hard race today in b grade and i didn”t manage to finish with the group. while i was there, though, i snapped a few pics with the gopro. the rouleurs all worked best online casino well today and the break was caught 200m from the finish. des managed to get up for 4th which was a great effort after struggling on the hills.
all smiles and fun at the start
the group took off but settled before the climb
nice and easy along the flat
first climb about to start
the first big test and the group blew apart
john and i did a bit of work to drag the group back
dave went with the break, but soon dropped back
brother jules, “fresh” from a season of wafl, sat on the back. it had been a while between races.
we slowly pulled a bigger group together that included colin
des dug deep to stay with the group on each climb
we had a lot of numbers, but no-one in the break.
i have lots of photos of des with his “pain-face”
some of the climbs required a bit of an extra effort
the guys did a good job of looking after each other
but everyone loves a downhill
5 thoughts on “pinjarra classic – b grade pictorial race report.”
Personally I had a frustrating event in D grade. The ride out to the hills was fairly fast paced given the headwind with most people taking a turn, a few riders were ejected from the rear before we hit the hills.
As we approached the base of the main climb a group of Midland Cycling Club riders injected some pace and a few others went with them. I mulled it over and thought it best to hit the hill feeling fresh and not at my limit, so I held back gambling on the fact that they would tire on the climb and I would catch them. I stuck to doing my own thing ensuring my heart rate didn’t get into the ‘pop’ zone, sadly by the time I got to the top of the climb the gap to the bunch had grown from 100 metres to 300 metres. As the course levelled off leading into Dwellingup the bunch of predominantly Midland riders worked together and disappeared into the distance leaving several stragglers such as myself in their wake.
From here it was a long solo ride for the remaining 50km’s, over the undulating terrain of the scarp before dropping down to the flat and pushing through the hellish headwind on the way back to Pinjarra. However I did have a carrot to keep me motivated and pushing on in form of 2 riders up the road riding at a consistent gap from each other, towards the end of the undulations I got within 50m of them only for them to pull away on the downhill section, my top gear of 50-12 meant it was gravity alone that powered me to the bottom. Along the flat run in to the finish I did manage to claim a carrot though as one of the pair of riders had clearly ‘popped’ and was soft pedalling to the finish, he certainly made no effort to get on my wheel as I passed. I rolled over the line in 6th out of the 13 in the grade.
With the benefit of hindsight I clearly made a rookie error not trying to stick with the main group up the main climb, even if I popped and got dropped at least I would have known for sure that I didn’t have it in me to stick with the top riders in the grade. I guess I took the easy option and paid the price, on the plus side it’s all experience and a damn good workout!
Gareth.
gareth,
welcome to racing. it is more than just leg strength and tactics do come into it as well, even in d grade. having team mates in the race really makes a difference too.
however, the other benefit to doing a proper race is that they paid out down to 7th spot. i have $50 which i collected for you at the presentation for coming 6th. send an email to the club address and we can organise for you to collect it.
well done on sticking it out on your first race. i also know what it is like to ride 50kms of that course on your own.
Cheers for collecting the prize money Pete, I didn’t realise prize money was payed out for minor placings. I will be on the Saturday ride this weekend, hopefully I can pick it up then.
no worries. come and find me before or after the ride.
Some photos of the event are now up on the PDCC website;
Nice photos Pete.
Results are now up on the BWA website,
http://www.wa.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=51316
Personally I had a frustrating event in D grade. The ride out to the hills was fairly fast paced given the headwind with most people taking a turn, a few riders were ejected from the rear before we hit the hills.
As we approached the base of the main climb a group of Midland Cycling Club riders injected some pace and a few others went with them. I mulled it over and thought it best to hit the hill feeling fresh and not at my limit, so I held back gambling on the fact that they would tire on the climb and I would catch them. I stuck to doing my own thing ensuring my heart rate didn’t get into the ‘pop’ zone, sadly by the time I got to the top of the climb the gap to the bunch had grown from 100 metres to 300 metres. As the course levelled off leading into Dwellingup the bunch of predominantly Midland riders worked together and disappeared into the distance leaving several stragglers such as myself in their wake.
From here it was a long solo ride for the remaining 50km’s, over the undulating terrain of the scarp before dropping down to the flat and pushing through the hellish headwind on the way back to Pinjarra. However I did have a carrot to keep me motivated and pushing on in form of 2 riders up the road riding at a consistent gap from each other, towards the end of the undulations I got within 50m of them only for them to pull away on the downhill section, my top gear of 50-12 meant it was gravity alone that powered me to the bottom. Along the flat run in to the finish I did manage to claim a carrot though as one of the pair of riders had clearly ‘popped’ and was soft pedalling to the finish, he certainly made no effort to get on my wheel as I passed. I rolled over the line in 6th out of the 13 in the grade.
With the benefit of hindsight I clearly made a rookie error not trying to stick with the main group up the main climb, even if I popped and got dropped at least I would have known for sure that I didn’t have it in me to stick with the top riders in the grade. I guess I took the easy option and paid the price, on the plus side it’s all experience and a damn good workout!
Gareth.
gareth,
welcome to racing. it is more than just leg strength and tactics do come into it as well, even in d grade. having team mates in the race really makes a difference too.
however, the other benefit to doing a proper race is that they paid out down to 7th spot. i have $50 which i collected for you at the presentation for coming 6th. send an email to the club address and we can organise for you to collect it.
well done on sticking it out on your first race. i also know what it is like to ride 50kms of that course on your own.
Cheers for collecting the prize money Pete, I didn’t realise prize money was payed out for minor placings. I will be on the Saturday ride this weekend, hopefully I can pick it up then.
no worries. come and find me before or after the ride.
Some photos of the event are now up on the PDCC website;
http://pdcc.asn.au/gallery/nggallery/pdcc/pinjarra-classic-2013/page/1/