|
Reports by:
Pictures from this event.
|
|
What Tim saw:
Category: Masters 45+
Result: Back of pack
I woke up this morning at 5:15am and couldn't decide whether I should go to the race or not, as my legs were tired and I didn't sleep well because I was worried about my upcoming trip to NY. When I realized I couldn't go back to sleep I went for it.
Nice trip down, about 1.5 hours. No issue with parking, got registered found Alan, Michelle and Aaron and then Alan and I went for two warm up laps. First thoughts were cool course until I saw the first small hills and I thought, I'm dead meat! The hills are long, but for a non-climber who has only done one climb in weeks, it looked bad. It really is a beautiful course though, thankfully much smoother than Snelling and I'm sure Ziggy, Mike and others could make mincemeat of the field. Oh well...
We lined up for the race and off we went. Fortunately the pace was slow and after a few laps I figured out the course and where I was at the most risk of being dropped. There is a right, flat section, a left, a short steep bump, a left, a right, a downhill, a longer steep bump (this one hurt me the most), a right then a longer gradual climb then a right, a sharp plunge then a left into a steep uphill, then a tight right a long downhill, a right onto the finishing staight. All that in 2.5 miles!
Anyway, after the first few laps my legs started to feel better and I hung on pretty much Ok until 5 to go and the pace went up a lot. Then on 4 it eased off then the last three were pretty fast. Unfortunately I was having shifting problems on the last steep hill and I lost ground there every lap. Even more so on the last one so I just hung onto the pack for the finish. I talked it over with Alan after the race and Garry came along and we all had a nice chat.
Alan rode a much better race than I, because he positioned himself better, but lack of sleep from work and last weeks flu was too much for him with 5 to go. While we were chatting we even posed for a picture that Michelle took. Anyway, since I hit my anerobic threshold on almost every hill on every lap for the next time some of Mike's Nike repeats or Brad's Oloney repeats would help. For the bike, fix the shifting and maybe put the STI shifter for the front chain ring, instead of the downtube shifter which I've always had to save weight. Besides, I NEVER do hills! Well almost never! With the bikes fixed and a little more training, I'm pretty sure I would be in the hunt.
Garry, how did it go for you? Our average was like 22.5mph. I bet yours was much faster!
Back to top
|
|
What Garry saw:
Category: Masters 35+
Result: Did not finish
A nice speedy drive there, I was parking after 1 hr 35 mins and 97 miles.
Not a big field, maybe 35 of us in the Masters 35+ 1/2/3, but a very high quality field.
Anyway, off we start and first time up the steepest hill and I de-cleat. I was amazed. I had to stop, there was no-way to keep going on that gradient, so I get off, change into my smallest gear, re-mount and start off with a first lap chase, cursing all the way. I was not making any progress, they were really motoring along, so I decide to sit up and wait to be lapped and get some fast training done, and then the bloody back tire explodes, well not exactly, but it does go whizz bang and de-flate really quickly.
So tthat was it, no spare wheel, no point in fixing it and getting back in and really no motivation at all to stay in the area, so I packed up and went to the beach to eat my lunch and sulk.
BTW, the first 3 laps of my race were done in under 20 minutes, which is really f#*%^ing quick.
Back to top
|
