Race report by Toby.
Well the Pemberton Classic has been run and done for another year. SPR had a great turnout and was definately a force to be reckoned with down under the forrest canopy. The following post is just from my perspective, and I’ll leave it to the others to add what I’ve missed in the comments below.
I arrived in Pemberton in time for lunch on Saturday afternoon. The bakery was the choice and I was pretty happy with my pizza slice. Shortly after I ran into Jason and Chris who had arrived and were heading out to recon the road race course. The road race course is very undulating, with challenging road surfaces and of course Pump Hill towards the end of the lap to really bust those lungs.
Criterium
We set up camp in the Post Office verandah for the Criterium around 3pm. The racing started around 5 so we had heaps of time to hang out, register and get in a warm-up. After 3 or 4 laps around the course in the warm up I knew I was in a bit of trouble – lungs on fire – not good.
Competing in the c-grade crit we had Danny, Jason, Matt, Mino, Jesse, Dave and myself. The pace was on from the very first lap. Seriously it was fast. The hill in the back of the course was a killer and certainly intensified the pain. Jason and Danny were looking pretty good. Mino was felt the pinch early and drifted off the back as did Dave and Jesse. Matt and Jason got in a small group that got a small gap of the front. I was in a group of four chasing about 40m behind. We bridged up, but about halfway through the 30 minutes I poppoed. Too quick for me. Jason and Danny were up the front of things – but at this point I dont know what happened at the front. B-grade was on the course at the same time and as I was rolling around trying to stay concious I noticed Jens was on the side of the road taking off his shoes. I called out and it turned out he had a puncture. My race was over so I offered my wheel. After a really quick wheel change (was that 1 lap out…?) Jens rejoined and I started the walk back – not the last time that wheel would feature in the weekend though.
There was some drama in the c-grade crit with two riders jumping in with the b-grade group and stayed in with them for over 3 laps before being pulled out. Someone else will have to confirm if the were fined are disqualified as there was talk of both.
In the b-grade crit we had Jens and Brother Jules. They can fill in the details but Jules rode really well and my wheel did Jens proud!
A-grade crit briefly featured Matty U, and Steve Headly. More details to come.
Lisa was out there in the ladies field and looked to be in the hurt locker but fought on for a solid 7th I think.
Criterium Results
C-grade: Jason 3rd &Danny 6th
B-grade: Julian 4th
Road Race
We put the tent up near the start line and organised spare bottles for the WAGs to hand out during the race. B-grade was contested by Jens, Alistair, Chris, Mike, Stu and Jules. I can’t offer much commentary but I can tell you Jules finished a very impressive 4th and the other boys werent far behind.
C-grade started just behind. We headed off at a solid pace again. Our club colours being flown by Jason, Danny, Matt, Myself, Daniel and Jesse. Dave had headed off for the Karri Cup and Mino hadnt pulled up too well from the crit so decided to man the drinks station instead. Matt was feeling inspired from his recent battles in NZ and decided to try and soften the field up early. He went off the front a couple of times, once with Jason. For a brief moment it looked like they might stay away, but the bunch reeled them back in. Just before we turned back onto Vasse Highway I started feeling good. I wanted to move up through the pack and have a word with Jason, so I started heading up the left hand side of the road. I went past 1 or 2 guys, probably taking a bit of a risk doing so. Unfortunately it didnt pay off. Riding right near the edge of the road I looked up in time to see a big piece of bitumen missing from the edge. I hit it with my rear wheel which immediately blew out and ended my race. Lesson learnt.
I caught a lift back with a parent who was following the race. Nice enough to stop for me considering the SAG wagon didnt even touch his brakes.
Again the boys will fill in the details but I can tell you Jason finished 8th and Danny 9th. Very solid effort considering the amount of burgulars in the group.
Matty U had a slightly shorter than required road race, but I think Steve finished strongly in the top 10 in a-grade.
Michelle also competed in the Novice event and did well – I especially like the yelling at the marshalls – who were completely useless.
There is heaps more to tell, but I will leave it to the comments section below.
Thanks toby – it was 6th in the Crit and 7th in the RR….. not that 1 more place makes a huge difference 😉
Were you in the money. good to get the cash to pay for the pizza slice.
