Well, I've finally found the time sit down and put some race reports together for the first two summer series races. This series is again being held at the Crestmead venue however in the reverse direction than the previous two years.
Race 1
For the first race we were greeted with perfect conditions and a class field of 60 riders. With Jonathon Cantwell on the start line, it was a fairly safe bet that we would come away with the win. For those who don’t know Cantwell, he is the current Australian Criterium champion and has had two very successful years racing in the US in the FLY V Colours. Data3 – Cisco-Capilano was joined on the start line by riders from teams Fusion, Budget forklifts, Swift Carbon, Tinelli Racing and a whole host of other local riders all keen to try get a result early in the season.
Representing Data3 was Sam Wood, Matthew Chew, Rueben Donati, Dave Brown, David DeMarco and myself.
The race started fairly quickly with plenty of attacks during the first 15minutes. Despite the aggressive start, the bunch stayed largely intact for the first couple primes. Sam and Rueban both came close to winning primes but were beaten to the line. With the pace remaining very high, a split formed mid field and very quickly a 20 riders group managed to for at the front. Sam and I made the split and Dave Brown, showing the kind of form that will see him turn heads this season, rode across the gap with a couple others to give Data 3 three riders in the decisive front split. Despite looking at my Garmin and realizing I had very badly under-estimated the duration of the pre-race airport-nudgee loop and thus already had 185km in the legs, I still had some good legs so I did what I could to try split the group up to increase Sam’s changes in the final sprint. Dave Brown, having recovered from crossing the gap, joined in the party up front and began rolling some good turns to try keep the pressure on the weaker riders. With two to go, I covered a few moves my Brendan Brooks and Boothy, however the group reformed on the final lap for the sprint. Steven George attempted to surprise all by going early. Sam jumped to try get his wheel however he fell just short and got stuck in no mans land. In the end, Cantwell demonstrated why he was the prerace favorite by winning the sprint with ease from Peter Thompson. Overall, I good days racing by the team
Race 2
Having not learnt my lesson from last week, I embarked on another airport loop before the race however I quickly realized today’s race was going to be super hard. The high winds were going to cause great problems for a large amount of riders. Data 3 had the same 6 riders on the start line. A notable absentee was Jonathon Cantwell who had left the country, however in his absence came the FLY V Toowoomba duo of Hayden Brooks and Darren Rolfe. From the outset, the race was littered with attacks and high speeds. The winds were causing havoc on back straight with riders being ‘ put in the gutter’ and having to try and hold the wheel whilst being buffeted by right hand cross winds. The best way to get out of this situation is to get to the front and in the echelon, however that is easier said than done when 60 other riders are trying to do the same thing! Reuban continued his assault on the primes whilst the rest of us tried to maintain good position for the inevitable split that would occur.
I, through ‘more arse than class’, managed to find myself off the front with a strong group containing Matt Williams, Mal Rodulf, Bevan Mason and Hayden Brooks. Unfortunately I was on a bad day and started to cramp up whilst in this move with the Garmin reading 165km. The pre race Airport loop in the wind was not a great idea. I had to really suffer it out to try and stay with the break. Situations like this are not fun. Dropping back to the bunch is not an option. When the gap has gone out and the break is established, you simply have to have a rider in the move otherwise you’re on the front chasing. After 15 of the most unenjoyable minutes of my life, the remnants of the main field caught the break to create a front group of 25 riders.
Somewhere within this windswept third trimester of the race, Dave Brown managed to attack of the front and held a solid advantage however he was pulled in by this reduced front group. As the wind continued, this group was slowly reduced leaving only around 15 or so riders left with 3 laps remaining. Reuban, Sam and Chewy were all sitting well and looking good. I had the ‘great’ idea of following Hayden Brooks as he attacked late in the race; a purely instinctive reaction by a brain which hadn’t considered that fact that I begun cramping in both legs. I had to let Hayden go but fortunately Reuban rode across to Hayden to replace myself up front. With 1 to go it all back together. I pulled the pin and had to let the race ride away when the legs completely seized up. I cast a lonely figure, drowning my sorrows with Capilano HoneyShotz under a tree on the back straight. In the sprint to the line, Sam placed a strong 4th (or 5th) with Chewy and Reuban also placing in the top 10. It was another good days racing and I think the team is not far from getting a place on the podium soon.
Thanks for reading.
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