Ingliston Criterium #1 (4th Cat)
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Ingliston Criterium #1 (4th Cat) - Cycle
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Comments: I had a good ride, I ended up in a solo breakaway purely by mistake... Steph McQueen (Falkirk Bike Club team mate) went for an early break, and I was just marking the Edinburgh Road Club guys who were chasing him. When they caught him, everyone sat up and I ended up off the front with two others. I pretended to work for a couple of laps, but I was really just soft-pedalling. It was really windy last night, so I was doing my turns with the wind behind me, then letting the other two do the work into the wind. Even so we managed to get a 10 second gap! So I decided to do some work in the break, so I put my head down and did a whole lap on the front, I then flicked my elbow for the other two to come through to find that they'd been unable to hold my wheel. Oops. I then decided to sit up, cos we were only 5 laps into a 30+ lap race, and it was a bit early to go - I had been planning to sit in until 5 laps to go. The commentator saw me sit up, and decided to blow the whistle for a sprint lap. Oh well, I thought I might as well go hard for one more lap and get the sprint points. So I did, and by the end of that lap I had 12 seconds gap. I then decided to keep going at about 70%, so as to leave something in the tank for when they caught me. The gap kept growing though, despite the fact that according to Steph a certain Gavin Noble (semi-pro triathlete and ex club member) spent about 5 laps on the front of the bunch trying to chase me. The gap went to 15 seconds, then 20 seconds, then Gavin gave up and all of a sudden I had 50 seconds! By this point the field had split behind me into two groups, with a few stragglers between and a few off the back. Steph was getting an armchair ride in the first group, refusing to work on the grounds that he had a teammate up the road. Despite the fact that there were at least 10 edinburgh road club jerseys there, they didn't seem to work as a team, and didn't organise a concerted chase. So I kept on motoring, and lapped 3/4 of the field. It really only started to hurt in the last 10 laps, by which time I was on the rivet. Steph managed to win the bunch sprint for third, as second had been taken by someone who slipped off the front of the main group by 3 or 4 seconds on the last lap - so 1st and 3rd for Falkirk. Not bad considering we only had 3 riders in the race! I then blagged my way into the 1st/2nd/3rd cat race, and hung on at the back for 30 minutes. I was a little tired, but totally dehydrated as I hadn't taken a water bottle in the first race (I thought I was only riding for 30 mins). I did ok, considering the pace was considerably harder, and the much twistier larger circuit meant I was doing a lot of sprinting to keep in the pack. 5 laps to go the dehydration got me, and I completely cramped up one leg - which gave the first aid guy something to do. I was pleased to last that long though, as nearly half the pack had already been dropped. What would you do differently?: Next time I'm going straight fot the 1st/2nd/3rd cat race! Post race
Warm down: Having my cramped leg stretched out by the first aid guy. What limited your ability to perform faster: Nothing. Last updated: 2005-04-15 12:00 AM
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2005-04-15 9:22 AM |
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2005-04-17 4:59 AM in reply to: #142894 |
General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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Scotland
Edinburgh Road Club
Overall Rank = 1/30
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Too much chatting in the car park - only had time for 1/2 lap warmup!