TheSandwichMonster
Junior Senior
- Location
- Devon, UK
Well, I did it... And I fear that it's going to be more addictive than crack!
We had a good side out from the club - probably a dozen riders in all, with maybe six or eight of us in the 4ths race, including a couple of other first-timers. Race was supposed to be 1hr +1 lap, but they changed that at the start to 45 minutes +1. Big field - I heard some people saying that there were maybe 60 or 70 of us, though Ilton is wide enough to deal with that in any case. Weather was good too - the sun came out and other than a slight breeze to work against down the back section of the course, everything was good.
It was all about the learning experience for me - I guessed (rightly) that I wouldn't be contesting for points, so my sole aim was to stay with the bunch and not make too bit a fool of myself. We set off at a fair old clip - about 25 mph, but I was pleased with how easy I was finding it - that was the nice thing about the size of the bunch - lots of shelter! I was concentrating hard on my positioning, but also found it difficult to make decent progress due to being boxed in most of the time - I can see that positioning and tactics is going to be the steepest learning curve. Lap 2 I made the mistake of coming through on the outside and was unable to find a way back in. I found myself 2nd wheel and then quickly found myself on the front as the guy in front of me sat up. That was HARD! I managed a very short while into the wind before having to sit right up myself, my heartrate threatening meltdown... The difference between competing and being actually competitive is clear - to be in with a decent chance you need to be in the first 10 or so places. To maintain your position up the front it's clear that you need to have a decent fitness advantage over the guys who just sit in the back having a free ride!
I settled myself back into the bunch and tried to focus on the movement of the other people around me. I was concentrating hard on riding sensibly, but there were a couple of moments where people got a bit silly - trying to cut in, or riding for spaces that just weren't big enough. Fortunately, there weren't any crashes, but some people had words on a couple of occasions. I appreciate that there will be times when it's necessary to be more aggressive in my positioning, but race one of my career is not that time!
I realised on lap three that I'd not started my Garmin, bit of a pain, but not a massive deal - I just wanted the data for analysis later. I started to get a bit complacent and found myself drifting backwards, lulled by the purr of all the carbon wheelsets around me! I moved up the outside again, but similarly had trouble in getting myself back in out of the wind. A couple of individual breaks went, but the headwind down the back straight meant that nobody could stay out by themselves - it would take a decent break by a handful of riders all working together to be able to make it stick, and nobody seemed that organised.
The bell seemed to come earlier than expected, and as I expected, the pace then picked up to try and thin out the field. We were doing upwards of 30 most of the way round on the last lap, with one of my clubmates recording 39 as his maximum! I was fine in the bunch, but I knew about two bends back from the finish that I just wasn't going to have anything left in my legs for the finish. I pushed as hard as I could, but found myself going backwards towards the end, finishing in the bunch, but probably two-thirds of the way back, if not further.
All in all, it was awesome. I'm back again next weekend for more. I've learned a lot already, but still have loads more to learn, but I'm hoping to get to the point where I'm actually competing, as opposed to just joining in!
We had a good side out from the club - probably a dozen riders in all, with maybe six or eight of us in the 4ths race, including a couple of other first-timers. Race was supposed to be 1hr +1 lap, but they changed that at the start to 45 minutes +1. Big field - I heard some people saying that there were maybe 60 or 70 of us, though Ilton is wide enough to deal with that in any case. Weather was good too - the sun came out and other than a slight breeze to work against down the back section of the course, everything was good.
It was all about the learning experience for me - I guessed (rightly) that I wouldn't be contesting for points, so my sole aim was to stay with the bunch and not make too bit a fool of myself. We set off at a fair old clip - about 25 mph, but I was pleased with how easy I was finding it - that was the nice thing about the size of the bunch - lots of shelter! I was concentrating hard on my positioning, but also found it difficult to make decent progress due to being boxed in most of the time - I can see that positioning and tactics is going to be the steepest learning curve. Lap 2 I made the mistake of coming through on the outside and was unable to find a way back in. I found myself 2nd wheel and then quickly found myself on the front as the guy in front of me sat up. That was HARD! I managed a very short while into the wind before having to sit right up myself, my heartrate threatening meltdown... The difference between competing and being actually competitive is clear - to be in with a decent chance you need to be in the first 10 or so places. To maintain your position up the front it's clear that you need to have a decent fitness advantage over the guys who just sit in the back having a free ride!
I settled myself back into the bunch and tried to focus on the movement of the other people around me. I was concentrating hard on riding sensibly, but there were a couple of moments where people got a bit silly - trying to cut in, or riding for spaces that just weren't big enough. Fortunately, there weren't any crashes, but some people had words on a couple of occasions. I appreciate that there will be times when it's necessary to be more aggressive in my positioning, but race one of my career is not that time!
I realised on lap three that I'd not started my Garmin, bit of a pain, but not a massive deal - I just wanted the data for analysis later. I started to get a bit complacent and found myself drifting backwards, lulled by the purr of all the carbon wheelsets around me! I moved up the outside again, but similarly had trouble in getting myself back in out of the wind. A couple of individual breaks went, but the headwind down the back straight meant that nobody could stay out by themselves - it would take a decent break by a handful of riders all working together to be able to make it stick, and nobody seemed that organised.
The bell seemed to come earlier than expected, and as I expected, the pace then picked up to try and thin out the field. We were doing upwards of 30 most of the way round on the last lap, with one of my clubmates recording 39 as his maximum! I was fine in the bunch, but I knew about two bends back from the finish that I just wasn't going to have anything left in my legs for the finish. I pushed as hard as I could, but found myself going backwards towards the end, finishing in the bunch, but probably two-thirds of the way back, if not further.
All in all, it was awesome. I'm back again next weekend for more. I've learned a lot already, but still have loads more to learn, but I'm hoping to get to the point where I'm actually competing, as opposed to just joining in!
Admittedly I have been lazy bit lazy of late though I'm doing some short sprint races on the Cheshire / Cheadle circuit tomorrow evening. 
