UCI World Cycling Tour Qualifier Perth 2013 - 40-44yo :: 14th April, 2013

Pain and suffering redefined - again. On Friday the 5th of April, I attended a motor pacing training session on the this UWCT course with Mel Robinson and I knew after just 7 laps of chasing that scooter that this course was an absolute brute and was going to be just as difficult, if not more difficult than the Kings Park course last year. But I was better prepared this year and ensured that I was hydrated and loaded with carbs during the three days leading up to this event. What I wasn't prepared for were the conditions in which we would ride!

The Thursday and Friday this week found me very tense and anxious to get out there and just get the job done. This subsided quite a bit on Saturday with a last chance ride taken during the morning. I felt strong and well stocked which gave me confidence that I could do well. I hydrated well during Saturday afternoon and evening and I peaked out my carb load without eating too much that I would feel bloated this morning. I was ready for it and was keen as ever to get to the start.

I rode out to Perry Lakes to get the legs warmed up and to get myself comfortable on a now well tuned bike. I didn't want to get to the event village so soon that I would be sitting around allowing the tension to build. I spied Paul Foxwell and Craig Pennell and checked in with them as we moved to our start groups. I was keen to work with the guys in an effort to try and get all three of us in the top 10 but it would also be a case of keeping the race favourites in check and preventing them from getting away.

We rolled out 2 minutes after the 16-39 y.o. category which we felt didn't seem to be enough of a gap and we were concerned that the two groups would end up merging as we did last year. We had 60 riders in the 40-44 y.o. category and with similar numbers in the first wave of riders, it would produce a large peloton that would make the race very difficult to monitor. It would never happen and we did not see the other group at all.

Craig, Paul and I were at the front of our group when we rolled up to the start and as we were released, I picked the pace up to a comfortable level and as we rounded the first turn onto Oceanic Drive I found myself completing the first climb on my own with a few seconds on the field. As I crested the top of the climb just after Reabold Hill turn-off, I was collected by the group and I sat in a couple of wheels deep.

The pace on the first lap was a shade over 38 km/h at just 12:25 to complete. I felt really comfortable and knew that I would be able to maintain this sort of effort for the duration, but to do so meant it would be vital to remain well hydrated and continue to eat at regular intervals. I had packed plenty of energy into my jersey pockets so it would be a case of just ensuring that I remembered to eat and drink. The humidity of the morning would mean that the loss of fluid would be dramatic - and it sure turned out to be the case.

Our second lap produced a bit of drama as we came down Rochdale Rd. The group tightened as we were squeezed to the left side of the ride heading up a small rise to Wollaston Rd. Someone just to the front of me and to the right, clipped Paul Foxwell's back wheel and managed to lose balance. He came down and during the process managed to land in a manner that knocked the front wheel of Chris Beeck (who was directly in front of me - good wheel to hold) from under him and he too came down. Some early braking in anticipation of this undoubtedly saved me from suffering the same fate and I managed to avoid the incident unscathed as I rolled onto the grass on the side of the road and back onto the road ahead of the carnage. I never saw Chris again so I'm not sure if that ended his ride.

I kept my position at the head of the group consistently and worked with Craig and Paul to keep things in check. However, at some stage about 5 or 6 laps into the 14 we needed to complete, a group of three riders had broken away. I had not seen this happen for some reason and was completely unaware of the breakaway until I overheard someone else mention it. Paul and Craig too were unsure who it was and hadn't been aware of it. Matt Dec made a significant attempt to bridge over to the three leaders and due to being unaware of the three man break, I let Craig now that we should try and hang Matt out dry and make him work solo for as long as we could without letting him get away.

It was on that lap that I had been made aware of the three man break and that they now had 1:30 on the group. It was agreed among the front of the group that it was time to try and pull it back and that we needed to put in a full lap of rolling turns in an effort to minimise the damage. This resulted in our 7th lap being our one of our quickest ones at 39.5 km/h. I was able to contribute to this effort to close the gap, including the climb up Oceanic Drive. The completion of the lap would match our motor pacing effort a little over a week prior and I was feeling far better with energy levels well up.

We seemed to have collected one or two of the 30 y.o. age category riders that had been dropped from their group and one in particular figured we were a better group to ride with (not sure about that, we were moving quickly). I hadn't seen Doug Stewart for much of the race so far but as we came up Perry Lakes Drive on our 8th lap, Doug had moved up through the pack and launched an attack up the left had side of the road. Our friend from the 30 y.o. group hollered an alert to this move which seemed to upset Matt Tognini which was somewhat understandable given it was not this person's group to be pointing out attacks.

Doug managed to hold the gap on his own for quite a while but the group were not overly keen to let him to cross the gap to Matt Dec so he was kept in check and they were both pulled back before the climb up Oceanic Drive on the 10th lap. For me, this is when disaster struck. As we rounded the corner to climb Oceanic for the 10th time, I felt twinges in the legs behind the knees and I immediately recognised the warnings as impending cramp.

