Race Report: Queensland Road Team Series (QRTS 2) - 26, 27 April 2014

This was my first QRTS round for the year with Team TLD and I am very disappointed to say, it was by far the worst round I have had with the team, since coming on board in round 1 last year.

The program was two 31 km Team Time Trials on the Saturday and then a 93 km Road Race on the Sunday (which was three laps of the Saturday Course)

Saturday

Team Time Trial 1 - I lasted 11 km. No explanation. My legs wouldn't work when going uphill. I simply felt like I had nuthin'. I did ride my TT bike with a disc in the back and the course had a lot of climbing in it. This is not an excuse by any means but for a big bloke like me, I need all the help I can get when climbing so probably not a great equipment choice.

Team Time Trial 2 - I lasted 16km. A marginally better effort than the morning but I still had a lot of difficulty. I used my road bike in this one which felt a lot better. The lighter bike and wheels and the ability to change gears quickly and easily definitely made a difference.

The team actually went very well in the two events (top non-NRS team) and having only a 10 second difference between the two rides. The second event was a timed handicap based on the morning run and it makes no sense to me to have a handicap event in a 'high-level elite' series, as it is promoted. But anyway...it is what it is. 

Sunday

The road race started okay but again any incline had me in trouble. I lasted about 20 km on the first lap before being blown out the back door on the KOM (I wasn't alone, but that doesn't make me any happier about it). It was a very fast pace, but so have all the other QRTS rounds been when I have made it to the finish in good shape. Sigh...

So what to take out of this weekend? 

Firstly, Team TLD is looking very good. James Thompson finished second in the road stage and Sam Allen showed his class with a great performance across the weekend. The two of them are 18 years and 17 years respectively so their future is very bright. 

Secondly, the team culture and ethos at Team TLD is great. It's an awesome environment to race in and be a part of. I've raced in many teams over the years and in terms of support and organization, Team TLD are one of the best. 

Thirdly, in terms of my performance, I really don't know what to say. I am writing it off as 'one of those weekends'. Disappointing, but it happens. One thing that I am still struggling with since 'coming back' is my consistency, and this is a great example of that. Two weeks ago I put out my best ever power numbers. This weekend just gone, I can't get anywhere near that. When you look at my power files from this weekend there is nothing in there to suggest that I would be in as much trouble as I was. It's frustrating, but as a 41 year old still 'returning' to the game it is something I need to deal with.

What's on the calendar? The Ipswich Open is this weekend and I am only riding the Individual Time Trial. This is a 'dressed rehearsal' for the State Titles (MAS 40 - 44) Individual Time Trial in June (same course / distance). I am actually riding Masters A (which I don't often do) so I can do this course. I'm keen for a result of course, but am very interested in how I perform against the other 40 - 44 years riders. Battle of the Border is also coming up and the Tour of Toowoomba as well for the team, but I have pretty much no chance of riding that given my current form and the quality we have on board at the moment. 

Cycling History

I'm becoming a huge fan of the work of Irish cycling historian Cillian Kelly. His website is here: Website and you can find him on Twitter here: Twitter.

Cillian co-hosts a weekly podcast through Velocast (it is a subscription service) available here: Velocast. The podcast is called 'This Week in Cycling History' and it is well worth a listen.

Given it is classics season, I wanted to share a highlight from the show I heard, regarding French rider Jacky Durand, who won the Tour of Flanders in 1992 after a near race-long breakaway with German rider Thomas Wegmuller. When interviewed about his victory, Durand had the following to say (Durand attacked late and won solo):

Just then the commisaire's car drove up next to me and Eddy Merckx himself stuck his head out the window. He said to me 'hey kid, you're gonna win the Tour of Flanders'. I thought to myself 'if god himself believes it, then he is probably right'. 

The video is in French but here is Durand soloing to victory in 1992:

If the player doesn't work in your browser use this link:

1992 Tour of Flanders

A Few Race Reports...

I haven't blogged for a while so I will cover a few things in one hit...

