This race was resurrected last year, and it looks like it will become a very popular event. The field in the Vet’s 30-39 category was very strong, and included the Labuschagne brothers (Toyota Cyclelab), Jaco Ferreira (Team Computer-Smith), Werner Moolman (Mr. Price KZN), Stefano Madies, Graham Parker, and Martin Saunders (Dimension Data), Doug Ryder, Charles Pritchard, Stephen Courtney (plus many more from MTN/Club 100), Harmony also had a strong team there.
The format of this race is 30min plus one lap, with the laps being about 4km long around Zoo Lake. The start/finish is on a short climb and is where most of the attacking happens, making for great spectator value. Today there was a strong tailwind up the start/finish climb, after which the riders turned into a full head-wind. This meant that the chances of a break getting away were quite slim. Any advantage gained up the climb was hard to keep into the headwind.
Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat only had Craig Harvey and myself. With Craig being in good form, we decided to try to go with any moves and see if we could get away with the right combination.
The race started very hard, as usual, with various attempts to get away. The Labuschagne brothers (David & Johan) took turns trying to get away in the first few laps. As the race wore on, Jaco Ferreira tried a couple of times to get away as well, with Craig Harvey marking him closely. Coming past the start/finish for the last lap, I jumped across to Werner Moolman, but neither of us had the legs to stay away into the wind.
The bunch stayed together for the final sprint which was taken by Jaco Ferreira. Neither Craig nor I are accomplished sprinters, so Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat had to settle for bunch finishes.
Not a result to write home about, but a good fast race none the less.
The format of this race is 30min plus one lap, with the laps being about 4km long around Zoo Lake. The start/finish is on a short climb and is where most of the attacking happens, making for great spectator value. Today there was a strong tailwind up the start/finish climb, after which the riders turned into a full head-wind. This meant that the chances of a break getting away were quite slim. Any advantage gained up the climb was hard to keep into the headwind.
Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat only had Craig Harvey and myself. With Craig being in good form, we decided to try to go with any moves and see if we could get away with the right combination.
The race started very hard, as usual, with various attempts to get away. The Labuschagne brothers (David & Johan) took turns trying to get away in the first few laps. As the race wore on, Jaco Ferreira tried a couple of times to get away as well, with Craig Harvey marking him closely. Coming past the start/finish for the last lap, I jumped across to Werner Moolman, but neither of us had the legs to stay away into the wind.
The bunch stayed together for the final sprint which was taken by Jaco Ferreira. Neither Craig nor I are accomplished sprinters, so Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat had to settle for bunch finishes.
Not a result to write home about, but a good fast race none the less.
From a power perspective, I was very happy with my performance. I had estimated my FTP to have dropped due to the last 6 weeks of missed training - so I had it pegged at 320w based on a 52min L4 workout I did earlier this week - averaging 321w for 52min and not feeling like I could have gone much harder. So 368w NP for 37min was a good performance. I will go out and do another TT effort this weeks and see how I go.
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