Another Thursday Another Win Congratulations Guys
WTRL TTT Premier League Race Report – CRYO RDT Vultures
Course: New York City’s Astoria Line 8 – 35km / 425m
Laps: 3
Time: 00:43:40 at 47.95km/h
Position: 1st Platinum League, 1st Overall, Course Record
MVP: Martin Maertens
Powered by: Powerbar, Cycle Dynamic Coaching
Look – if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything and make it eight WTRL TTT wins in a row – would you capture it or just let it slip?
Our palms are sweaty. Knees weak, arms are heavy. There’s vomit on our jerseys already or is that celebratory confetti? We’re nervous but on the surface, we look calm and ready to drop watt bombs but we keep on forgetting what Martin wrote down, the whole team goes so loud, we open our mouths but Discord won’t let the words come out. Are we choking now, everybody’s hoping now, the clock’s run out, time up, over – pow!
Martin Maertens, A+ (C, 23)
Aaron Borrill, A+ (VC, 38)
Eddy Hoole, A+ (27)
Jack Polley A+ (27)
RJ Cowan, A+ (18)
Harry Mustard, A+ (15)
Jorn Andersen, A+ (2)
Johannes Begrich, A+ (1)
Okay, back to reality… You guys are still reading this to the same tune, hey? hahaha I thought you’d would like that little rap to start things off – it gives a little insight into life on the start line with the Vultures.
So the big question is, did we do it? Did we make it eight Platinum League wins in a row and five overall Doppio victories? Well, we did manage to put together a stellar line-up as well as welcome back our captain, Martin Maertens, who slotted in for his brother Robert. Jason Frank sat out last night and his position was filled by debutant Johannes Begrich – again, we’ve been using these opportunities to develop depth and keep the squad strong and well-drilled in TTT combat. We’ll be honest – NYC isn’t one of our favourites but the tough nature of the Astoria Line 8 course tends to separate the men from the boys.
An eight-minute delay did nothing to ease the nerves. Both Aaron and RJ Zombie expressed some anxiety but the team was quick to throw out a couple of quips to keep things calm and help everyone focus. The goal for the night was an outright win – an exercise in stamping our authority as well as practising for next week Tuesday’s make-or-break ZRL TTT – a race that will determine whether or not CRYO RDT makes the Premier Division Play-Offs.
There was no premature start-line trebuchet antics this week and we got off to a flying start, quickly getting into formation in textbook fashion. The sequence was as follows: Harry, Jack, Eddy, Martin, RJ, Aaron, Jorn and Johannes – a well-drilled line-up with Jorn Ironside and Johannes bringing up the rear. The first lap was impeccably executed, even the two major climbs. We’ve got to a point where every rider produces the goods on command helping with speedy transitions and clear progress on the front. Martin was calling an excellent race and instructing us down to the finest of details. It wasn’t long before we passed On The Rivet Blur with guest rider Nathan Guerra – the team moved over in great sporting fashion but still, this took a little out of the legs.
We lost Johannes and Harry shortly after the pass- both of whom did a formidable job closing gaps and putting in monster efforts on the front. In fact, it seemed as though Johannes was using the TTT as tryouts for RJ’s Zombie Nation such was the agony of his baritone. Aaron too was suffering a little – he, himself, admitting to ‘prairie dogging’ off the rear before recovering and slotting back into the pain train. With lap 2 in the bag, we were well and truly on course for the win but WeZ were not going down without a fight. Looking at the Strava stats, we were neck-and-neck with them and needed one hell of a final lap to go clear – a tough exercise with just six Vultures left in tow but we’ve been in tougher situations than this before.
To help nullify some of the fatigue setting in, Eddy, Martin and RJ put in a couple of extra turns to help the team recover and keep progress swift. RJ has hit an incredible purple patch of form and is riding better than ever – it has to be that sugary Zombie mouthwash he was waxing lyrical about on Discord. We all need some of that. With 5km to go the course record was within sight – 43:53 set by PO Auto Ceramic-Speed last year. And I must say, it’s in these final moments of a TTT where we’ve really honed our craft. Martin has an incredible gift for getting the most out of each rider, prompting us to give one last effort no matter how long or short it is – he’s been instrumental in bringing order and focus to ranks when it matters most.
Everyone put in a final dig. Jack, Eddy, Martin, RJ, Aaron and Jorn. Again, the words ‘Course record, course record – go, go go!’ was shouted out loud. ‘Go boys, go boys…. We got it, we got this. That’s the course record!’ We’ve now recorded an unprecedented eight Platinum League wins in a row as well as five successive overall wins across all time zones. We go into Tuesday’s ZRL TTT with confidence and hope that we can achieve our goal of promotion into the big leagues.
Until next week,
The Vultures
