Full Gas Mud
Congratulations must first go to Felt Racing team member Jason and his partner Tessa for the birth of baby girl Breanna on Saturday night! Mother and daughter are both doing well, and a Felt racing jersey is being stitched up for the young 'un!
But back to Thursday night at the Full Gas Crits. The weather was not the greatest, although again it did not rain during the race. For those who yearn for numbers, the full results are here but read on anyway!
With 9 riders in A grade, unfortunate missing Jack due to his recurring knee pain, the race got away to a leisurely start, with a group forming on the front after a lap. Fixxi rider Duncan Murray (Brunswick St Cycles) held on for the initial laps, before Matt Ligtermoet (DBike) and I decided that we needed to see how this fixxi stuff was done! With Duncan on the front and a gap back to the main field, Matt and I got schooled on how to really ride. Those fixxi boys are crazy and extremely talented, no matter how modest they may be.
Still, the time came for the race to begin in earnest. I took a mean tumble on a wooden bridge, and that tangled up Duncan and allowed Matt to sensibly get away from the two of us. Getting up and apologizing profusely for some awful riding, I decided to get on with it and chase down Matt. The vicious accelerations and higher tempo of the chase proved too much for single fixxi Duncan and he was off the back. Catching back up to Matt, it was a race of two, and once we arrived at the traffic, the race was basically decided by who got the better sequence through the traffic.
Fortunatly that turned out to be me, and I rolled in for a fairly easy win. I must however comment once again how considerate the slower riders are becoming, whether we are getting more polite or they are more aware of us, the general attitude and speed at which we can get by is excellent, and for that I thank 'them'.
On a tech note, I was experimenting with a set of Hutchinson Bulldog tires with a custom cut pattern, the solitary knob in the centre of the tyre being removed to clear mud faster. For the Westgate course, this tyre is not the perfect tyre for a single simple reason. The shoulder of the tyre is not proud enough for the slippery ruts, to grip at extreme angles. The custom cutting was great, allowing the mud to flick off very quickly (into following riders!!) and would be a great modification to the tyre for really muddy conditions. Paul Van shall be doing some serious tyre research over in NZ as they are having a hell winter, so stay tuned for his results!
Riding in on Matt's wheel, slip sliding along.
Matt put in a great effort, thankful I'm sure to not be worked over by the Felt Racing juggernaut again ;)
Finishing up, struggling as always with lap counting. Something seems to go awry when we hit the lap traffic, we always seem to lose count of the laps. Not to worry, we just keep going 'till someone says stop!
And look, another dirty bike to clean! A good sign in that the bike is dirty, meaning that the tires were self cleaning! How about that for optimism!!
Castlemaine is coming!
And Paul Van is down in Tassie doing some very hard work with the Junior Camp. Think 4 hour hill climbs, tempo, race simulations and all sorts of difficult work for the week! Damien G and GV RaceTech will be getting these boys into tip top shape for the upcoming worlds!! Enjoy boys!
But back to Thursday night at the Full Gas Crits. The weather was not the greatest, although again it did not rain during the race. For those who yearn for numbers, the full results are here but read on anyway!
With 9 riders in A grade, unfortunate missing Jack due to his recurring knee pain, the race got away to a leisurely start, with a group forming on the front after a lap. Fixxi rider Duncan Murray (Brunswick St Cycles) held on for the initial laps, before Matt Ligtermoet (DBike) and I decided that we needed to see how this fixxi stuff was done! With Duncan on the front and a gap back to the main field, Matt and I got schooled on how to really ride. Those fixxi boys are crazy and extremely talented, no matter how modest they may be.
Still, the time came for the race to begin in earnest. I took a mean tumble on a wooden bridge, and that tangled up Duncan and allowed Matt to sensibly get away from the two of us. Getting up and apologizing profusely for some awful riding, I decided to get on with it and chase down Matt. The vicious accelerations and higher tempo of the chase proved too much for single fixxi Duncan and he was off the back. Catching back up to Matt, it was a race of two, and once we arrived at the traffic, the race was basically decided by who got the better sequence through the traffic.
Fortunatly that turned out to be me, and I rolled in for a fairly easy win. I must however comment once again how considerate the slower riders are becoming, whether we are getting more polite or they are more aware of us, the general attitude and speed at which we can get by is excellent, and for that I thank 'them'.
On a tech note, I was experimenting with a set of Hutchinson Bulldog tires with a custom cut pattern, the solitary knob in the centre of the tyre being removed to clear mud faster. For the Westgate course, this tyre is not the perfect tyre for a single simple reason. The shoulder of the tyre is not proud enough for the slippery ruts, to grip at extreme angles. The custom cutting was great, allowing the mud to flick off very quickly (into following riders!!) and would be a great modification to the tyre for really muddy conditions. Paul Van shall be doing some serious tyre research over in NZ as they are having a hell winter, so stay tuned for his results!
Riding in on Matt's wheel, slip sliding along.
Matt put in a great effort, thankful I'm sure to not be worked over by the Felt Racing juggernaut again ;)
Finishing up, struggling as always with lap counting. Something seems to go awry when we hit the lap traffic, we always seem to lose count of the laps. Not to worry, we just keep going 'till someone says stop! 
And look, another dirty bike to clean! A good sign in that the bike is dirty, meaning that the tires were self cleaning! How about that for optimism!!Castlemaine is coming!
And Paul Van is down in Tassie doing some very hard work with the Junior Camp. Think 4 hour hill climbs, tempo, race simulations and all sorts of difficult work for the week! Damien G and GV RaceTech will be getting these boys into tip top shape for the upcoming worlds!! Enjoy boys!
posted by Ash Thomas at 6:59 am
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