race report by peter.

UPDATED with video below

i faced this race with quite a bit of trepidation as i hadn’t raced since the ill fated menzies-kalgoorlie handicap quite a while ago. my motivation seemed to have taken a trip away and i was struggling to keep on top of the training. basically i felt i was really under-done and not ready for quite a hilly ride at race pace. however, since our new kits had arrived i was determined to give them an outing and had to convince the other guys to join me. in the end we had six sign up for the race. ryan, michael, stu, jerry, mark and i all signed up for the support race which would be contested over 65 kms. chris wasn’t racing due to lack of form (heart/spine/guts) but was coming along to try out his new video camera.

it was going to be a pretty big day for bikes at pinjarra. the main race was the a grade men doing two laps of our course for the 130 km, as well the cyclo-sportif race was happening at the same time on some of the same roads. not sure how many riders the cyclo race had but it would have been a few hundred. our race also had a strange mix as the women’e event had been combined with the support so there was twelve women in the mix too. all up there was between 50–60 riders in our group.

but i am getting ahead of myself a bit. i had taken a family day yesterday and didn’t ride but still was able to give my bike a good clean which it desperately needed. you know when it is wet and that black sooty stuff that comes from your drive train and accumulates on your brake pads? well i had so much of that on my wheels i thought they were black. well they are, but this was a different black and looked crap and was making everything it touched dirty. so the bike got a birthday but i still haven’t managed to get that seat post out and will have to take it to a bike shop to get them to pry it loose.

i also spend an hour or so yesterday on a bit of body maintenance, as the lack of motivation had lead to my legs taking on the appearance of a slightly anorexic yeti. people always ask why we shave/wax/whatever our legs, but the only real reason i can come up with is it looks more athletic. i was going to suffer today, i didn’t want to look like a hack rider as well. but that is just my opinion for me. you might think that hairy bike legs are fine. that is up to you.

so bike and legs maintained (or at least both looked better) and we were set for another race. since the menzies race i had been a bit worried about dehydration during the races. last night i drank lots of water to see if it made a difference. then on the way to the race i had another drink bottle just to make sure. it seemed to be going down fine but caused me to stop on the way to pinjarra. at least i knew i was hydrated.

the weather was quite brisk too. the cows in the paddocks i was passing were breathing out big clouds of condensation to further emphasis the coldness. they were only predicting a max of 16 degrees for the day too. it is days like this that i worry about what i should wear. if i put my vest on, will i get too hot and overheat on the climbs. if i don’t will i freeze on the descents. should i wear an undershirt to try to keep some heat in. i worry about all these things for two reasons. one, i tend to overheat easily, but at the same time get cold quickly due to minimal insulation. two, in a race situation, there is no way i can change on the fly. i still have trouble riding no hands so changing while riding would be a disaster.

anyway, with the first hill only 15 kms into the race, i needed to warm up first as my legs usually take longer than that. i jumped on the trainer for a good 20 minutes of spin beforehand. it was then i discovered just how warm it was in the sun. no vest and no undershirt. just arms should be fine. i was still worried, but that was just me being stressy.

so we lined up behind the “a” grade race and waited for our turn to go. stu and mark were out for a warm-up ride and i wasn’t sure if they knew where and when we needed to meet. race time approached, the “a” graders were off and we were having roll call. still no stu and mark. i wasn’t going anywhere, they would just have to chase to catch up if they were late. luckily, with a few minutes to spare they turn up and ryan rolls forward to sign them in. stu missed the start to the dardanup race and had to chase to catch up. i need to keep the boys under control a bit more.

anyway, we rolled out and i settled in to a position at the back of the pack, trying to catch up on some sleep. there was 15 kms of straight, flat, slightly rough roads to cover before things got interesting, so i was trying to use the opportunity to warm my legs up some more. my hamstrings seem to take a while to get comfortable and the harsh roads make sitting in the saddle no a pleasant experience. i was already beginning to have doubts over this race and we were not even really into it. the new kit made it easy to spot the rest of the team and i could see mark and ryan trying to move forward and hold a better position. a few guys tried to take off the front, but they were going nowhere fast.

a bit before our turn onto del park rd, i moved myself towards the front. ryan and another guy had the same idea, but the first guy found a hole to slot into while ryan and i moved further to the front. there was a poor guy at the front that was doing a bunch of work and was getting shafted again. same as most races, when he pulled off to the right, the line just followed him and no-one was willing to do a turn. that just shits me as we are all there for the same reason, so why not share the load.

