Clarence st cup 8th Nov 2014
Posted: 09 Nov 2014, 20:32
Arrived at the Senior's Clarence st Cup to find plenty of DHBC juniors wrapping up their riding and leaving, looked for the DHBC seniors and didn't find any, it seemed that I was the only Senior DHBC rider. Find this a bit surprising, considering the number of DHBC riders involved at club level racing in RAW and the like. There's got to be a few of you who are ready to step up to State based racing.
Anyway race report
Background: Last week I missed the racing due to being down with the flu and I was still recovering but decided to race. This combined with the fact that I suck at Wheel races as I don't get off the line quick enough and lose the race in the first 50 mtrs
Anyway just because you suck at something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it 
Preparation: I've ridden a track bike twice this year, 1. the Aust masters champs, where I was also recovering from the flu and came 6th off memory in the points race. 2. DHBC track open (don't talk about the rain) Entered B and did pretty good, placed or won every event except the wheel race (I did say I suck at wheel races)
Equipment: Decided just to use my training wheels, as I didn't see the point of risking expense stuff on a race where I wasn't fit and it wasn't my type of event
Results:
Warmup scratch race: 7th out of about 15 in a quick race, told me I had the speed but not the stamina, no doubt due to the sickie
Wheel race qualification: 5th out of about 15, first 2 qualified..Too much time out by myself and cooked
Wheel race repecharge: 2nd out of 12, so I qualified for the final. It was so close between 2nd and 3rd that we had to go to the officials to find out who came 2nd. I rode tactically and had wheels to follow for most of the first 4 laps, then poked my nose out in the wind with 1 lap to go to go from 5th to 2nd.
Clarence st cup wheel race: 7 laps, I was off 160mtrs, there were 3 riders in front of me at 10 mtrs each so there is opportunity if I could get their wheel. After 250mtrs I was still 10 mtrs behind the rider in front of me and started cooking, wasn't able to get behind a wheel and got swallowed finishing close to last.
It was a great evening and I'm glade I went. The repecharge showed me that I can break the wheel race bogie, if I stick to my strengths which is tatics. For the Clarence st cup itself, it was great to be in it, we were called onto the track introduced one at a time, a great idea and while I wasn't competitive, I enjoyed the race.
Anyway race report
Background: Last week I missed the racing due to being down with the flu and I was still recovering but decided to race. This combined with the fact that I suck at Wheel races as I don't get off the line quick enough and lose the race in the first 50 mtrs
Anyway just because you suck at something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it Preparation: I've ridden a track bike twice this year, 1. the Aust masters champs, where I was also recovering from the flu and came 6th off memory in the points race. 2. DHBC track open (don't talk about the rain) Entered B and did pretty good, placed or won every event except the wheel race (I did say I suck at wheel races)
Equipment: Decided just to use my training wheels, as I didn't see the point of risking expense stuff on a race where I wasn't fit and it wasn't my type of event
Results:
Warmup scratch race: 7th out of about 15 in a quick race, told me I had the speed but not the stamina, no doubt due to the sickie
Wheel race qualification: 5th out of about 15, first 2 qualified..Too much time out by myself and cooked
Wheel race repecharge: 2nd out of 12, so I qualified for the final. It was so close between 2nd and 3rd that we had to go to the officials to find out who came 2nd. I rode tactically and had wheels to follow for most of the first 4 laps, then poked my nose out in the wind with 1 lap to go to go from 5th to 2nd.
Clarence st cup wheel race: 7 laps, I was off 160mtrs, there were 3 riders in front of me at 10 mtrs each so there is opportunity if I could get their wheel. After 250mtrs I was still 10 mtrs behind the rider in front of me and started cooking, wasn't able to get behind a wheel and got swallowed finishing close to last.
It was a great evening and I'm glade I went. The repecharge showed me that I can break the wheel race bogie, if I stick to my strengths which is tatics. For the Clarence st cup itself, it was great to be in it, we were called onto the track introduced one at a time, a great idea and while I wasn't competitive, I enjoyed the race.