Now I have the first race out of the way and am quite happy with how I went.
Todays start time was 4pm which is a little unusual and a lot inconvenient. Hanging around all morning then scrambling for something to eat in the evening unless I wanted to do hot dogs and frites at the race, which I didn't.
So I messed about all morning only having a journey of around 40 minutes to the race and that was generous although there are an awful lot of road works at the moment. Of course when I came to get the exact details of race location from the WAOD website at about midday, they'd taken it down, Duh!
Of course after a beautiful sunny morning although it was a bit windy, actually a lot windy, as soon as I started loading the car it started raining! It rained for about 10 minutes of my journey then reverted to sunny 22c but still very windy.
Well I remembered the village where the race was being held and as long as you're in the right vicinity its usually not too hard to find the course, then having find the course the nearest bar will probably be the race HQ. Today was I think a community centre or some such, definitely had a bar and plenty of toilet facilities as well which was a bonus.
Signing on is no bother now, it helps that the chief official recognises me, he's always polite but not excatly a smiley type, I guess you know what race referees are like! There was a bit of a discussion, in Flemish so I couldn't contribute since nobody at the officials table at that time speaks any English, but I was pushed up a race from last time. Probably not unreasonable since I did place just about every time out but it will be more difficult this year I'm thinking.
The course started in the village outside the community centre which was the end of the finishing straight. 90 degree right turn from the two lane road onto the main road which was two lanes and two bike lanes, so nice and wide. It was also new hotmix which I loved and a cross tailwind which really started hitting you out of the village about 500m down the road, next turn was a 110 degree right onto the ubiquitous Flanders concrete farm road, 3 metres wide, this was also cross tail wind but more tail, along this for about 1km then a 90 degree right turn onto another concrete farm road, cross head wind but slightly sheltered by an orchard. This particular corner I got wrong every single time and I think this fact may well have been what was progressively chopping people off the back, but more of that later. This stretch was about 500m then a 90 degree left turn, more farm road for about 1500m cross tail and the fastest bit of the lap, then a 90 degree right turn up a little embankment which made a slow corner but needed a big kick out of it into the wind. 200m then a 90 degree right back onto the two lane finishing straight which was actually quite winding but also a block headwind up through the finish where there was some respite from the wind as you came into the village houses but only completley shielded for the last 200m to the finish.
The start was as usual a bit chaotic but we got underway on time. My plan A was to sit in, do nothing and if I felt OK see how I felt in the sprint. Plan B was the same, so was Plan C. I was surprised to see 60/70 starters in the race but that was all good, plenty of wheels to follow.
Well I started at the back with three well thought out plans, by the approach to the second corner I was sprinting up the outside to go through it in 6th, staying in the top 10 for the first 2 laps (of 8). The first lap was very quick and very aggressive, well I thought so anyway, but I was happy enough .
Coming round to the finish straight on lap 2, there were 4 guys that had got away to about 150m lead and were working well, the head of the bunch was rolling through but didn't seem to have any impetus. I rolled through did my turn and the bunch pulled over with me, I freewheeled they freewheeled, shit I thought it was a little early to worry about what I was going to do or not do. I had a drink and soft pedalled the switched into the other gutter and jumped hard, got clear put my head down and chased on my own, of course now the bunch was chasing me, but at that stage I was stronger, forced the gap and bridged up to the front four who promptly sat up when I got there! I did find last time that the riders who are in the WAOD will frequently spoil their own races to seemingly prevent me being in at the finish. Well I don't mean me personally but me the non WAOD Belgian I suppose.
Anyway the race went on, I was a little blown for almost a lap after my efforts to bridge across to the break. Which plan that was part of escapes me for the moment but I'll have a better plan for the next race though, honest.
I won't bore with a blow by blow, but I'll mention a few phases of the race which was aggressive and attacking all the way round but particularly so on the narrow farm roads with the difficult corners. There were stretches if you were in the front section you could echelon, trouble is that 3 riders, 4 if you were prepared to risk falling off the side of the road, so 5 maybe 6 riders driving here put everybody else in the gutter.
The front echelon going hard through the corners made the line stretch and break each time there was a sprint out of a corner and it was sprinting, I popped over 1000 watts several times just chasing wheels, usually out of the corner I mentioned, no matter what line I took I seemed to lose a length or so, jumping out of the corner and sprinting out of the corner invariably created a great hole in the line behind me and I think I was (inadvertently) the cause of great chunks of the race getting chopped!
At one stage about halfway through the race I slipped back a bit far and was horrified when I looked back and there was nobody behind me, we were already down to about 40.
So all the plans were out of the window and I just raced it the best as I could, there didn't seem any point in launching attacks since that seemed to bring a mass reaction but I'm usually good at jumping very quickly across a gap so thats what I did, unfortunately everything I went with was bought back but at least I found some who would work with me.
Coming round to the bell there were 6 riders away by 10/15 seconds and the gap seemed to be holding as nobody wanted to commit to the chase, compromising their sprint. As we came into the home straight with about 2km to go I attacked and just went for it, I didn't see the point of saving a sprint for seventh, I got clear and to within 50m of the break then got caught by a group of 8 charging hard with about 600m to go, just caught the back and was really just hanging on when we caught the front group whom I assume had slowed with nobody willing to drive the sprint so we slowed, another 3/4 riders managed latch on the back.
Then we were sprinting, I wasn't going to and in anycase you can't sprint from that far back, but I did anyway and managed to overtake a few to finish tenth, so in the 'money', although nobody would retire on the winnings.
Given that I haven't raced for a month I feel pretty pleased with the first outing I know I can improve from there with a couple of more races. However more importantly I really really enjoyed the race it was everything I came for, fast and aggresive, technical,just loads of fun, can't wait for the next one although tomorrow will be a recovery day.
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