All posts by carlos

Dardanup B grade race report (Team Lycra Grey Edge)

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At the start of the week found out through John Gilbertson, that a few of the boys were getting together for Dardanup B grade. Word was that we were to be called “Team Lycra Grey Edge”. I found this quite amusing as I am barely over thirty (ghost writers note: but he is sporting a very attractive salt and pepper goatie, or the “vintage look” as he likes to call it).

So the 5 of us (John G, Stuart Gee, Simon, Matt Seale and myself) found ourselves after a short 2hour drive at Dardanup. The weather was nice for a change which was great as I do not have fond memories of Dardanup. Last year I had a puncture half way through the race and the year before I got smashed in C grade. But this year it was different. I’ve been training hard and I have (I hope) better legs…and I’m not talking about hairiness. Plus I have more race experience.

Before the race Stuart Gee got us all together and put the race plan to us. In his opinion the race was going to come down to a sprint finish. So we elected our strongest sprinter. Happily the boys thought that was me. The thought of having these four strong riders all riding for me felt like a huge responsibility, but of course I said yes. I would do it for Team Lycra Grey Edge!

Now the race. At the start line it was obvious that there was a pretty bad cross wind. Oh joy. The game plan was for TLGE to set the pace and look after me. So far so good. Once the race started, John and Stuart were straight on the front setting the pace. Matty was riding on my left, protecting me from the cross wind. I was being well looked after.

I knew from last year that there were just a few “lumpy” bits before the turn-around point, but it was nothing that would shake the bunch. After the turn-around, well that was different. I knew there was a decent climb that would put a lot of people in the hurt box. Once we hit the climb Simon was on the front and set a really hard pace, with Matty and John right behind him. Being the sprinter and all, I was moving towards the back of the group and just hanging on. My heart rate was through the roof. Stuart came up to me to offer words of encouragement that went something like “Come on Carlos, you just need to get over this”. By the time we got over the climb half the group were gone. Thankfully there was a nice down hill section. The remaining bunch shared turns (with the Southwest and Bunbury boys doing their fair share) and we got over the remaining lumpy bits. I knew that once were were back on the flat, the wind was again going to become a major player. With 10km to go there were a series of attacks. Matty and Simon covered most of them. John and Stuart made sure that I never had to pull a turn. I think I maybe pulled 2-3 turns. It was a great feeling – I felt like a King.  But knowing that my mates were burying themselves for me, I know I had to be smart in the sprint.

While the Southwest and Busselton boys had all pulled big attacks trying to get off the front, we were all together at the 5km mark and realised that it was going to come down to a sprint. At this point I was feeling really good. Probably the best I’ve ever felt towards the pointy end of a race. With 3kms to go Matty went off the front with another rider tailing him. This played into our hands very well as we did not have to get on the front anymore – it was everyone else that had to do the chasing. Matt managed to put a good 250m gap on the group so I thought he might manage to stay away and win the race. By the 1km mark the peleton had pulled him back to 50m. I had a quick word with John to see how he was feeling. He said that he did not have too much more in the tank. So I knew that the boys had pretty much used up everything to get me to this point. It was now up to me. With about 800m to go I was sitting third wheel and everyone had figured out SPR’s game plan (ie I was going to go for the sprint). I thought my best chance would be to attack now. If I left it later I thought I’d get rolled. I attacked. I managed to put 25m on the group. At 400m I had a look back and saw the peleton had split with 5 riders chasing hard. I knew I did not have the legs to make it to the finish so I eased up a bit and went with plan B. I managed to jump on the back of the 5 chasing. I knew I had little bit left. When we got to the 200m mark I went again and managed to get over the top of the fifth and fourth rider, and was gaining on the second rider but ran out of road. So there I was with my first podium in a road race (3rd), plus I got our team a 1:30 time bonus for the team time trial. The Busselton rider (Mal Hopkins), who won the race, got his team a 2:30 time bonus and the second place local rider (Mark Sadowski) got a 2 minute time bonus.  Team Lycra Grey Edge was pretty happy with our result. I was ecstatic with how well we worked together as a team and how we followed the game plan.

TTT: After an hour and a half break (and some food of course) we set off for the TTT. We had some great horse power. Stuart and John are great time trialists. I know we had a good chance to make up the minute we had down on the Busselton team. The idea was to stay tight, talk to each other, no roll-throughs over the hills, and to set a manageable but painful pace – if that makes any sense? Again we were faced with the cross wind which had picked up since the road race. Everyone did their bit. Simon again set the pace on the hill, John pulled some massive turns, Stuart is just a diesel engine and kept us motoring the whole way and Matty (who has improved in leaps and bounds) was great when the cross winds were getting really bad and did a good job at marshalling everyone. At the end of the TT no one had anything left, we could not have pushed any harder, we left everything out on the road. The feeling after finishing was one of pain and excitement! The boys were pumped. We we knew we had done a terrific job. In the end we finished with a time that was 1 minute and 10 seconds faster than our rivals. This put me in first place, Matty in 3rd, and John in 5th overall. Such a great result for us. The Team Lycra Grey Edge boys gave me a win by a mere 10 seconds. And it felt amazing.

When it came to trophy presentations the Southwest Cycle Club provided all the food and drinks we needed to recover. I especially liked the cake J. The whole day was well organised and I really enjoyed the format. A big thank you to Team Lycra Grey Edge, it made me realise how much fun it can be racing in a team and the camaraderie certainly beats racing as an individual. That, for me, was the highlight….oh and I now have a golden gnome on my mantle piece…!

A SPR Addiction

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I have a need for speed.

