RR: Gisbourne South Northern Combine (Scratch) 2/9/2006

RR: Gisbourne South Northern Combine Scratch 2/9/2006

Stories from the saddle: Recalled as best I could.

A beautiful spring day greeted us out on course, which was somewhere
about 50kms from anywhere. The course was about 8.5kms a lap and just
under 100m of vertical ascent. The Bikely map:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...rthern-Combine

I didn't take note of numbers in each grade, A grade was 4-5? B grade
maybe 10? Using the theory that I wanted to race in a grade where I
would be competitive, I singed up for B. *fingers in ears* shuddup
shuddup.. My last scratch road race was five months ago! And with
these numbers, they raced A and B together so I guess the only
technicality was the prize money (and maybe tactics).

Underway - easy rolling for the first few kms. Some B graders took it
upon themselves to set the pace, fair enough. Sit on, sit in, sit
somewhere up the front. The hill on the back road was the only real
hurt involved in the course. 5.7% for first 1km the total being 1.6km
@ 4.7%. A nasty head wind up the climb didn't help things, but as long
as you weren't on the front it was just a hill. I threw in an attack at
the base (yeah, only 8 laps from home) for a warm up. The
climbers/contenders moved to the front. There were two B graders off
the front, which were pulled back in without any drama. The final 2kms
of each lap was downhill and flat out with a tail wind. 53-11 all the
way, well, if I had an 11 on today. I was concerned that if this came
down to an attack/sprint on the final descent I might be off the back.
Hmmm yes.. no sprint would be a good finish on this course.

Lap 2 - 1/2 way up the climb came _the_ split. I was 2nd or 3rd wheel
in the unlucky bunch when this took place. With the break containing
most of the A graders it was time to move. Argh, shovel out, dig DEEP,
I bridged across. We had 50m or so at the top and the gas was still on
into the head wind.

Counting the numbers in the blurred reality brought on by max HR, A
grade x4, B grade x2. Tristen from StKilda and myself were the only B
graders in the group. At the start of lap 3 I introduced myself to
Tristen and discussed the gap we had on the rest of B grade. I'd found
a perfect ally, he was quick, could climb, and never shied away from
working on the front.

Tristen was employed to pull us up the first 1/2 of the climb on each
lap, it just ended up happening this way when we could both see the
other B grade bunch in the distance before the base of the climb. I
put in an effort or two, with Aaron and the other A graders pulling
through at or around the top. Off shoots an A grader! Aaron and
Stuart Morgan responded leaving Tristen and I wondering if we should
follow. We lost about 30m before swapping turns and getting back on at
the bottom-of-the-hill-lull. Phew.. 'sit on for a bit and rest' I was
thinking, yeah right!

Mr Attack gave it another go on the slight rise after the start - he
was gone, for good. Aaron, Stuart, Trisen and myself got things sorted
for some great rolling turns into the wind. The following laps were
carbon copies which all flew by. I had either miscounted the A graders
or we'd dropped one, I wasn't sure.

One lap to go. With the amount of work Tristen was doing, I told him
if it came down to the line, it was his. As Aaron put it after the
race, he was an Energizer Bunny. I was expecting Aaron and Stuart to
start the A grade infighting before the last climb, which would have
played into our favor, we could simply sit up and roll around for the
first two B grade placings. This wasn't to be.

On the final climb we pass C grade - who were all sleeping. I gave
TimC a few words of encouragement "HEY TIM, ATTACK" C grade then woke
up and were matching us for speed. If C grade held with us over the
top of the climb, the finish may have been a jumble of attacks and
leadouts from a mix of three grades. A few 100m from the top I was
clear of the C grade bunch, on the front, and with the power down.
Trisen, Aaron and Stuart were also clear of C but I was clear of them
by about 20-30m. Hello! Quick calculations made - 500m head wind then
800m side wind then the 2km run into home at 60km/h+ Showtime. All or
nothing. Head down, ITT mode, ignore the Polar. The few dropped D
graders up the road were targets - catch them, check my gap, repeat.
On the final wind up on the run into home I couldn't see them - no
sprint finish - perfect.

