Pip keeps her cool in some hot Jayco Classic racing
The Jayco Bay Cycling Series is a five-race criterium event that has been held for the past 19 years. This year's event started in Williamstown on January 2, 2008 and finished in Geelong Eastern Park on January 6. The series boasted some of the best female cyclists in the world including Oenone Wood, Belinda Goss, and Kate Bates to name a few. The problem with this series for me is that it is designed for teams, which means that individual entrants start at the back of the bunch! (that's me in the photo at the back of the bunch - pre race start) But I like to race in my hometown in front of friends so I front up year after year.
This year saw the introduction of a new 2.4km circuit around the Geelong Botanical Gardens. It was fast but very rough. Cyclists have been pleading for parts of the track to be resurfaced for the last few years but with no luck; which was a pity considering the international riders that were entered across all grades.
Race 4 (my race number one) was held on the Saturday, with a starting time
of 2.20pm. The local temperature 41°C! I had purchased, a few days earlier,
a headband that is filled with water crystals and when soaked in water,
then placed in the freezer, provides some relief from the heat when it is
worn. It was appreciated in the heat!
It really is quite a buzz racing with some of the best women cyclists in
the world. As I said the surface was quite rough but despite this the pace
was high. A bit of a tail wind down the back of the course helped me to
catch my breath before we started the not so steep climb. After about 25
minutes on the fastest part of the circuit, where the pack had been
reaching speeds of 60+kph, and coming into a slight left hand bend with
concrete traffic mounds in the middle of the corner, one of the girls was
forced into the gravel on the left hand side of the road and crashed very
heavily. The pack them moved right to avoid her and this pushed me and a
few other cyclists into the gravel. The first thing I thought of was what
had happened at a club training camp a few years ago, where we practiced
such a manoeuvre and as luck would have it I lost a lot of ground but
stayed upright. It was just too hot to try and chase the bunch down so I
pulled out just on the 30-minute mark. Surprisingly my stats were very
good: 38.5kph avg, max 62kph and I don't what to think about my HR max!
Race 5 (my race two) was held on the Sunday. The local temperature was a
much more pleasant 30°C, although quite windy. The day's racing covered a
smaller circuit that utilised part of the previous day's course but in the
opposite direction.
The day did not start well. I got myself ready; although running a little
bit late but I was not unduly worried as I lived only 15 minutes ride from
the circuit. I headed out to the garage to grab the race bike only to find
the rear tyre was flat…dam. Then I realised that the track pump and all my
spares were still in the back of the car from yesterday's race and my
partner was at work, with the car… dam. I grabbed a brand new tube off the
shelf only to find the valve was to short and I wasted half a canister of
gas in the hope of making it work…double dam. I ended up patching the
original tube and pumping it way too much with one and a half canisters of
gas. I finally left home with very little time to spare.
The girls with any chance of winning the series were on for a race right
from the start. There were some tired legs in the field but I had the
pleasure of passing quite a few competitors before being pulled of towards
the end of the race (the rules of criterium don't allow passed riders
continuing). At least the race did not feature a repeat of the previous
day's crash.
The Jayco Bay Classic is a great series and it is always fun racing in front of family and friends. Even some of the guys from the Wednesday and Friday bunches recognised me and cheered from the sidelines.
In past years I have looked forward to following this series with the Tour Down Under Women's Criterium Series but unfortunately this year's event has been cancelled so I have quiet a few months until the Australian Masters Road Race Championships being held this year in NSW in April. At least I will have some serious training time to look forward courtesy of Madam Lash (my coach).
Cya!
Pip