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| Cornering in Kew Boulevard criterium, also known as the "Teardrop" due to its shape. |
Since the end of the road season in 2012, which was marked by the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic, I've been racing criteriums every week from October 2012 through to April 2013. I love the criterium season because the races are typically short, fast and intense, they're typically within Melbourne and easy to fit in around work, and are typically less tiring and time-consuming than road racing.
Similar to last year, my criterium of choice has been
Hawthorn Cycling Club's Kew Boulevard Criterium which is claimed to be the toughest crit in Melbourne. The Kew Boulevard crit has a significant hill every lap of its 1 km course, which means riders can't just sit in the bunch like they can for a flatter course, so there is no hiding for this one. The course suits me because I'm more of a climber than a sprinter and I'm generally trying to get into a break. I think all the crits in Melbourne are tough though due to the strong racing scene and a lot of strong competition in Melbourne. It never really gets easier, you just get faster.
I also raced a few crits with St Kilda Cycling Club and Coburg Cycling Club, but didn't make it out to any Carnegie Caulfield or Footscray Cycling Club crits. In this post, I've gone back to look at my results over the summer and included them below.
Kew Boulevard Criteriums (A Grade)
I figured out how to write some html to create the table below but it looks a bit amateurish, so you'll have to excuse my lack of html code-writing ability. Now I know these results and photos make me look rather self-absorbed, but nonetheless, I'm posting them.
| Date |
Result |
Number of racers |
Elapsed Time |
Avg Speed
(km/h) |
Max Speed
(km/h) |
Avg Cadence
(rpm) |
Avg Heart Rate |
Max Heart Rate |
Avg Power (Watts) |
Max Power
(Watts) |
Temp (°C) |
Strava Link |
Video Link |
| October 17, 2012 |
8th | 25 | 37:54 | 41.5 | 59.6 | 96 | 183 | 193 | 314 | 1206 | - | Strava |
|
| October 24, 2012 |
9th | 29 | 41:05 | 42.4 | 62.0 | 96 | 182 | 192 | 311 | 1277 | 21 | Strava |
|
| October 31, 2012 |
8th | 13 | 39:14 | 41.6 | 60.8 | 96 | 176 | 196 | 294 | 1237 | 24 | Strava |
|
| November 7, 2012 |
2nd | 18 | 44:27 | 40.8 | 56.7 | 101 | 185 | 195 | 334 | 1168 | 19 | Strava |
|
| November 14, 2012 |
4th | 30 | 29:47 | 41.9 | 59.7 | 97 | 175 | 196 | 273 | 1150 | 18 | Strava |
|
| November 21, 2012 |
6th | 30 | 47:00 | 40.3 | 59.6 | 99 | 177 | 192 | 295 | 1223 | 17 | Strava | Video |
| November 28, 2012 |
3rd | 29 | 44:46 | 40.9 | 57.7 | 102 | 184 | 194 | 300 | 1238 | 26 | Strava | Video |
| December 5, 2012 |
2nd | 22 | 43:54 | 40.0 | 60.3 | 101 | 184 | 192 | 336 | 1170 | 16 | Strava | Video |
| December 12, 2012 |
3rd | 27 | 43:20 | 40.4 | 60.4 | 99 | 185 | 199 | - | - | 34 | Strava | Video |
| December 19, 2012 |
Interrupted by rain | 22 | 19:27 | 41.7 | 55.6 | 103 | - | - | 317 | 1178 | 26 | Strava |
|
| December 26, 2012 |
No Racing |
| January 2, 2013 |
No Racing |
| January 9, 2013 |
6th | 20 | 46:02 | 41.3 | 63.0 | 91 | 184 | 193 | - | - | 19 | Strava | Video |
| January 16, 2013 |
9th | 26 | 38:25 | 41.2 | 61.7 | - | 177 | 193 | 320 | 1194 | 26 | Strava | Video |
| January 23, 2013 |
4th | 20 | 42:31 | 42.0 | 62.4 | - | 183 | 194 | - | - | 23 | Strava |
|
| January 30, 2013 |
6th | 22 | 45:01 | - | 57.6 | - | 182 | 194 | - | - | 29 | Strava | Video |
| February 6, 2013 |
3rd | 21 | 43:14 | 42.0 | 60.7 | - | 184 | 199 | - | - | 36 | Strava | Video |
| February 13, 2013 |
5th | 23 | 36:59 | 41.7 | 65.7 | - | 181 | 197 | - | - | 32 | Strava | Video |
| February 20, 2013 |
8th (Crashed) | 24 | 45:56 | - | 64.0 | - | 183 | 193 | - | - | 26 | Strava | Video |
| February 27, 2013 | Racing Cancelled |
| March 6, 2013 |
2nd | 23 | 43:28 | 42.7 | 63.7 | 95 | 186 | 202 | 271 | 1328 | 32 | Strava | Video |
| March 13, 2013 |
4th | 23 | 44:18 | 42.1 | 67.2 | 100 | 178 | 192 | 313 | 1368 |
| Strava | Video |
| March 20, 2013 |
5th | 26 | 39:11 | 41.9 | 60.5 | 97 | 179 | 194 | 332 | 1223 | 27 | Strava | Video |
| March 27, 2013 |
5th | 25 | 35:21 | 42.5 | 75.1 | 96 | 180 | 198 | 353 | 1302 | 33 | Strava | Video |
| April 3, 2013 |
3rd | 22 | 29:41 | 41.6 | 59.2 | 99 | 177 | 194 | 332 | 1247 | 15 | Strava | Video |
It was a little disappointing not to pick up a win here this season, but I was happy with my consistency, finishing in the top ten in all twenty-one races (despite crashing in one of them), and getting on the podium in half of them (if you count 4th place as the podium too). I attacked and went out in break-aways just about every week, and while it was quite painful, they usually payed off and you soon forget about the pain after the race.
