Thanks Mike for the kind words and support. MichaelL also did a lot of the work during the race. Given it was ML's first race, he was fantastic.
I will follow a little later with the photos I've got and a full race report. But yes, glad to not come last like in my first two D grade races earlier this year. Got a good photo of you too, Mike!
....
Race report
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After missing last week's planned race due to rain, I kept my fingers crossed Sat morning and repeatedly checked doppler radar and satellite images for possible rain. Fortunately, an overcast sky, moderate wind and mild temperature made for a great day.
Again, got to the park somewhat late with half an hour to go. After all the routine stuff, I was left with just time to do one warm up lap. MichaelL showed up initially for E but we decided it would be more fun to race in the same D grade. The race started with 8 riders by my count but for some reasons there were fresh faces later. Anyway, given my past two races where I got killed in the final sprint and came last and near last, I decided to kick in a few short attacks throughout the race and then try to get away at some point. So I started the tactic from 2nd or 3rd lap and with MichaelL's help and other riders who were interested in similar, the head of the bunch pretty much got reduced to five (Tanya, Leanne, a tri rider in Cheeky Monkey jersey, ML and myself). We then proceeded to share the front and each put in some surges to keep everyone interested. As noted by ML post race, in sections we were going over 41km/h. Despite this being ML's first ever race, ML took many hard turns at the front and gave me a chance for some solid drafting (thanks!). The pace further quickened in the last three laps where the tri lady started to put in some serious short surges. But judging by the way she stood to attack those pimples at the back of the course, I knew she was getting close to her limit. Then around half way down the straight with a lap and a bit to go, I split off from lead position and attacked hard. It was fortunate that I managed to break free from the rest and opened up a good gap. This I managed to keep till the finish line... Huffing and puffing and one up for DHBC.
Lesson learnt:
1) Highish cadence really helped during the race. So don't be lazy with those gear changes! Firstly, it permitted me to quickly respond to surges without excessively straining those quads. Second, I was able to recover quickly. In the past with a slower cadence, eventhough I was mostly able to respond, but each time the quads would get killed. And then taking that final hairpin riser before the finish straight would just leave my legs powerless for any further sprints.
2) Watch your back. Being more watchful of what's going on behind me, I felt that I was in better control and things didn't happen unexpectedly.
3) Save legs, don't do 2x20 interval in Centennial Park on Sat am, day of the race... Duh!
PS: It was my Ridley's first race since built. Maybe it does make a difference.
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)