I raced at Mendonk today with the WAOD and finally got put in the right race! Apparently the head man, Henry, has the title of chief handicapper or some such? Last year he just kept sticking me in an open category which was frankly too hard for me. This time he just put me straight where I should be, I don't really understand why but I'm not complaining.
The race was on a 5km course, the usual mix of wider village streets and winding narrow country lanes, just wide enough for 3 people riding abreast. One short 50m stretch of 'real' cobbles through a corner and some clinker in the village, overall the surface was pretty good although there were three desperately slow and difficult corners on the narrow roads out of town. There was a bit of wind but it was a warm sunny day into the 20's which was nice, even nicer was the run back into the finish on a wider road with a cross tail wind.
I always find it a little difficult going into race where you don't know who the players are, although the Belgian and European age group champions where both on the start line resplendent in their respective champions jerseys. (AVCC, VVCC please take note). Having decided that my aim for the day was to finish; I set off with the intention of staying unobtrusively in the middle of the pack, learn the course lines and see what happened at the end of the race. Well that's plan A, by the end of the first lap the Belgian Champion at eased off the front and taken a 200m lead with no one apparently interested in chasing him, without actually thinking about it I launched off after him along the fast run into the finish line, surprising myself how quickly I crossed the gap to him. The only trouble was that bunch of about 40 decided that they would chase me and that was that!
With the benefit of hindsight I should have stuck to plan A, done enough to keep it all together, then launch a last lap attack I am sure I was fast enough to make that stick, however that's not what happened but I was now in the race using my speed to jump across to every promising looking breaks which all seemed to founder when I got there. There was only one guy in the race who would work with me and whilst he was willing, he wasn't fast enough to work with so that we could stay away from the bunch.
At two laps to go the Belgian champion was away again, I can't say he jumped because he more or less crept of the front in the right hand gutter whilst we were all on the left, I saw him go OK but decided to bow to the inevitable, since I knew if I chased him the bunch would chase me. At the bell he was still only 300m off the front so I started to think that maybe we could catch him as we wound up for the sprint. A couple of guys tried their hand to get across to him just after the bell, nobody chased so I closed them down myself and in doing closed back up on the lone breakaway as well. I decided that it was all looking quite promising and I fancied my chances in a sprint, at this stage I didn't know how well anybody else sprinted but I've been known to win sprints in my time! Of course the challenge was all the guys that hadn't been seen before in the race were now percolating towards the front, were they the sprinter?
So for the rest of the final lap, I was going to do nothing but follow wheels and hold a decent position and see how it played out down the finish straight. Coming through the last cobbled corner another guy sort of wobbled off the front, not what you would call an attack but nobody chased him so I just stayed where I was trying 'surf' along near the front of the bunch as the tempo inevitably increased into the last kilometre. The two escapees were now in plain sight in front of us as we accelerated, I was just making gut decisions as to who to follow, switching from wheel to wheel depending on who was moving forward, not prepared to commit to an all out sprint until I could see everybody else committed.
When we hit 250m, where the road side barriers started I was 3rd wheel and saw that the guys in front where indeed giving it all they had, so I launched my own sprint along the right hand barrier, one guy tried to put me into the barrier to stop my run, I said 'don't do that' or something similar! but in any case was along side him, gave him a little nudge with my head, then blew past on the right.
I Just failed to catch the second attacker by half a wheel, should have, could have started my own sprint earlier, and the winner was only just 20 m ahead of us, so I am totally confident that if the race had panned out just a little better for me I could have won, so winning the bunch sprint for 3rd was a big boost to my confidence after Saturday's race. I also have to be honest that being in sprints like that, especially that turn out succesfully, is fantastic, lots of adrenaline that's for sure, probably the best fun you can have not in your bedroom!!
What was more I had done the whole race just under my threshold, so as I always felt in the race had a little more to give and went over 1100 watts, which isn't very much if you are Mark Cavendish or Tom Booned but I am over the moon with since I've been trying to that for months.
Having said that I just know these guys are going to be 'difficult' for the next races, so life could get tougher from here on in, but today at least I feel good about the race.
On a more mundane front, I got lost again on the way to the race and came home the long way, rather that get lost again. I will be really glad when the memory card with Belgium maps on turns up in the post, hopefully tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment