Lakeside kermisse (brisbane)

I really enjoy reading all the race reports so keep 'em coming. I haven't
been racing that long so I'm still picking up a few little things everytime
I race or hear one of these reports. I haven't seen any brisbane reports so
here's mine. The circuit is the 2.4km Lakeside Raceway on the northside of
town. There's an aerial pic here
http://www.lakesideraceway.com/the_track.htm

It's undulating except for the long straight. Heading clockwise you go along
the straight then around the "carousel" then climb up and then down the back
straight under the old dunlop bridge. Down through "Hungry" corner and then
climb sharply up about 22 metres up and around Eastern Loop (bottom left in
the pic) then fly down the hill and around onto the long main straight
again. No tight corners, it's fast wide and flowing. Racing is every sat at
7am, organised by the HPRW club www.hamiltonwheelers.com

I've been racing B grade the last few weeks. I did a few A's at the end of
last year, but found it was a suffer-fest. I either got dropped or just hung
on by my fingertips with my brain oozing out of my head by the end, and I
had absolutely nothing left for the finish - it was like I'd accidentally
selected reverse. The difference was the constant attacks in A grade. You
need to be able to recover very quickly, and if you're not fit, you're
toast! Those fast guys love to make you hurt, right? So like some of you
guys have said, I'm learning more and able to try more tactics staying in B
grade for a while.

First week in B I did a lot of work, but it came down to a bunch sprint and
I got third, not strong enough at the end to come around for the win. Then
last week in B, I broke away early with a strong rider, was joined after a
few laps by 4 others. We got a paceline going really fast and smooth and we
pulled a huge lead, completely out of sight (I guess at least a minute).
With 2 laps to go my original break partner jumped from the front just as I
rolled to the back. I got out of the seat and stomped hard but had a
*really* painful calf cramp and couldn't turn the pedals. Managed to stop
without falling off and rubbed it for a bit at the bottom of the hill, then
got going again and wobbled round in pain for a lap and a half to finish a
lonely sixth, still out of sight of the bunch. The cramping really gave me
the ****s as I thought I'd gotten rid of them last year, and I hadn't even
been working that hard. Maybe it was all the food and beer I had while
riding (slowly) around tassie over the holidays?

So this week I figured I'd do as little as possible, suss out who the strong
riders were, let any 'doomed to failure' breaks go, but be ready in case the
strong guys had a good go. There was a field of around 20 or so riders.
There was only one significant attack with around 10 mins to go that I
jumped on, but it was too obvious and not sharp enough and was caught half a
lap later. I thought we were away and started to get a paceline going asking
telling people to roll off. It was pretty disorganised as it was the week
before, and I know if you want it to work, you've got to start working hard
straight away. So here I am going 'roll off,roll off' and then I looked back
and saw most of the bunch right on our tail. Doh!

Actually I forgot - there was one more attack with 5 minutes to go, we'd
just let C grade go through on their bell lap (yeah embarrassing I know) and
they were halfway round and a few of our stronger guys jumped and went
around them. I guess they thought a small break could get clear in front of
C grade and away, which would be fine if it were just a few riders, but what
happened was the whole of B grade got dragged up the inside of the 2nd last
corner baulking the C graders. When they took off they got yelled at (by me
as well), but when they didn't slow I thought bugger it, I'll have to go
tool and get well clear of C by the finish. I guess proper etiquette is to
stay clear of other grades on their last lap, both for the riders and the
judges on the line. A little unsporting to try and use another pack as a
block I thought but it didn't worry me too much. Anyway no big deal and
sanity was resumed and we slowed to let C grade have a clear run down the
straight.

