Sth Pacific RR Champs Criterium

Day 3. One last race in the series – a fast and furious crit around a 1.33km circuit with a fair sou-wester blowing.

No I didn't cut that corner through the factory 😉

Ivan Howes hasn’t returned after his asthma attack on Day 1 so we’re down to 11 starters. No matter how many intervals you do out the back of town on a warm up ride nothing prepares you for the surge out of the ‘start gate’. The HR accelerates from 90 to 169bpm in 50 seconds and from there is just continues to climb into the stratosphere and stays there for the rest of the race.

90 - 169 in 50 seconds

However, despite the surge, it’s all together for lap 1. Doug Garley is aggressive as expected with a number of early escape attempts but he’s closely covered by Ian McGeogh and Frank Donnelly. There’s a lot of nervous glances over the shoulders and I suspect everyone has already mapped out a race plan.

On lap 3 there’s another attack this time by Gifford Crosthwaite with Garley in tow. Frank Donnelly and McGeogh cover it and a gap starts to grow. I immediately start the chase in earnest to try to close the gap but all I succeed in doing is split the bunch. Marcus Coppock joins me and together we work turns and hold the gap as best we can. But the 4 escapees continually draw away until they’re out of sight. Damn they’re strong! We push on lap after lap lest something should befall the leaders. Errol Schmidt appears from somewhere (or is that nowhere? I don’t recall seeing him in my rear vision mirrors) and links up and now we have 3 workers.

After a while I’m wondering why I haven’t seen Marcus doing a turn and discover that he’s had a mechanical and has dropped out of our little chase. So now it’s down to two of us to continue while waiting for fate to deal us a hand, really our only hope now. Fortune smiles on the brave! It does so in the form of a puncture for Frank Donnelly on the second last lap. Sorry for him but we’re now racing for 4th. We get the 2 Laps to go board and I decide to ease off the pedal. I shamelessly sit on Errol on the bell lap and easily outsprint him to take the money.

The policeman on the finish straight says his radar measured me at 57kph and jokes he’ll book me for 7kph over the speed limit. But my Garmin reads 54.8! Go figure. Luckily I won’t have to fight that one out in court.

As I complete my run down and turn back to the course I’m greeted with cheers – “congrats! You wont he Gold medal.” Uh? WTF?

It turns out that the leaders didn’t hear the bell and went on for another lap. Seems I was the first over the line. Oops! No way that should stand and sure enough they come around and sprint out their own finish to determine the real winner. Ian McGeogh takes it from a not happy Doug Garley (maybe he did hear the bell and was confused?) with Gifford finishing 3rd some way off. Frank Donnelly was a forlorn sight walking his steed back to the finish line – robbed a finish after showing excellent form.

Ian McGeogh has won the 3 races he contested in the series (missed the ITT) and is a worthy aggregate champion – as he was in 2010. Congrats to him and the rest of the bunch on a good natured yet highly competitive series. Next year I’m in with the ‘Upper Crusties’ – the 60 – 64 y.o. age group. Definitely older and maybe wiser if not stronger I’ll hopefully be back here again for this enjoyable and well organised championships.

See below for some nice pics, graphs and links:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81370821