WCMCC Kewdale Criterium - A Grade :: 18th November, 2012

After the WCM Crit at Wangara last week, I had thought to myself that this week couldn't get any harder or faster. Kewdale is a slightly longer course but is dead flat so no nagging little hills to contend with and the wind was not too bad. Wrong!! Put $2,000 on the line and harder and faster was the suddenly the order of the day. With 44 riders in the A grade field it should have started to ring the warning bells that should also have resonated a lot louder when the likes of Sam Smith, Eddy Hollands and Hilton McMurdo appeared. But I was feeling pretty good considering I hadn't eaten well or had the chance to ride at all the day before to stretch the legs out.

A and C grades were second on course for the morning's racing and with the pace looking pretty hot in B grade (which also attracted a large field), we knew we were in for another fast one. After a chance to chill out watching some great bike racing and having a good chat with Greg McCoy under the shade from the marquees, I got the nudge from AP giving me the hint that he was keen to do some warming up. So on the bike and on the road for a couple of quick laps before the end of the B grade race got the blood flowing and the head in the mood for a great race.

The size of the field barely fit onto the starting grid when we were given the green light to go. There was no attack from the outset today and the first lap was reasonably sedate allowing the field to settle in reasonably well. But as we crossed the white line for the first time, it was on like a cock fight in a hen house. The pace went through 44 km/h for the next 8 laps (of 24 total) and stayed above 43 km/h for the remainder of the race to average out the entire contest at 44 km/h.

So much for not being so hard and fast compared to Wangara!

With four very strong teams in the field, the attacks were relentless. As one attempt to break would be brought back in, another counter-attack would be hot on its heels making it very difficult for anyone not in a team or, like AP and myself, any team less than 4 riders strong. For us, it was pretty much a case of hold on and try and pick the right break that was likely to be the successful one. It was highly likely that there would be one that would get away and stay away so being in the right position to go with it was paramount but would prove to be incredibly difficult for most.

I found I was able to keep with the pace quite well and for the first 10 laps of the race I did what I could to remain inside the first 10 wheels and even do some work on the front. AP was always close by as always as was Mal Miller and Greg McCoy. Eventually I felt that too much up the front would wear me down too much and I dropped back to about 15th wheel to watch the race unfold and conserve as much energy as I could for when the likely successful break would come.

Given the frequency of the attacks and the number of laps we completed through the entire race, it was difficult to recall when it happened but the big break probably came not long after the half way point and it came with such ferocity that it was just to difficult for most of the field to go with. Sam, Hilton, Wayne Thompson and Eddy Hollands hit the hammer so hard that it caught the rest of us completely off guard and we struggled to match it. We were never to see them back in the field again, although there were times where we thought we just might.

The four man break slowly but surely put a big gap between them and the rest of the field but it did not seem to slow the pace of the main field at all (I would hate to know what pace the break away was putting on). We remained consistently around the 44 km/h mark.

With about 15 minutes to go there seemed to be a concerted effort to try and close the gap to the break and the pace shot up to between 46 to 47 km/h for a couple of laps, although given the size of the gap, it was highly likely that the main teams were looking to wear each other down, along with the rest of the field, as there were no calls to work together to go after the leaders.

The efforts were beginning to take their toll on a number of us and the main bunch was beginning to ribbon out making it apparent who was still riding strongly and who was beginning to fade. I for one was in the latter of these categories and with what would be about 7 laps to go, I suddenly found myself getting a very unfamiliar view from the back of the field - and I mean the very back. I had popped!

This was not a good place to be and with about 4 minutes remaining of the 45 minutes set ride time, it was going to take a decent effort to get back to the front of the field and one that the body was not happy about. Thankfully it seemed that the pace was beginning to take its toll on the rest of the riders so the body was ordered to "pay homage to Jens" and I was able to slowly but surely work my way back to the first 10 riders of the main bunch and get in touch with AP and Mal.

As we passed the line for two laps to go, we approached the first corner and I checked in with AP who (as I later learned) had dropped back to find me. It was likely that I would struggle to contest the sprint without a remarkable recovery and I gave him a shake of the head to let him know I was most likely out of contention.

As expected, we received the bell and the pace shot up again often peaking above 50 km/h (depending on where you were in the field), a pace which began to spit riders out the back as we rode up Valentine St for the last time. I recall a spectacular explosion coming back through the field in the form of Pedro Turibaka. Riders were jostling for places at the front of the field which once again had ribboned out and as we rounded the corner into Hazelhurst Street and 400m to go the attacks started and I re-wrote the rule book on cycling proving that it is possible to explode more than one in a single race. This time it was nearly as monumental as Pedro and I watched the main field disappear ahead of me and many others.

A last ditch effort to save some face had me over the line in 29th place and thoroughly spent. I rolled around the course one last time to recollect my body parts that had been ripped from my torso in that last lap and managed to pull myself together again. I had no idea where anyone else had placed but eventually AP rolled up from behind me with similar complaints about the pace of the race.

Mal Miller had managed to keep the pace a little better than myself this week (coming in at 17th) and I was happy that I was able to say that I had fulfilled his suggested task that we should feel completely spent and have nothing left in the tank by the time we crossed the finish line. No problems there Mal. I wonder if that moustache helps?

So it seems that when WCM pull a sponsor into an event to bulk up the purse, the intent to get a share of it is insane. Granted that there would have been no way possible that I would have been able to keep such a pace last season (even at the end), it was nice to know that I could do so in a race such as this and look forward to continuing improvements. With better preparation (diet and pre-race riding), I might have been able to avoid exploding, not just the once but twice.

Thanks as always for reading and until next time, see you out there.