Goodbye Blue, Hello Red..

This was the story of today's crit at Altona. I have officially handed in my blue number (B Grade) and have graduated to the "REDS" (A Grade).

Was the perfect day to make the transition due to the weather and also a few of the top "A" grade riders at Footscray were absent. In saying this, the winner of the 3 Day Tour was racing and so to was a Porsche Drapac rider.

So after watching Komo win "C" Grade in a sprint finish, I was quite motivated to have a real crack also. Mainly just to hang on was the goal, but if I was feeling ok, would try and involve myself in the race.

The traditional 1st lap under control, then the race began with a breakaway instantly. The difference with this breakaway compared to "B" grade is that it was likely to stay away. So after a short time, the pack reeled in the 2 escapees. Soon after 5 riders went up the road and the bunch let them go, I got caught in no mans land so decided to find a tempo and see what happened. Soon after 1 rider joined me and we were working turns together, but not making inroads to the leaders.

Another 2 riders joined us and together we decided to have a good crack at chasing the 5 riders up the road. Slowly but surely we started to close the gap and when another rider soon joined not long after 5 chasing 5 become a positive prospect. This continued for a good 15 min and as we were about the close the gap, one of the riders in our group hit us hard and bridged the gap to the leader, so 4 chasing 6 became harder. A further 15min in, we managed to bridge the gap and as soon as this happened the pace intensified and my legs exploded. GONE!!!

I had to sit and wait for the bunch which took 1 complete lap to pick me up and which then the race was over. I continued to work turns for the remainder of the race. Our bunch were again catching the leaders, however as we were losing riders, the bunch became unsettled until we decided to just finish the race off and put it down to experience. Which I did.

For me, to mix it with riders of "A" Grade has given me plenty of confidence moving forward. My final position was 10th and which an average speed of just over 42kph for the 1hr 15min, I am very excited about where my cycling is at. After yesterday 4hour ride and 90min run to be able to get across the line shows that I am in a good place right now. Throw in a 13k+ swim week and things are going well.

Still injury free and loving this training caper. Only 8 weeks til Yeppoon 1/2 Ironman which will show how my progress has gone (if any) since I have been coaching myself.

For now...

X-Man