Sizzling Summer Series Round 4

I managed to get to the final round of the Sizzling Summer Series having missed rounds 2 and 3 due to other races. The field I raced in consisted of 82 riders which some may say is a lot but for mine if everyone in the bunch rides within their abilities there is no reason why the race can't be safe. Having said that, I was witness to some at times fairly ordinary bike handling for no real reason.

The race itself was enjoyable as I managed to get in a couple of breaks, which were pulled back and generally just mucked around chatting to mates. It was pretty clear it was going to come down to a bunch sprint as there were a couple of riders from different teams close on points and they both wanted the win. A small group got away with a few laps to go so as my team also has a sprinter I was pushed to the front to do my best. The group was pulled back with a lap and a half to go and in the bunch sprint my team mate grabbed fifth, he had also grabbed the prime earlier so it was a reasonably successful day all round.

I must congratulate the Logan Cycling Club as they ran a brilliant series. I know not everyone enjoys racing crits all the time but at least it is a solid series run on closed roads which we normally wouldn't get to race on.

The womens race was after ours and a good friend Nikki was racing. Nikki has recently returned from NZ and did her best to shake up the race and managed a solo breakaway for quite a few laps. Unfortunately, she was caught with half a lap or so to go but it was still awesome to watch her hurting herself so much doing her very best to stay away. Sometimes it is better to try and fail than finish safely in the bunch.....

Nikki chewing the bar tape

The Elite A mens race was the highlight of the afternoon for me with continual attacks throughout the race. The previous rounds had ended in bunch sprints, however, a breakaway finally managed to stay away. The breakaway was particularly strong as they managed to put time in to the field throughout the race. It started as initially 8 and then was down to 4 after one of the primes. The winner was Deon Locke who to me sitting on the sidelines appeared to be the strongest rider and certainly deserved his win. Deon must have been up for it as he turned up wearing his skin suit.

TRE-X Qld State Champs - 8 March

The finish and presentation area

Sunday 8 March brought with it the TRE-X (i.e off road triathlon) state champs at Slickers, Kurwongbah (just out of Brisbane). The crew from In2Adventure do a great job of running these events and the owners (Simon and Robyn Lazenby) are just awesome people who always have a smile on their face and are willing to listen. I have raced against Simon and Robyn a few times during the AR season and they always seem to be having fun no matter how long the day/race has been.

The week before had seen some serious rain around Brisbane with a Tropical Cyclone being out over the Northern parts of the state so it was a bit concerning that we were going to have another mud bath like the previous TRE-X Race. Fortunately whilst there was some water and mud throughout the course the single track was in great condition. The state champs consisted of a 1k swim 25k Mountain Bike and 10k Run.

The dam swim was uneventful other than watching my wife go past me like she had an outboard attached to her back and me wondering if I would be the last out of the water (I think I may have been as the organisers were already bringing in the swim course marker bouys as I was finishing the swim. Given it was a fresh water swim I struggle even more without the extra assistance provided by open/salt water swims.

The mountain bike course was a good mix of fire trails and single track. Coupled with a couple of decent climbs my legs knew that I had ridden some good ups. The single track was nice and I was able to pass quite a few on these sections and this probably seperates the very best (not me) and the solid off road triathletes. The bike leg also had a nice water crossing that could be hit almost at full speed so I'm hoping to get some photos from that as I was pinning it across that. The finish to the bike course wasn't much fun either as it involved riding up the side of a dam wall to transition. But hey that's what TRE-X is all about.

The run leg for me was the hardest as it involved running up 2 of the nastier climbs on the property. As it was a 2 long loop course that meant 4 good hills. The second climb was really tough as it went straight up the side of a ridge line. The burn in quads was awesome once I got to the top ;o)

The last loop of the run course was a flat one around the dam and back to the finish. It was one of the longer races I have done for a while but I had a great time. The most fun post race was had talking to mates around the finish area including Trav and Bec Hall who have recently invested in Race Elements some really great people who have some fantastic ideas about how to make a great company even better. The random prize draw is also an incentive for weekend warriors like me to see if I can pick up a prize.

