Road racing presents its own challenges for masters champ
by Pip Read - Australian Masters Cyclist
Last month I completed my first road race in some time and was instantly reminded why I normally put the bike away for a few months after the criterium season.
Not that the weather was the problem, far from it. Broadford had put perfect race weather, but the town just needs to flatten out some of those hills! This was the first handicap race of the northern combined race season. I guess one day I will get the hang of what I'm supposed to do with limit bunches and scratch bunches etc. It's all just too much for my poor little criterium brain to cope with! Just tell me how long and how many laps and I'm fine. Having said that, the event was good fun and a great work out.
To be honest I'd forgotten what it was like competing in handicap racing. I hadn't ridden one for a few years and was reminded just as we started, as the pace picked up from the flag drop, and as most of my bunch seemed to know what they were doing it made for some great high speed racing. The road surface was very good, not many vehicles and we were warned at the start to be careful of the wooden bridge. Crossing it was an interesting experience; with a good sized bunch the race was neutralised and we had a narrow section in the middle of the bridge to ride on. It was much easier later in the race when numbers were less.
As I said in my last article I've been included in my club's women's team, of which we have two. While I'm at it, a free plug for SKCC if any of you live in Victoria and reasonably close to Melbourne you should have a close look at www.skcc.com.au
The club is doing so much for women's racing now and our women's membership is constantly growing and being supported by an encouraging committee. I have signed the contract for the team season so I guess that's it time to stop whining, drag the winter clothing out of the cupboard and get in some training.
As you may have also noticed it's getting colder in the mornings and we all need to start thinking of making ourselves more visible on the road, I've noticed again the amount of drivers who don't defrost car windows in the morning and they seem suprised when they don't notice cyclist until the last possible moment. I've just renewed all my batteries and have included a very bright, flashing light that I've attached to the top of my helmet. I have only used it twice so far and it seems to be doing the trick and I will keep you up to date on the worth of these types of lights.
We all have our little habits while out riding, one of mine is to take my cycling shoes off outside café. The main reason? Socks are cheaper than cleats and a lot easier to fit and adjust. After a recent morning's ride and doing my usual one legged hop while removing my cycling shoes, I was surprised at the amount of attention I was attracting from the rest of the bunch, until I remembered my new SheSpoke socks. I'd received them earlier in the week, put them on in the dark of the morning, thinking hay they are a comfortable nice fit around the ankle, put shoes on, covered the lot with booties and totally forgot about them until the above mentioned one legged hopping effort! I looked down and thought WOW they do look cool!
Cya!
Pip