix it but no go. So we had to high tail it. Nath was coming off ironman so was a little fatigued but Brett was feeling good. It was a race of long turns at the front and keeping everyone together to finish and record a time. We ploughed through it though and checking on other teams I thought we may just have it. Ended up with a 13sec win over Manning Valley in 2nd, and our 2nd Team Newrad guys in 3rd. Geoff continued through by himself in case any of us flatted so we would get some points in the Division Cup. I also found out after there is a rule in TT whereby if you have a mechanical in the first 100m you can restart again but luckily we got away with the win anyway.
I also tried a couple of new races (a handicap and a criterium) this past weekend. The handicap was interesting as I went of scratch with Glen Stojanow, Geoff Troup, Brett Lambkin, Sam Layzell, and Michael Burke. The limit (ie bunnies) had 20mins head start on us for a 4 lap race. I lost the group on the first hill after taking a turn I dropped some gears to spin but ended up skipping the chain and two gears. This opened up a gap of 2 bike lengths to the last guy and I just couldn't get back on when the boys crested the hill and got into the 53x11s as I only had a 53x12 and have not trained myself to spin as fast as the pure cyclists yet. They were very impressive and very strong cyclists. Gave me a lesson and I will be working on higher cadence and getting the appropriate gearing. The bunnies ended up winning the day with the head start a little bit too much for the boys to catch. I hammered for 3 laps passing buys that were dropped but unable to make any inroads. Good training though.
Sunday saw a criterium out at Steel River. Plenty of 90 degree turns and 2 u-turns each lap saw lots of corner and sprinting practice. I am racing the Tour of Tweed and the last stage is a crit so I thought I had better get some practice in. I was in B grade and we went off 10 secs behind A grade. I was able to bridge up quickly but not knowing the rules I sat 7-10m behind like in triathlon non-drafting races. This was a big mistake as the A grade guys fly out of corners with the concertina happening in a big way. Needless to say I drifted off the pace. Again I learnt more about positioning and cadence watching the top guys do turns. I hammered away for the 35mins +3 laps which constituted the race. I slowly picked up a couple of A grade guys that had drifted off the back but wanted to work more and practice. I ended up 2nd in my grade as the other guy held into a A grade pairing just ahead of me and I couldn't bridge up on the winding track. I learnt a lot about race craft and got a fantastic workout to boot. These two races were all after a week of increasing cycling mileage with some nice rides with Rich Stanton and Michael Edgar including a lovely hill repeat loop I can utilise for training.
I will be attaching a cadence sensor and doing some high rpm work along with hill drills to bring myself up to speed a bit with the pure cyclists. This will also transfer across to my triathlon racing and hopefully help with my hit out at the Tour de Tweed on the June long weekend in Queensland. Things coming up are the Hunter Districts Individual Time Trial this weekend, possibly the Wineries 100km cyclosportif (or a crit), Newcastle Rodeo with some friends, the Tour de Tweed, and the normal runs/swims for my triathlons.
On a side note, Frankie turned six months old on the weekend. She loves the running pram and so I will be able to clock up some more kilometres whilst spending time with her. She looks so cute all rugged up and ready to cruise.
Cheers and train safe,
Bevan.
No comments:
Post a Comment