After the howling gale of Saturday, Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day for the TDF. It was warm enough for someone who hates to ride outside under double digits and there was hardly any wind.
As a warm up I rode from Dickson to the start of the race down near the Hyatt which took about 10 minutes (: and then did a warm up around the Yarralumla part of the course.
I was really pleased to be seeded this year so I didn't have to worry about lining up in the general group and being stuck somewhere in the 600+ entrants. As usual there was a great atmosphere to the TDF which doubles as a race and a participation event.
I was on the second row after the tandems so was able to get a good start and get out onto Northbourne Avenue ok. On the turn onto the Parkway there was the usual bottleneck of riders which I always forget is a part of road riding. I felt ok early on and worked hard at staying near the front and trying to stay out of trouble. The pack was massive & bigger than usual I thought and seemed to be in this eternal washing machine where the lines were never working clearly.
On the turn off the parkway to Lady Denman Drive there was a baracade across the road to stop the traffic going down but also didn't leave much room for the peleton and caused a bit of commotion. I made sure I hit the down ramp fast and got in front turning through the lights as last year there were some intersting turning styles executed by the bunch.
That left me leading the peleton which wasn't part of the plan... (: About a kilometre later two girls went clear of the field and basically kept the same distance the whole way to the finish to eventually claim 1st and 2nd. The peleton pretty much stayed together as a big bunch to the finish as well. There were two crashes - one just after the Parkway onto the Cotter turn off and then one onto Adelaide Avenue which finished off the dreams of Chloe Hosking of taking her trifecta of TDF titles. There was much talk this year of some of the interesting riding executed by some racers who were strong enough to be in the bunch but may not have had the same level of skills... at times I was surprised there were not more crashes.
I must thank Mary-Anne Simpson (who really deserves a Whippet puppy for this) from the Bike Shed who does a fabulous job and all the volunteers for a great event. The Henderson family sent three of their team in - Leanne, Rach and Bec with Benny and John providing support and bicycles.
I am really stoked with the race because I achieved my objective of staying with the bunch until the finish. I ended up coming 25 and I am so happy with that as I don't have any experience (clue!!) with road racing. But it was a total blast and I am happy with the progression of fitness and endurance that I am making.
All in all it was another exciting adventure into road racing. I dusted my bike off and took the bike off the trainer to do my one and only road race for the year - I am truly a road princess!! lol I've been told that I should race the road crits on Wednesday but we will see how that goes.
I rode a 100km to finish off the day and to get in some more training for the next National Mtb race.
As a warm up I rode from Dickson to the start of the race down near the Hyatt which took about 10 minutes (: and then did a warm up around the Yarralumla part of the course.
I was really pleased to be seeded this year so I didn't have to worry about lining up in the general group and being stuck somewhere in the 600+ entrants. As usual there was a great atmosphere to the TDF which doubles as a race and a participation event.
I was on the second row after the tandems so was able to get a good start and get out onto Northbourne Avenue ok. On the turn onto the Parkway there was the usual bottleneck of riders which I always forget is a part of road riding. I felt ok early on and worked hard at staying near the front and trying to stay out of trouble. The pack was massive & bigger than usual I thought and seemed to be in this eternal washing machine where the lines were never working clearly.
On the turn off the parkway to Lady Denman Drive there was a baracade across the road to stop the traffic going down but also didn't leave much room for the peleton and caused a bit of commotion. I made sure I hit the down ramp fast and got in front turning through the lights as last year there were some intersting turning styles executed by the bunch.
That left me leading the peleton which wasn't part of the plan... (: About a kilometre later two girls went clear of the field and basically kept the same distance the whole way to the finish to eventually claim 1st and 2nd. The peleton pretty much stayed together as a big bunch to the finish as well. There were two crashes - one just after the Parkway onto the Cotter turn off and then one onto Adelaide Avenue which finished off the dreams of Chloe Hosking of taking her trifecta of TDF titles. There was much talk this year of some of the interesting riding executed by some racers who were strong enough to be in the bunch but may not have had the same level of skills... at times I was surprised there were not more crashes.
I must thank Mary-Anne Simpson (who really deserves a Whippet puppy for this) from the Bike Shed who does a fabulous job and all the volunteers for a great event. The Henderson family sent three of their team in - Leanne, Rach and Bec with Benny and John providing support and bicycles.
I am really stoked with the race because I achieved my objective of staying with the bunch until the finish. I ended up coming 25 and I am so happy with that as I don't have any experience (clue!!) with road racing. But it was a total blast and I am happy with the progression of fitness and endurance that I am making.
All in all it was another exciting adventure into road racing. I dusted my bike off and took the bike off the trainer to do my one and only road race for the year - I am truly a road princess!! lol I've been told that I should race the road crits on Wednesday but we will see how that goes.
I rode a 100km to finish off the day and to get in some more training for the next National Mtb race.
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