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Ingliston Criterium #1 (4th Cat) - Cycle


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Edinburgh,
Scotland
Edinburgh Road Club
Total Time = 30m
Overall Rank = 1/30
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Event warmup:

Too much chatting in the car park - only had time for 1/2 lap warmup!
Bike
  • 30m
  • 11.5 miles
  • 23.00 mile/hr
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
Biking
00:30:00 | 11.5 miles | 23.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/30
Performance: Good
Wind: Cross-winds
Course: Laps round part of the former motor racing circuit at Ingliston show ground. Fast, flat with plenty of corners. Including a tight hairpin where I scraped a pedal in the 2nd race.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Bad
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2005-04-15 9:22 AM

New user
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stirling
Subject: Ingliston Criterium #1 (4th Cat)


2005-04-17 4:59 AM
in reply to: #142894

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Veteran
257
1001002525
Stirling, Scotland
Subject: RE: Ingliston Criterium #1 (4th Cat)

First place!

Well done Andy.

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