What a great weekend away. Good friends, hard racing and plenty of fun. Steve & I lined up in the A grade Criterium, 50mins + 2 laps. As expected it was on from the gun and it just didnt let up, attacks everywhere, speeds around 50km/ph mark, a rather nasty power climb so our heart rate was in the red zone the entire time. 30 or so started with about 10 finishing. I lasted till the 25min mark whilst Steve finished and got top 10.
Road race was hot, windy, rough roads, undulating and pump hill. We had 100km to do. It was such a tough race, 30 starters in A grade,the gun goes and with that bang the attacks start coming after about the first 10km the bunch had lost 10 or so riders with everyone scrambling to stay in contact. I lasted to the 60km mark when there was only 14 or so riders left. Steve rode really well and hung in there managing to pick up 8th place. He got a nice certificate for his efforts.
To everyone form SPR that competed well done, the races don’t get much tougher than that.
Great write-up Toby. I had a good time but it had nothing to do with my lack-lusture performance! I think I had a touch of something during the crit as it felt my lungs were on fire after my first attack on the first lap. HR wouldn’t come down and I had the taste of something awefully vile being regurgitated in my mouth.
Same with the road race. Woke up in the morning. Resting HR @ 90 BPM whne it is normally 38 BPM. After a couple of self initiated attacks early on, my HR was hard to the guard, near max with no sign of recovery. On seeing this, I had only one option. Attack. I elected to do a single lap suicide mission of multiple and continued attacks and try to soften up the sprinters for our guys! I finished the first lap and had a coke! (Thanks Toby) The pack looked like it had split with some SPR riders in the front group so job done for me I guess. I think that the reality is that I’ve been pushing myself so hard lately racing, training and working that I’m literally burnt out. Back to the drawing board…
Oh yeah – congrats to Jason for taking the weed wacker the your legs!
Well done to the guys in B grade too. Despite the breakaway of 5 getting away, we stuck to our guns and controlled the pace really well in the peleton. Jens/Heiko was a real force on the first lap, keeping the pace high on the way back into town, wearing others down like a good domestique.
After the first lap and the hill reduced the field of 39 pretty severely, Stu kept the workrate high on the rolling hills back into the wind on the outward journey. By this time, we still had 4 in the main bunch: Jules, Stu, Chris and me. We picked up one of the refugees from the breakaway half way around, which meant we were now racing for 5th.
Up the main hill for the second time, the attacks came, but the 4 SPR boys managed to be there on the regroup back into town. Brother Jules had climbed strongly and you could see his confidence growing as we faced the last small lap and that hill again. (At his rate of improvement he won’t be in B grade for too long with a little bit of luck).
Jules was the first to attack on the final climb and the gaps began to widen immediately. I managed to get past him and he grabbed my wheel until we hit the steep bit. Here we picked up a forlorn looking breakaway exponent, legs over for the day. We were up into 4th on the road now and I finally managed to wedge a gap over the youngster. Emma Pooley (Silver Medallist) was up ahead at the front of the women’s race and there was a small satisfaction in catching and eventually passing her. At the final corner, I could see Jules chasing with a full head of steam up and he caught me with a happy whoop half way down the hill. Thankfully we had a good gap now so it was 4th and 5th for SPR, with Stu also in the top 10 after towing the rest of the bunch across the top of Pump Hill. Chris faded a little on the last climb but we may well have had 4 riders in the top 12 or so. Heiko and Alistair finished together a little ways back.
Cyclemania, ECU and Aussie Crates – the other strong teams in the race – were not quite so prominent at the pointy end at the finish.
Thanks Mike for the extra details of the B grade event. Minor correction is that at the top of pump hill on the final “little loop”, after joyfully regaining contact with the bunch behind you I “sat in” because of the great position that you and Jules had attained. However, on the way back down the hill, realising that your 4th and 5th positions were secure, I had a very early dash for the line but was reeled in well short of the line. I should have waited because the uphill sprint might have suited me. Oh well, next year..
Great ride Jules (and good effort in the crit too)- lots of learning for the rest of us..