PORT NOARLUNGA HANDICAP
I can attest to Michael's assessment of the race last Saturday - no idea really of what we were in for which was probably a good thing. I've never ridden so hard in my life. With the pace that our group rode at, a breakaway was impossible. Had a go when we were coming up to catch Steve in the optomistic thought that the two of us could ride off the front, but the effort to bridge a 250m gap soon put the kybosh on that. In the end, Steve did what he does so well - ride hard at or near (or off!) the front for a long time. It was very much thanks to him that our group kept away from the pursuing groups for long enough for me to make a final dash up the short (1km) climb to the finish and a top three place. Regrettably there was a 300m flat section to the line where I was overrun by two better sprinters (as usual- more interval training for me) with the first A grader about 10s behind.
By way of comparison, my stats were an average of 36.8km/h (thanks Steve), average heart rate of 175bpm (91% - thanks Steve), average cadence of 99 with the distance completed in about a minute slower than Michael's group.
As for a course design for climbing next week, it'll all get down to who is in a fit state to climb at the end of a race.
David Homburg
