As soon as the program for the Pan Pacific Masters Games came out I was pissed off about it. No road race and no individual time trial. Just two 40 minute criteriums. Not a great program for me at all, but as I was looking for some end of season racing, I had decided to race anyway and have a good crack at it.
Saturday was on the Luke Harrop Memorial Circuit at Runaway Bay. An almost dead flat circuit but it was at least quite windy, and just a little on the warm side. The field was small but there were some strong criterium riders there so I was going to have my work cut out for me. I attacked pretty hard after a few minutes and took two guys with me. That's how we stayed until the finish. I had a few solid attempts at getting away but with no luck. I didn't sprint well and ended up with the bronze medal. Meh... Chris Elder from Data 3 Racing Team won and Andrew McConnell from Moreton Bay Cycling Club came second.
I was always hoping to do better on Sunday. The race was on the hard and hilly Nerang course. It was a lot hotter than the day before and I decided to race with an ice pack down my back which made a huge difference. The Sunday race was hotter and harder than Saturday and my average heart rate was six beats lower. I believe the ice was responsible.
I rode this one very aggressively and attacked up the hill on the first lap. Andrew McConnell went with me and we stayed like that all the way to the finish, lapping everyone on the way. I have to give Andrew his credit because I attacked him hard many times and just couldn't shake him. He's a much stronger sprinter than me (have a go at the thighs on the unit) and he didn't have a lot of trouble popping me in the finish. Chris Elder backed up from his win the day before with a third place.
One of the interesting thing about the Nerang race in terms of power data is that I produced a 'NP (Normalised Power) Buster'. This has been confirmed by Dr Andrew Coggan himself. The course having a sharp hill every lap was conducive to such a ride. An NP Buster ride produces a normalised power of at least 105% of FTP. I actually produced 111.5% which suggests a hell of an NP Buster or an indication that my FTP needed revising upwards...probably a little of both. Either way it was an indication of what a hard day out it was.
So in the end, I have to be happy with my end of season. After my QRTS crash in July I set myself goals in three target races; this weekend plus the Tour de Valley ITT and I came away with 2nd, 2nd, 3rd....I would trade them all for one win :)
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