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Hog Hill Winter series #6 : 17/01/09
A dry, bright, mild but windy day at Hog hill this week. I arrived a bit later than usual just to see the start of the 4th cat race, and it was great to see so many Dulwich riders lined up on the start line. Well done to everyone, especially Eoin who managed a great ride on his own after an off on the 2nd lap.
Anyway, the 3/4 race was another fast one with people going from the gun, not wanting to see a break happen so early, I got to the front and quickly chased the group down. Probably doing too much work myself, I caught them by the end of the first lap, but I burned myself a little for the effort and for the next few laps I settled into the pack for shelter. The first 20 minutes or so were pretty quiet although the pace was still quite high and we were shedding riders off the back quite quickly. Half hour in and a couple of the EVL boys took off up the hill and created a gap, the pack seemed to take it seriously but there wasn't enough organisation or firepower to chase it down immediately and they created a nice gap for themselves. It soon became obvious that they weren't evenly matched and soon one of them had visibly sat up and was happy to be caught. We never saw the other guy again and he continued to pull ahead and win the race, thankfully I heard he just got his points and is now a 2nd cat.
With 5 laps to go the attacks came thick and fast and the paced upped again, and it was becoming a struggle to keep with the pack, but I hung on for grim death.
With 2 laps to go another attack went off the front on the hill and we all jumped to pull it back, I was up the front with a few of riders, but as we came to the bottom of the zig zag the guy in front of me punctured, I hesitated and lost a couple of places. Those guys put a dig in and made a jump across to bridge the gap to the escapee and I was left pulling the pack behind me. Coming down the hill I pulled out a few metres but I was between groups and digging deep and with the headwind the pack caught me again on the flat section, again more attacks came and another couple went after the lead group.
With one lap to go, I crested the hill towards the front of the main pack digging deep to try and make the jump across. At the bottom of the zig zag one of the guys chasing the lead group slipped on some standing water and went down, it disrupted the bunch but didn't slow them too much. I saw this as my last chance to make the jump and pushed as hard as I could down the hill and round the bottom section, I eventually caught the lead group at the bottom of the hill just as the sprint started and I was left for dust. I think I brought someone across with me who took me just before the top of the hill and the last point, I rolled in 11th.
A very fast paced and attacking race, I probably put too much work in to chase down breaks for everyone else.
I've always known I don't have a great kick but I think it was proven today, this and sprinting are obviously my weak points and I need to get better at this.
Max HR 177
Average 160 (86%)
Max Cadence 132
Av Cadence 86
Max Speed 62.5Kph
Av Speed 34.1kph
Anyway, the 3/4 race was another fast one with people going from the gun, not wanting to see a break happen so early, I got to the front and quickly chased the group down. Probably doing too much work myself, I caught them by the end of the first lap, but I burned myself a little for the effort and for the next few laps I settled into the pack for shelter. The first 20 minutes or so were pretty quiet although the pace was still quite high and we were shedding riders off the back quite quickly. Half hour in and a couple of the EVL boys took off up the hill and created a gap, the pack seemed to take it seriously but there wasn't enough organisation or firepower to chase it down immediately and they created a nice gap for themselves. It soon became obvious that they weren't evenly matched and soon one of them had visibly sat up and was happy to be caught. We never saw the other guy again and he continued to pull ahead and win the race, thankfully I heard he just got his points and is now a 2nd cat.
With 5 laps to go the attacks came thick and fast and the paced upped again, and it was becoming a struggle to keep with the pack, but I hung on for grim death.
With 2 laps to go another attack went off the front on the hill and we all jumped to pull it back, I was up the front with a few of riders, but as we came to the bottom of the zig zag the guy in front of me punctured, I hesitated and lost a couple of places. Those guys put a dig in and made a jump across to bridge the gap to the escapee and I was left pulling the pack behind me. Coming down the hill I pulled out a few metres but I was between groups and digging deep and with the headwind the pack caught me again on the flat section, again more attacks came and another couple went after the lead group.
With one lap to go, I crested the hill towards the front of the main pack digging deep to try and make the jump across. At the bottom of the zig zag one of the guys chasing the lead group slipped on some standing water and went down, it disrupted the bunch but didn't slow them too much. I saw this as my last chance to make the jump and pushed as hard as I could down the hill and round the bottom section, I eventually caught the lead group at the bottom of the hill just as the sprint started and I was left for dust. I think I brought someone across with me who took me just before the top of the hill and the last point, I rolled in 11th.
A very fast paced and attacking race, I probably put too much work in to chase down breaks for everyone else.
I've always known I don't have a great kick but I think it was proven today, this and sprinting are obviously my weak points and I need to get better at this.
Max HR 177
Average 160 (86%)
Max Cadence 132
Av Cadence 86
Max Speed 62.5Kph
Av Speed 34.1kph
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