Not much fanfare on the line - which was explained later. I even
zipped up my jersey for the sponsors (if I had one!) The rest of B
grade only had to complete 7 laps! So the punishment for playing with
the A graders was another lap! Ess tells me there was a mix up by the
guy counting laps. Thankfully this didn't change the result.

Not sure of the gap I had on the only rider ahead - but he was in
another league - off the front for 6 or so laps for the win, wow. Well
done to Aaron for rolling Stuart Moragn by 1/2 a wheel on the sprint
too! TimC's first road race ended with a 4th, another fine effort.
There was an incident involving bogans in a car on the last lap, it had
no impact on the race, so their effort isn't worth mentioning.

Vitals:
1:53:31
68.4kms
36.2km/h average
779m climbed
HR Stats - you don't want to know!
B Grade 1st: $50

I'm too tired to proof read this (again), apologies if it doesn't flow
too well, I'm spent. Goodnight all!


GPLama


--
gplama

On 2006-09-02, gplama (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

RR: Gisbourne South Northern Combine Scratch 2/9/2006

Stories from the saddle: Recalled as best I could.

A beautiful spring day greeted us out on course, which was somewhere
about 50kms from anywhere. The course was about 8.5kms a lap and just
under 100m of vertical ascent. The Bikely map:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...rthern-Combine

I didn't take note of numbers in each grade, A grade was 4-5? B grade
maybe 10? Using the theory that I wanted to race in a grade where I
would be competitive, I singed up for B. *fingers in ears* shuddup
shuddup.. My last scratch road race was five months ago! And with
these numbers, they raced A and B together so I guess the only
technicality was the prize money (and maybe tactics).

C grade -- maybe 20?

Underway - easy rolling for the first few kms. Some B graders took it
upon themselves to set the pace, fair enough. Sit on, sit in, sit
somewhere up the front. The hill on the back road was the only real
hurt involved in the course. 5.7% for first 1km the total being 1.6km
@ 4.7%. A nasty head wind up the climb didn't help things, but as long

See the juniors being tailed by the team car? That hill would have
been hell to them!

as you weren't on the front it was just a hill. I threw in an attack at
the base (yeah, only 8 laps from home) for a warm up. The
climbers/contenders moved to the front. There were two B graders off
the front, which were pulled back in without any drama. The final 2kms
of each lap was downhill and flat out with a tail wind. 53-11 all the
way, well, if I had an 11 on today. I was concerned that if this came
down to an attack/sprint on the final descent I might be off the back.
Hmmm yes.. no sprint would be a good finish on this course.

The flat just before the final descent was hot. Radiant heat from the
road. Don't know why so hot there (maybe all the heat from the
freeway next door?), but everytime I went over there, my face was
burning. Glad I brought the two bidons -- even that was looking like
it wasn't going to be enough, even without any having gone over my
head.

Lap 2 - 1/2 way up the climb came _the_ split. I was 2nd or 3rd wheel
in the unlucky bunch when this took place. With the break containing
most of the A graders it was time to move. Argh, shovel out, dig DEEP,
I bridged across. We had 50m or so at the top and the gas was still on
into the head wind.

We had a lot more attacks than in the Kew crits. The hill, the first
small descent, the second hill, the second major descent -- would
bring attacks every single damn lap. The bunch wasn't really content
with letting them get any gap whatsoever, and we only let a couple of
riders out for any length of time (and they were all soon caught into
the uphill headwind, naturally). I was hovering around 2nd-5th wheel
most of the time. I think I was too tempted to dig deep too often --
helped by quite a few willing participants in the bunch who wanted to
chase down just about everyone -- and I didn't want to be the one left
behind saying "nope, we'll catch them".

As such, we had a constant flow of attritions because most people
could hold on... barely, but we'd lose a couple every attack.

