Monday 21 March 2011

Ventou Victorian Corporate Criterium Series - Round #1. March 20th 2011

 Round #1 was at Kew. Home! Well almost, I'm not living like a hobo at the crit course just yet, but if it does get to that I'm sure to have some friendly company to keep me warm at night. After finding out there was a pre-race prologue (a baby time trial) I had to get a start. A few strings pulled and we had a Kosdown corporate team entered. Cykel who are running the series are trying to entice coffee shop/recreational riders to get their race on. We're not the target audience but with a few similar club cycling teams entered and splitting the fields into A, B, and C (if numbers permit) the racing would cater for everyone. A win-win for the promoter, their sponsors, and ours!

Prologue:

Initially it was going to be two laps, but this was changed on the day to 'fastest single lap'. With electronic timing (MyLaps) we had instant feedback on the competition. Tyler Spurrell (Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part) had his time of 1:21 knocked off top spot by Luca Giacomin (Kosdown) who set the new benchmark with 1:16 just before I rolled off. One lap rolling up to speed then all out. I kept it upright on the corner.... just... coasted some of the downhill... then aimed the bike somewhere towards the timing line and held on. 1:11:213. Got it, $50 for the win and a tub of Sukkie Hydration powdery stuff.

Full Results (MyLaps)

A Grade Crit:

Three Kosdown riders (Giacomin, Laird, me), lone wolf Tyler Spurrell, and riders from the Boomchika and Macquarie Racing teams. Not a large field, but these have proven to be the hardest to split at Kew. Three laps into the race Giacomin put in an attack, Spurrell let him get a few lengths away from the bunch. I jumped across to Giacomin, Spurrell chased. The bunch were enjoying the view of Dights Falls from the top of the hill and missed the move completely. The three of us pulled away and were soon out of sight. Our time gaps from the bunch were being yelled from the sidelines. 30 seconds up after 5 minutes. 1 minute up after 10 minutes. Laird was back in the bunch, Giacomin and I in the break, team racing working nicely! (and yes, this is a teams race, so its above board) At 15 minutes we lapped the bunch. Giacomin and Spurrell knew we had a safe margin and wanted to play it nice. I thought we had a chance at lapping them again - so when neither of them respond to my 'caaarrrrnn lets go' head flicking, I went off alone.

22mins +3 laps to go was a long way from home, but we had the upper hand. Spurrell was the one who had to chase. If he did, Giacomin would get an armchair ride and counter attack. After 15 minutes of solo TT and I had the bunch, and the two from the break in sight. Bunch caught again. Break caught. I kept it going and went clear. 'A 3' was shown a few laps later. 1:20 final lap (I knew Gus and the boys were watching the lap times so I had a real dig on the last one).  Spurrell rolled Giacomin for 2nd, with Laird taking 4th.

Full Resutls (MyLaps) - Very cool data too!

HCC signed up 9 riders on temporary 3-race licenses on the day, win of the day for sure, and exactly what the event was all about. The next round is on April 3rd at Kilsyth. But for now, its all about Sydney

Official Report



Pics:
Me sitting on....feeling like the historical marker racing these young kids!
(14 year age gap in this shot, scary stuff)


 
Aero helmet cover spotted near the course.....someone's secret weapon for the prologue?

Loot!
Lots more pics up on Facebook.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love the speed at getting the results & Race report uploaded? Expect to see the MyLaps system more in the coming year at plenty more races.

Entries still open for teams of up to 6 riders for Sun April 3, and Sat April 16th. Register your team at www.corporatecrits.com.au

Thanks for letting me hijack your blog Lama!

Shane Miller - GPLama said...

No probs :)