Race 4

OK, my big goal has been to race more and get my racing legs and so in the past two/three weeks I have raced two local crits and two LCCC crits.

The big questions is: Am I getting any better. Today I raced B grade at our local club and we had 9 in B grade (I think) and there were only 4 in A grade. Well in the final wash out, I think B grade was actually stronger and more consistent to A grade.

First a teams time trial and of the five teams, my team came 5th. The whole concept was a B grader an A grader and a C grader and the C grader did the first two laps and rolled off, then the B grader for 2 laps and then the A grader for 2 laps. Teams were drawn out of a hat and there was no question going in that I was in the weakest team.....sorry guys but we all knew it. I did have a good two laps and Ruby had an awesome two laps, she went much quicker into the headwind than I would have expected..seriously and so I got her to sprint to the line and then it was my turn and I pushed hard, was happy with my ride and then Mike had to finish it off.

Mike was overtaken by Shane (from another team...the overall winning team) and I think that finished it off for him a bit.

Then the crit, as mentioned I rode B grade and it was very hard. We averaged about 35ish which sounds slow, but it was hard, I got dropped with Gary early as we stopped for a car, but the bunch had gone through, once they realised what happened they waited as it wasnt our fault, we probably could have kept going, but after Mandy was hit by a car yesterday and is now in the Alfred thanks to a drunk driver, she has crushed vertebrae, broken ankle and facial bone damage, I was a bit heistant about taking any cars on..... I got dropped at about the 10 minute mark, I think my cornering sucks, it is getting better but I am really bad at it and have to chase constantly and it wears you down, I rejoined the group, raced for another 10 minutes and was dropped again, I did rejoin, but didnt contest the sprint as I was two laps down. Our lap times were about the same as A grade and about 14 seconds quicker a lap than C grade,

So where am I at...apart from just about ready to chuck it all in, seriously I just cant quite hang on...I think I am improving. There were about 5 riders in B who just kept the p[ace on high, we would go into the fast corner at 47 sometimes, which was hard, but back off with the headwind, I did a couple of laps at the front, going very slow hoping someone would takeover.

As for diary entries. Nige got a second in a sprint and a third overall so I guess I have to let him have the diary entry today...well done Nige. This is a picture of him helping Ruby at the start of the race too....what a gentleman. Nige did ride well, too bad he wasnt hungover like last time.

To summarise the day, I was probably a bit disappointed that I got dropped not once but twice, my legs have not been recovering well, so I think I have to have a couple of easy days on the bike this week and maybe a massage...I will have to talk to Bob about it. I just dont have the acceleration that the blokes have whihc is primarily due to a lack of racing crits or racing in general where you need to be able to put on some speed and then rest in the bunch...That is a massive part of my problem and the fact that I have put on some weight which makes it hard too. Overall a mixed emotion today about the race. Will be racing again next Saturday which is more of a Kermesse