I had already emptied most of the two bidons I was carrying and I had passed the feed zone where I would be able to take on more water. I emptied the last of my second bidon as I rolled down the Oceanic Drive to West Coast Highway and the pace had eased somewhat now that Doug and Matt had been brought back into the group. This resulted in the slowest lap I rode with the group at just over 13 minutes. But the lack of fluid on this lap was incredibly detrimental and I had not been able to replenish lost fluids enough before the feed zone at the top of the first rise on Oceanic Drive.

By the time I managed to take on a replacement bottle of water, the cramping had begun as we reached the second and sharpest rise and it was severe. Unfortunately, it was enough for me to lose touch with the group and the "sag wagon" came around me. I was in excruciating pain by the time I reached the top of the last rise but the group were still in sight and the water I had taken on had begun to do its work allowing me to make an effort to try and claw the group back. Unfortunately it was too late and by the time I made it to the top of the Rochdale Rd climb, the elastic had well and truly snapped and I was on my own and any chance of finishing with the group had disappeared.

It was a real shame as I knew I had the energy to have been able to remain with the group for the duration of the race but the cramping was preventing me from applying the power I needed to produce to get back on. I took on a new bottle of water for the remaining laps to help keep the cramping at bay and with two laps to go I was able to pick the pace up again. On my 12th lap, I had joined a small group of riders that included Amanda Nabi, Shannon Arnott and a rider from my age category, among one or two others. I stayed with this small group to help keep the pace up to about 35 km/h and as we climbed Oceanic Drive for the second last time, I picked up another bidon of water and noticed Shannon had dropped back from the group.

I could sense Shannon was hurting getting up the climb and the gap had increased to about 60-70 metres by the time we reached the top of the second rise of the climb. Having been through similar pain I knew that it would be impossible for her to get back on to the small group alone. While I'm not a team mate of Shannon's, I was sympathetic to her situation and told her to jump on as I came around so we could work together to try and get back to the small group.

We charged down the Oceanic Drive descent and onto West Coast Hwy were we had to tangle with a motorcycle but we came clear and continued to claw back the group ahead. By the time we reached Rochdale Rd, we had just 5 metres left to bring in and we managed to close it reasonably easily. Shannon had been on my wheel the entire way and I was glad she was able to hold on and bridge the gap with me. She and Amanda would finish the race together.

After being surprised to see Matt Dec pull out with a puncture, I struggled up the Oceanic Climb on the last lap as the effort to get back to the small group had been taxing and again they managed to get a gap on me as I slowed to take on more water, making it 5 bottles consumed during the race - quite probably not enough. The cramping had gone but the legs were certainly feeling the after effects and were now hurting quite badly.

As I approached the corner onto Rochdale Rd for the last time, I had caught the rider from my age category who had been in our small group. It seemed the race had taken it's toll on him also and I collected him on my wheel as we rode up Stephenson Ave in chase of Amanda and Shannon. I didn't want to get in the way of the girl's finish so I eased up a little but this seemed to spark a last ditch effort from my compatriot as the finish line came into sight. I was happy to play his game and we both came around the girls as we came between the spectator railing and I managed a small sprint victory (of sorts) as I crossed the line just ahead of my competitor leaving enough room for Amanda and Shannon to fight out their duel.

I was spent! I have no doubt that this race was the hardest I had ever competed in and while I was suffering severe cramps and probably clouded judgement, I felt the course was definitely harder than Kings Park the previous year. But I was very happy to have completed all 14 laps at an average speed of 37.2 km/h including two laps on my own.

I caught up with Paul as I rolled to a stop on Oceanic Drive and he mentioned he had suffered cramps just 90 minutes into the 3 hour ordeal. He couldn't understand it as he, like me, had hydrated well in anticipation of the long race but the humidity was a real factor this morning. I felt that I was losing fluid quicker than I could take it on and replace it but the regular water over the last 3-4 laps was enough to prevent any cramp returning allowing me to finish.

Obviously, it was not the way I wanted to finish the race and felt that I could have prevented the cramping had I anticipated my fluids being drained so rapidly both from my body and my bidons. Perhaps it could have finished with me among the group but I was happy with my effort and I proved to myself that I was able to suffer through such a brutal event. Most importantly, I didn't give into the suffering and dismissed the thought of pulling out at at the end of the 11th lap.

It was great to see some fantastic results from my team mates both in my age category and others and I look forward to hearing their battle tales over in Italy. I give kudos to those who managed to make the qualification cut off, a list that is of reasonable length I believe so I will not recite it here - they know who they are. Congratulations to you all.

Final result, although the timing mat seems to have had its share of problems:

Category (40-44 y.o. - male): 31st from 60 starters.
Overall (all categories - male): 95th from 294 starters.

Thanks for reading - onward and upward to next year!