No time for vegemite toast so I grabbed one of those Snickers(?) energy bars on the way to Port Melbourne. Very chocolatey, probably not the best thing pre-race but I needed something to eat. I was there quite early, having allowed extra time for my typical ‘where the hell am i’ navigational performance. This early in the morning I could actually concentrate on finding the streets I wanted rather than dodging cars. Nice. Rolled around until registration opened. $15 entry!? WTF?! Glenvale is only $10.. lucky I had a bit extra on me..<\/p>\n
The circuit is a fair bit rougher than Glenvale (older roads have warped with industrial traffic I guess) and some sides of the circuit are coned off as single lane only. This wasn’t much of a problem with only 15 or so riders in C grade. I’m pretty sure the numbers are much higher than this normally but many riders were competing in the St. Kilda Festival crits later on the same day. Fine by me. <\/p>\n
C grade started quite slow. The race was only 40min+3 (Glenvale is 55min+3) so if it stayed near this pace until the end I was sure I was going to kick arse! \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n
It didn’t. A few breaks went and for some reason I found myself in them. I wasn’t paying attention. The new surrounds had thrown me a bit. In a small group like this it’s harder to hide so I was driving the breaks I was in and chasing down any others. “Hey, this was supposed to be easy” I was thinking to myself. There was some yelling about doing turns or something but I think we had dropped a few people off the back by that stage so our ‘break’ had become the new ‘peloton’?!<\/p>\n
With two laps to go I did my last turn at the front, keeping the pace high, just in case we weren’t alone out there and then slotted back into the field.<\/p>\n
One lap to go and I’m in a promising 4th wheel, behind a tall Preston guy. I figure, unless these guys are gun sprinters, I’m set. As we approach the final corner, my eyes widen as I realise the guy directly in front of me has just created a gap between himself and second place. To make matters worse, the guy in second place didn’t hold the wheel in front either and has created a similar gap to the leader. SHIT! This doesn’t happen at Glenvale! What are these guys doing?! I have to go NOW.. no point holding a wheel. <\/p>\n
The finishing straight is shorter than Glenvale and with the large gap between 1st and 4th I give it hell, sure my ‘easy win’ is now history. Pass 3rd, pass 2nd, throw for finish line, arrr! If only I had another 5 metres I would’ve caught 1st! Oh well, 2nd is still nice, but I was cut about not dealing quick enough with those gaps forming. Another lesson learned.<\/p>\n
$40 into the kitty and I’m off to the St. Kilda Festival crits to watch a bunch of people I know race. The Fitzroy St. hotdog circuit had large numbers of racers so each grade looked a LOT more painful than my race.. okay I’m soft, I’ll admit it! \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No time for vegemite toast so I grabbed one of those Snickers(?) energy bars on the way to Port Melbourne. Very chocolatey, probably not the best thing pre-race but I needed something to eat. I was there quite early, having … Continue reading