2 from 2 at Glenvale

Starting out on a sunny yet cold morning on my way along Springvale road to my second Glenvale crit I was hoping for more of a race this time around. Last weekend was good but not quite the standard I was looking for a tougher race this week would prove helpful in preparation for the Tour of the South West in a weeks time. With no Baw Baw Classic and no NRS tours on this weekend I was expecting a stronger field and that is what was delivered. 53 riders showed up on the start line, this included Alex Morgan (Jayco AIS World Tour Academy), Brenton Jones (Huon Genesys), Stuart Smith (Search2Retain Health) along with riders from the African Wildlife Safari squad and close to a dozen riders from the Bob Kelly Coaching program.

The race started off slowly but by the second lap one rider was off the front trying to go solo less than three minutes into the race. Not long after did a group of 6 including myself break away to build a solid group of 7 riders, we started working hard together straight away. Soon after we were joined by another group of 8 riders still continuing to work hard after half an hour of racing my average power was sitting at 294 watts. All of a sudden we could see the back of the A grade field then a truck entered and we had to sit up allowing another group of 10 to catch us. With a field of twenty five to thirty riders with only twenty minutes to go I attacked solo, not looking at my speed or heart rate I concentrated solely on my power output and keeping it steady. This was one of the very first times I actually worried about what my power output was and it does honestly make time trialling easier. With less than five minutes to go I turned around to see a group of seven working to come across to me, I sat up and waited to join the bunch and try my luck in a sprint. Not knowing how good the guys in the bunch were in a straight line I was unsure of how the race would turn out. As the bell rang James Rendall (African Wildlife Safaris) hit the front and drove the break across the top of the course and down the back straight, with two African Wildlife Safari guys in the break Daniel Nelson was going to be the team sprinter. With less than 50 meters until the final corner Brendan Rowbotham (Hampton Cycles) and Drew Morey (Park Trent) jumped around the outside of the field, I put myself into third position as we rounded the corner, the wind was blowing from right to left so I headed straight to the left hand gutter hoping no one would be able to get onto my wheel. I just put my head down and kicked for the line and was happy to come away with the win.

A great days racing seemed to be had by all and this couldn't have been made possible without the volunteers making it possible for us to race and Carnegie Caulfield Cycling club for hosting yet another great days racing. I would personally like to thank my sponsors as well for the continued support from Lightsview, CIC Australia and Corsa Cycle Centre. Fingers crossed for next week and hopefully a good showing at the Tour of the South West.