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09-04-05, 09:43 PM
2nd Race ever
1st RR in AUS
50K hilly out and back ride
grade D had about 15ppl in it
drove the course early to see what the hills were like
they were all pretty small, just lots of small rolling hills
w/ one rather steep climb for 1-2K 4K before the finish
out and back twice = 50K
Goals: don't get dropped (like I did in my 1st hilly RR)
don't crash
I warmed up pretty well, so initial pace seemed rather slow, I started near the front and after getting bored w/ the pace I kick it up a bit, now leading the race
I then decide to fall back after a few K and check out my comp
so for the 1st lap I am pretty much just cruising a long seeing who is straong and what not, we dropped a few ppl
on the climb before the finish(lap 1) I feel great and am leading the pack and a few more fall off (about ten now)
The 2nd lap the pace picked up a bit, every now and agin I would take the lead, when I felt ppl were not working hard enough
on a short climb about 38K in, I planned to kick up the pace and hope only a few would stick w/ me, but ****ing chainrings, I lost the chain and had to stop get off the bike.......that was the one thing I was worried about, b/c I noticed that the cables must have stretched on my new bike
I managed to catch up to them at the crest, I was suprised they didn't attack, when I fell off, but they also did seem a little suprized when I got back on hehe
anyways wasted energy that could have been used on a big attack to really weed out the last of the pack.
moderate pace until the last hill, but I was really scared to use the big chainring before the last hill, b/c I didn't wanna drop the chain again(maybe I was being too catious now)
on the last big climb, I was in a lot more pain that the 1st time, but easily managed to keep up w/ everyone elses pace, but not enough legs to attack
after that climb the pack was down to 6 or 7
I really didn't know what to do now, try to attack w/ some ppl, or save myself for the sprint
the pace kicked up, but not a real attack by anyone
w/ 1K to go an older guy who was doing a lot of the pacesetting w/ me took off and I fallowed, but he couldn't keep it up so I went bu him now I was leading the pack to the finish NO...
I couldn't tell who was were and I decided to give it a go
I dug hard and went for it,
It was too early and all this cat and mouse messed up my head, I didn't dig deap enough and after I saw one guy pass as I hit a rough patch of road, I moved off it and tried to hammer it again, but I was not fully commited....and hesitated after the 1st rider moved ahead of me....I should have dug geaper and may have ended up on the podium
I ended up 4th
I am happy w/ the race overall, but if I had better sprinting tactics and commitment I believe I could have gotten 1st or 2nd
Would a, Could a, Shoud a, but I had fun and I learned from these mistakes
I was not worried once about loosing the pack, but not sure If I could have taken off on my own earlier, So next time I will either attack earlier and give it a try or fallow and attack......and follow the stongest riders wheel into the final sprint
next race is a 30min crit next sunday, I'll try to have a better sprint....we'll see
Any comments/suggestions/advice welcome!
1st RR in AUS
50K hilly out and back ride
grade D had about 15ppl in it
drove the course early to see what the hills were like
they were all pretty small, just lots of small rolling hills
w/ one rather steep climb for 1-2K 4K before the finish
out and back twice = 50K
Goals: don't get dropped (like I did in my 1st hilly RR)
don't crash
I warmed up pretty well, so initial pace seemed rather slow, I started near the front and after getting bored w/ the pace I kick it up a bit, now leading the race
I then decide to fall back after a few K and check out my comp
so for the 1st lap I am pretty much just cruising a long seeing who is straong and what not, we dropped a few ppl
on the climb before the finish(lap 1) I feel great and am leading the pack and a few more fall off (about ten now)
The 2nd lap the pace picked up a bit, every now and agin I would take the lead, when I felt ppl were not working hard enough
on a short climb about 38K in, I planned to kick up the pace and hope only a few would stick w/ me, but ****ing chainrings, I lost the chain and had to stop get off the bike.......that was the one thing I was worried about, b/c I noticed that the cables must have stretched on my new bike
I managed to catch up to them at the crest, I was suprised they didn't attack, when I fell off, but they also did seem a little suprized when I got back on hehe
anyways wasted energy that could have been used on a big attack to really weed out the last of the pack.
moderate pace until the last hill, but I was really scared to use the big chainring before the last hill, b/c I didn't wanna drop the chain again(maybe I was being too catious now)
on the last big climb, I was in a lot more pain that the 1st time, but easily managed to keep up w/ everyone elses pace, but not enough legs to attack
after that climb the pack was down to 6 or 7
I really didn't know what to do now, try to attack w/ some ppl, or save myself for the sprint
the pace kicked up, but not a real attack by anyone
w/ 1K to go an older guy who was doing a lot of the pacesetting w/ me took off and I fallowed, but he couldn't keep it up so I went bu him now I was leading the pack to the finish NO...
I couldn't tell who was were and I decided to give it a go
I dug hard and went for it,
It was too early and all this cat and mouse messed up my head, I didn't dig deap enough and after I saw one guy pass as I hit a rough patch of road, I moved off it and tried to hammer it again, but I was not fully commited....and hesitated after the 1st rider moved ahead of me....I should have dug geaper and may have ended up on the podium
I ended up 4th
I am happy w/ the race overall, but if I had better sprinting tactics and commitment I believe I could have gotten 1st or 2nd
Would a, Could a, Shoud a, but I had fun and I learned from these mistakes
I was not worried once about loosing the pack, but not sure If I could have taken off on my own earlier, So next time I will either attack earlier and give it a try or fallow and attack......and follow the stongest riders wheel into the final sprint
next race is a 30min crit next sunday, I'll try to have a better sprint....we'll see
Any comments/suggestions/advice welcome!