Well done on another well organised event!
Keep up the good work


Another Day on The Choppin Block
Another Sunday another handicap at the Vets.

Once again got the choppin block, wanted to be in the next group forward
but I suppose I don't care too much either way, but when I saw that the gap
from us to the next group was 6 mins I laughed my guts out.  6 mins is a
huge gap to a bunch of similar rated riders, especially when scratch was
only 2 mins behind us!!!
Editor's note, Krystal may have had too hard a warm up the gap was in fact 4 minutes
I heard the scratchies talking to another rider before the race and  asked
what he was gunna do, meaning was he gunna ride hard or wait for them. As
always our aim is to hurt scratch as much as we can cos if you wait for
them your race is over.
You cant get fastest time and 4 or 5 things have to align if you are to get
the race win;

 1) scratch have to catch the out markers
2) you have to stay with the scratch bunch until the finish
3) You have to then out sprint a group of riders that have already been
assessed as being better than you.
4)  As well as many other things that affect a race.

Any way the bunch rolled off the start line and from the very first corner
I knew that we were in trouble cos there was no cohesion in the bunch.
Eventually we got together and we pushed on at a fair clip for the first 20
k or so. Out of the bunch of 9 there were only 4 who didn't miss a turn and
we were doomed to failure. Tony Gavan, Dave Byrne  and Bill Gordin
who owns Bike Force,  were really strong and didn't miss a turn. Justin Gravett
from Latrobe also rode well.
Chris Halley made the call, TOO early, that scratch were on us so we sat up
and waited.( I think he was maybe in with scratch)

Scratch caught us at Catani and that should have been when we really
started humming BUT now even more people from the block just sat on and
didn't help in the rotation.
Editors note, assign a gateman.

We pushed on and I checked at every corner what the gap was and it seemed
to be getting closer and closer.
In the end we missed out by............ I don't know how much but again we
missed out.

Not sure what we averaged... somewhere around the 44 mark and right now
(Sunday arvo) I am truly knackered............








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