I tried to approach last Saturday's Club Championships as a learning experience, but the competitive part of me took over and I ended up being pretty disappointed and was glad the rain washed out the rest of the day.

Out of all the CC events, the only one I really thought I had an a good chance of winning a medal in was the Sprint. My time of 14.50 was only good enough for 5th place which meant I did not make the final. The disappointing thing was the difference between the fastest qualifier and me was one second!

So, I have alot of work to do over winter.....With the rain last Saturday means that next Saturdays program is a huge day with a ITT, Pursuit and a 32 Lap Scratch Race.  (ouch!)  I am way up against it because the other guys in Masters 3 are mostly A & B grade riders and boy they are quick.

Then I have to follow up on Sunday with the TSSS.

Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tMhlhnga0

What a day......2nd in the scratch and Handicap, 3rd in the progressive points race and 2nd overall for the day. I am rapt with this considering that I had been up since 3.00am this morning with really bad gastro and around 2 hours sleep. At 12.30pm I was a 50/50 chance of racing

today, at 1pm I packed my gear thinking that I will at least try and race in the 1st race and see how I go.

However it almost ended up in disaster......earlier this week I took my bike to the local bike shop, I have just purchased some new cranks that are 135pcd and needed a bottom bracket. I picked the bike up on the way to BBN and did few warm up laps, the motor pace had just passed me and I was going to hop on the back , then next thing my back wheel completed stopped. I was so lucky that I was not thrown over the handle bars or that I was not in the middle of the motor pace as I could have caused a pretty serious accident. The cause, my local bike shop had not tightened the screws on the back wheel! I was telling Pat Doherty and he told me to always check your bike and make sure your happy with everything before you ride when someone has adjusted it. Sounds pretty obvious, but lesson learnt, I will never do that again.

I also got some great advise today from Carl, in the first heat of the handicap I did what I needed to do to make the final. Carl told me to pay attention to the riders behind me as the 2 guys that were behind me basically sat on my wheel for most of the race and let me do all the work. He said to make sure you swing up the bank and let them work as well. It worked in the final, I swung up the bank a few times and sat on the back and attacked on the last lap. I was completely pretty spent and there was no chance of catching Pat, however I was pretty satisfied with the result just on a few tactical decisions.

I am still learning with each race, but am having a ball as well!

Just like Round 1, last Sundays B grade final was between Dino and me, I was determined to try and even the slate after Dino easily won the final last time.

Fortunately for me, because the numbers were small it meant that there were shorter intervals between races, which I think benefited me as Dino is still recovering from some serious injuries.

I lost the toss again (4th one that day, can you believe it) and Dino decided to go lead, which I was disappointed in as I thought my only chance was to try and attack early and gap him as the wind was extremely difficult and I know Dino would have way too much power over the last 200m.

I thought I would try and mix it up a bit, so I tried to go up the bank, then back down, then up and down. With just under 2 laps to go Dino went up the bank again and I noticed that he was not looking at me. I saw an opening and I thought, I am not going to get this opportunity again, so I just took off. I had no idea how far Dino was behind me, but the last 50m into the wind took all my effort. I managed to win just on the line, but if the race was 10m longer I would have been the bridesmaid yet again.

So far, I have really enjoyed the Trek SSS as every race has been different and I think that I can honestly say that I have learnt something in each race. Its been great fun and everyone I have spoken to have really enjoyed it as well.

Tell all your friends and lets make February a sell-out.

I approached last weeks Climbing Camp feeling a little anxious as I am a terrible climber and I had not the ideal preparation on the training side.

Bev and I drove up Friday afternoon and stopped at the Ovens Hotel for Dinner, we had a great feed even though they had no pasta on the menu!  We arrived at Marouka Lodge around 9.15pm & were one of the first to arrive,  we chose our room, unpacked our gear and met some of the later arrivals.

The next morning at 8.00am Carl gave us a briefing and a rough agenda for the day and what to expect. Carl said that the Mt.Hotham climb was in 3 stages and the secret to hill climbing was to try and pace yourself and not go out too hard. (hmmm I have heard him say that before somewhere) The weather was perfect and started we riding around 9.00am, there was a few rolling hills for the first few  km's, but some of the descents were unbelievable and even with my hands on the brakes I was still clocking around 78km an hour. We headed down to the tollbooth and stopped to re-group.

Our next re-group was at Harriettville, the majority were going to ride a further 25kms to Bright for lunch, but I decided not to ride to Bright as I was worried how I was going to handle the climb back. Richard, Bev had the same plan as me so we refueled at the local store at Harriteville and a agreed that we would meet at the picnic ground which was 1/3 of the way.

