Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Race Report Update - Wired Wednesdays

Words by Duggan

Right. After eating my bar tape all night during an especially quick night in A at Brunswick Track Tuesday's at DISC, I thought I'd put up a bit of an update as to what we've been up to in the last week.

Kent rode a marvelous 3 laps of the HCC crit last week before 4 drops of rain fell and they cancelled the race. Poor bugger. He'd tapered perfectly for that.

Kent, D'alfonso and Duggan raced the Coburg crit on Saturday morning in very still conditions. This made for very fast racing, with the boys in B-grade averaging about 45 km/h for the 50 mins plus 3 laps. 

Nothing overly exciting to report. Duggan boxed in too far back in the pack with 500 m to go was never in contention. D'alfonso drove the pack into the final corner to release the sprint, and Kent finished 6th or so after competing in a fairly wild sprint. Props to Tate for rolling up with us in support and snapping a few pics.

















































Some quality Kent pain face here...




















Duggan took it pretty easy during the race as he was competing in the Victorian Team Track Championships at DISC the following day. Full report to come, but they lads had a pretty successful day out, picking up a bronze medal in the team sprint and narrowly missing out on another bronze in the pursuit.



Friday, February 17, 2012

Race Report - SKCC Crits 12th Feb


Words by Dingus Dave

After Coburg was washed out on Saturday, TDR split up on Sunday with Duggan heading to the track to do some fine tuning for the upcoming Victorian Club Teams Track Championships, whilst Hogan and Kent ventured south of the river once again to have a crack at St. Kilda crits. Team time trials for A & B Grade meant a long wait before the C Grade race fired up at close to 11.30am.

Before rolling out the boys were given a rundown of St.Kilda’s new handicapping system. Good to see a local club doing something to formalise grading. Here’s hoping it’s the start of something that can be extended across all clubs (it should also be noted that Hawthorn do a pretty good job at their crits as well). However, by essentially locking the grades in their current form, the C Grade group included Ned “Strava King” Powell. That’s not his nickname, I just made that up. Dude’s a diesel, and Hogan and Kent knew they were going to be in for some pain trying to hold that wheel.

Sure enough, three laps in and Powell was driving a three man breakaway off the front. The chase couldn’t get organised, so Kent jumped out of the saddle to bridge across, and managed to drag the rest of the bunch with him.















Sharing the track with an A Grade field that was ridiculously large didn’t help the chances for a breakaway , as long stretches of neutralised racing were the norm. After 20 minutes, Hogan nearly lost his shit (literally), as a slowly deflating rear tire led to a few nervous corners. Nothing like your rear wheel sliding out round a corner at 45km/hr. He managed to stay upright, and rolled back to the start line happy to still be on two wheels. Race over.

Kent stayed in decent position for the remainder of the race, mostly in the front third of the bunch which stayed together for the rest of the race, albeit typically strung out in single file. Kent was sitting around 7th-8th wheel going into the final lap. Powell made a decisive kick up the back straight to lead out one of his teammates. Kent jumped across to his wheel (no easy task!), and rounded the final bend perfectly placed in third position. He couldn’t quite get around for first, but got up for a closely-fought second place. A mighty fine effort.

Time Apart - Recapping

Words by Dingus Dave

 She’s been a busy time at TDR headquarters lately. We finally got the kit sorted, and D’Alfonso showed it off in fine style by getting a win in B Grade at Hawthorn. A breakaway of 3 held off the pack, and D’Alfonso and his giant calves were too strong for the other breakaway lads. 


Hogan stepped up to C Grade at Hawthorn, and has shown the effects of time off after the Tour of Bright by being consistent pack fodder. Joining him in C Grade has been new TDR recruit, the former Fitzroy Rev man Kent. Having raced C Grade there all season, Kent has managed to podium about 72 times without quite having enough luck to take the win. Hogan tried desperately to lead him out for glory last week, with a burst down the back straight that was intended to put distance in to their rivals. But Hogan was gone by the corner, leaving Kent on his own for the final uphill sprint. Judging from the video, it looked to be about 10m too far (watch for Hogan in the red and white kit, crawling home at the end).

  

Mills’ crit season has been kept quiet due to a cracked frame (damn you second-hand carbon), but he’s been showing some fantastic form on the boards. Never afraid to attack too early, he’s had the crowd at DISC on his side as he launches for home 3, 4, hell even 5 laps out. A couple of stirring wins, particularly in sprints during the points races, have been well impressive. Duggan’s track momentum has been somewhat stalled by work commitments however has managed a couple of placings in A grade, while Hogan is getting his legs ripped off by 40 year olds in B Grade.

Duggan made a rare appearance at St Kilda crits a few Sundays ago, and was joined by Hogan and Kent in C Grade. D’Alfonso was spectating only, courtesy of a bucks night hangover. The race wasn’t too fast, but a crash on the back straight of the last lap put paid to any dreams of a win. Hogan used the crash as an excuse to sit up, Duggan did the same closer to the finish, while Kent pushed on for a hotly contested third place. The finish of A Grade a few minutes later was also marred by a pretty nasty crash on the final corner.