WCMCC Herne Hill Road Race - B Grade :: 22nd July, 2012

Close to four months out of racing and I woke up this morning with a belly full of nerves leading into my first race back with WCMCC at Herne Hill. What the h--l? I haven't suffered from nerves like this before! After much heckling Dennis via email through the week threatening him with a rebirth in C grade (it was never going to be) and some solid training over the past 4 weeks, I knew I had regained enough strength in the cycling engine to return to B grade and continue my charge toward the A grade ranks. There was always the possibility of a win, and I never dismissed that, but with little race practice this year and a peleton full of unknowns, I was keen to finish as high as I could inside the top 10.

I looked for anything that would help settle the nerves before the start so I rode out on course for a warm up, loitering around what I thought was the start/finish line only to find out it had been moved onto William St at the north end of the course and I joined the entourage heading in that general direction. Kathy and the kids joined me for my return to racing and Jade met me at the side of the road near the start which helped to distract and settle me down.

Of the 32 B grade starters pulling up to the race referee, I only recognised half a dozen of them and of those six, I only knew the form of two of them but was happy to know that both of them had been in good form this season and figured they would be amongst the mix on such a course. I had encountered Magnus Rudisele once or twice during the previous Crit season and knew of his strength in a sprint finish. If he was there at the end, it would be a wheel to follow and be lead out by. Scott Ayles was the other and I knew of his capabilities from last year's road race season. He would be a strong rider throughout the race and again, if he was to be there at the end, then he would need to be kept in check.

Given the large number of riders I did not know, let alone know what sort of form they were in, coupled with the largely flat course, I was keen to keep any attacks in check while at the same time, observe the race and conserve as much energy as I could should I decide to to attack or contest a sprint finish. I wanted to be prepared for anything so I sat most of the race in the top 10 positions in the peleton. While this allowed me to keep things in check, it would make it harder to observe whether or not there were any riders that might simply be "sitting in" for the race as this would prove to be easy enough to do with a larger field on relatively level ground.

Three laps in and the engine was firing on all cylinders. I felt none of the fatigue I had been feeling in the legs yesterday - especially during the Saturday morning group ride with the Garland Crew. The Western Suburbs Hills ride can be pretty demanding when a strong pace is kept and the assault on the hills was led out by some strong riders. I failed to climb most of them to the best of my ability considering the week of hard training I had been through but I finished strongly and managed to drop all but one of the riders in Group 1 as we made our way along Mounts Bay Rd and the South Perth foreshore back to the shop.

Back in the morning's race, I demolished a gel pack on the fourth lap around to ensure that the fuel didn't run out at the last moment and it was clearly working as we headed into the last few laps. The pace had been ripe for the best part of the race averaging a good 39-40 km/h and I was handling it beautifully. There appeared to be no evidence of a lack of power that I had felt just a few weeks ago as I worked back into full training and nor were the knees giving me any trouble whatsoever. I was happy with how I was handling this race and was pleased with how I was feeling.

Attacks were coming relatively frequently, as one would expect on such a flat course, and I was completely taken by surprise when the lead wheels in the chasing peleton began working together to haul back the break away attempts - as a result I was happy to do my share. I wasn't aware of any significant attack of greater strength than three riders and each of these attempts were quickly dragged back into the main group. Accelerations out of corners was pretty hard on nearly every corner we made so being in the top end of the group helped to reduce the energy expenditure to stay up to pace.

Keeping myself busy with monitoring the flow of the race I managed to somehow lose count of the laps completed and could've sworn we were in the second last lap and heading for the bell lap when "two to go" was held aloft at the finish line. My initial thought was "had I had my energy gel too soon" but I was still feeling strong and well positioned and I still had enough of my energy drink to keep me going.

Tactically and strategically I felt I was in control of my own race and everything was unfolding well enough for me to begin thinking more about winning the race. It would come down to one of two methods being to either contest the sprint or try and attack while heading up the hill on Campersic Rd during for the last time. If the opportunity to attack did arise, I would take it however if anyone else attempted to do the same, I would follow and try to take them out heading to the line - either way I felt I had the strength and energy to do so.

