We were racing within our age categories for the UWCT Qualifier and the State Road Race championships. However, the women 19-49 all set off in one peloton. In my age category were two other women, the same who did the time trial. So I knew if I finished, I would get a podium for the UWCT, which is a qualification for the world championships final, and I would win the State Road Race championship (as the two competitors in my category don't have WA State racing licenses).
The race was 81km long, 10 laps in total around a course that included Perry Lakes, Oceanic drive, West Coast Highway and past Challenge Stadium. The last 5 laps deviated from Oceanic drive up the entrance to the Quarry Amphitheater and down Reabold Hill. It was a nasty steep climb, up to 14% gradient which was seriously hard work! Out of the saddle, even with my compact chain ring and 32 cassette! Even before we reached the big climb, the road along Oceanic Dr was quite undulating.
The starting list for the women's road race was a who's who of women's A grade racing in Perth, plus some interstate riders who were state champions and National champions. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay with the fast ladies for the whole race, and particularly not when we got to the last 5 laps with the hard hill each lap. My race plan was to ride as hard and smart as I could to stay with the peloton for as long as I could. Then I would continue to ride relatively hard to the end of the race to do justice to a podium finish!
I managed to stay with the peloton for two laps. The third lap along undulating Oceanic Dr, I couldn't keep with them. The fast ladies were also good climbers and every time the road went up, they pushed the pace. I pushed the first two laps but couldn't stick with them the third time. It was good timing for me though, as two of my Hall Cycling Training team mates also dropped off the peloton at the same time. Leila and Sophia and I formed a little group and we worked together for the rest of the race.
We pushed reasonably hard for the next lap, but we were still losing ground on the peloton and we lost sight of them in less than a lap. The rest of the race, we worked together very well. We were well matched in strength/fitness so we took turns on the front and worked within our limits. The three of us were happy to be riding in a little group, rather than by ourselves. We knew we were the last of the riders from our initial start group, so there was no point racing at full pace. We rode around 80% pace, so we weren't exactly dawdling either!
About 3 laps from the end, we picked up one of the other ladies who had been dropped. She was pretty happy to join us, and after some rest on the back she ended up doing quite a bit of work on the front of our group.
I felt pretty good, and towards the end of the race I was feeling relatively better than the rest of my group. I was getting up the big climb in front of the rest of the group by a good 5-10 metres! I think my climbing and endurance training for 3 Peaks was helping.
For the last 2km I picked up the pace, then Leila came through and did a strong turn on the front. Tracy, who we had picked up 3 laps from the end, came past for a sprint finish. I decided not to contest the sprint as I wanted to finish with Leila and Sophia in respect for the work we had done together. I also didn't think there was much point in sprinting for third last position!
It was good to work with my teammates through the race, having some protection from the wind, riding in a little echelon in the cross wind, and riding at a pace we could all maintain. Thanks ladies, great work!
Presentations will be in Kalamunda tomorrow after the finish of the Grand Fondo, but published results indicate I was third in my age category in the UWCT and State Road Race champion in my age category. Another good day on the bike!
No comments:
Post a Comment