RACE REPORT by Dillon Ryan
Race Day: Tuesday Evening
Time 7.00 pm
Today my main aim was to stay well hydrated and eat well, I drank nearly 2 litres of water during school and another litre when I got home. The race was to start at 7:00 pm. We arrived at 6:15 pm and met some of my team mates straight away. I went over and chatted to them about the task at hand! We signed on and I got myself and the bike ready. I did a 2 lap warm up with my three other teammates before the start and then we got ready to race.
The race format was one hour of racing and then you do 3 more laps of the course, the A4's were first to start then the A3's (Including myself), the A2's next and finally the A1's. There was a gap of one minute between each group starting, the point of it is that it all comes together with about 30 minutes left to race. As I was in the A3 group we were trying to chase down the A4's and trying to avoid being caught by the A2's and A1's!
The first half hour was very fast with the average speed up to 42 kph, then we got caught and it all came into one big group.
I held on as best I could and used every bit of energy I had to stay in the lead group but at one point the riders who were about 5 rows up from me let a gap open up and there was a split in the bunch.
A group of about 20 of us formed up nearly straight away, there was only one of my teammates left with me at this stage, we worked hard trying not to be lapped and maybe catch the group. We didn't have much luck catching them but we still managed to average 40 kph.
On the last lap a rider I know from Bikeworx told me to stick to his wheel and he would lead me out for the sprint. He led me out perfectly and I won the wooden spoon pretty much!
The group in front of us which had around 40/50 riders in it ended up about half a lap ahead of us.
I was happy with my performance, as it was a tough race, and to finish not so far behind the A1's and A2's.
Dillon Ryan
Distance 53km Average speed 41kph