Dalby Triathlon - 23 March 2014

This is always a fun day out and a good chance to fly the 'Dalby State High School' flag as a part of our school team. We entered the Open Teams Event and the Business House Challenge. We won them both which was a great result. 

In the Open Teams I did the 20km in 28 min 03 sec, which I am pretty happy with given that the course had four U-turns and eight roundabouts to got through. I also had to take my foot off the gas a few times because of the heavy bike traffic. All in all, I'm pleased with that time. 

In the Business House Challenge I covered the 6.5 km in 9 minutes flat. Again, the course had two U-turns and four roundabouts and I had an unfortunate incident where I had to jam my brakes on to avoid going up the back of the lead car, which had slowed  down in front of me in the middle of a roundabout. 

Toowoomba Ride the Range - 30 March 2014

This charity ride was held in wet and treacherous conditions on a very tough course. It was a great ride in terms of training but by the end of it I was just so wet that all I wanted to do was get off my bike and get into the car. There were also some more 'interesting' moments trying to stay safe in the wet with a lot of inexperienced riders (which I guess is standard on a charity ride). In any case, despite the weather and crash risks I'm still glad that I did it. 

Toowoomba Club Race - 6 April 2014

This race just straight up annoyed me. It was at the Bunker's Hill course (which I had never ridden before). It was six laps of 9.5 km. I attacked at four laps to go and was joined by Trent West. We established a good lead and I thought we were safe. James Orchard and Matthew Simonelli worked very well together and got across to us with one to go. I hate getting caught! James attacked with about 5 km to go and I made an error in judgment. Trent is a strong sprinter (best chance to win a gallop of the four of us) and Matthew was the only non-Team TLD rider there. I thought they both had a lot to lose and that they would chase. I was wrong. James rode away and had a good win and I came in 4th. I didn't have the best of legs this day and in the end I was pretty pleased with how I went given the heavy training block I was buried in. 

MMAS (40 - 44 years) State Criterium Titles - 13 April 2014

This 35 minutes plus 3 lap race was held on a very wet afternoon at the Nundah Circuit in Brisbane. It was going to take a miracle for it not to end in a bunch sprint but I was not going to be left wondering. I rode an extremely aggressive race and did what I could to get away and then stay there. With a 45.1 kmh average speed, staying away was always going to be a significant challenge. It ended in a bunch sprint which I was near the back of. 

Coach Dewort gave me a taper for this race to have a really good hit out and see how my form was. Despite the lack of a result, the news on my form is good. I set new 20 minute and 30 minute average power records and managed a normalised power of well over 400w for the 38 minute race. My best power numbers ever. This is a good sign and I am looking forward to seeing how the season progresses. 

What's coming up? Just about to hit a very busy period of racing - Queensland Road Team Series (QRTS) Round 2, Ipswich Open, Battle on the Border and then Tour of Toowoomba (although the TLD Team for this is yet to be finalised). Looking forward to the next few months of racing very much. 

Race Report: Club Criterium - 1 March 2014

A small but extremely excitable field lined up for the A grade club criterium at Glenvale last Saturday. It was 40 minutes plus 2 laps. Things started off quite steady, but at 8 minutes in we were all handed bowls of anaerobic soup and as someone on Facebook put it 'a bomb got dropped in A grade'. 

Here is what happened: 

Darren Rolfe gave it a good surge up the finish line hill (a good one). I checked and saw he had created a gap already so gave it a big effort over the top. This sent four of us clear. I kept on going and then Darren put in another solid turn. This put Darren and myself clear on our own with 32 minutes to go. Oh dear...

Darren can ride a time trial (yes he can) and that's pretty much what he did. He was sitting on the front for the entire lap, with the exception of the finish line hill. I was trying to smash myself up there each lap to keep us clear. This 'system' worked pretty well and we ended up with a good gap some (very long) 32 minutes and 2 laps later.

I was shattered by the end and Darren surged away from me on the last lap to win, giving me second place.

I'm pretty happy with this ride. I have been struggling to find form and today indicated that my top end is starting to go okay at least: