Tales from the llama...: West Coast Masters

50k handicap with West Coast Masters CC today in York (100km east of Perth). 28k flat, 22k rolling hills with some nasty pinches that split every bunch apart.

The handicapping was done in grades. A thorough D, with 8 of us in A Grade (scratch) starting off 20 minutes behind the much larger D Grade (limit) bunch.

Unfortunately we lost Craig James at 4km with a broken front spoke. The 7 of us worked well though to the first hill at 28km. This is the part of the race I commonly refer to as 'where the sh*t went down'. And it went down in all grades, shattering them into small groups of two and three at most.

Once we were over the nasty climbs there were four of us left from A Grade. Norm Shattock, Jaimie Kirkwood, Jon Gregg, and myself. With a quick 20km left to the finish line, we didn't allow anyone to latch on as we rolled past. Jon Gregg put in a mountain of work to ensure the pace was high all the way to the line. We eventually swept up everyone at 4km to go.

With plenty of room for an honest sprint at the end, Jon lead the final km until we jumped to the line. I manage to hold Norm Shattock on my hip who was closing fast... and I managed to clinch the win! Very happy with that result after a pretty big week on the bike.

Photo by Rebecca Schultz

I've done some homework on one of my finish line companions. Norm Shattock. He won the NZ National Elite Road Race title in 1995! Goes to show you never know who you're going to be swapping off turns with when you're racing somewhere new.