Analysing your own performances and determining your strengths in cycling can often be an exercise that can pay dividends and this type of review was way overdue - especially considering the impending end of the local criterium season. My recovery was complete with some strong training this week and I was keen to back it up with a win with the West Coast Masters as it would be my last chance before the close of the criterium season. I was prepared to risk a change of tactic if it meant I could secure this season's elusive B grade win.
Criteriums can be a particularly frustrating race. Everything can happen so quickly and you have to have a sharp focus on what is happening throughout the entire race where tactics may have to be changed at a moment's notice. Reviewing previous experiences, how you've been training and analysing your own strengths can be a difficult task but can often lead to a renewed attitude to this type of racing.
Yesterday's solo training session highlighted some important developments in my cycling and allowed me to rethink my tactics for this morning's criterium. I was able to complete some gruelling exercises in the hills before meeting the Garland Crew for a lap around the river who were able to really put me to the test with some long sprints against riders who are always keen to get ahead of me. It put me in a very race-like situation and highlighted the fact that the work I had been doing on strength and endurance had been paying off.
Even though I had been completing some significant hill climbing work, the strength building using bigger gears was beginning to show in my ability to hold a longer sprint at significantly higher speed. With this in mind, I sat down and analysed my previous race experience throughout the criterium season and focused on those parts that I found particularly frustrating and areas that I could, in essence, do something about by riding smarter.
The most notable of these was that I was seemingly having to continuously chase down breakaways with little help (more because I had no team with me than no one else wanting to chase). I've been happy to chase down long breakaways but it would always seem to be my undoing and probably the reason why I had been unable to secure that elusive win at Masters.
This morning was going to be different. I was a strong rider with strengths in sprinting and an ability to endure longer efforts. My attacks were rarely successful as it seemed whenever I tried, I would have half the field come with me in an attempt to prevent me from getting away. It was clear that I needed to use this situation to my advantage and spoil everyone else's race by preventing attacks from becoming successful in the first place. It was certainly going to be a gamble but you never know, it could actually pay off.
The B grade field at the start of the race was strong. No doubt that this was going to be fast pace race and a win would not come easy, regardless of who crossed the line first. We were let loose and again, it was on from the outset but not so much with an immediate breakaway attempt but the expected fast pace. We were into 40km/h+ before the first lap had even been completed and it pretty much stayed there for the entire race with 22 laps being completed at an average of 40.9 km/h.
A couple of laps allowed the bunch to "ease in" before the attacks were forthcoming. It was time to employ the new tactic of preventing the attack from getting the break. It would force the race to surge significantly but I believed my recent strength and endurance training would stand me in good stead with this approach. I immediately jumped onto the wheel of the last rider involved in the attack which, as expected, brought the rest of the field with me. I repeated this for the second and third attacks and again, the field were willing to come with me and each time, the breakaway attempt was thwarted.
At around the 25 minute mark of the 45 minutes plus 2 laps, I was still feeling incredibly strong and knew that the surging was having an affect on the main field. The attacks seemed to be coming from the same riders whose main aim appeared to be to continue with the attacks and wear down the chasers. Roues Chaudes CC had a couple of riders in the field including Jamie Kirkwood and Steven Farran, two riders that I knew were strong and would be working together to maximise their chances in the race. It was also apparent that Carl Skinner was also keen to wear down the field with similar tactics.
The wild card, however, was an ATTA rider who spent significant time on the front of the peleton during the first half of the race and was openly showing his TT strength. With about 30 minutes behind us, this rider attacked and had caught me slightly off guard. I missed the opportunity to go with him and thwart his attack and I recall thinking "that was a mistake". As a TT rider in a solo break away of at least 100m, he would be the type of rider that could demoralise the entire field and run away with the race. It was important that I did not let his gap increase and hope that other riders had the same thought and were prepared to work together to bring him back into the fold.
Thankfully, Jamie Kirkwood had also recognised the threat and worked with me to chase the lone rider down. I worked the first part of the chase down and reduced the gap to a degree before Jamie came around and continued to reduce the gap to literally nothing and we brought the lone rider back into the field. But this would not be the last I would see of Jamie and on several occasions he attacked, forcing me to go with him and the surging recommenced.
I was still feeling strong and I knew that my tactic was working. I was able to thwart every attack that appeared and I was not having to do it on my own. My willingness to go with every attack encouraged the field to go with me. I'm aware that I have a recognised strength amongst the B grade riders and I knew they would not be keen to let me get away. If I went, I knew they would come with me or risk having me out on my own or in a small break group. It was working perfectly and my endurance was now coming into play.
Last lap before the bell showed probably the strongest attack to come from the field and it really had me working to keep with it. It seemed to be the last roll of the dice to prevent the group sprint on the final race and I was thankful that this too was thwarted with the assistance of some other riders in the field. It's that point in a criterium where no-one wants to see a late break and will do what it takes to stay as a bunch and try their chances in the sprint. This last burst of pace before the two laps to go notice was working to my advantage.
