Who would have thought that a shorter road race (by WCMCC standards) would have been so debilitating? Make no mistake, just because a road race is shorter in distance does not make it any easier to complete. With just 50km between start and finish along with some hills that I figured might test me, I just wasn't prepared for the all out smash fest for the first 20km which was compounded by a nasty cross wind at the bottom of the course which became a head wind all the way home. This was yet another lesson in how bicycle racing can catch you out and have you begging for it to be over.
The Unicorn-Hall Team fronted up to the morning's event 5 riders strong in AP, Pat, Chris S, Paul and myself with the intention of riding as hard as we all could from the outset to both ensure that we caught the lead groups and to try and put some hurt into some of the other riders. This year, the groups were separated into grades as opposed to individual handicaps placing riders into groups of around 6 to 8 riders. The participating numbers were not as high as previous years resulting in some small groups at the head of the course which would make theirs a tough challenge to hold off the larger groups of later grades.
Scratch (A grade) was starting with 17 riders with a 5 minute gap to B grade, 10 minute gap to C grade, 15 minutes to D grade and 25 minutes to E grade (was initially set to 4, 9 , 15 and 25 respectively). With a 4 minute gap to B grade, I was hoping that we might be able to catch them before we turned for home at Edwards Crossing and hit the hills, but with 5 minutes I figured it would be a little tough to drag them back before the first of the two climbs after the turn for home, but not impossible. If we had a larger group before the hill climbs, there would be a greater chance of being able to hang on if I found it a bit of a struggle.
Prior to heading off, we noticed a number of riders from other teams gathering at the back of the bunch conversing with each other. We immediately thought that there would be an agreement set between these teams (namely KHT and EHBS) in an effort to disrupt our race given we outnumbered all the other teams by at least two riders. However, this didn't force us to change our plans and our focus remained on getting the Fox on the podium, preferably at the top.
Once released by the starter, there was no delay in getting the pace up with AP and myself hitting the front and cranking it up before rolling off and getting the group co-operation going in order to chase down the B grade group. With 17 riders, the pace remained high with enough time between turns to recover for the next effort on the windward side of the bunch but with just 10kms behind us, riders began to sit on the back and miss turns to a point where some riders were either not seen near the front again or rarely seen.
At this point, Paul had opted to join the riders sitting in in order to conserve energy and with my protective role, I joined him and made my way to the position in front of him to ensure he was not expelling any unnecessary energy. I noted that some of the riders who had been sitting in would come through occasionally to join the rolling group, do a turn and drop to the back again. After Paul had done this as well, I figured it was race etiquette to do the same and took a turn or two myself.
By the time we had reached the 20km mark on the outbound leg of the course, we had averaged around 47-48km/h and it was clearly taking its toll on some riders. I was feeling OK and had not struggled with the pace at this stage but within just a few kilometres, the road swung to the left and the wind that had mostly been to our back was now coming across us and offered no-one any place to hide. This is where things got a little messed up on my part.
Not only had we not laid an eye on the B grade bunch at this stage, the rolling riders had formed an echelon across the road lane (we are only allowed to use the one lane as it's not a closed road race) blocking those riders who had been sitting in (including Paul and myself) making it difficult to inject themselves back into the rolling train where it now became a little easier to battle the wind. Being stuck at the back was not the place we wanted to be and before long, the wind was taking its toll and riders were beginning to fall out the back and lose touch with the group.
As we reached the Edwards Crossing bridge which marked the turn around point, a small gap had opened between the back riders and the main bunch and Pat was required to drop back to myself and Paul to ensure that we got Paul back into the main bunch. I was now beginning to feel the pinch from the cross wind efforts and while I was able to assist with getting Paul back into the main field, the first and hardest of the climbs on the back of the course was looming and the B grade bunch had been spotted.
The pace continued through this last flat section and didn't really seem to ease up that much as the climb began and I was nowhere near the front of the bunch where I wanted to be in order to sag-climb the two hills that would certainly sort out a few riders. By the time I reached the top of the first climb, the main field had put about 10-20 metres on me which I thought I might have been able to claw back on the descent but the intent of the bunch to catch the B grade group meant they had kept the pace on and I was not able to close any of that gap before hitting the next ascent.
This next climb, which immediately followed the first one, really had me struggling and the bunch had disappeared over the top and around the corner before I had even reached half way. The climbing over the entire course was barely more that 450 vertical metres but with the pace held on the outward leg and the cross wind through the 4-5kms before the turning point, there was certainly some sting in the legs that, to me, made those climbs feel twice as bad as they probably were.
Over the duration of the two climbs, I noticed that Singo had popped out the back of the group as well, which I later learned was due to cramp, and was about 40-50 metres ahead of me. The A and B grade groups had combined into a larger group by this stage which I was really hoping to be a part of as the larger group would have made it easier to hide from the wind and do my job to protect Paul and to ensure that he remained in touch with any attacks (which were unlikely in this handicap format).
I was disappointed to not have been able to take the hills a lot quicker and easier than I did and to see the main group within reach and not be able to close the gap was frustrating. With Chris out ahead of me and the main group slowly but surely disappearing over the top of the rolling terrain, I switched my focus to catching up with Singo and working with him to make it home. I knew this wouldn't be an easy task either as he was certainly been in TT mode which meant there would be no looking back to see who was behind him and no easing up. I did know, however, how Singo works with his TT riding and figured that harder efforts up the hills would eventually allow me to catch up with him.
At its greatest point, the gap to Chris had reached about 100-150m and I was beginning to think that I was not going to be able to close that off given Singo's strength as a time trialist, but I put my head down and lowered the wind impact as much as I could and began to close the gap bit-by-bit. With about 15kms to go, I finally caught onto Singo's back wheel, took a moment to recover from the effort (from which the sting in the legs matched the sting in the eyes from the sweat streaming off my forehead) and then swung around him to offer him some respite and a chance to recover a little himself.
I switched my riding technique to match Chris and we began rolling 30 second turns through to the finish line and we crossed together some four and a half minutes off the pace.
Meanwhile, back in the main group, it was apparent that the A grade scratch group had done the job of reeling in the other groups and it was definitely going to come down to a sprint final. Unfortunately, where was some confusion as to how far the finish line was away from the top of the last hill and AP, Pat and Paul were not able to put together the final they had hoped for but were still able to place the Fox on the podium for a 3rd place finish with Pat finishing 5th overall and the first two places being taken by Tom Walsh (KHT) and Chris Glasby (EHBS) in a course record based on official completion time and handicap of just 1hr 12min and 39secs.
A big well done goes to Melissa Robinson being one of only two females competing in the day's event and finishing just 4 minutes off the pace (just ahead of Singo and myself). Mike Pardon and Simon Verona were also in the scratch group but were among some of the first casualties as we leaned into the cross winds and they ended up finishing 6:30 and 7:45 off the pace. AP put in his usual top-shelf effort throughout the race and finished just 17secs behind the winner.
Many thanks to the family (Kathy and Jordan) for kindly following the scratch group and with a bunch of spares in the back of the wagon in support of the team. Thankfully they weren't needed and everyone was able to finish puncture free.
Thanks for reading.
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