The Hume vets put on a race a month and this month's took the form of a 22km TT over a triangular course followed by a graded scratch RR over 45km. They're a friendly bunch, many of whom I know from previous forays into their turf plus a meet up again after many, many years with the MacDonalds who also used to be Orienteers.
After a position trial on Thursday it was obvious I had to lift the front up a bit..if I wanted to breathe that is! So I shifted 1 x 5mm spacer from above to under the stem and...Eureka, I could breathe. Magic! I also managed to avoid the last minute mechanical problems that had blighted the Nats TT race last month.
The course was a triangle with 3 left hand turns, the first after about 100m...straight into the long side and a headwind. I forgot to turn on my powertap meter until after that turn, but the other 2 turns are very obvious on the graph...as are the two ramps over the Hume highway...short but vicious.
I ended up in 11th place (out of 29 starters) and was clearly handicapped wrongly since I was 9th off and passed 6 people...a great feeling even if it was the result of the handicapping and they were all non TT specialists.
The road surface was good but, as ever dead. My condition fitness wise was ok, I managed to out put 200 watts and my heart rate was around 160bpm (my max is 172). Cadence is as ever low and at 34. 37kph speed is average, but then the fastest on the day was only 39.09kph, so nothing to worry about there.
Then after the TT and a short < 30 min break, there was the 45 km graded scratch road race on the same course plus a bit more..they breed them tough in the country. I was bleating quietly to myself most of the way, I really had given all during the TT. Luckily we just rolled turns right up to the final ramp over the Hume, after which there was a bit of foxing before final blast off. My effort to sprint came unstuck with an overly ambitious gear selection...I'll get it right one day.....
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