I am right at the end of a long and hard training block and was supposed to be on a nice little four day rest....but....as this was the biggest event on the Toowoomba racing calendar and in support of a fantastic charity, I thought I should suck it up and pin on a number. The event was a part of the Run Ride Race for Research day, which raised a truckload of money for cancer research. The organizers did a brilliant job with the multi-sport day at the new Toowoomba Airport at Wellcamp.
There was $1,200 up for first place in each division so fields were always going to be competitive. Add to that, some of the fiercest winds I have raced in for a long time:
Left column is wind speed in km/h and right column is wind gust speed; not for the faint hearted!
I was racing in the Division 2 event (Masters A / Elite B combined) and we had about fifteen starters in the six lap, 50 km race. There is only one way to race in wind like that; in the front and in hard! The race didn't disappoint as the first lap was crazy! Multiple surges and attacks and an extremely hot pace. The main architect of the mayhem was 2014 Australian Masters Criterium champion Matt Ryan, who was extremely aggressive. Within a lap the bunch had blown to pieces with small groups everywhere. A group of five rode away and fortunately I made the front split. Tom Gough from Toowoomba was in there to keep me company. I burnt a few big matches to make that front split and to be honest, I felt like I never quite recovered after that point.
Matt wasn't content to work with the group of five and starting hitting us again and not long after he took off on his own. A lap later another rider bridged across to him leaving two away and three chasing. Except for a lap where Tom attempted unsuccessfully to bridge across, that was how we stayed until the finish. I was genuinely disappointed and frustrated to be unable to go with the front two riders.
(Credit Matt Hickey for the photo)
Matt Ryan ended up winning the event and I finished fifth, learning very quickly that you need to be in the front position coming into the sprint finish straight at Wellcamp.
So in any case, I had a solid ride in awful racing conditions and have to be content with that. As I said, I am at the end of a tough training block and now it is time for a little rest. I have a four day coach-imposed break before getting back into the swing of things.
Next events on the calendar are the Cunningham Classic, postponed State Titles ITT and the State Titles Road Race; wish me luck!
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