I entered the Midland Cycle Club Traders 100 road race on Sunday. This was to be my first road race since 1994! That's right, the first time in 28 years that I would pin on a race number and compete in a road race event. It was one of those last-minute decisions that was influenced by a friend, and what a good decision it was!
The event grading system in Australia is a bit of a self-select process, so I chose cautiously and went for a C grade, just to be on the safe side. Despite it 'only' being a C-grade event, I really enjoyed the thrill of pinning a number on and racing and managed to finish 4th after a last KM flurry of attacks.
The course was perfect, with around 250 m of elevation per 18 km lap, which meant enough challenge and some varied terrain to mix it up a little and make it interesting. With an increasing wind to add to the mix, and the obligatory pondering prep race on clothing choice, I set out in shorts, short sleeve top and semi-aero socks on my new Cervelo S5 Ultegra DI2 (what a machine!).
Given I hadn't raced in a while! I think was the first person to 'drift' off the front...eager to get going. All my harder riding has been with the Woodvale fast group, and this race felt very easy compared to those Saturday morning 42km/h average sessions.
I managed to get in a few breaks, but none stayed away. In the last 5 km, two riders forced the pace early on the final long drag to finish and being out of position (yes, out of practice!), I missed the move!
Pretty happy to finish 4th, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Next fun day out, Tour of Margaret River (TOMR) this weekend - 5 stages in 3 days! Ouch.
In future blogs, I will summarise some of my training and if you want to chat about your training and performance , drop me a line.
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