Race report by Rob

Saturday 19 – 6:45pm (The night before)

“Hello?”

“Rob. It’s Peter.”

“Hey mate, what’s up?”

“You’ve registered us in the Open Mens category, not Masters. What the ****?”

Sunday 20 – 7:30am – Pinjara Arrival

So, Melvin said we can only use the word that relates to the morning being damp, soaked, sodden, soggy, soppy, dripping or my favourite, moist. Anyway, you get the picture. After the requisite ribbing on my obvious error in registering our team, we head over the pub to see if we can’t “sort it out”. The kind lady indicates that a brief chat with ‘Geoff’ should see me making amends. Said chat with the very obliging ‘Geoff’ and he said, “I’ll see what we can do….”. Excellent. Paul wasn’t convinced. “It’ll be fine” I say.

With there being no space under the SPR tent (12 by my count) I did the only thing that made sense as the heavens opened up and chucked yet another shower down on us – I went and hid in the car and ate my Special K.

Upon passing over us, and while I proceeded to get changed into my knicks, Tanya kindly offered to put my numbers on my jersey. Just as she started, she asks “Are you sure this is your jersey and not mine?” Doh!!!

“Pete?”

“Yeh?”

“Got a spare Size M mens jersey in your car?”

“…………………”

“Thanks Mate. I’ll wash it before I give it back….”

Soooo, since there was STILL no room under the tent, and with about 20 minutes until our allotted departure time, I headed out onto the road to see about getting the legs warmed up. It had fined up somewhat and actually looked like it may even give us a break for the race. Excellent. 5 minutes out and back – legs good to go; lets cook this chook!

Pete, Stu, Paul and I headed over the start and waited to be called forward. Watching those in front of us, we could see a number of teams had missed their time and had to scramble fast to get going – not the best sign for a State title event being late for your assigned time!

Just as we were called forward, a young guy from the Peel club came over and indicated to Pete that he’d finally managed to reassign us to the Masters category so our time will be recorded accordingly. See! No dramas!!

5,4,3,2,1…GO!

The four of us rolled out with me on the front, the Pete, Paul and Stu. We’d decided to do 30 on the front then pull off so I got up into the big ring and started to set the pace. You don’t want to push too hard to start, but you also don’t want to leave anything in the tank either, so it’s all about trying to find a good pace and rythym and then settle in and push.

The first 10km were relatively uneventful with each of us rolling through our turns nicely and feeling our way as a team. Stu was pulling some slightly longer turns – obviously the effects of Timor are becoming a distant memory – which was nice as it helped to allow the heart rate to drop back down to a more manageable 165bpm before the next turn.

I was on the front when the first incline came along and was feeling pretty good so kept the pace on. Stu and I crested first and when I turned around it look like the effort may have taken a bit more out of Paul and Pete. We eased up a bit to make sure we got back into formation though as it was working really well. One of the main things with a team event is that working together is a lot more effective than pushing big solo efforts and smashing each other.

The next 20 to the turnaround was a little harder as the wind was coming in at 45 degrees. We formed a nice echelon across the width of the road, but in that formation you don’t get quite the same sort of rest as you do when you get a full draft. We also had to be mindful of the other teams on their return journey who had their echelon’s formed in reverse, so you end up passing pretty close. With about 1km to go to the marker I looked over my shoulder to see that the effort had taken its toll on Pete and he’d started to fall off Paul’s wheel. At the marker we regrouped and got going, but with Stu on the front and the wind in our face, Pete decided enough was enough and bid us adieu.

So Stu, Paul and I re-set the pace and kicked off. It wasn’t long though that Paul called that he was maxing out at about 185bpm and wasn’t going to last if we held the pace. I dropped back and lent a hand as we crested a couple of rises while the 3 of us worked together to figure out what a sustainable pace was going to be for the last 15kms. Stu was doing most of the work on the front, Paul held his wheel and I played sheep dog to make sure we maintained a tight formation. That seemed to work really well with Stu taking most of the headwind full on with me being able to take a couple of shorter turns to provide a breather,  we averaged what I think was about 39-40 for the last 10km.

The last 1000m was great and there is something really special about coming back into town in a tight echelon formation with the spectators watching on. The three of us crossed together and congratulated each other for the effort. Legs were burning and heart was pounding – but what a blast! I really loved it – the TT seems to suit my style of riding a bit better than the standard format of racing. Doing it as part of a team just adds to the fun & I’d recommend it to all.

Since there’s going to be six write ups for the event I’ll leave it there. Check out WA Cycling for the results. SPR on top of the Support Teams….HAVE TO BE!!??