Race Report: Gold Coast Cats Criterium

Today was a good day! Raced the support criterium for a Gold Coast Club Teams series. It was A and B grade combined with about 35 starters. I stayed near the front and ended up in nearly every break that went down the road. There were some very good Elite A riders there, including guys who have dominated some of the State Road Series and the guy who won the Battle of the Border earlier in the year. Only twelve of us were there for the last few laps. A rider bolted at two to go, and I went after him on my own inside the last lap. I didn't get to him and got caught by two guys going like a train and then the sprint from what was left of the group caught me on the line. I came 6th. I am very, very happy with how this went. It was by far the strongest ride I have had and I feel very encouraged.

Race Report: Toowoomba Club Race

A small field of 9 took part in the local A grade club race at Goombungee yesterday. It was only 51km, which was three laps of a 17 km course. The course was fairly hard with three long hills, including one only a few kms from the end that actually had quite a bit of sting in it. It broke up on the last lap and the first two places came in on their own. I was in a group of three sprinting for 3rd and I came 4th. I sprinted pretty well again but the guy who beat me actually got the jump on us from about 800 m out and I just missed him on the line (see photo). It would seem that my sprint is starting to 'work' a little bit. It was short today, but hard, so overall I am happy with how it went.

Race Report: Avanti Handicap

Raced the 80 km Avanti Handicap at Lowood yesterday with about 220 other punters. I was very happy with my group / handicap (I felt very comfortable). I was in group of about 15 riders, chasing 20 minutes to the front and 17 minutes in front of the scratch group. Our group dwindled to 7 riders by 20 km, but we worked really well together (with just a little verbal encouragement / abuse from self). We ended up sprinting for 19th (I came 2nd in our group sprint and was 20th overall). We were actually only 22 seconds off 2nd place at the end and if you hadn't worked it out, we didn't get caught by anyone; which is always nice. Great news is that top 20 paid so I was in the coin! The second photo is actually my bunch finish. It was nice to have a strong sprint in this race as I have been finishing awfully up until now.

Race Report: Queen's Park Criterium

The Tour of Toowoomba (national series) has just finished and there was a support event criterium on around Queen's Park. The course was 2.4 km with a long drag up Margaret Street and it was very, very windy. I was in the Masters B / Elite C race with about 35 starters. It was surprisingly hard and there were only about 12 of us left for the final sprint. I came 6th. I had nothing left in the sprint (again) which is becoming a worrying trend. I'm nowhere near a 'pure' sprinter, but in hard finishes like the race today, I used to go very well (albeit a long time ago). This might be a fitness thing, or another gap in my training and racing...dunno. It is starting to give me the shits though.