14.09.08 - Tarred Win in Osaka
The last race here was my first in Japan. I was mega-unfit and recall struggling to just pedal in the big ring. Not good for a track that's purely pedalling and nothing else to make up time on. The Osaka Crit's loop isn't the most exciting - a 1 minute-long rectangle with some cones to create the bends at each end. But with a major lack of racing over the past couple of months, I was keen to get the heart rate up.
I rode out with 'Pacio' and Darren on a nice sunny day. It was a good warm up, with a stop at the 'conbini' (always) for some packaged cakes and cool drinks. We got to the track with ages to spare, so a lot of mingling was done. Then it was time to race...
From the start I found myself pretty amped, so I attacked from the first corner. We got a good little group going for a while, before the local teams reeled us in. This happened a few times over the first half of the race, but nothing seemed to stick. Then Darren got in a solid break of 5 guys, who stayed away for a while. This gave me a chance to have a rest from the previous efforts. It ended up being good timing. With two laps to go it felt like the race had gone quickly. I quickly moved to the front of the bunch, watch for attacks, and set myself up in 5th wheel.
With a lap to go, as we passed the finish line, a couple of guys jumped, my Kiwi team mate Mark got onto it, and I blocked. Then a couple more guys went and I jumped on. So it was 5 just up the road, 3 riders (with Mark), the next 3 (including me), and then the rest after a gap. Going through the second corner, my group were too slow, so I went around and didn't touch the brakes. This meant I ended up on the back of Mark's group. Heading into the 2nd last turn, Mark had attacked, with me behind, and we passed the breakaway group in one go. Darren shouted out "go fellas!", so we did. Into the last turn I hooked onto the inside of Mark and broke clear. But by then he'd already got us a big gap. I kicked to double that to take the win with ages to spare.
It was a small win, but a fun one. It's good when things go smoothly. I'm hoping for the same at the next MTB race.
