Gold Coast Cycling Club

3 days ago

Nerang Handicap 18 April 2021 (race report below - it's worth the scroll down!)Thanks very much to Pete Spencer for commissairing our handicap race today in Nerang. Thanks also to our volunteers, Jenni, Damien, Karsten, Mark, Davin, Tim and Gaymaree. Results are as follows:1st - Riley Fleming, Gold Coast CC - A+2nd - Connor Reardon, Gold Coast CC - A+3rd - Adam Bemrose, Gold Coast CC - A-4th - Joe Cooper, Gold Coast CC - A+5th - Ben Andrews, Balmoral CC - A-6th - Luke Richert, Gold Coast CC - A--------------------------------------------------7th - David Oliver, Gold Coast CC - B-8th - Tim Hutch, Gold Coast CC - B-9th - Scott Evans, Gold Coast CC - B-10th - Travis Coleman, Gold Coast CC - A-11th - Damien McFarline, Gold Coast CC - B-12th - Jon Hobson, Kangaroo Point CC - B+ We hoped you enjoyed the race. It offered some variety from your everyday criterium, and certainly required a different race strategy and effort. For your reading pleasure, Commissaire Pete has written a race report. (He's kind of notorious for them.) There's plenty for us to learn from today's handicap race, and with a little tweaking of grade choices, a bigger C Grade and more strategic and cohesive racing by some, we hope that we can improve on the race experience in the future. Three further handicap races are planned for 2021. Commissaire’s Race Report"Some of us need to ride handicaps better"I will lead with the moral of the story, then I will do my best to explain. Moral: we NEED to elevate some riders to the status of "Patron of the Peloton" (cyclingtips.com/2010/01/Patron-of-the-peloton/). The Gold Coast has not adopted this hierarchy very well in the time I have been here (most of the last 20 years). Rider attitude has stifled racing development for as long as I can remember. The A grade NRS crowd learn respect when they get to that level, but the local crowd are never exposed to the hierarchy that actually leads to the whole scene growing to its greater potential. This is also the reason the jump from B to A is so great. It's not a watts problem, it’s a learning how to ride problem.Handicaps teach a great number of skills, if there is a teacher. The teacher is the Patron of the Peloton. The learnings have a direct relationship to the quality of the Patron. In the absence of a (respected/well administered) Patron of the Peloton, then the learnings are limited. Let me describe what I saw today.Super A - Doesn't need a Patron when they all know exactly what they had to do. i.e. look after each other until every group was caught. Simple winks, nods, quick chatter and a respect of each other that they are all there to get the job done first, and mess about for the win second. They were so tight together you couldn't see how many riders there were in their bunch, only the front rider. It was beautiful. They rode 0.4kph faster than projected.A Minus - Did ok. Rolled well enough but no clear structure as to who was running the show. Travelled a bit more than 1kph slower average than I expected. But worked together ok. Not great, but they did enough. Rode 0.3kph slower than projected.B Plus - Was an embarrassment. THIS WAS HARD TO WATCH. The biggest bunch, with the most combined firepower all looking at each other to somehow magically teleport them through the race without getting caught by the Super A group. There was zero continuity, respect, combined effort, control, etiquette or (the root cause of all of the above) Patron of the Peloton. It shouldn't take someone showing up with their world or Australian championship stripes to be listened to. That's a terrible metric of who should be gifted the role of Patron anyway. They NEEDED someone calling the shots, lining up the riders and getting a move on. One rider kept flying off the front solo despite being told in the briefing that if you did that you were working against your bunch for no gain. As a bunch, you need to start looking up to someone, or you will remain "basic" for the rest of your racing time. As a group, you rode 2kph slower than projected.B Minus - NAILED IT. Less people than B Plus but had continuity. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Think that through twice. B+ should have ridden away with more stronger riders but instead they were caught by a lesser number of riders that were weaker. Experience paid dividend more than firepower. B- was only caught with a few hundred metres to go. They rode to their projected handicap exactly. C Grade - Currently has no Patron and as a result they worked much harder in the first half (without someone controlling the pace). They respected each other, but blew to bits. With the most to learn about pacing, they rode exactly like I thought they would but hopefully next time they pace themselves better. It's one of the most important skills to learn in the lower grades. Where the red-line is and how to ride there without exploding.The net result of the race was that Super A caught the combined A-, (B+), B- bunch with less than half a lap to go. The maths worked, but the majority of B+ made a mess of it, they were literally still a lap away from being in contention. That's not a handicapping issue, that's an experience of the bunch issue.The thing about being a Patron of the Peloton is that you don’t get to self-nominate. It’s not meant to be a silverback gorilla style fight for overlord control. It’s just the respect that in the appropriate environment there is someone trusted to manage the bunch accordingly (and not for personal gain). An example that may still be in some people’s memories was when Robbie McEwen had retired but still raced some club races. He would be telling riders hints that were gold nuggets of wisdom. A grade listened both because he was super experienced but also because he wasn't doing it for personal gain or ego. Sit for a minute and think of the riders around you today and consider who the right person for that role would be in either your local training bunch or in the regular racing crowd. Do what you can to establish them as the POTP and elevate them to that role. It’s usually really easy to know who that should be, but it takes a bunch to recognise it for it to work.Be better than you were yesterday.Over and out. ... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook

Gold Coast Cycling Club

3 days ago

Don’t forget to get signed on for tomorrow’s handicap at Nerang. Should be fun! ... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook

Gold Coast Cycling Club

4 days ago

To our club members competing in the AusCycling Queensland Criterium State Championships today at the Ipswich Cycle Park, here’s wishing you a great day out, and the best of luck. Elite Men / Men U23 - Daniel Rae, Kane Richards, Brad SodenElite Women - Emma Green, Mia HaydenJunior Men U19 - Etienne RichertMasters Men 2 - Simon DicksonMasters Men 3 - Nicko FrimanMasters Men 5 - Brent Winston Masters Men 6 - Peter AppsYou’re doing us proud! #GoGoldCoastresults.auscycling.org.au/Road/2021/QLDStateCrit/StateCrit.html ... See MoreSee Less

results.auscycling.org.au

View on Facebook

Gold Coast Cycling Club

Facebook Feed