The first few Km's outside of Harriettville were a bit of a shock to the system, but I just concentrated on keeping a nice even pace and kept an eye on my heart rate. I got to the dreaded "Meg" that I heard so much about and even though I was slow, I was surprised that I managed to climb it with not too much problem. I got to the picnic ground and waited for Richard and Bev.

The second stage was around 8-9km's back to the tollbooth and this was very pleasant apart from seeing the road way ahead in the distance knowing what was still left to climb! We re-grouped at the tollbooth and then proceeded to do the last stage. The first few km's were not too bad, but CRB hill (I hope that's the right name ) was an absolute killer. After CRB there were a couple of welcome descents followed with some more gentle climbing. The last 3-4 km's was really tough, I am not sure if it was because I was fatigued, but I kept on looking at my computer and each corner thinking to myself surely this must be the next corner! Finally I was at the top and really enjoyed the last 2-3 km's riding back to base.

I was lucky to get back to just before the rain started, I could not believe how quick the weather had changed, perfect one minute, then pouring with rain the next. It was great seeing Bev coming down the last hill absolutely saturated with a huge smile on her face and watching some of the other riders finishing. It was also fantastic to see Karen ride the last few km's in the pouring rain, so determined to finish.

Richard and I enjoyed a few beers at the local pub while Carl, Bev and Claire prepared the famous aboc spaghetti Bolognese and garlic bread. Dinner was fantastic, (spaghetti always tastes better after a good ride) and gave us all a chance to share our experiences and our achievements over dinner. The only downside on Saturday night was not being able to watch American Flyers (sorry Carl, just kidding) and Nick talking or should I say yelling in his sleep!

The next day was pretty much left open and the majority of us rode down to Dinner Plain for breakfast which was around 11kms, mainly downhill and then we made the a small climb back to base where we packed up all our gear, helped clean up and said our goodbyes.

Thanks Carl for organizing a successful and enjoyable weekend.

Rob.

Yesterday was the start of the BBN track season and for the past few months I have been really looking forward to giving it a go. I paid my $10 and tell Doug that I have never raced before, Doug puts me in "C" grade much to my disappointment. (I was hoping that I would start in "E" or "D" grade) Doug says just see how you go, if you don't do any good we and put you in "D" grade next week.

The first race is a scratch race and "C" grade is the last to go, I watch a few of the races and can't believe how nervous I am getting. The "A" graders race was pretty fast, I have absolutely no idea what gear I should be racing in, I have already finished the water in my bottle and decide to head up to the club rooms for a refill and say hello to some of the abocer's.

I say hi to Bev and we both start cheering Carl & Dino who are racing in "B" grade, Carl and Dino are racing well and both look pretty strong then suddenly there is in almighty crash involving Peter, Dino and Alan. I have no idea how it happened, but it all happened so fast and right in front of where Bev and I were sitting. I jump over the fence to see how Dino is and try and make him comfortable, while other people see how both Peter and Alan are going. Peter is in a bad way and an ambulance is called while Sue and me try and patch up Dino.

Thankfully both Dino and Alan are okay apart from some nasty abrasions and no doubt today they will have some pretty bad bruising. Peter is taken away in the ambulance and he seemed okay as he was talking, he was even asking everyone how bad his bike was!

After seeing this crash I was completely spooked and I walked up to Nathan and Sue and said that wanted to pull out, Nathan laughed and tried to talk me out of it, then Sue said that I really should race and just stay at the back.

When the "C" grade was finally called I was completely shaking, I wasn't sure if it was because I was so cold or spooked, maybe it was a mixture of both. We do a rolling start and Doug blows the whistle to say the race has started, we start by doing rolling turns and I remember yelling out "I am coming up the bank", I was so loud I reckon the guys playing cricket must of heard me!  With 8 laps to go and couldn't believe how thirsty I am and I thinking to myself how am I going to finish this. The race finishes and I can't believe how quick it all went, I finish somewhere in the middle of the pack and was more relieved that I had survived.

The next race was a points race and I was looking forward to this as this is very similar to "take a lap" that we sometimes do at DISC. Carl tells me not to go out too hard and when the whistle blows for the first points lap basically the whole field just takes off. By the time I get back on the back the pace was getting a little slow so I decide to take the front for a while, I turn around and noticed that there is quite a big gap between me and the next rider so I try and slow down a bit, but I seem to be getting further in front. Maybe it was because of the wind, I take the points on the next round and with 4 laps to go I tried to keep a consistent pace and ended up winning pretty comfortably in the end. I was pretty happy and was really glad that I Nathan and Sue talked me into giving it a go.