Going up the hill on the last lap, I was about 4th wheel, everyone was a
getting edgy, and then one guy attacked hard around the outside. I was a
little boxed in on the inside and he got a really good gap on me. I gave it
everything down the hill and along the looooonng straight. I had a gap on
the bunch, but the lead rider was still maybe 75m away. I'd seen 'Million
Dollar Baby', Clint Eastwood's boxing movie the night before (good flick),
and was feeling inspired to push hard, and I saw my highest ever heart rate
of 193. I was going so hard I couldn't help but drop my head - I know you're
not supposed to - I just looked up every 5 seconds to see how close I was
getting. Tried getting out of the seat but my quads were burning and I fell
straight back down. I almost got his wheel but I was just too late to go
around. Meanwhile the bunch was chasing with sprinters jumping from wheel to
wheel. I faded a little from the solo effort and two of them got me by a
wheel so I got 4th - just out of the (paltry by southern standards) money.
So close! It was a great ride by the breakaway rider, that's tough to do
especially on the last lap. And I suppose those pesky wheelsucking sprinters
deserve some credit as well. There's always next week!

Adam

Good report. Thats bad luck about getting a cramp while in the break.
Its pretty impressive being in b grade after having raced only a shor
time. Is this your first time racing or have you raced before.

Just getting pipped for 3rd place really sucks. Sounds like you'll ge
a place soon though.

Cheer

--
mogulhead

Whats the everage speed in the various grades ?
"mogulhead" wrote in
message ...

Good report. Thats bad luck about getting a cramp while in the break.
Its pretty impressive being in b grade after having raced only a short
time. Is this your first time racing or have you raced before.

Just getting pipped for 3rd place really sucks. Sounds like you'll get
a place soon though.

Cheers


--
mogulhead

"mogulhead" wrote in
message ...

Good report. Thats bad luck about getting a cramp while in the break.
Its pretty impressive being in b grade after having raced only a short
time. Is this your first time racing or have you raced before.

Been racing for about 9 months now. From the numbers and the average speeds,
racing in Melbourne (you're in vic right?) is a lot more popular and
competitive. I think our club B grade would be C grade in a more competitive
competition.

Good luck this week, grab a good wheel at the end let us know how you go

Adam

"Terry Keelen" wrote in message
...
Whats the everage speed in the various grades ?

"everage"? Are you a kiwi? Changes from week to week but I'd say C
around 35, B around 37 and A 40. Not as fast as the melbourne reports, but
smaller fields and a hilly course.

Adam

"mogulhead" wrote in
message ...

Good report. Thats bad luck about getting a cramp while in the break.
Its pretty impressive being in b grade after having raced only a short
time. Is this your first time racing or have you raced before.

Just getting pipped for 3rd place really sucks. Sounds like you'll get
a place soon though.

Had better luck yesterday in B grade. Didn't feel that good before the race,
but went with every break after the first 15 minutes, but none had the zip
and intensity to last more than about 1/2 a lap and the bunch seemed keen to
chase everything down but the average speed was pretty low. One guy dangled
off the front for a few laps about half distance but he was left to fry. I
had sort of planned a breakaway with 10 min to go with 2 of the other
stronger riders I'd met the week before, but they didn't come with me, so
after half a lap I dropped back - no way could I have lasted on my own.

Two laps to go and the speed crept up a bit to discourage breakaways. I
thought about attacking but everything had been chased down quickly so I
didn't think with 2 laps to go that it would work. On the last lap I was
second wheel behind a bloke who rode nearly a whole lap on the front -
crazy! With about 2km to go I took off up over the hill and down the back
straight giving it everything. It's a good place to go because after the
rise is a downhill straight, so it's a bit harder for the bunch to catch up,
then there is a big hill. If you can get a good gap before the hill, I
thought the hill would kinda negate the bunch's advantage. Luckily the guy
on the front (one of my planned breakaway mates) didn't want to chase
straight away as he thought he would just drag the whole field along. I felt
sure I'd get caught but a bit of hestitation let me stay away for a solo
win. There's few better feelings than looking back and realising you're not
going to get caught and for a bit of a laugh I did the old adjust the jersey
and pose for the crowd over the line (and probably look like a complete
tosser

How'd everyone else go?

Adam

adam wrote:
There's few better feelings than looking back and realising you're not
going to get caught and for a bit of a laugh I did the old adjust the jersey
and pose for the crowd over the line (and probably look like a complete
tosser

How'd everyone else go?

