It is another world out there!!

Well the topic for this blog could have been any number of headings, I decided on this one due to experiencing what I have today.

Short story, lasted 25 min of the race, fastest that I have been from 0kph to 40kph and doing 3.28k circuit in 3 minutes for the first few laps was always going to test me out. The other boys at Footscray finished with Mark doing a great job hanging in til the end, with this being his first open race.

Long story:

We were graded in "B" grade, but still had to race in the "open" section with some of Victoria's best cyclists.

The warm up was good with a bit of chatter of how we thought the race would unfold....general concensus was, flat out from the gun and try and settle down around mid race. If, and I mean a big IF things were going along ok by then, we did talk about a few race tactics. Clearly I was never going to be involved in them.

Well, the start line filled me with nerves and having a final chat with Komo we decided to prepare ourselves for one fast start. And yes we were right, from the gun til the first corner was full stick. THe smell of break pads into the first turn was very evident and then out of the first corner the pace quickly increased to above 50kph with the wind. THe first lap was 3min 5 sec when i passed the start finish line so the leaders easily broke 3 mins. Better than 44kph from the gun.

The day was going to hurt.

Well after the first lap, I did try to get a reasonable position, not to close to the back as from previous races, I am aware that this is not a spot to be at. However, hence my title, it is a different world. In saying this, cyclist seem to find gaps where I didn't think were there, most of the time it was just in front of me. SO when I thought I had an ok spot, quickly it was taken from me and I found myself at the wrong end of the field.

I knew I was going to be in trouble when I looked at my speedo and saw 45kph into the head wind and mid-high 50's with it. The rubber band eventually broke after 25 mins and I then turned in for the arvo and watched with Matty Lewis who was there to spectate. Was good to see him out in such good spirits after his crash and after talking with him, I realised how lucky he is to be in the condition he is in, very good for the circumsatances.

Ok, back to the race....The was a breakaway that held a constant lead of 20-25sec for a good half an hour, until the peleton got serious and decided to chase it down. With 15 min to go another break formed and with 2 specialized riders in it, was definately the decisive move. The 7 riders turned to 5 and with 1/2 a lap to go, one of the specialized attacked and got away from the others. He managed to get up for the win and the other specialized rider managed to complete the quinella.

After watching the breakaway for a while along with the peleton, when the heat gets turned on, it gets turned on. I can say that it is a lot more intense to what I am used to....."B" Grade at Footscray!!

The highlight of the day fgor me was seeing Komo finish as this was his 2nd ever race. And by chatting to him after the race, I could see that he is now hooked!! I did ask him the final average speed and he had a tad under 43kph, and in the 1hr 10min or so, covered 51kms. Now that is flying.

From here I plan to race at Footscray tomorrow and then get some serious k's back in the legs for next weekends 3 Day Tour. And gee, I need some k's. After seeing the quality of riders (and yes these guys are not even pros) it puts it into perspective about how different Triathlon is to Road Cycling. They are worlds apart.

Anyway, enough said on that. I did really enjoy the day as a learning experience.

For now...

X-Man