Muswellbrook Weekend- Eugen takes the Win!!

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T-Bone
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Postby T-Bone » 23 Jul 2007, 19:22

Some very good racing was had in Muswellbrook this past weekend. I raced both Saturday and Sunday, while Eugen just went up for the Sunday.

Saturday - Rosemount Estate Open
Racing in E grade, i faced a nice 55km race which i had some hopes for, although after being sick all week reducing my training to one 120km ride on the thursday (i was past the worst of the cold) i wasn't sure how i would perform. After spending the first 10km on the back of the bunch warming up, i moved up past the bunch up a hill to join 3 other riders off the front, though we didn't stay there long as the bunch reacted. Many attacks followed, though they must have seen me as a danger since i was never able to get off the front for long. Eventually 2 riders managed to break free, and even trying hard to catch, a severe lack of organisation prevented it. This dilema left me trying to attack and bridge across by myself since dragging the bunch to within 20m of the 2 riders didn't work when no one would come past to finish the job. As we neared the finish, 3 Tamworth riders were doing a great job blocking for their clubmate up the road, so i put in some fierce attacks in a last ditch effort to get across, and with others attcking we were closing the break down. When i realised the finish was only 500m away i found myself too far back in the bunch and as the wind up began i realised i was out of it. Unfortunately for the break the were passed with Glory in sight, though a Tamworth rider still took the win. Overall i was happy with how i felt, though i would have to wait for the real test to come the next day.

Sunday - Muswellbrook Explorer - 160km
Not knowing what to expect from my body i planned to ride conservatively, while Eugen was looking to improve upon his last years 4th placing. Both riding in D-Grade, in the Div 2 bunch made up of C, D, and Women riders, we rolled off at 9:30am in the reasonable 12degree temperature for our 160kms of suffering. After approx. 25km, just before the 1st sprint near Scone, and with the first reasonable uphill of the race, i began moving myself up to a better position in the bunch, while in the distance moving off the front i could see a red jersey hooked onto a small group of riders, and i thought to myself "Eugen's got himself into a nice move!!" With no real reaction from the bunch, they were allowed to build a gap, and that was the last i saw of him, other than a flashing light in the distance occasionally signifying the breaks lead car. After toughing it out over the first KOM and a nice 83km/h trip down the other side, i found myself in a nice group of about 19 riders, though they didn't seem organised enough to chase. Occasionally i even found myself off the front, though i made sure to slow down and put myself back into the comfort of the bunch, as i wanted them to take me as far as possible. After about 80km, near the feed station (i carried my feast from the start) i could feel a sign of weakness in my legs, but i wanted to stay with the bunch as long as i could. As the kms ticked past i found myself still there, 60km to go, 50km, 40, 30...... Even in that time when the bunch got itself organised enough in an attempt to chase down the 3.5min gap Eugens group (now reduced to just 3, as 2 were suffering too much) i stuck in there, but others were getting tired too, so the chase only lasted 10 or so km. Finally with 10km to go, we got to the 2nd KOM, and i was still there after 150km, though this is where the legs had given up, and i was dropped not far from the top after slowly dropping from the front to the back of the bunch over the climb, being just unable to get anymore power out of my tired legs, especially with the bunch trying to control a rider who was just off the front. After a few kms i was Joined by a rider from Orange (dropped a bit earlier on the KOM), and we worked together to get to the finish.

In Eugens group of 3 they were all winners, one from each of C, D, and women grades, though Eugen made sure to keep the Women behind him on the line. I rolled in a couple of minutes behind the bunch for 8th place in D-grade, which i'm extremely pleased with. Eugen had also picked up an extra prize with the second Div2 sprint at 100km or so, though he was unable to take either of the KOM's from from his C grade breakaway companion.

Even with only the 2 of us, we had the best club result in D grade, hopefully this will get a few more of you interested in joining us for a weekend of Exciting racing, and maybe a little pain :D

Results can be found here http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/Files/Rac ... tm#Results with a picture of Eugen finishing, though there are a few errors in the writeup.

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weiyun
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Postby weiyun » 23 Jul 2007, 23:45

The pain sure looked small. :roll:

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 24 Jul 2007, 11:53

Great riding guys.

James, how much does the Saturday race affect the Sunday race?

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T-Bone
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 24 Jul 2007, 16:50

The effect of the Saturday on the Sunday really depends on how hard the race was and how good your form is. In the past it would reduce how long i lasted on the sunday, but these days i don't really notice any serious effects. Could be because i'm riding well, or maybe my recovery time has reduced.

I've had a bit of a different year to usual in my riding (due to the crash) so it's hard to work out what may have helped me or not, though at the start of the year i could tell i was stronger than last year.

Also, in my training, i've found that if i do a few hard days in a row, i'll improve more than having a break between each day, but it will be different for everyone.

The best way to know how it'll effect you is to come away for a weekend and find out. I don't see too much point going away for only 1 of the days most of the time. Tamworth Tour entries close on sunday, so give that a thought, otherwise there's Kurrajong (local) and Cootamundra, coming just after.


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