B Grade
A big bunch of 22 riders set off in near perfect conditions – the sou-easter breeze the only concern, well in terms of the weather at least. While we were contemplating that and generally having a chat in the ‘neutral’ zone before passing the start/finish line we, or certainly I, hadn’t noticed 4 or 5 riders smashing it down the other side of the hill. It took almost a kilometre for the stunned bunch to react and another kilometre to reel them in. Who were those guys? There were quite a few unfamiliar faces in the big group some of whom looked to be strong likely types. In terms of strategy this was a considerable factor, at least for me, as I wondered how this road race was going to unfold.
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Profile of one Lap
Four laps out and back over this undulating and sometimes ‘dead’ road is often a test of endurance to withstanding repeated attacking on the hills and yet still have some energy left to contest an uphill sprint. Generally it does come down to a bunch sprint. With all these unknown riders and the general strengthening of B Grade in recent months I felt today might be the day for a break to succeed. Hence the strategy was to hide from that wind and save as much energy as possible for the serious attacking later in the race.
Lap 1 came and went without anything particularly serious eventuating other than a push or two which succeeded in dropping a couple of unwary riders. Makes sense the schemers would be waiting, next lap we’re sure to see a bit more action. Nope! Must be the next one when all these big fellas will go for it. Hmm, nup! As we set off on Lap 5 I discovered my namesake (well one of them, as there were 3! Nigels in the bunch) and I had rolled away to a bit of a gap. Nigel Kimber is a good strong dude to be hooking your wheel to so I slipped past him and suggested they were letting us go. Hmm, his laugh at this suggestion was a bit sad if insightful and pretty soon we were back in the group. I went back into my shell waiting for others to have a go. But nothing was happening. By the time we got to the final outward turnaround it was necessary for Nigel Kimber to put on the sergeant major cap and go up and down the line reading the riot act on orderly sprinting. Seems he was sure a bunch of 20 would be coming to the finish grupetto and last time I raced here Kev Starr came down breaking bones and has barely been seen since. Come back soon, Kev 🙂
During the 64km there was the occasional surge and sections with the bunch rolling turns. However, when the pace slackened off, as it did regularly, it seemed to me that there were only about 4 or 5 willing riders who were prepared to keep up anything like enough average speed to possibly soften any legs. Nigel Kimber was probably most notable and he was joined by Kev Turley, Nick Tapp and Martin Peeters. Since I was playing the waiting game down the back of the field I wasn’t able to identify any other ‘honest types’ who were prepared to make a race of it up the front. There was one point where I found myself up there driving into the wind. Shortly afterward I eased off and started drifting backwards and thinking, “…phew! Just as well I haven’t committed to doing too much of that”. In fact I was drifting so much that a friendly nudge from behind, on the behind, was necessary to help me lift the pace again and stay in contact. (thanks NK)
Laps were at a consistent speed around 36kph
So, the inevitable inevitably came to pass. Twenty riders were now bunching up on the second to last hill and the pace was quickening. Unfortunately, for me, I had chosen to sit on the outside of the road while 2 lines of riders starting pushing up on the inside. While being on Martin Peeter’s wheel was not such a bad place to be we were effectively boxed in and having to allow room for Kev Turley, a spent worker bee, to slide down to the rear of the field. One of those snap decision moments came and went when I saw the big sprinter, Dean Jones (4th), step out of the saddle and drive towards the top of the rise. I decided it was too early to go and stayed with my wheel where the pace was picking up anyway.
By the time we crested that last rise there was a stream of riders off the front and already hammering for the line with still a kilometre to go – including the uphill sprint! Surely too early? As more riders sped past I decided I had to move forward and used the down hill to advantage scrambling across a couple of wheels to escape the full brunt of the now headwind. The leaders seemed to be moving even further away but I continued to wait. Sticking to the middle of the road I was cautious not to cross over the white line, especially considering I could see a car coming towards us. When eventually I was within sight of the finish I put in for that final effort passing the two wheels I was following and noticing a stream of spent riders on my left going backwards.
There were four guys contesting the finish up ahead of me and another rider within reach. However when I noticed he had sat up I decided not to look completely ridiculous by lunging for the line chasing fifth place. I doubt I would have got there anyway and so it was a satisfactory 6th place for me on the line. That’s good enough for me in this company.
Here’s the link to the Garmin705 readout if you’re interested. Thanks for reading.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67998781
The last kilometre
Summary