Port Melbourne Crit 13-Feb-2005:

No time for vegemite toast so I grabbed one of those Snickers(?) energy
bars on the way to Port Melbourne. Very chocolatey, probably not the
best thing pre-race but I needed something to eat. I was there quite
early, having allowed extra time for my typical 'where the hell am i'
navigational performance. This early in the morning I could actually
concentrate on finding the streets I wanted rather than dodging cars.
Nice. Rolled around until registration opened. $15 entry!? WTF?!
Glenvale is only $10.. lucky I had a bit extra on me..

The circuit is a fair bit rougher than Glenvale (older roads have warped
with industrial traffic I guess) and some sides of the circuit are coned
off as single lane only. This wasn't much of a problem with only 15 or
so riders in C grade. I'm pretty sure the numbers are much higher than
this normally but many riders were competing in the St. Kilda Festival
crits later on the same day. Fine by me.

C grade started quite slow. The race was only 40min+3 (Glenvale is
55min+3) so if it stayed near this pace until the end I was sure I was
going to kick arse!
It didn't. A few breaks went and for some reason I found myself in them.
I wasn't paying attention. The new surrounds had thrown me a bit. In a
small group like this it's harder to hide so I was driving the breaks I
was in and chasing down any others. "Hey, this was supposed to be easy"
I was thinking to myself. There was some yelling about doing turns or
something but I think we had dropped a few people off the back by that
stage so our 'break' had become the new 'peloton'?!

With two laps to go I did my last turn at the front, keeping the pace
high, just in case we weren't alone out there and then slotted back into
the field.

One lap to go and I'm in a promising 4th wheel, behind a tall Preston
guy. I figure, unless these guys are gun sprinters, I'm set. As we
approach the final corner, my eyes widen as I realise the guy directly
in front of me has just created a gap between himself and second place.
To make matters worse, the guy in second place didn't hold the wheel in
front either and has created a similar gap to the leader. ****! This
doesn't happen at Glenvale! What are these guys doing?! I have to go
NOW.. no point holding a wheel.

The finishing straight is shorter than Glenvale and with the large gap
between 1st and 4th I give it hell, sure my 'easy win' is now history.
Pass 3rd, pass 2nd, throw for finish line, arrr! If only I had another 5
metres I would've caught 1st! Oh well, 2nd is still nice, but I was cut
about not dealing quick enough with those gaps forming. Another lesson
learned.

$40 into the kitty and I'm off to the St. Kilda Festival crits to watch
a bunch of people I know race. The Fitzroy St. hotdog circuit had large
numbers of racers so each grade looked a LOT more painful than my race..
okay I'm soft, I'll admit it! :P

http://thehippy.net/nucleus/index.php?itemid=224

hippy

"hippy" wrote
One lap to go and I'm in a promising 4th wheel, behind a tall Preston guy.
I figure, unless these guys are gun sprinters, I'm set. As we approach the
final corner, my eyes widen as I realise the guy directly in front of me
has just created a gap between himself and second place. To make matters
worse, the guy in second place didn't hold the wheel in front either and
has created a similar gap to the leader. ****! This doesn't happen at
Glenvale! What are these guys doing?! I have to go NOW.. no point holding
a wheel.

The finishing straight is shorter than Glenvale and with the large gap
between 1st and 4th I give it hell, sure my 'easy win' is now history.
Pass 3rd, pass 2nd, throw for finish line, arrr! If only I had another 5
metres I would've caught 1st! Oh well, 2nd is still nice, but I was cut
about not dealing quick enough with those gaps forming. Another lesson
learned.

Bummer mate! That sucks when all your hard work comes undone right at the
end.

I've been reading up on tactics and one tip was not to get just in front of
or right behind a really strong rider in a small breakaway. If your in front
of them they may go hard when you're rolling back and drop you, or if your
behind them when they pull off you're doing an unconfortable speed. But in
you're case you'd have been better off on the winner's wheel- you can't win
Not a bad good btw Thomas Prehn - Racing Tactics for Cyclists.

At least you're still $25 ahead with second place hey...

Adam