Coburg Time Trial Round #2, HCC Crit, Track... Randoms...

I'll compress a few tales into one post for some light Friday reading....

Whittlesea 33km ITT: Feb 13th 2011

The first section of the course which is mainly uphill was surprisingly fast with the tail wind. I'd caught my minute man (the real Lama) at around 8km and my two minute man (E dog) on the main climb 12kms in. After the left turn we all had a 12km slog into a stiff headwind. It wasn't pretty. Having the SRM on the TT bike is nice, but its worth its weight in gold when you need to confirm 32km/h is 'ok' if you're pushing 400W+ into it. And no, it wasn't 400W all the way! At the 27km mark I started catching the non-aero guys, and was creeping up on Jono Lovelock, but he soon punctured and swung around for a lift back to the start with the nearest corner marshal. The final 6km was rolling hills where it was hard to keep a good rhythm, so the power graph was nice up until then. 46:08 at the line, with the watts only 1% down what I'd do for a 20km TT, so crit racing seems to work for TT training.

Results:
Shane Miller 46:08
Martin Lama: 49:43
Nathan Elliott: 50:57
Simon Welsh: 53:03
Rob Register: 53:31 (non aero)
Warren Howe: 55:05 (non aero)
Paul Williams: 55:41 (non aero)
Andrew McGrath: 55:54 (non aero)
Adrian Chew: 57:27 (non aero)
Jono Mawer: 57:38 (non aero)

Round #3 is out at Humevale on the 27th of Feb at 10am. It's only a short TT but it stands apart from most, 2km flat, 7km UP. I've got the HorshamTri 20km bike leg at 6pm the night before, so I should still be warmed up from that at the Humevale TT! Bring it on!


HCC Kew Crits: Feb 16th 2011.

Storms all around, but not on the course. 15 lined up for A grade. Sunday St Kilda A grade winner Stuart Hill (Sole Devotion), Peter Braunsteins (Apollo), a few other regulars... and pro Tom Southam (Rapha). I had a chat to Tom before the race, it was his first time at Kew, he'd found out about it from Lappers. As we keep discovering week in, week out, its impossible to split a small field at Kew. Southam tried.... a few times. We all knew he was the rider to watch, but he had no idea which of us to watch. Braunsteins and Richard Jeremiah (Geelong) were allowed a few 100m up the road for a lap or two before being brought back. Southam tried a move but the field was soon transported back to his rear wheel by a monster turn from Cam Clamp (HCC). The pace to close those two moves down had shelled six or so riders off the back. The rain started falling and we were given "3 to go" at the 32minute mark. By bell lap the course was wet. HCC usually call the racing off as soon as the track gets wet, but A was down to only a handful of riders, so we were given the chance to finish the race. Southam had pulled out and wasn't there on the bell lap. The final corner had to be taken at walking pace, and sprinting to the line was a slippery task. But everyone kept upright, and although it was called short, it was good racing for us. Southam would tell a different story given everyone marked him all race!

A Grade (15 riders, 33 minutes + 3 laps)
1. Peter Braunsteins (Hawthorn)
2. Conor Murtagh (Brunswick)
3. Shane Miller (Hawthorn)
4. Cameron Clamp (Hawthorn)
Intermediate Sprint: Richard Jeremiah (Geelong)



The B grade finish provides some epic lols for the poor guy who dominated them in the sprint, only to be completely smacked within milliseconds of taking his hands off the bars. That is one way to graduate to A grade without the B grade pay day! The audio jumps just after he crosses the line... I have no doubt what he said! :)




Other Random Notes...

The CSV Victorian Masters State Track Championships start tomorrow at DISC. But you'd never know given all they're promoting is their recreational rides and selling tickets to the Austral. I really thought state championships were the pinnacle of each particular discipline (albeit age-group racing, but still....)... even a feeder to the nationals? I'm all for increasing participation in the sport.... however our COMPETITIVE CYCLING administration is more about BV/Audax rides and selling tickets to event$ - they've lost their way. CSV didn't even report on the masters teams championships from a few weeks back, the results PDF was published and that was that. Medals were not labeled (again). And while I really appreciate the events being held and the hours that are put into them, as an 'outsider' (ie, a roadie who just pops in for a visit every now and then), it feels like these age-group track championship events are reluctantly held just because they need to be.

That is a bit of a rant, however I want to see more people compete at these events. I want to see more people give a shit about entering, competing, pushing themselves. I want these events to succeed. I want to see CSV do a much better job at promoting their own events, even the ones that don't have a cash profit incentive attached! Lawrence Maskill has posted up a small insight into some of the the issues at hand. A very honest post, worth reading.


ok - now for some pics.....

Lovelock, look! I didn't burn it! The perfect pancake... with an 85% perfect flip. Damn!

wtf? Who does that to their car?

I secretly love parallel parking. Serious.

I also love new kit. Lots of <3 from the sponsors! Awesome!

Ambry, I don't know if I should laugh or cry. A PowerTap with a mud guard!?

I've always wanted to find a shopping list at the bottom of a basket and buy everything on it. I'd be introduced to new foods, new tastes, something completely random...... I hit a hurdle with this one.