Forcing breakaways

mikesbytes

A fuji, I got it for $250 about a month ago. That's why I haven't got any pedals on my hack bike.

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11ring

Cool.

mikesbytes

Practiced my sprinting tonight.

If I wake up in time, I'll go and do the 6am Lidcome-Auburn training at Olympic.

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mikesbytes

Made it out to Olympic, although I had to belt it to get there on time. Practiced my sprints on the hill.

They are restarting the Homebush bay Sunday morning racing at the tennis courts, but this time it will be on a closed circuit. 8am I think, but need to check. I'm going to look up the details on the Waratah web site, apparently in the newsletter.

Lindsay is going to Thailand this Thursday, so we won't see him for a couple of weeks.

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sideshow_bob

It's only one event at this stage (the LACC newsletter says they are looking for a good roll up to convince the powers that be that racing at Homebush is a good thing) this Sunday (6/8). It'll be 7:30 for E,D and C grade and 8:30 for B, A1 and A. I usually race with Waratah when they are at Lansdowne but will most likely show up for this.

--brett

mikesbytes

I have a non racing license, so I assume I'd have to get one for the day, $10?. is E,D&C racing together?

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sideshow_bob

I'm not really sure re: the license. I recently took a friend for a first time race (who had no license (at all), though not to a vets race) and it was a bit of a hassle and I believe the day license was $20 (though don't quote me on that). I can say the vets run very organized racing and if you ask them directly (via email) they'll probably be able to give a better answer. I would think you'd be able to roll up on the day and get a ride. If you do this, make sure you give yourself a good 30-45m to sort out the paperwork prior to racing commencing.

In terms of the grades, as I haven't raced at Homebush I can only make the assumption it'll be the same as Lansdowne, or the Eastern Creek Dragway. Where C will go first, then they gap the subsequent grades by 30-60s but will have the 3 grades on the track at the same time. However, apparently the track is very short so the assumption may not hold true. I regularly race at Dunc Gray and they typically only ever have a max of two grades on the track at the same time due to it being so short.

Not really a very helpful answer was it?

--brett

mikesbytes

Thanks Brett, I'm in my first ever race this Saturday, the ride for life at Centennial. The cost was $30 to enter and I'll be charged an additional $18 on the day for the one day license.

If I did race on Sunday, it would be a funny start to racing. Two races back to back days ! Also I'd have to guess the grade, hence I'd prefer if they were together, as that would eliminate the guess work.

Edit: The cycling federation called me, I cannot race on Saturday with a 1 day license extension to my existing non racing license. However I can get an upgrade to my license with a 6 month license, at a cost of $40 and this covers me for the rest of the year. And that would cover me for Sunday.

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sideshow_bob

I wasn't aware the Ride for Life was graded as such? Just open divisional categories. Of course I could be completely wrong.

Anyway you'll find regardless that grading requires a little guesswork, different clubs have different strengths in the individual grades. So unless you are simply riding one club (or combined clubs) the first race could be anywhere from way below to way above your ability or any point in between. The bottom line is the first races will be a learning curve, concentrate on having fun and take it from there.

--brett

mikesbytes

Ride for life is graded races on a closed circuit, that being the semi triangle that takes you up the hill to the paddington exit and then goes accross to the bondi junction exit and then down to the main loop where you return in the "wrong" direction to the paddington hill. What they also have is a family ride in the arvo, where you just do as many laps as you want of the main loop, presumibly observing the 30kmh speed limit. Check out the links in one of previous posts on this thread.

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sideshow_bob

I looked at it in the open events program on the Cycling NSW site a few months back. Looking at the rideforlife.com.au site at:

http://www.rideforlife.org.au/2006/index.php?id=program

The program shows divisional racing, ie elite, masters, u23, u19 etc. But I can't see any gradings within the divisions. Looking at last years results which seem to run in the same divisions at:

http://www.rideforlife.org.au/index.php?id=2005/results

The top end of the masters field with guys like Eddie Salas and Charles Topfer are out of my league. I've seen Eddie ride off the front (solo) of fairly large club level A grade events.

I hope you're right, but you might want to check that it's not just divisional.

--brett

mikesbytes

I'm probably using the wrong terminology. It was Brian Crawford who called me and said that I had to have a full license.

Have a look at this link and tell me what you think. Also do you know the grading (A,B,C,D) of any of the riders?

http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/Files...06158/06158.htm

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sideshow_bob

I've sent you an email. The riders I know are A/B grade. But my view is skewed cause I know those guys as I race against them.

--brett

mikesbytes

Thanks Brett, I've just send you a long winded email. Plenty for me to learn.

What I need is 11Ring to push me up the hills. Just need him to fake his age so he can enter vets.

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