Final day of racing. Like every day, hot at the starting line, already 30 degrees, to reach a high of 35 at the finishing line. Remember this is air temperature in the shadows, not the actual temperature on the road (no clouds either). Fortunately, as always, the motorcycles were riding next to us with ample water to fill our bottles and more over our heads.
Due to road construction, the course was shortened to flat 97 km. Andre took his shot early one, 1 km out of the start, he got a 300 meter lead on the pelaton but no one joined and he was caught after another 4 km. First half of the race saw multiple attempts to get away, no one even being allowed off the front as the lead teams held the race tight. Halfway through the race, our average was 37 kph, with lots of lulls in the action, until finally three riders escaped.
At 70 km, Shanghai's very own Paul Toohey waited until another breakaway attempt was pulled in, then launched an attack with massive speed, quickly pulling away. After he got 400 meters, the pelaton responded, but just as we were about to catch him we came to an overpass and the pelaton slowed just so slightly, and Paul was gone again.
Ten km from the finish, the pace picked up to 45 kph, never to get below that pace again. I moved into the 10th position and was able to bridge to a three man break at the top of an overpass, but the pelaton wasn't in a mood to let it get away and pulled it in quickly. The final several km had several overpasses and turns, the pace sneaking up to 50+ kph, by the time the 3km sign appeared I was struggling to hold my front position, and soon was struggling even to hold a wheel. The key to winning was being one of the first few around a u-turn with 1.1 km to go; no one from Shanghai could hold the fast pace that long.
In the 50+ category, Chang-chi did honors to Shanghai by earning second in a group sprint.
As always, solid Thai food ready shortly after the finish.
Dead tired, very happy, looking forward to next year.
Thank you again Allen!
thanks so much for your report.
ReplyDeletethe Philippines sent 40 riders and support crew to Tour of Friendship R1 2009..not at all too serious some of my friends enjoy cycle racing as a hobby only... however we do write the report in english...here it is.
the tough race we are also calling the TOUR OF HARDSHIP 2009...we will be back next year enjoy another set of pain.
see you all...thanks so much for participating.
looking forward to race with you guys again
raymond see
http://rocka1bikeshop.blogspot.com/