WCMCC Kewdale Criterium - A Grade :: 3rd February, 2013

Today represented my return to racing with West Coast Masters since my crash late last year. I was in two minds during the week as to whether or not to ride A grade or to moderate my return and ride in B grade. A little persuasion from one Chris Singleton helped make the decision last night to ride A grade and I'm glad I did as it was a great indication of my current fitness and form and if I'm serious about being competitive in A grade, I need to get amongst it and eventually claim a result.

Simon Verona was keen to get down to Kewdale for his first outing with West Coast Masters racing and he swung by home to ride over to Kewdale and discuss a potential plan for him. It would have been good to ride B grade with Simon today but my mind was set and I was ready for the onslaught. We got to the course and completed a couple of laps of recon and warm up before registering. We were a little early and I was yet to find out with whom I would be riding and who the competition would be. I expected the usual influx of A grade riders to arrive shortly.

Chris Singleton arrived with Pat Woods and Brett Stapleton but there was no sign of Andrew Patterson. With only a few minutes to go until the start, it was unusual for him not to have arrived if he intended on racing but I later found out that a tough ride yesterday and some bike troubles prevented him from coming down to race.

The A grade field today was yet another strong one with about 40 riders lining up (B grade was also stacked with 39 riders and C grade managed to attract 27 punters) and the temperature was already beginning to climb as we gathered in the marshaling area. A steady north-easterly was also blowing which meant respite from the wind would only come down the short length of Hazelhurst St.

Just a few seconds into the race and the pace rocketed up to and beyond 43 km/h and stayed there for the first three laps with an average pace of about 43.5 km/h. Welcome back to A grade, eh? The pace was relentless and continued to remain over 40 km/h, even upwards of 46.7 km/h lap average pace before some respite came on the 17th lap (of 26) when the lap paced dropped to 39.3 km/h average.

This high pace was due to a small breakaway group of three riders that had managed to get away from the main field on the first lap and opened up a handy gap of about 400 metres before the main field decided that it was enough and were reeled in before the pace settled on the 17th lap. The "recovery lap" would be the only one we enjoyed as additional attacks began with a number of small groups attempting to get away only to be reeled back in in the same manner as the first break group.

With about 40 minutes of the race elapsed (roughly 20 laps), I had good position toward the front of the field and noticed the pace had eased a little (still above 40 km/h lap avg). There was still some time yet to race before we received the "two to go" signal when the small group of us at the front of the field seemed to simultaneously jump and we managed to get a gap on the field and held it for the next two laps. The main field were still having none of this attacking business and we were reeled in just as quickly as the other attempts.

So it would come down to a hard sprint finish that would require everything I had left in the tank to be a part of. Position was paramount in the dying laps and the pace seemed to ease again with about 2 laps to go before the end of the allotted 50 minutes - it would be the the second of only two laps where the lap average dropped under the 40 km/h mark.

Riders were jostling for position and a number of very close calls were encountered during the 3rd last lap of the race. I had one rider cut across my line with his back wheel just missing my front wheel. Thankfully I was alert to the moving around in the group and managed to just clear the rider's wheel and stayed upright. Close call.

The field kept clear of the D grade finish before being given the "two to go" signal and the pace ramped up again and we completed the first of these last two laps at 43.4 km/h which seemed to be just a warm up for the last lap. As we received the bell, the usual suspects appeared at the front and the race stepped up another level. I was feeling pretty good at this stage which surprised me a little after having questions in my head about midway through the race about whether or not I'd even finish.

I was well positioned in the field as we rounded the corner off Bradford St and into Chilver St and I was keeping pace well for the length of the short stretch of road up to Valentine St when things went a little pear shaped. I somehow managed to get into a position that saw me squeezed into the middle of the group with riders coming around either side of me and I had lost significant places before I had even come out of the corner. I'm not even quite sure how it happened, but suddenly I had some work to do to regain a respectful position that was worthy of the efforts I had put in throughout the race.

As we raced up the back of the course along Valentine St, I had really stepped on the gas to pull back the lost places and thankfully I was able to latch on to what would be the final sprint group of about 20 or so riders for the finish. I moved in behind Chris Singleton's wheel and rounded the last two corners of the race well enough not to lose any positions and to stay in touch with the sprint group but the work I had to do to get there had certainly taken its toll and I was hurting.

As we rounded into Bradford St for the last time the pace had picked up to about 50 km/h and Chris jumped and took his pace up to about 55 km/h. I went with him in the hope that I could use his wheel to get around and make a dash for a placing but the legs were stinging and I just didn't have the energy left to muster up the power needed for such a hard sprint and Chris stayed just ahead of me. By this time, the place-getters were pretty much set so I sat up and rolled over the line in 22nd place after a very hard race.

While I would liked to have finished up the order a little more considering the work I had put in to get to the front of the field during the last few laps (I've really got to stop mucking about at the end of races and stop allowing other riders to squeeze me out), I'm happy with my effort overall and my fitness has not suffered from the effects of my crash and recovery. Certainly my form is still lacking but with continued training and racing in A grade, I'm sure I can put a race together that will allow me to place in the top 6.

Despite the heat, it was an enjoyable day's racing and kudos to WCMCC for putting on yet another fantastic event.

Thanks for reading.