Average speeds in the A grade were above 40 km/h every week, and as high as 42.5 km/h, which is pretty high for this course. My heart-rate figures show the intensity of the racing each week, averaging as high as 186 bpm, and peaking at 202 bpm.
The power figures measured by my Quark power-meter are also interesting, showing that I averaged up to 353 Watts in a race, and also showing that my sprinting needs some work, with a peak wattage of 1368 Watts. There are some power figures missing from the December, January and February months because the power-meter stopped working for an unknown reason, but I eventually got it replaced under warranty at the start of March.
Below are a selection of photos from the Kew Boulevard criteriums, mostly thanks to Dave Williams who was out behind his lens capturing hundreds of shots just about every week. Good on him!
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| November 21, 2012: Oscar Stevenson, Peter Braunsteins and Ned Powell in a break. |
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| November 21, 2012: in the bunch. |
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| November 23, 2012: Ned Powell, Tom Christie, Oscar Stevenson in a break. Note the faint moustaches that Tom and I are sporting for Movember. |
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| November 28, 2012: David Woolsey, Cameron McDonald, Ned Powell, taking the corner in the bunch. |
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| November 28, 2012, Kew Boulevard |
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| November 28, 2012, Kew Boulevard: Clive Silcock and Ned Powell leading the bunch. |
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| November 28, 2012, Kew Boulevard: me being camera-shy. |
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| December 5, 2012, Kew Boulevard: me and James Gray, one of my regular break-away companions, often right from the gun! |
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| December 12, 2012, Kew Boulevard: Daniel Strauss, Ned Powell, Mark O-Brien, James Butler in the break-away. |
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| December 12, 2012, Kew Boulevard: Ned Powell and Daniel Strauss cornering through the hair-pin. |
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| December 12, 2012, Kew Boulevard: James Butler, Ned Powell, Mark O'Brien and Daneil Strauss in the break. |
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| December 12, 2012, Kew Boulevard: Mark O'Brien, Daniel Strauss, James Butler and Ned Powell in the break. |
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| December 19, 2012, Kew Boulevard |
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| December 12, 2012, Kew Boulevard |
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| December 12, 2012, Kew Boulevard |
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| January 9, 2013, Kew Boulevard: James Gray, Ned Powell and Daniel Braunsteins. |
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| January 16, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| January 30, 2013, Kew Bouelvard: Ned Powell and Tom Christie |
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| January 30, 2013, Kew Boulevard: Ned Powell and Rico Rogers |
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| February 6, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| February 6, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| February 6, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| February 13, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| February 13, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| February 20, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| March 6, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| March 6, 2013, Kew Boulevard: in the break with Peter Braunsteins |
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| March 13, 2013, Kew Boulevard: also my birthday. |
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| March 20, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| April 3, 2013, Kew Boulevard |
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| April 3, 2013, Kew Boulevard: I finished 3rd place in the HCC 2012 Mens Race Series, missed out on the bike but scored a $300 voucher for Lawrencia Cycles so I can't complain. |
And below are a few photos showing the results of going around that hairpin bend too fast (which I determined to be ~45 km/h).
