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Heffron Park 21 March 2009 C
Grade report
by James Bolster No. 51, B Grade.
Conditions: Regular blustery cross/headwind from the north to north east. Strong
head wind between squircle and final turn, and slight cross for the straight.
Race: I felt much better going into the race this week compared to last,
probably thanks to a massage on Friday to help the legs unbind! I had plenty of
energy and control, sitting in the middle of the bunch as per my race plan for
the first eight to ten laps. There was a memorable tussle with Scott Carver in
the first eight laps, who doesn’t give anything away despite his smaller stature
in the bunch. He didn’t take lightly to me cutting inside him on the uphill
corner onto the straight, sprinting and sneaking back ahead of me, elbows
jutting out! Unfortunately he copped a spray from pretty well everyone for
taking his hands off the bars in the middle of the bunch.
Continuing my race plan I slowly moved my way towards the front for the final
laps, protecting myself from the brunt of the surges in the pack, and leaving
myself able to cover any decent attacks. As often happens in B Grade, there are
at least three or four failed attacks, so it was a good test of my judgement to
see which attacks were worth chasing. As I correctly bet, none were. I conserved
energy well, but with four laps to go I had a slow leak on my rear tube coming
into the straight, so I pulled off, switched wheels and rejoined the next lap. I
had some work to do to get back into the pack, and back to the front, but I
still felt fresh. I worked back towards the first ten riders in the bunch, but
again luck was tested when two C Grade riders finished and turned onto the back
straight, shortcutting the squircle, but riding right in front of me. I had
nowhere to go as there were two riders on the inside of me for the right hander,
and they refused to pull in any tighter. As it happened, the bunch went slow
into the headwind and I caught back on before the undulations.
For the final turn into the straight I was positioned well in theory, about 8th
wheel, but a surge of strong riders broke from the bunch on my left and I failed
to catch onto them. I thought it best to conserve a little longer on the wheel I
was on and wait for the sprint. 150m to go I sprinted and finished just outside
the top ten. I’m very happy with the performance, especially considering that my
legs were too wasted last week to even complete 16 laps.
Heffron Park 14 March 2009
B Grade Report
by James Bolster No. 63, B Grade.
Conditions: Strong cross-tailwind on the straight, feeding into an ominous
thunderstorm to the south (...the rain on the way home was strong enough to be
hail!)
I sat in the middle of the bunch for the first two laps, with Michael Glennon,
Norbert Gerold and
Roger Shakleton doing much of the leading as people felt for the race. I moved to the front
briefly for the third lap but didn’t stay there for long as riders shuffled and
surged. Laps three and four were quite pedestrian in the back stretch, over the
undulations, getting down to 32kph at one point, but then up to 48kmh on the
straight. Stephen Healey informed me that I needed a bigger gear on the straight as he
passed me, as I tried to shuffle back from the front. Perhaps he just wanted me
to do more work for him! Lap five over the undulations was an exact opposite of
three and four, going close to 37kph into the strong headwind and then slowly on
the straight. My legs were binding up, and I questioned whether it would be
constructive to continue this type of riding after doing ten minutes of
pace-lining before ascending McCarrs Creek Rd earlier in the day (the bunch had
continued on after a fellow rider got a flat, but I stayed to help). I stayed on
as the speeds fluctuated but heading down the straight for lap eight, and after
two brief turns on the front, I decided that my legs were pretty shot and rolled
off to the left for a DNF.
As you can see from the results, Michael Glennon continued his strong run finishing
first.
Heffron Park 7 March 2009 C
Grade report
The week’s training prepared me well for the weekend’s race, and my body is
finally showing some resilience - in its faster recovery times. After backing up
to race after the Bike Bug ride for only my second time, I definitely felt I had
better legs this week, even after McCarrs Creek Road. Better pre and post-ride
preparations no doubt helped, and the ride to Heffron Park gave me some
confidence that maybe this week I could have some better luck (after ripping my
cleat out on the final straight last week) and move up the pecking order.
I entered C Grade again, for only the second time in my short racing history,
and went for the obligatory laps around the track to feel for the typical
blustery winds at the various places around the course. As I’m told, the
‘regular’ Heffron head wind blew from the two small undulations, up around the
final turn and then all the way back down the straight. Last week the straight
was the only part with a tailwind, so it wasn’t an ideal day to retry last
week’s tactics. Though I’ve still got my tactical - racing L plates on, I
figured that the race would probably come down to a bunch sprint due to the
wind, and that if anyone was to break away they’d definitely need at least one
person to go with them.
The bunch would have consisted of nearly forty people at the start line, and I
sat on the back for the first four laps, with my eyes on a few of the fitter
looking riders who were positioning themselves (and testing their prospects and
speed) throughout the peloton. The headwind became the biggest determinant, as
one of the fittest-looking Sydney CC riders who led for the second lap ran out
of steam midway through the race. I conserved energy where I could, and moved
towards the front, taking the race lead for the 10th and 11th laps, reeling in a
one man breakaway and then attempting to get three riders (one of whom placed
2nd) to breakaway again with me at different stages. But no one had the urge or
perhaps the energy to make a decisive breakaway. I slowed after realising that I
was simply leading the bunch into their sprint, and tried to recharge for the
final lap.
With one lap to go the eventual race winner made a solo break at the end of the
straight and it was decisive. Into the wind out of the squircle, over the
undulations and into the final corner I tried to get the same rider who I’d
reeled in from a breakaway earlier to work with me and maybe catch this guy, or
position us well for the finish. We were both exhausted as we went into the
straight, and the faster blokes from the bunch made their moves. I tried to
catch the wheel of one of them, but he simply had too much speed, and had saved
his energy for the right time! I got burned, on tactics but not necessarily on
my body’s performance. Whilst a win is very satisfying, it’s not the be all and
end all for this learner right now.
More training then this week, with a shift from targeting endurance to hills,
might see me improve as I enter B Grade to test the tactics again next week.
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