Mt Newton - July 13 2011

[Kevin F]

Doh! I'm an idiot!

I raced Mt Newton tonight with Jeff and Hugh. I had a plan to keep up in the pack and ‘keep powder dry so to speak.’ AKA race a smart race.

I have been planning this race for a few weeks, hoping it would be a course that suited my strengths. I made sure I had an 'easy' day Sunday. When I say easy, I mean I resisted the urge to follow the crazies, (Dave S, Mike L, the two others I forget who) who did 3 repeats up the Observatory Hill. On Tuesday, I rode the ‘B’ group and didn’t contest the sprints or work for any breaks (Sorry Simon, I think we could have made it) all to orchestrate a win on Wednesday.

The race started a bit cold. I got a ride out with Brad so I wasn't warmed up which makes it a bit hard to get into race pace. There were fewer starters in the race than in the past. The race was started with a mix of the B and C group.

I rode at the back for a lap or two to get into the sprit of things. Riding that far back started to feel like riding in the back of the Tour. There was a far better chance of crashing. I moved up to the front and pretty much spent the rest of the race there. On that course I think there is very little drafting advantage unless someone is really pushing it on the downhill sections, which was never the case. Except when Jeff pulled for me and bridged a mini break. It launched me up the climb and that was helpful. I seemed to pass everyone without pedaling on the downhill if I was drafting them or not.

The race after that was all about the hills. After 10 laps or so 4 of us formed a break away from the rest of the group. We basically traded positions for 4 laps. On the second to last lap (I thought) we where passed by the lead A rider and I used that as inspiration to kick with him. I created a good gap from my fellow B riders. I started to wonder how long I could hold the pace. I didn't think I could last riding hard for another 1.5 laps so I thought I'd sit-up and wait. I would save up my strength as they had been chasing me and I would launch again on the last lap. Big problem here! IT WAS THE LAST LAP. What an idiot. I let the two riders Nic and a new guy go. Kelly (my arch rival for points) and I spun easily up the hill only to realize it was the finish. I got lucky that Kelly too did not realize it was the last lap. I paced 3rd.

Again another race experience I'll try to make sure doesn’t happen again. I am pretty confident I could have held my lead to the finish…sign….Can we invest in TripleShot race radios?

[Jbooyah]

Great result Kevin. This was my second race ever, the goal was to keep myself out of the redzone, keep the nerves in check and not chase down every gap that forms, stick with the group for the first 9 laps or so and help Kevin out as much as possible. There was a couple of early little breaks that got reeled back in after 1/2 a lap. There was a lap where Kevin and a few others took off, I did my best to keep the group at the back steady and not chase a teammate down. The group formed back up for a couple of laps. I took up the front for awhile to set tempo for Kevin. As I recall this might have lasted a 1/2 lap because we got the to the bottom of the course and the winning break took off. After that it was just staring at the front wheel and counting down laps, praying for the finish.

I had a blast, glad my first race was such a hilly hard one. As a look back on the race I would say we maybe should have had a bit of communication before to best help out the team.

[RyanC]

'Accidentally' placing third, Kevin? I am now frightened of what you can do if you put your mind to it (and watch the lap board ). Seriously, though - well done. I am sorry I did not ride out to watch after all....

R

[Dylan J C]

Well done Kevin, 3rd is a great result.

On a side note, cycling BC wouldn't upgrade me to cat 3 when I asked, so I'll race b in the coming weeks to gain some upgrade points, and in the process help you out to getting to the top of the VCL