race (kind of) report by peter.

 

here is my tale of woe, and it really started back on the monday before the race.

monday night 8 – 10ish : ben very unsettled and whinging in his sleep.

tuesday morning 12:00am : ben comes in covered in spew.

tuesday morning 01: 00am : ben comes in covered in spew.

tuesday morning 02: 00am : ben comes in covered in spew.

tuesday morning 03: 00am : ben comes in covered in spew.

tuesday morning 05:00am : reset the alarm so i miss my bike ride.

wednesday morning 05:00am : do vicky’s kings park ride.

thursday morning 05:00am : get to do our group ride and manage to hang on till the end for a change.

thursday evening : kate starts complaining of a sore throat.

saturday arvo : i start to get a sore throat.

saturday night :  bad night sleep, can’t swallow properly and starting to feel like crap.

sunday morning 06:00am : in denial.  will start the race and see how i go.

sunday morning 08:00am : register and see start list for “b” grade has 60 riders.  haven’t seen the course, but a draft from 60 riders should mean that i can hang on for a while.

sunday morning 09:00am : a bunch of other spr riders arrive – brendan doing “a” grade, ben, stu and myself doing “b”, james and bruce doing “c” with brett, lisa and lorraine doing women’s “a” with the fleet girls (holly, bec & anna) and nicole doing women’s “b”.

sunday morning 09:35am : race starts.  sitting right at the back.  cannot see the front.  road too skinny so can’t move forward either.  complete first lap, thinking it’s not too bad.

sunday morning 09:50am : doing second lap.  keep falling off the back on the corners.  need to sprint to catch back up.  left heart rate strap at home so i can’t see that my heart is probably maxing out.  guy actually pushes me so that i can keep holding a wheel.

sunday morning 10:05am : just holding on out of corners 1 & 2.  drop off on corner 3 and even with the assist of the tailwind, can’t keep up.  throat hell dry and it hurts to swallow water.  sit up and call it a day.  i’m not the first to drop off either.  stu comes past as he had been spat out earlier and asked if i was continuing of pulling pin.  enough for me for the day.

sunday morning 10:15am : hand my race number back in, get changed and watch the rest of the day with ronny, jerry, steve, chevaun & jody. 

sunday morning 11:00 onwards : brendan hangs on with the main group in “a” grade.  “b” grade has a breakaway that stays away but ben manages to stay out of trouble in the crash on the last corner to finish with the group. stu got his money worth by completing the required laps mostly by himself. bruce sprints for 4^th in “c” grade after james spent a lot of time working at the front.  lorraine finishes in the group for women’s “a” grade after a breakaway stays away.  lisa had a mistimed attack and paid the price by getting dropped, but finished all the same.  nicole finished on the podium in third in women’s “b” grade.

lorriane did provide brownies which made the pain go away momentarily.  we have a few races in the calender coming up and we would like to see a few more people out there giving it a go.  for those that are relatively new to racing, there is often a men’s “c” grade or women’s “b” grade that would be a good start.  if you can hold a wheel on the saturday rides, then you should be right in these races.

the online membership is STILL not up and running  even though cycling wa have been hassling cycling aust on a daily basis.  they obviously don’t want our money.  if you are thinking of racing or need some more kit or are new to the group and want to feel a part of it, have a look at the kit page on the website and send an email through.  once we reach the minimum for a piece of kit we will do an order for that piece.  it will probably be jerseys first.

 

footnote –

monday & tuesday : have time off work because i am still sick.