Sunday was a perfect day for racing with little or no wind and perfect blue skies. Todays destination was Thruxton aerodrome near Andover for the 10:15am 4th category race. This time round I was joined by fellow Mitreite Morgan who would be back on the bike for his first race of the year. His late start to the racing season was due to his time being taken organising the very successful Punchuer Sportive.Arriving at Thruxton nice and early we had a 40 minute warmup after signing on. The circuit was fairly similar to Goodwood in that it had a chicane in the last 100m before the finish line, but prior to this there was the addition of a short rise. Morgan and myself had received plenty of advice of how to tackle this race and the following was going through our mind repeatedly whilst warming up:
"...Thruxton is a two sprint effort. Keep to the right as you approach the hill and go hard as you hit the bottom. You want to be in the top 5 as before the chicane as the bunch will naturally swing over to the right as they approach the chicane so if you are too far back you'll get swamped. You then need to go again, immediately as you exit the chicane. It's a long sprint but the bunch will be compressed through the chicane so most will be out of contention immediately. Keep close to the wall as it curves rounds to the finish so that's the shortest route to the line. Plus if anyone tries to come inside you can plaster them to the wall..."
The good weather gauranteed another large turnout with a few teams fielding 8-10 riders. Undaunted by this I waited at the start line going over aims for the race. One of the mistakes I'd made at Chertsey and Darely Moor were to waste too much energy holding a good position from the start. This time round I was going hide away in the bunch for 8 of the 10 laps, then start playing for position into the penultimate lap.David arrived whislt I was warming up having driven down from Oxford to see me race. Was great to have another spectator there to cheer me on, or not, seemed to remember him saying I had more points on my driving license than my racing license!
As we started off a chap attacked immediately right off the line. The majority of riders didn't appear to be particularily phased by this, though some chased off like dogs after the rabbit. They were all caught within 500m from the start line. Other people continued to give it a go trying to get away, but no-one gained more than 30-40m on the bunch before being slowly reeled back in. Thruxton looks like a very hard place to breakaway and you've got to question the thought process of the guys making these attacks so early, especially as the bunch was crusing at 27-28mph without much effort.
Along with the suicidal attacks in the early stages of the race there was also some horrendous bike handling. Along with the usual crossing of lines, braking or riding into closing gaps, the middle of the bunch kept closing up on the chicanes and corners completly shutting out those behind. This caused a few people to hit the grass or the concrete corners as they ran out of space. Finally this unfortunately resulted in a bad crash on lap 4 taking out 4 riders. I saw one chap at the end limping back to his car covered in cuts and mud. I managed to avoid most of the trouble keeping up in the front 15-20 or so.
Leading into lap 8 pretty much everything had gone to plan, keeping out of trouble but not too far back to have to work hard getting to the front. Heart rate had been steady around 165-170, hovering around lactate threshold. Coming into the penultimate lap I latched onto the wheel of a chap I'd seen racing before who I knew was a good strong rider, who towed me up the rise and through the chicane into a great position in the front 5.
More last ditch attacks rained in on the penultimate lap and once more I was caught out expending too much energy holding my position when again the bunch finally joined up together. I'd hit my max a couple of times and had no time to recover coming into the final lap, though still sitting fairly comfortably in the front 10, though on the left side of the bunch. The advice about holding the right line through the chicane was chiming in my ears and coming into the climb for last time I was getting boxed in way out on the lefthand side.
The big chap I'd latched onto to get a tow and some time to recover now started to tire and I was loosing further ground coming into the base of the climb. At the same time a big attack went in on the far right and I could see my oppourtunity to get even a top 20 spot fade. Finally he drifted to the right just enough for me to shoot past, hitting the climb at top speed and crossing the whole track to the right and join the 5th wheel heading into the chicane. Unfortunately this maximum effort to get into the chicane in the top 5 was to be my last one, as once the second sprint for the line started I had nothing left in my legs, drifting in at about 35th spot.
The result aside this was technically the best race I'd ridden so far, keeping my heart rate low for 90% of the race, chosing the good wheels to follow and getting into a position to contend the finish when I needed to. The only issues were again overcooking it slightly on the penultimate lap and not having the legs for the second sprint for the finish line. That aside it was a great race, if a little hairy at the beginning. This week is a recovery week and I'll be returning to Thruxton this Sunday to give it another go.
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2 comments:
A Fair reflection of the race as I saw it.
As for...
"I had more points on my driving license than my racing license!"
...it must come with the teritory, as Alf was the only bloke I knew with points on his Wedding License!
I don't have a lot I can teach you - I only rode about 20 races as a junior, and had one second place and a handful of top 10 finishes. The second place was down to a dubious finish line judgement by LECC chairman Baz Buttler in the "Ern" Buttler road race, giving the benefit of the doubt to me, a rider from the (our) hometown club.
That result, and every other placing I had, was down to positioning and following the right wheel.
My races were usually over 50 miles, and it seems detrimental to you and your abilities that 4th Cat races now seem to be a one hour Wham Bam Mickey Mouse thrash over a closed circuit. Even over 50 miles, on hilly East Midlands roads, I can't recall one when a break survived. So inevitably it all came down to the last 5 miles, and you had to know the run-in and who could hurt you.
So that's another thing - given the terrain, the distance, the standard you and the opposition are at and the company you are in, if a break forms, is it worth the effort and can it survive? Nine times out of ten I'd suggest not, but if the conditions suit, every now and again you may have an opportunity.
You seem to have already 'marked a few cards' of riders you recognise as strong, and that's important. I noticed you had a few keywords scribbled on a post-it on your stem, like 'breathe'. I have always found breathing useful too, but do a bit of research and if you can, jot down the numbers of riders who may be in contention.
Hope this helps. Some worth, it could be.
Yoda Cooch
Cheers coocher! There are a few familiar faces that I've spotted, though race number ride they are all given out on the day when people sign on, so different each time.
Breathe is on there to remind me to use deep breathing when the heart rate gets up, makes a big difference getting plenty of oxygen in, heart rate usually drops 4-5 bpm almost straight away :)
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