First up, cheers for all the advice, much appreciated! Race was good fun, very different. There were probably about 35 racers, a mix of D, E and U16, probably about 10 fit looking guys. First lap was quick and there was a 500m incline into a strong headwind that was tough, but after a few laps the pace dropped right down to about 35km/hr, 22mph.
I was positioned about 10th, which felt about right and the pace felt comfortable, probably too slow. I was riding with 3 other guys from my tri club and at lap 5 (of 17?) me and one other guy attacked. Up till then, no-one had gone and it was starting to feel like a casual coffee ride. We hammered it for a lap or so, but surprisingly barely made much of a gap and the chasing pack quickly caught us up as we eased off the pedal (HR was maxed out). I sat back for a few more laps, very few serious attacks, so I waited until we hit the incline/wind and people were working hard and had another go by myself, I couldn't see my mates to let them know.
Obviously attacking by yourself is a no, no, but I kind of wanted to try a few things. I don't think sitting at the back the entire race and sprinting the last 200m was going to teach me much? I made a small gap, but again was quickly caught by the pack as soon as I slowed. Considering how out of shape some guys looked it's amazing barely anyone was dropped. A few laps later another guy attacked by himself and I went with him 30s later. Again no effect. So I settled back down again, near the front, letting some others do the work.
I was told there would be a 2 lap warning, then a final bell, but apparently the 2 lap warning came after we passed, so when the final bell went I wasn't sure if that was the final bell or the warning for 2nd lap, so I asked a few people and eventually established it was the final lap with 800m to go. I wasn't in a great position, maybe 8th, but with a couple of tight corners to get round. Then we almost got taken out by one of the U16 kids and that pushed a few of us wide as we approached the final bend, coming out of the bend I was 5th and ended up either 3rd or 4th. Not sure yet. The 2 guys who finished in front of me didn't look fit and had been at the back the whole race, but obviously got their tactics sorted out!
One of the other guys from my club dropped a chain so he was out of it, the other finished just behind me. I'm glad I had those attacks despite them being ineffectual, I don't think they really had a negative impact on my race. If I'd known we were approaching the last lap I could have got myself in a much better position, rookie error. And I think (correct me if I'm wrong) you need to attack with more than 2? So definitely a steep learning curve. I'm not sure I want to race just sitting at the back and then attacking the final lap, just got to figure out how to attack effectively earlier on. Av speed was 25mph, max speed was 33mph. Definitely want to have another race. Was awesome fun!
I was positioned about 10th, which felt about right and the pace felt comfortable, probably too slow. I was riding with 3 other guys from my tri club and at lap 5 (of 17?) me and one other guy attacked. Up till then, no-one had gone and it was starting to feel like a casual coffee ride. We hammered it for a lap or so, but surprisingly barely made much of a gap and the chasing pack quickly caught us up as we eased off the pedal (HR was maxed out). I sat back for a few more laps, very few serious attacks, so I waited until we hit the incline/wind and people were working hard and had another go by myself, I couldn't see my mates to let them know.
Obviously attacking by yourself is a no, no, but I kind of wanted to try a few things. I don't think sitting at the back the entire race and sprinting the last 200m was going to teach me much? I made a small gap, but again was quickly caught by the pack as soon as I slowed. Considering how out of shape some guys looked it's amazing barely anyone was dropped. A few laps later another guy attacked by himself and I went with him 30s later. Again no effect. So I settled back down again, near the front, letting some others do the work.
I was told there would be a 2 lap warning, then a final bell, but apparently the 2 lap warning came after we passed, so when the final bell went I wasn't sure if that was the final bell or the warning for 2nd lap, so I asked a few people and eventually established it was the final lap with 800m to go. I wasn't in a great position, maybe 8th, but with a couple of tight corners to get round. Then we almost got taken out by one of the U16 kids and that pushed a few of us wide as we approached the final bend, coming out of the bend I was 5th and ended up either 3rd or 4th. Not sure yet. The 2 guys who finished in front of me didn't look fit and had been at the back the whole race, but obviously got their tactics sorted out!
One of the other guys from my club dropped a chain so he was out of it, the other finished just behind me. I'm glad I had those attacks despite them being ineffectual, I don't think they really had a negative impact on my race. If I'd known we were approaching the last lap I could have got myself in a much better position, rookie error. And I think (correct me if I'm wrong) you need to attack with more than 2? So definitely a steep learning curve. I'm not sure I want to race just sitting at the back and then attacking the final lap, just got to figure out how to attack effectively earlier on. Av speed was 25mph, max speed was 33mph. Definitely want to have another race. Was awesome fun!