My mishap occurred in the final lap; I attacked before the last bend, so I had a lot of speed and just over-cooked the bend, the wheels lost traction, I hit the road on my left side and slid into the gutter. It was rather embarrassing and painful! Luckily I didn't take anyone else out behind me. Determined to finish, I hopped back on my bike and finished in 8th place, thus maintaining my unbroken string of top-ten finishes.
Other than the Kew Boulevard crits, I also raced a few of the Coburg Cycling Club criteriums up at National Boulevard in Campbellfield. Since these are on Saturday mornings and I'm not exactly a morning person, I only made it along to three of them, but I do like racing there.
National Boulevard Criteriums (A Grade)
November 3, 2012
| AVG | MAX |
|---|
| Temperature | 18°C | -- |
| Speed | 42.5km/h | 63.0km/h |
| Cadence | 97 | -- |
| Heartrate | 173bpm | 193bpm |
| Power | 285W | 1,284W |
| Elapsed Time | ~1 hr 15 mins |
Result: 6th
Strava and
Strava
December 6, 2012
| AVG | MAX |
|---|
| Temperature | 20°C | -- |
| Speed | 42.3km/h | 58.3km/h |
| Cadence | 97 | -- |
| Heartrate | 167bpm | 190bpm |
| Power | 286W | 1,366W |
| Elapsed Time | 01:14:49 |
Result: 12th
Strava
March 23, 2013
| AVG | MAX |
|---|
| Temperature | 20°C | -- |
| Speed | 41.2km/h | 69.5km/h |
| Cadence | 95 | -- |
| Heartrate | 162bpm | 194bpm |
| Power | 284W | 1,204W |
| Elapsed Time | 01:18:11 |
Result: 3rd
SKCC Criteriums (B Grade)
St Kilda Cycling Club criteriums are held on Sunday mornings, and again I only made it along to a hand-full of them. Since I haven't raced (or placed) there enough to move up to A grade, I was still racing B grade.
December 23, 2012: Melbourne Sprint Championships
The Melbourne Sprint Championships were quite chaotic with 108 riders in B grade on the little White St course in South Melbourne. Indeed there were a few crashes and I heard some blokes unfortunately ended up in the hospital.
| AVG | MAX |
|---|
| Temperature | 38°C | -- |
| Speed | 43.8km/h | 66.5km/h |
| Cadence | 88 | -- |
| Heartrate | 184bpm | 200bpm |
| Power | -- | -- |
| Elapsed Time | 00:48:44 |
Result: 10th of 108
Strava
March 3, 2013: Port Melbourne Hot-Dog Crit
The Hot-Dog Crit, held during the Port Melbourne Bike Festival, had a more sensible number of starters (thirty-six) and I enjoyed the circuit, slowing down to take the 180 degree turn at each and and speeding back up again, all in front of a reasonable crowd. A few guys went off the front early in the race, and I bridged across a few laps later, and the three of us extended our lead throughout the race. I attacked with a couple of laps to go and managed to hold on for the win. This apparently earned me a promotion to A grade.
| AVG | MAX |
|---|
| Temperature | 24°C | -- |
| Speed | 36.7km/h | 53.8km/h |
| Cadence | -- | -- |
| Heartrate | 182bpm | 198bpm |
| Power | -- | -- |
| Elapsed Time | 00:48:44 |
Result: 1st of 36
Strava
SKCC Team Time-Trial (B Grade)
February 17, 2013
The SKCC Team Time-Trial was one of my favourite events for the season. Four of us (me, Tom Christie, Peter Braunsteins and Chris Zucchet) had been training up for this race for the preceding month, hitting up Yarra Boulevard and Richmond Boulevard twice a week and practicing our team time-trialing, positioning, changes, timing, etc, and also picking up a number of Strava KOM's along the way. This put us in good stead for the race, which we ended up winning by a very satisfying 43 seconds ahead of the second placed team, and averaging 49.0 km/h.
| AVG | MAX |
|---|
| Temperature | 32°C | -- |
| Speed | 49.0km/h | 65.1km/h |
| Cadence | 103 | -- |
| Heartrate | 186bpm | 196bpm |
| Power | -- | -- |
| Elapsed Time | 00:10:10 |
Result: 1st
Strava
Video - "watch Melbourne Unibicycles team fly past at 8 minutes" (video courtesy of James Dunn)
So that wraps up my crit racing escapades for the summer, in a post which I should have written a few months ago. With the end of summer came the end of the crit racing and the beginning of the road season which I've been actively partaking in, so I'll write another post soon to cover how that's been going, and potentially a random post or funny story if I have one.
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awesome Ned, as always an inspiration!
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