a guy found this the perfect opportunity to take off the front as the rest were dicking around. taking up my role as domestique i moved to the front to up the pace a bit. i started reeling him back in but was flagging a bit so pulled over to the right. the rest of the pack just moved with me like a bunch of pricks. thanks guys. i sat up and just kept pedaling, which allowed the dude to get further up the road. the turn to del park rd was suddenly upon us so luckily i was already on the right hand side of the road and took the turn. i put in an effort again to try to reel the guy in before the hill but couldn’t sustain it for very long. i pulled right again and this time actually sat up and almost stopped pedaling. stll no-one would come around, so i just cruised along at a grandma pace for a while.

as the hill started, then they all wanted to show how strong they were and started to come around me. one guy attacked and a whole bunch of riders scrambled to get on his wheel, blowing the field apart. i was stuck in amongst the mayhem and riders where going everywhere. some were putting in a big effort while others were flagging and going backwards. the big effort guys then hit the wall and became road blocks while still the front guys were putting more distance into us. i was hoping that my heart rate monitor was playing up as i saw a lot of 185+ and some 190 readings when i looked down. not really sustainable for me and i was really thinking that i was watching the race slip away from me.

a big effort got me around a small group and halfway to the front runners, but it took it’s toll and i was over taken by the chasing group again. i was beginning to worry and self doubt meant that i was beginning to think about just not trying. michael was just in front of me and was putting in a good effort, so i thought i better stick with him for some team unity. ryan
had made it up front and stu had come from the back to join that group too. jerry and mark were somewhere behind. i wasn’t looking back, ahead was hard enough for me.

at the end of the first king of the mountains (where we didn’t get any points) the time check from watching the video footage went like this –
0:00 bunch with ryan & stu
+ 0:18 michael & pete
+ 1:08 jerry & mark
the rest of the field was pretty much spread across the rest of the hill.

after quite a bit of climbing, where michael and i swapped turns a few times, stuart from glenn parkers south informed us that our little group of michael and i along with mel who does the sunday ride with us occasionally, ben one of the junior riders and stuart, were the only ones left. we had dropped all the others and were stuck in between. we started rolling through and eventually got to the point where we could see the front runners. we were hoping like hell that they would not attack again, or we would never catch them. it took more than a few rolling hills before we finally latched onto the back of their pack and could have a rest.

i was still worried that they would put in a few attacks on the remaining climbs, but for now we were just sitting in. i remarked to mel that she was to only female in the group so she just had to sit in to clean up that prize. she had not ridden the course before and was unsure what was coming up. we did the cyclo-sportif race the last couple of years and were now past their turn around point, so i kind of knew that there would be a couple more climbs to contend with.

we were content to sit in for a while and recover as much as possible. michael said that he could see stu but not ryan so were we in the front pack or was ryan up the road a bit more. we then spotted him close to the front and deduced that we must be in the front pack. we had four of us in the group, so were pretty happy with how things were progressing so far. after a few rolling hills, the pack did not seem to want to push hard at any time but rather just set an even pace. i had recovered by now and noticed that ryan was too close to the front and was doing work again. i moved around the pack to the front and chastised him as i came past saying that he needed to save it for the sprint. i would do a turn for a while then break off, or be overtaken by another rider. unlike the initial section of the race, there were some people willing to do a bit of work. not many but some. i lead up the kom hill which the “a” grade race contested but no points for us. as the hill kept going, i started fading a bit and slowly fell back through the pack. by the time i crested the hill there was a small gap in front of me and a bunch of riders behind me. i didn’t look back but rather put my head down and chased to get back on. the field had effectively been reduced once again, though not through any attack just attrition on the steeper longer hills.

i recovered, moved forward, and found ryan at the front again. i told him off again and went to the front for some pace setting. there were a few more rolling hills before we hit dwellingup and i managed a couple of turns on the front. its not that we needed to (i thought) but rather if no-one else takes up the load, then ryan feels compelled to and then has nothing left at the end.

after the turn at dwellingup, the road flattened out a bit and even started going downhill. people were keen to be on the front for the descents but not when the road swung upwards soon afterwards. there were two little rolling climbs to go before we started the descent proper and so i was back on the front to set the pace. as long as i didn’t hit my max, i could sit comfortably on the front for a while.