I’ve never written anything for the blog before but having recently been hit by a car I had the opportunity to see my SPR journey flash before my eyes. Thought it would be an idea to write some defining moments down before walking towards the white light.

My SPR journey started off with no idea of what I was getting myself into. I’d always wanted a road bike but put it off so many times until finally one day I took the leap of faith.

It was the spring of 2009…. and contemplating laying down $2,500 for a pushbike was a hard thing to stomach. I walked into a random bike shop (no research, no Wiggle) said I wanted a road bike and that I had $2,500 to spend. Several minutes later I left with my trusty orange/black Orbea.

My maiden voyage was a lap around the block, in my shorts and running shoes.

I loved it.

Slowly progressed to 20-30km rides and eventually found myself doing 100km a week. But just like running (which I was doing previously) I was getting bored. I have a need for speed, so I thought I’d get something to make me go faster. Faster seemed to mean clip-in shoes and lycra.

…a previous lycra encounter involved a Batman suit….but I digress…..

Wearing lycra goes against several very strong traditions/instincts. And since I was living with my two younger brothers, going for a ride in lycra consisted of a mad dash from the bedroom into the living room, quickly get onto the bike and riding off before anyone saw me. I was not ready to handle the abuse and ridicule that would be dished out if I was seen. Little did I know that I would soon find myself walking through shopping centres in lycra. My how we change.

Working as a house painter I get to meet many people. Luckily enough I met Mark Schneider and his wife Louise.  They said I should join a group ride and told me about SPR. It took a few weeks of convincing (they have a big house) but I eventually made it to my first ever club ride.

It was the summer of 2010…arriving at the ride, was the first time I ever felt comfortable in lycra. So many similarly clad people. I almost felt at home. I could not see Mark, so basically had no idea of what was going on. I seemed I had two options: fast group or main group. I like fast and thought I’d probably be ok with the fast boys. But after the first rush of testosterone had past, my brain kicked in and I chose the main group. Time would prove that this was a wise decision indeed oh grasshopper.

So off we rolled. I remember going up the Stock Road hill and thinking this is f**king hard. I remember being well looked after by the SPR crew – the first person that was out there to help me was Michael Bonner. When the fast group took off all my illusions of being a fast boy were crushed, I was struggling to hold onto the main group.

After the undulating hills of South Street we started a roll-through. I thought what the hell are these guys doing? But thought I’d join in anyway. I remember the rush you get from a fast roll-through and the realisation that you can actually go very very fast on a pushbike!!!! I was also soon to find out what extreme pain is on a bike. It is not pretty, but god I loved the speed. After finishing the ride, I remember getting off the bike and thinking that was f**king awesome. I could not wipe the grin from my face. My SPR addition/habit was formed.

I soon became educated about the importance of good coffee. I thought I knew what a coffee was, but really, I had no idea. I am now a lycra wearing, coffee snob off to find my next hit.

After talking to a few of the guys (Daryl and Gus) I discovered there were rides (ie hits) during the week and on the weekend. Within the first month I was doing 3-4 rides a week. My need for speed was growing, and then I found my next hit “spin with fynn”. Fynn turned out to be a metrosexual guy who thinks he looks pretty good in various levels of lycra 😉 But he is a funny bastard who rides extremely fast! There was also Kimbo, Johnny, Lennie, Lisa, Big Daryl, and least I forget Meghan (aka Dr Cougs).  The SPR family was growing.

The need for speed continued and I found the Track. Courtesy of Toby Brown – Mr Monster calves himself. Track is a great excuse to buy another bike. And just like a wog-boy, with cars and rims, I found out about racing wheels which soon added to the diminishing bank account that comes with the discovery of Wiggle, Ribble, PBK and Chain Reaction. Now $2,500 on a bike is not that hard to digest at all.

My good mate, Mr Davin, suggested the 5 Dams to me. Basically at this stage, I had been group riding for 4 months so, in my innocence, thought this was a great idea (ignorance really is bliss). I learnt a lot on that day.

Up to that day my longest ride had been 90km. With Davin egging me on off we went for 235km of shear pain. I could not sit on my arse for a week. The last 40km was the worst 40km ever, I could not hold 20km/hour, I was cramping, sweating from every single pore in my body. I had no idea about nutrition, shammy cream and all the other glamorous aspects of cycling that make long distance riding bearable.  But I made it! And picked up some new “go fast” tan lines for free.

My need for speed continued so I thought I’d pin a number on. After the 5 Dams, nothing could be harder – right?! My first race was the Tom Lowry Classic. I gave it a go in C grade. This race was pretty eventful with 3 crashes: the first involved a dog running through the middle of the peleton, and the last involved a young gun overtaking me on the inside, locking handle bars and bringing me down with 2kms to go. I was adamant that I was going to finish. Straightened up the bike a bit, and managed to make it across the line. Not the ideal end to a race, but I still enjoyed it and found out the beauty of fixamol. The SPR family were on hand, including Prez Pete, Paul O, Nicole, and a beautiful red head, Lorraine who patched me up with the fixamol.

I’ve had some bad luck – tyre blow-outs, couple of falls, been hit by a car or two, but nothing is stopping the SPR addiction and my need for speed.

So now I own two bikes, 6 sets of wheels, more lycra than a ballerina academy, 4.30am is the norm and 6am is a sleep in, 400-500km a week is not unusual, and my family have acclimatised to seeing me in lycra.

Oh and I found another way that is meant to help you go faster…..all the “real” cyclists do it…I wax, some shave, but it makes my calves look big….and occasionally I lube up with a bit of oil to make them look tanned and sculpted….the journey continues 🙂