Caleb Pike June27

[JohnT]

I drove, so I wasn't privy to the pre-race chat, at least not until the last minute: Al calls me over to the group - "So, three attacks teams or two?" This is a new approach, I am thinking. Game on! Moments before the start we decide on two attack teams. The whole idea is still sinking in as we pedal off the line. I ask Brian: "So, what team am I on?" "You, Al and Taylor". OK. Taylor wants to go on the first lap. I tell Al that I need a lap or two warm up, as I didn't ride to the race.

Lap three, maybe it was four, we go. The attack lasted about half a lap and they catch us on the climb. I encourage the other team to go on the back straight, so the pack gets hit before they can recover. It takes a a few moments to really get that message across and then they go. Taylor jumped in too (the sign of things to come). When they got caught we went again. This time is was me, Duncan (I hope I remembered your name properly - the young guy that Peter lead out and who won the first Tuesday B sprint) and Jag. We lasted about half a lap. Maybe not as much as we'd hoped (for each attack), but they were having an effect. If I remember correctly, Al and Taylor went next. Taylor had been looking back for sometime trying to encourage a team mate to join him. They were caught (might have had one other guy with them). At somewhere near the halfway point I rode up the second half of the climb seated, but as quickly as I could. Taylor and Al came up beside me and encouraged me to go. I hadn't realized that we had a break. I declined and they went. I should have gone, but it turned out OK. I stood up once around the right-hander at the bottom of the hill, and pretended to chase, but I didn't go very hard - the idea was to allow the chase group to jump on to a wheel that wasn't going very fast. It worked. The pack never saw Taylor again. Al was eventually caught, only to attack again with 2 laps to go. That didn't make it either, but much credit to Al for being one of the most aggressive racers in the pack.

Also credit to Jag and Roland. They rotated in front of the surviving B group (maybe 14 guys at this point) in an serious effort to chase down Taylor. Duncan and I sat on their wheels lap after lap. A few others came forward too, Joe, for example, but it wasn't enough. With about four to go, we heard that he was 2 minutes ahead. Then, with two to go someone said 30 seconds. Shit! Jag started working even harder and I am thinking that the pressure is on. If we do catch Taylor someone else from TS has to win. Damn. Holding Jag and Roland's wheels was hard, but sprinting around them was going to be even harder.

As I said above, we never saw Taylor again, so it wasn't as crazy as it might have been. I know what Peter and Lister are thinking. We should have been second and third too, given Taylor's work. They're right (if that's what they are thinking). But we did end up 3rd (Brett) and 6th (me). A few others had been saving themselves for the sprint. Like I said, good thing we didn't catch Taylor. Duncan was second wheel going down the hill for the last time, but had a bit of a stall on the climb (maybe a gear selection issue). He had a great race nonetheless and was complimented by Jag for his efforts on the front.

The only dent in and otherwise great race - Taylor was the only one in the old kit. Would have been very nice to win with the new kit in its first VCL race.

The A, B, C race overlap things seemed (from my perspective) to go well. A's passed us near the end, slowed, and we then had to go back past them, but I don't think that had any influence on the outcome. Deer were visible on several occasions, but didn't get in front of the B group. Conditions were ideal for racing. A fun night and, I think, a game changer for TS B racers.

JT

[jj12]

Great race report john, looking forward to racing soon i hope.

[Roland]

Looking at the times of the finishing camera, Taylor finished at 19:48:15 and the group finished at 19:48:26. I'm guessing he sat up a bit on the last lap, so the gap was more like 20 seconds than 2 minutes. Still, he was out of sight which makes chasing hard.

Jag and I gave up our chase with a few laps to go, which probably was the right decision, since if we kept chasing I would have had nothing left for the sprint. I think 4th is my best result since 2009, so I'm happy.

[Lister Farrar]

Way to go TS! Jag and Roland are strong riders. Getting and keeping Taylor away solo must have been a strong team effort.

[AlW]

Well, that was a lot of fun. Our attempts to animate the race made it a lot more interesting that the usual ride in a pack/sprint to the finish format that the B races have followed in the past.

I think the benefits of the attack/chase sessions started to show. We have formulated plans pre-race in the past, but I don't recall ever being as organized as we were last night. Still room for improvement of course, but it was still a vast improvement.

As John mentioned, our first attack didn't get far, likely because everyone was still relatively fresh. I also think that where the attack occurs is important. I'm pretty sure that all the attacks on the back straight were caught by the finish line. This was true for the subsequent attack by Duncan, Brent, etc.

Taylor and I went again a lap or two later on the hill just after the finish line. Got around the corner with a good gap so kept driving it to try and open it up. Taylor had to ease up a bit to keep me in touch and by the time we hit the corner on to Caleb Pike I was done and told him to go. I tried to maintain the gap to the pack in the hopes that by keeping me in sight they would assume Taylor was close by and there would be less urgency in the chase. Not sure if that actually had any effect, but by the time I was caught, Taylor was long gone.

Kudos to Taylor for the win and the rest of the Tripleshotters for a strong team effort.

[Lister Farrar]

Something to think about is that attacks are cumulative. Don't expect the first one, or five, to work. But someone has to chase, while your teammates aren't. It adds up. And sure, the bunch will start to read that, but then they have to decide whether to let you go. Then a whole new bunch of tactics come into play.

[Lister Farrar]

http://duanebc.smugmug.com/Sports/Victo ... &k=MBKjvgR

[Jimmy]

Well the C group report isn't too exciting as we only had 4 TS'rs (Paul C, David B, Chris MacLeod and myself) verses the usual gang of PC and 5 of the O2 team.
I jumped out front to get the pace up and then settled into the third wheel position. Meanwhile David mounted 3 short break attempts which went unchallenged before he end his race about mid-race. Paul came up to the front a few times but eventually lost contact with the lead group. Chris was steady but it was just the two of us and all we could do was keep to the front end of the lead group and guard against any competitive breaks. The finish was a fairly tight sprint finish which I botched with a (too early) charge and wrong gear selection up the hill. Lesson in patience and sprint gear selection was what I got from this race. Other than that the mid-pack finish was still a pile of fun!!!!
Come on the rest of you C racers. Get out here and let's get the attacks organized like the B guys!! Way to go B TS'ers!!!!