Stage one, Tour of Two Rivers

Todays race was a win for Epic Valkyrie tactics! 

Arriving at the race we realised as soon as we got out of the car that today would be all about the wind. The gale today made the Stockingbingal handicap seem like a pleasant breeze. We sussed out the competition and there were four or five women in C Grade and me and one other woman in B. All the women were grouped to set off in the men's D bunch.

On the line I had a good position and knew that the pace would be intense off the line as I had a fair suspicion that the bunch would split early.

I was right and out of the gate into a cross wind the pace was hard but manageable but the wind made the bunch horrible.

No one wanted to pull turns and when they did the bunch was sketchy and really strung out. In an echo of the famous D Train I pulled quite a few epic turns which meant that I was prob working a bit harder than I should (although I could hear Brad in my head saying "remember Rach, what would Boz do?"). With that in mind I started trying to avoid turns which is a skill all it's own and I was pretty proud that I actually got a bit aggressive in a men's bunch and stole some wheels successfully which I was pretty proud to pull off in a race situation.
I  stuck on D  a fair while till shortly before the KOM my HR went above where it was at Coota and i blew up, and dropped off. Just like at Coota i thought NOOOO and gave it some efforts to get back on which i did and i would have hung on but the wind was INSANE!! and although I yelled at the three on the back, they wouldn't hold their wheels so I couldn't get a good draft and dropped off. Once i dropped off i had really bad chest pains even when my HR slowed to 138bpm and sat there for ages and  it was SO painful so i slowed right down and took it as evidence of  the last few weeks of exhaustion. 

Once i knew i wouldnt get back on I cruised till a big bloke came by and I sat really computably in his echelon It was pretty funny as he tried repeatedly to surge and drop me but in such a massive draft I hung on easy. Some marshals came past and I slowed down for a chat about the rules of scratch where they suggested I could turn early if I wanted as long as I removed my number but I kinda felt like finishing. The big guy got away while I was chatting but we were nearly at the turn and all of a sudden someone was behind me.

I looked back and there was this tiny 15year old from womens C who had obviously been working her guts out to chase me down! I was so impressed I slowed down so she could sit in. We turned and pretty soon caught the big guy for a nice draft as I taught the junior where to sit in the echelon. 

Meanwhile KateM approached the turn with a commuter in fluoro.

We rode along as a trio for a while when i started to do the math. O wasnt sure if the points for top ten were split by womens grades (in which case id be 2nd by default) or whether all the women would be lumped together. I realised this meant i was likely towing this junior in  (who was amazingly strong) and risking a place.

It occurred to me that now might be a time to try a Lisa-cadel O'Grady breakaway.

I've never tried to breakaway from anything but I figured the tricks were : sudden, fast, and go hard enough  and fast enough that the surprise of it psyches them out and they dont chase.

I looked ahead and wondered when you are supposed to attack and figured a good time would include the end of a climb and followed by a downhill. Sadly the course was dead flat and I knew the real issue was that once I went I'd be in the wind alone.

Nevertheless I wanted to have a go so I quietly clicked up the gears and then BANG! straight into the Simon Dwyer sprint drills and to my amazement I opened up a fairly big gap, and then held it for quite a while. Pleased that it had worked I eased up again and soon KateM (in her first ever road race) had caught on with the yellow commuter.

It was obvious fairly quickly that she was experiencing the kind of race bullying that so many women put up with before they learn (as Valkyries) to tell d***heads to F*** off.

Worried she had been having a rough time I offered to drop off with her but she was DETERMINED to teach him a lesson. 

Stoked that she was refusing to let him demoralize her I wondered what tactics we could use.

The commuter was pushing everyone into a shitty and sketchy echelon where he kept getting cranky at everyone and getting on front.

Realising that he would take turns thinking we didn't know what we were doing I thought we could play it smart, let him do the work and sit in to beat him in a sprint.

Unsure if Kate understood my plan, I sat in on her wheel and refused to pull turns despite his calling me out.
I also figured they'd be pushing to get the other girl ahead of us on the line so the plan was to hang in, avoid work and keep the pace constant so that the others were working and would be in the wrong position for the sprint.

It worked like a charm. Kate pulled epic determined turns meaning I could conserve and try to work out how far away we were. 

Suddenly about 800m out the junior had a respectable attack but not fast enough to be a surprise and gave me the tip that we were nearly there. 

With the energy I'd saved thanks to Kates hard work I got straight in the drops and gunned the sprint drills we have practiced in training.

The big guy who had mostly sat in tried to challenge but couldn't hold it and thanks to Ange B who had dropped a chain and had to turn early and was standing on the lone so that I knew where it was, I got over the line first of the last bunch. 

There wasn't any prize money in it as the other B grader and one C grader who might find herself bumped up pretty soon had held on to D grade, but it was an EPIC tactical win in my book, and has finally helped KateM realise that she, is a bike racer.

ROOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!

Go Valkyrie, Go Siren.

Oh and the commute? Dropped like a stone. After the race I congratulated the junior who said it was her first race, to which I suggested she talk to the national talent ID Program. Once again, the country clubs were stoked to see us there.