by now we were seeing many more of the cyclo-sportif teams coming up the hill towards us. some looked strong, while others were spread out along the entire climb. we had a choice for todays race and chose the wacf event rather than the cyclo-sportif as proper road races were the reason that we formed this group in the first place.

we started the descent and were soon flying down the hill quite comfortably at 60 or 70 km/hr. no-one really tried to attack and anyone who gained an advantage was soon swept up when we slowed for the rail crossings half way down the hill. we spotted one of the rio tinto teams just as we crossed the first rail line and they seemed to be doing it tough on one of the steepest portions of the hill. i used to organise the rio tinto teams but now the south perth group is my focus. hopefully we can get a couple of spr teams at the next cyclo-sportif event in york in september.

so right towards the bottom of the hill there was one more small bump of a climb and this guy attacked. i saw him go from the back and started coming around to do a turn to pull him back. as i was skirting the bunch, ryan took off after him as well. i yelled at him to not bother but he had committed, so i stood up and sprinted after him. there was a guy on my wheel and soon the we had all caught the attack. unfortunately, the rest of the field had also caught back up too.

i told ryan not to bother as we could easily have caught him once we hit the flats. michael had disappeared on the last major climb, but we still had three of us that could work together with a couple of the other guys to pull back any last minute break.

i went to the front for my final turn and brought the group down onto the flats before peeling off and dropping right to the back. i was pretty much spent and needed to recover so i could try for one last lead out if ryan needed it. i had told stu to get up to the front once we hit the flats and keep ryan out of trouble, so he move up as i fell back.

we had very little wind protection now and it was crossing us up from left to right. the group had echeloned out to the right and the last few of us were riding right on the centerline. we had to keep pulling in every so often whenever a car was coming towards us. i basically sat in for the rest of the trip and was trying to get around about the two kms to go point, but couldn’t with the field spread across the whole road. i left ryan to his own devices and hoped that he had enough for the bunch sprint. at around 750 metres to go, ryan jumped and sprinted for the line. i tried to hang on but fell off the back with stu and cheered ryan on from there. it looked like he got it but i wasn’t sure.

it was then that stu tells me that there was another guy up the road. what the f__k. why hadn’t anyone told me about this earlier. as we had come onto the back of the pack late when still in the hills, we just assumed that it was the front pack. when i was on the front, i wasn’t chasing but just pace setting. the guy won with only 20 or so metres to spare. i had enough energy to finish with the group, which meant that i hadn’t given it my all. if i had known, maybe stu and i could have smashed ourselves to try to bring him back. there were a couple of other guys that were working at the front, so we could have worked together. coulda, woulda, shoulda. but didn’t and so had to be content with second place. this is becoming a bit of a theme with ryan.

anyway, we rolled around and back to the line to watch the rest of the guys file in. michael wasn’t that far behind at the end, and mark and jerry came in a minute or so later with a very convincing sprint over one of the female riders. we all sat around and had a bit of a chat with some of the other guys. managed to introduce ourselves to a couple of the other work horses that were doing turns for most of the ride and found out that sam who started to come out on our sunday rides was in our bunch. i hadn’t noticed as i was either head down at the front , or gasping for breath at the back. anyway, it was good to have a chat with the other riders.

as we were waiting for the rest of the field to come in, i asked bec (another one of davina’s girls) whether she had seen sandy come in yet. i used to do triathlons with sandy and she has come out with us a few times on the sunday rides. she is a good time-trialer and i had been hassling her to come and do a road race. apparently she hit a pothole on the descent and came off big time. the ambulance was sent to get her and she was beat up pretty bad. i managed to get hold of her later and found out that she has not broken anything, but had lost a lot of skin off her face, shoulder, leg, elbow, pretty much everywhere. i think she said that she has one finger that is not cut up. apart from that, her brand new trek madone 6.5 is now in multiple pieces. not good for her first race. she said that she did enjoy herself (probably up till that point) and would be back for more races.

so, for the spr team though, i think we had a fairly good outing as a team. we worked together were we could and ryan still came away with $120 prize money. i was happy with my domestique duties and happier still that i managed to finish with the front group after getting dropped so early in the race. so the collie–donnybrook race is in a couple of weeks time and i am questioning if i am ready for another handicap event after menzies. after this race i am 80-90% sure i will do it. on the first hill of this race, i was 20-30% sure. i think i will give it a crack as with my track record, i am bound to be given a good handicap.