No attack succeeded in the second last lap. By then, everyone was
appearing to start to fatigue -- at least I was finding it easier now
to keep surviving.

On the final climb we pass C grade - who were all sleeping. I gave

Sleeping? My HR was somewhere around 170! But it was the rider
behind who was the steam train, promise (he he, there were a few -- I
think a few were even panting).

TimC a few words of encouragement "HEY TIM, ATTACK" C grade then woke
up and were matching us for speed. If C grade held with us over the

I would have (or so I claim), but I was sort of boxed in from memory.
And still not quite clear on whether we could bridge across to your
group and ride on your wheels. But, as you say, we did pick up the
pace. Prior to that, I think the bunch was still fairly large, and I
didn't see behind us until the finish, but I think I saw only 6 or 7
cross the finish line in the bunch -- so we must have dropped the rest
when we picked up the speed up there.

top of the climb, the finish may have been a jumble of attacks and
leadouts from a mix of three grades. A few 100m from the top I was
clear of the C grade bunch, on the front, and with the power down.
Trisen, Aaron and Stuart were also clear of C but I was clear of them
by about 20-30m. Hello! Quick calculations made - 500m head wind then
800m side wind then the 2km run into home at 60km/h+ Showtime. All or
nothing. Head down, ITT mode, ignore the Polar. The few dropped D
graders up the road were targets - catch them, check my gap, repeat.
On the final wind up on the run into home I couldn't see them - no
sprint finish - perfect.

The Richmond cyclery girl decided to attack up the final small climb,
but lucked out. Down the hill (77.0km/h), I was second wheel, taking
it fairly easily, trying not to upset a cramp that had been hinting at
its existance. A couple overtook us, and I was stuck in 4th. I sort
of remember being boxed in, and perhaps also boxing in someone else
(er, sorry, I think I cut someone off too). I could have overtaken
richmond girl, and was about to cross the line to do so, then
remembered "um, I think you get disqualified in some races for doing
so -- no idea here!). So I didn't. Stuck in 4th, and had to sit up
across the line.

Notice how there was absolutely no wind in the carpark when we finished?

Vitals [A/B grade]:
1:53:31
C Grade: 1:56:23h;
68.4kms
61.07km
36.2km/h average
31.60km/h avg (waaah! And that was hurt! 36 is just crazy talk)
77.0km/h max
779m climbed
HR Stats - you don't want to know!
max 187, avg 157

It's been *weeks* since I've been able to get anywhere near 185, and
longer since I've been in the 190s. Does this mean I am getting too old for this?

B Grade 1st: $50

Again, no payment for 4th

I'm too tired to proof read this (again), apologies if it doesn't flow
too well, I'm spent. Goodnight all!

Same. I started out the day feeling dehyrated (and completely flat --
should stay away from even 2 beers the night before a ride). I drank
probably 5 litres. I still feel worse now.

--
TimC
pivot_root manpage: BUGS:
Some of the more obscure uses of pivot_root may quickly lead to insanity.

TimC Wrote:

Vitals [A/B grade]:
1:53:31
C Grade: 1:56:23h;
68.4kms
61.07km
36.2km/h average
31.60km/h avg (waaah! And that was hurt! 36 is just crazy talk)
77.0km/h max
779m climbed
HR Stats - you don't want to know!
max 187, avg 157

It's been *weeks* since I've been able to get anywhere near 185, and
longer since I've been in the 190s. Does this mean I am getting too
old for this?
[/color]

Shhh.. you'll wake the HR argument gods. Rest, diet, wind direction,
price of oil, you name it, all impact HR

Today's HR stats: 193 max, 173 avg.


--
gplama

gplama Wrote:
Shhh.. you'll wake the HR argument gods. Rest, diet, wind direction,
price of oil, you name it, all impact HR

Today's HR stats: 193 max, 173 avg.

Great effort(s) and ride reports - sounds like it would be a challenge
for me to stay with B grade... I'll try again when I can get a leave
pass :

R


--
ritcho