A group of 7 hardy soles (we adopted Rafa from DHBC for the day) headed north to Calga for the CCCC 50km graded scratch. It was fresh and windy. Daniel, Swiggers and Rafa were in B grade, Bull, the General, John and myself in C.
I can't comment too much on how the B grade race went other than the cross wind was an influencing factor and none of the guys nabbed a podium. Perhaps one them them can elaborate a bit for me in the comment.
The cross wind pretty much ensured no breakaway was going to happen in C grade. That and Bull. The man just turns himself inside out. If he's not driving the bunch he's covering any break. A tireless and selfless champion. Unfortunately John suffered a flat just at the first turnaround. Up to that point he had been sitting in very wisely and comfortably and it was such a shame this happened as he looked good and would have been there towards the end. The General struggles to contain his enthusiasm in most races but today he did very well and apart from a few rushes of blood, conserved his energy well. He also took the hot dog turn at the northern end of the course exceptionally well. (Where was the photographer for that one.) . Ultimately it came down to a group of 8 at the start of blood hill which became 5 going over the top. The General kicked with around 150m before the top and had a small break of around 15-20m. Unfortunately the wind played a part and he got dragged back in but that caused the other riders to have to expend energy in making that happen and I could just sit in. This allowed me to kick with a few hundred metres to go and hold on for the win. The General wisely sat on the wheel of the one rider who chased me and then came past him in the final run into the finish to give PLCC a 1-2 finish. Bull finished just out of the mix in 5th.
A great morning out and a big thanks to Central Coast Cycling Club for putting on another great race.
Next Sunday at Calga is race 2 in the Cervelo Masters race series. Let's see if we can get a big group from PLCC up there for that one. Also there is a chance the Calga course will be part of the PLCC Club Championship in a couple of months time, so it will be a great opportunity to get up there for a recon.
Great race report Foxy and a pleasure racing with you as always. Shannon....what a machine. Lets get a big turn out for next weekend which is race 2 of the Cervlo Masters and is on the same course as today.
B grade was an interesting lesson in team tactics.. 12 starters 6 of whom were CCCC... alarm bells should have rung... gapping ... for the uninitiated is a tactic that involves a team of riders clustering at the front and then the last rider in the team group deliberately slowing to allow a gap to form.... following riders are forced to repetedly close gaps whilst the gapper gets a free ride back.... guest rider Raph (DHBC)and Dan B got nicely toasted by the halfway mark... i hung on for 5th after the surviving group split into 2 grps of 3 riders on the last leg...... we need more green in B grade
Well done all particularly Foxy and Pat sounds like some great teamwork from Bull