The second last lap showed the usual regrouping and reduction in pace that allowed riders to get their place in the peleton. Riders that were still feeling they had a chance collected to the front while others who were just happy to hang on were making up the last of the bunch. As I had been keeping to my usual aspect of my plan to remain around 5th wheel, I was easily able to move up a couple of positions and get comfortable in at 3rd wheel.
At this stage of the race, I can't recall who was ahead of me but it didn't matter to me. I regarded myself as a significant chance in the race at this point in time and felt it was up to the rest of the field to keep an eye on me. However, I knew there would be a significant challenge in the sprint from two or three riders that were also strong in this discipline. It would be during the last 600-700 metres that would tell whether or not they were able to out-sprint me but I knew that I could hold a 600m sprint quite happily so it was my last aspect to my new tactics.
The bell rang for the last lap and it was on. The pace increased slowly but surely and riders began to really hustle to get into the best positions in the field. Quick glances under the shoulder showed the bunch ribboning out indicating that there were certainly some tired legs and that the sprint would be contended by only half a dozen riders or so. An unknown rider in a plain red jersey appeared to be a bit of a dark horse and looked to have it in him to really challenge the win. I also knew from the previous Sunday that Magnus Rudisele, riding in a RideOz kit, would also be a strong finisher.
We rounded the corner from Valentine St into Hazelhurst St for the last time and position was now the most important aspect of the last several hundred metres of this race. I pushed into second wheel and then onto the front and hit the last corner into Bradford St in near full flight with about 600m to the line. The corner was taken wide again but not through any mistake of line as the chase riders were right on my wheel. It was going to be one hell of a sprint finish and within seconds, we were in full flight with quite a way to go. The question was, who else could hold a sprint for the last 400-500 metres?
I was over to the right hand side of the road with around 1 metre between me and the kerb. With about 300 metres to the line, I noted the presence of a challenging rider (the one in the red jersey) in the space between me and the kerb and ensured that I held my line to prevent any clash of bikes or wheels. But it seems that the rider behind him was not so aware and the next thing I heard was a clip of wheels and the nauseating sound of bikes and bodies hitting the ground at 50 km/h+.
The rider to my right had disappeared but there were riders on my left continuing to make the challenge for the line. I continued to push the power in the sprint for the line but I couldn't help but look under the shoulder to try and take in the aftermath of the crash only to see a significant group still going all out for the race win. As much as a crash is off-putting, it was no time to relax and I continued the sprint for the line and with just 20 metres to go I knew I had done enough and my thoughts turned back to the riders that had gone down as I sat up and crossed in first place.
I immediately u-turned and headed back to the scene of the crash to ensure that the riders that had gone down were OK and that I had not chopped the line of any other rider. I was relieved to find that the two riders that had come to grief were both on their feet but disappointed to find that one of the was Peter Hammond and the other gent in the red jersey, both of whom had certainly been strong challengers for the win and would have made for an incredible sprint finish had the accident not occurred.
Crash or not, the race was supremely intense and the surging had certainly sorted out the stronger riders from those that struggled with this type of race. The challenge for the line was amazingly strong and it was an incredible feeling to get to it first but I feel that having two additional strong finishers would have made the win even more satisfying (assuming it still went my way). But this is cycle racing. It can throw an uncountable number of circumstances at you and only those that can overcome them the best way they know how will know the adrenaline rush of winning.
What was particularly satisfying was the knowledge that my change of tactics and my understanding of my own strengths and weaknesses paid off this morning. It was a risky change but one that worked consistently well throughout the entire race. I am fully aware that a race is rarely won alone and I acknowledge that there were many riders in the field who were prepared to do their part in both attacking and assisting in thwarting the success of attacks throughout the race. I had hoped that this would work in my favour and tactically, it played right into my strengths and I was able to complete the win in a very satisfying manner.
I know now that I am completely ready for getting amongst the A grade ranks with West Coast Masters. It is going to be an incredibly tough challenge as the competition are incredibly strong. I don't expect to ride another criterium with WCMCC as I will be riding the UWCT event next Sunday and the Midland CC 'Hilly' 100 the following Sunday which coincides with the last criterium of the WCMCC calendar. I will therefore begin my foray into the A grade ranks on the 22nd of April for the season opener of the WCMCC Road Race season at Herne Hill.
I am also completely ready to take on some hard challenges during the UWCT event. I know that the training I have been putting in with Brad over the past 5 months has been the single most important part of my development as a cyclist and that this has allowed me to get where I am today. I owe Brad a significant debt of gratitude and thanks and with his scheduled taper to my training after Tuesday morning, and a new horse in the stable, I'm sure that I can mix it with some of Perth's strongest riders and, with a bit of luck, I can make the cut to attain the automatic invitation to the UWCT final.
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