Today Jack, Ash and myself rolled down to Mulgrave to have a little dabble at this road thing they call a crit. Unfortunately Ash had to be a spectator due to a wild party the night before, but still attended to support..

We had a quick race briefing (where we learnt the rules, and got the lowdown on the course- left, straight, left, straight etc.) and then sent off for 1hr plus three laps. Like a true MTBer, Jack rode off the front of the A group on the third lap of the circuit, the only problem was he didn’t even know he did it until Ash pointed this out to him from the curb!!

Once the group got rolling, the slight breeze down the main straight felt like a hurricane was coming and the tiny rise in the road become a strength effort from hell.

With around 15 minutes down I made a costly error. A couple of riders got away from the main bunch. My understanding of A grade road riders is that they let no one get away. WRONG! I looked around thinking these boys on their race wheels and ripped legs won’t let this happen, WRONG!!! By this time there were around 15 riders storming off into the distance and not looking back. Once the gap opened up, I realized I should have bridged the gap as it formed, but once there was enough people across, the race was up the road.

For the rest of the race I worked hard on the front with a couple of other riders only to find that we got lapped with 7 minutes to go, and subsequently pulled form the course

Watching the finish from the curb hurt but just inspired me to come back and have another dabble!!!!!

Jason.