I marshalled on the Saturday, for the womens' races and the mens over 50s. It was cold and windy, but at least it didn't rain. The evening saw enough rain to make the track quite wet, and then race day for me say intermittent showers and 30kph wind. 16-17c. Miserable weather really, but suits me so much better than hot.
There were 86 in my age group (40-44). I got to the pens early and got a front spot. I pushed off fairly hard at the start, but didn't go absolutely all out. The opening 500m is flat along a dam wall, with a tight and punchy little 10% climb at the end of it. That split the group a bit.
The course goes around a reservoir initially, with some climbs to split the field. I stayed up near the front until 13km, at which point my chain sneaked past the catcher and came off. I got it back on quite quickly, and chased back on. By 20km, I'd caught and passed all but a handful in my group and we decided to work together to try to catch the leaders. At the 40 minute point, my normalised power was about 420w.
As we raced through the first lap, the small group we had started to splinter. The issue was that I was the strongest of the five, and I wasn't sure (with this being my first mass start race) whether I should hold back a little to try to keep the group or whether to push on. I am a very strong climber for my size, and was dropping everyone on the climbs despite not really pushing very hard (I was typically climbing at 100-115% of FTP). The descents on the other side were almost designed for me with them being not too steep, but fairly twisty, with technical cornering and rough terrain. I ride 1500km plus gravel per month, so I'm really comfortable on loose terrain, and the 2.1" tyres gave me a lot of grip.
I descended generally on gravity, giving myself a little rest and the others a chance to catch so we could work together on the flats. With hindsight, there weren't really enough flats to warrant this.
By the end of the first lap (52km), the group has gone and I did the second lap solo. I caught 4 or 5 more of my age group over the course of the lap, despite having throttled back a bit. I had it in my head to save something for the final half hour, and besides, for the last 25km, I had (for the first time in my life) some pretty unpleasant cramps.
I crossed the line in 3hrs 38, for 104km, with an average power of 336w and 370w NP. I finished in 3rd place, with first and second 4-5 minutes ahead.
In a stroke of tremendous luck, I puctured on the final straight and didn't even notice until I tried to ride up to the race village afterwards and the tyre went completely flat. A big gash in the rear, which I attempted to plug later on but it wouldn't hold air.
Having seen literally dozens of guys at the side of the road covered in sealant, I realise that I'm incredibly lucky.
I am already planning to go back next year. I will do the full week there to help with the race set up, and I hope that with a bit of weight loss (6kg), a lighter and more aero bike and a better race strategy that I can win all the age groups. The winner of the 19-34 category only went 11 minutes faster than me. Had I done the second lap as fast as the first, I'd have been only 4 minutes behind.
It's stupidly ambitious of course, but in my defense, I did exactly the power I expected to do for this race and I went 2 minutes faster than I thought I would. It would be pretty bloody cool to be 42 and winning all the age groups. I guess that would mean I'd have to race elite the year after!