The next race was an elimination race and I felt strong for the whole race, it ended coming down to Jamie and me and I had a beautiful ride in Jamies slipstream with one lap to go. I did not want to go too early so I sat in behind him and left my move way too late and Jamie won by a few meters. I congratulated Jamie and was really happy how I raced. I am sure that the more racing I do I will get better at knowing when and when not to attack.

This morning I ended up doing my normal ride up the 1:20 and stopped off at the Black Kettle for breakfast. I was talking to the owner Con who is a great supporter of BBN and it was his son Peter that was taken away in the ambulance. Fortunately he is fine apart from some bad bruising and scratches which is great news considering it could have been alot worse.

Yesterday reminded me just how dangerous our sport can be and taught me that you must pay attention to what's happening at all times. Dino and Alan, I hope your both okay and only have a few bruises, I just can't believe the amount of bad luck that Dino has had over the past few months.

Rob.

For the past few months I have been counting down the days for the start of the track season at Blackburn and also the Trek SSS that Carl has been busy planning.

On Saturday I rode 100km's with my mate Steve, it was supposed to be an easy ride, but the wind made the conditions really tough. On Sunday morning the legs were a little sore, but not too bad. I arrived at BBN around 10.30am to help Carl and the gang set up for the Trek SSS.  Because Nathan, Dino and myself were competing as well as helping out with timing and registrations etc, we agreed to do our flying 200's before everyone else so we would be organized. I decided to go first and without much of a warm-up and probably did my worst flying 200 ever.

The first match sprint was alot of fun, I had no real plan and didn't really know what I was doing, but remembered some things from Carl's Saturday morning race skills sessions. With about 200m to go I was nicely positioned behind my opponent and then decided to go for it. I probably went way too early, but it was nice to have a win first up.

The second sprint I was a little nervous, as I had seen Dino narrowly beat Leah my next opponent only meters from the line. She was  talking to me earlier and it sounded like she was pretty experienced rider. I thought my only real chance here was to maybe surprise her and attack early. Attack early I did, with about 300m to go I took off and I think I was able to get a 10m gap. With around 50m to go I could hear her at my back wheel and somehow found something and beat her just before the line. I was pretty happy with this result because I tried something different and it worked.

The third sprint was against Dino, we both knew this was sort of a dead rubber as both of us had enough points and would be racing each other again in the final. I still wanted to win and hopefully have a psychological advantage over him when we met again in the final. I was happy that he decided to lead as I was more than happy to just sit behind him. When he attacked he sort of caught me off guard and it took alot of effort to get back on his wheel. I was fortunate that my legs were starting to feel good and I was able to pass him just before the line.

In the final I won the toss and decided to let Dino lead, my thinking was that I didn't want to change anything from the previous race and I wanted to know exactly what was happening in front of me. Basically on the last lap Dino attacked and gapped me nicely, I tried to get back on, but I couldn't get close and I could feel that my legs were gone. Dino won pretty comfortably, in hindsight if I could race this again, I would taken the lead position and tried to race it on my terms. Anyway its all part of learning and each of the 4 races, were different and I am hoping next time it will make me a better rider.

Although the numbers were disappointing, it was a fantastic day, each of the races were raced in good spirits with a few jokes and a few laughs. I think Carl was disappointed with the turnout, but it gave us all a chance to fine tune some things and we will be better and stronger when the numbers get bigger. Every rider was full of praise on how well the event was run and were impressed that all races started on time. The overall winner of "A" grade, Eddie Wilson gave a great speech and told us how much he enjoyed it and more riders will definitely come.

Thanks again to Carl for idea and to BBN for making this happen, I am sure that this is going to get bigger and bigger.

See you on the track!

Rob.

I joined the aboc family just over 12 months ago and have met some great people and learnt so much about cycling.

The only thing that I regret is that I did not take up cycling years ago. I am 39 years old and turn 40 in November and the thought of turning 40 scares me more than anything! I think it is important to set yourself goals, but how many times do you write them down and just put them in a drawer somewhere and just forget to look at them? Well, I thought if I put them down in my BLOG, it will be a constant reminder what I have set myself to achieve and will hopefully motivate me.

These are my goals;

1) Improve my 1:20 time to under 20mins. I am not much of a climber, but I love this ride.......back in May my best time was 22.55mins, but I recently have cut it down to 21.26 which is heading in the right direction.

2) ITT on the Boulevard Compete in every ITT and improve my time, so far I have achieved this and have knocked off over a 70 seconds from my first attempt.

3) Blackburn Track Season. I bought my first track bike a few months ago and I absolutely love it, I have never felt so comfortable on a bike, but the thought of racing is pretty scary and daunting.

Reading Dino's BLOG has not only made me think "should I really be doing this", but has also inspired me to give it a go. Until next time. Rob.