road testing 1 * 9
After watching AROC fail to do anything right at last years Angry Doctor I didn't have great expectations for this race. There were a couple of substantial changes to the course in the weeks leading up to the race so it was hard to tell if it was just going to be lots of commuting on roads and bike tracks with some token single track thrown in or a good course.
Well thankfully for those that braved an AROC run event the weather held off an we had dry tracks with only the odd light sprinkle of rain. Also the course turned out to be really good. The first 50k was the best with the east and west Kowen trails highlights. I started in the third wave and didn't have any traffic hassles for the whole race. There was one of the dreaded paddocks round the edge of the airport that seemed to last for a while before we got to Majura Pines. Whilst in Majura Pines I attempted to do a steve smith and hip and shoulder a pine tree. My ribs think the tree won.
After we left Majura Pines there was about 10k of road and bike path through the western side of Canberra. It was a pretty easy commute and got subtracted from the finishing time to make us all look fast.
There was some more fireroad trails and a fair bit of undulating bike path and some roads before we got to Stromlo. First time down Skyline and the Luge for me and they are fun although do require you to commit to keep up a good pace.
Only downside of the ride for me was a front derailleur cable failure in the first 50m. Riding 100k in the little ring was frustrating, particularly on a course with a reasonable amount of flat sections.
Would I do it again? Hell yeah.
Forgot to press start and finish at the right times, Dooh! Average hr was 11bpm lower than the James Williamson race last week so no wonder I felt more comfortable. No excuse for bludging on the climb at stromlo although the low hr does explain why I was slow.
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under 5 hrs wow well done Paul
Thanks. The course is pretty fast. I think if they added in the un-timed section it would be just over 4 hours for the elites. I made the most of the slower single track sections and had a better race than the week before so pretty happy.
There are a bunch of slower single track sections although many of the commuting sections are pretty fast so overall it makes for a quick race.
Particularly as you we're down on top speed stuck in the little ring, I'll bet you were spinning like a crazy thing. My mate won the single speed on the day, his Garmin was showing him with a cadence of 170 on the flats, something to practice going for n case you have the same problem again
Well done mate, would of been frustrating not having all the gears available, however you still posted a excellent time.
I am looking at the rain we are getting this morning and thinking how lucky we were.
Turns out the LBS didn't replace the cable when I asked a few months ago as they thought it looked OK. Aaaarrrggggghhhh, probably just as well I didn't catch up with Matt at the finish as I was much politer on Sunday.
Anyway a cadence of 170 is ridiculous, I could pedal to about 32 with the 27/11 gearing. Much easier if I was sitting behind someone as I could alternate between spinning like mad and resting and still keep a high pace. Found it hard to pedal as fast constantly when I was on my own. The cadence wasn't working but I think the fastest I can pedal is about 100-110.
@Logan, a dry race is a good race and I guess the aroc guys had to get lucky with the weather eventually.
Well done PS. Top result!
All I can say is be glad you were not stuck in 29x18 for the whole race that really did suck along the flats....
Paul, supreme effort to go sub 5. Any idea of how much the mechanicals slowed you down ? How fast with a full cluster of gears do ya reckon ? Is your brother gettin' nervous ? The Dirtworks Stouch is getting closer ....
Dont worry, nothing has changed in the last 5 weeks since we went for a ride, I still have limited skills and ride slowly most of the time.
I doubt that loosing the big dog cost more than 5 minutes as people like Gav had lower gearing than me and were still faster everywhere. It is hard to tell how much any problem costs though as its a lot easier to go quick when you stay in a good group.
... this must be a new definition of 'slow' I haven't previously heard. LOL!