Into the bell lap and the pace kicked a little and I had anticipated this from previous experience last year and I ensured that I was amongst the lead riders when it happened. I was able to go with them easily and a small gap formed behind us however, as had been the case throughout the race, it closed up pretty quickly. It appeared that this race was going to come down to a sprint or a last minute attack. I would ensure that I remained within the lead riders to try and cover any possibility.

We rounded the second last corner onto Campersic Rd and I had expected the pace to pick up a bit more but it was not to be and we remained steady. The wind had picked up into a head wind at this time as we rode north for the last time. Riders were beginning to get nervous and the peleton stretched out to a long line when the attacks started to come. I can't recall the exact order from whom these attacks came but I know that both Magnus and Scott were aggressors and I wanted to be sure I covered them. This is where my perfect tactics during the race became far less than perfect and a string of "rookie errors" undid all of my good work (probably expected considering I am by no means swelling with experience).

I was twitchy at this point in time and I jumped with every attack that eventuated thinking that it could be the one that got away. There were two riders about 50-100m ahead of us but they were in check and I didn't feel they posed too much of a threat and I felt that the majority of the riders were of the same mindset as the games were just starting to play out at the head of the main group. In hindsight I should have waited and monitored the first one or two attacks as previous attacks throughout the race were quickly dragged back in and I should have know that anything now would be covered just as eagerly but I also felt that there were a lot of tired legs that could be exploited by a strong enough break away. It was the beginning of an energy draining sequence of events leading to the finish.

As we headed toward the last corner, another attack from Scott Ayles came very hard and again I went with it. I still felt pretty strong at this point and we had actually formed a gap by the time we reached the corner. I had misread the peleton and incorrectly thought that the riders in the main group had tired and that the now four riders in the break away would not be chased down. To this end, I ignorantly failed to keep a check under the shoulder from time to time to see where the group was.

I was tight on Scott's wheel with about 700 metres to go and figured he was still strong enough to keep the pace going and close the 30m gap to the front two riders. Scott noticed me on his wheel and a call came to come around. As the pace was still strong, I misread this call thinking he would simply latch onto my wheel if I came around and reverse the roles and use me as a lead out. I think the truth of it was that he had begun to burn out and had called me around to prevent holding me up. It wasn't until I noticed that we were not closing the gap and by the time I had decided to make the move to come around, our pace had plateaued and I had to work hard to bring it up to anything that would keep the main group at bay.

It was clearly too late and the main group had built up a head of steam needed to drag down the three lead riders (including myself) and blast around us to compete for the sprint finish. I had screwed up the run to the finish so badly that I even managed to add one last mistake to my cluster-cuss of a finale by remaining in the saddle during the last 50-100 metres to the line which saw me finish in 11th position (full results here).

It was a finish I would prefer to eliminate from memory but it is one that should never be forgotten and I will take a lot out of the morning's event. I think my biggest mistake was the fact that I had failed to back myself when it counted by coming around Scott Ayles with 500-600 metres to go and keeping the main group in check. It was a down hill finish that should have suited my sprinting capability. I won't be making such a mistake again any time soon.

It was a screw up that not only cost me a place in the top 10 that I had been hoping for, but I firmly believe it cost me a win. I'm not happy about it but I know for certain that my recovery and rehabilitation is over and done with and I can begin to focus on reaching the A grade ranks as soon as possible. I am not yet back to the form and strength I had prior to my crash in April, but my fitness is definitely at a good level and I am sure that I can build on this base to get me back to where I was previously and well beyond. I just need to lose the stupid nerves and get my head straight when it counts and back my own ability to win races.

It is good to be back in the racing fold and by God it was fantastic to be riding on the Venge today. It performs so much better than the old Giant and I look forward to having it carry me over the finish line in first place very soon.