I took a couple of photos with my dodgy camera phone to show the finish area and in particular the red van on the left of shot. It is one of the little mobile coffee vans and I don't think the lady stopped making drinks the whole 2 days the event was on (the Saturday had various types of mountain bike and cross country running races) and she looked even more exhausted than the competitors by the end of Sunday afternoon.

Luke Harrop Tri - Gold Coast March 1

Okay much to the disgust of my 'roadie' friends I have once again returned to dabbling in triathlon. I say "dabbling" as I have to fit these in with my wifes schedule, racing on the road, training to run marathons and doing the Tre-X series (and any other races/events that I think I might like to do). The Luke Harrop Tri is basically a memorial to one of Australia's developing triathletes who was tragically killed by a lady in a stolen car back in 2002. Luke was also the brother of Loretta Harrop one of Australia's greatest triathletes who you may remember getting run down in the last couple of hundred metres in the Olympics in 2004 by Kate Allen (another Australian) who was competing for Austria. A good indicator of the person that Loretta is was her first comment immediately post race when she was asked if she was disappointed in getting second and she replied that no she wasn't disappointed that she had done everything possible to win and could do no more. A great attitude. Luke was also at the time he was killed the boyfriend of Emma Snowsill (3 x World Champion and Olympic Champion) you can read all about it here.

Sun coming up over the broadwater and transition area

Anyway I'll get down off my high horse now. The race was a 750 swim 20k ride and 5 k run. As per normal I was totally smashed in the swim (note to self more swimming required) but once we were back on dry land I was in my element. The ride course is like most tri courses - totally flat. Triathletes seem to dislike hills.

Once the ride was done it was out for the run and by this stage it was incredibly hot around 34 degrees with no shade. My run was slower than I had hoped 21:20 but I had not really done any speed work for about 2 weeks due to a foot injury. It was an awesome day and also the test event for the World Age Group Championships which are happening on the same course in September.

As a side note whilst I was racking my bike in transition on the Saturday my mum and her partner Nev got talking to a couple of blokes who were sitting at the same table as them. Turns out these two fellas own and run this company. They started in custom made inline and speed/ice skates with their most famous Australian competitor being Steve Bradbury. Apparently a lot of speed skaters use cycling as their cross training and have been now getting RBC Sport to make their custom made cycling shoes for them. They are a Brisbane based company so if anyone in brisbane is looking for custom made shoes give them a call. I only know of 2 other companies that offer custom made cycling shoes being Rocket7 (in the US) and I think Biomac (in Europe) also offer the same.

A packed transition area

Sizzling Summer Series Race 1

Okay so it's been a while since I posted last but I do have lots of excuses. Anyway I managed to get to Race 1 of the Sizzling Summer Series held at Crestmead. A big thumbs up to the Logan Cycling Club for organising the series, the organisation was top notch. I raced Masters B which had a rather large field of 72. There was pluses and minuses with such a big field. The plus being the ability to sit in for the majority of the race. The minus being that some of the bike handling skills are questionable at best. As someone so succinctly pointed out during the race its probably preferable to learn to corner well before entering a massed start event.

The course is great as a crit track. Very safe, excellent surface - perhaps not the best for breakaways due to the high average speed.

The Ord Minnett team were by far and away the best organised of the teams including having earpiece radios. Unfortunately, I think the radios did them a disservice. The team was so strong that in my humble opinion if they had just kept attacking the whole race they would have been able to get a strong breakway going rather than waiting for a bunch sprint. Only my opinion of course but if they weren't going to chase then they would have got away.

Anyway as it turned out it was a bunch sprint. As I'm certainly no sprinter my job was to try and help my sprinter get to the front with a couple of laps to go and then let the rest if the team finish off. I was too busy just enjoying riding and when we got the 2 laps remaining board I was mucking around on the inside of the bunch while my srpinter was on the outside of the bunch. Given there was 72 riders I couldn't get to the outside to help. So I did the next best thing and got to the front and rode as hard as I could for as long as I could (not very hard or very long).

It ended up being a big bunch sprint and I didn't get to see the winner and had to leave straight after to get ready for work.

I miss the next 2 races due to other commitments but have entered the final race of the series.