Northern Combine 3 Day Tour 2011 - Post Tour Wrap

Over for another year, already! Hot on the heels of the Queen of the Classics out at Balliang, the Three Day Tour around the Macedon Ranges was a huge success. If you were not shuffling around with sore legs on Tuesday morning, you would be in the minority (and you didn't go hard enough!). We've had a few days to rest and recover, and now it's back to training. The photographers have all uploaded their goods, blogs and race reports are popping up, and the anonymous forum posts about the tour are still not worth mentioning...

I thought I'd put together a list of the goods, the bads, and the links. Maybe you've seen the pics and read the blogs, but if not, enjoy!

The Good:
- The weather. Amazing.
- The racing. A Grade was hands down the best tour/GC racing I've competed in.
- Bunch sizes. 40 riders was perfect for the country roads we were on. No 100+ riders fighting for road, crossing white lines, etc. Bunch sprints/kicks were safe!
- The courses/routes. All challenging. The TT was a little short, but still proved to be a good battle. No major bergs either (Mt Macedon ascent next year!?)
- Event coverage/promotion by Cycling Victoria. My daily A Grade reports were popular (thanks for reading!)
- The atmosphere. Simon who was following Womens B Grade ringing a cow-bell as A Grade ripped past on Stage 3. Previous stage DNF riders out on course switching to spectator mode and cheering the bunches on. The photographers snapping away.
- The presentations. MC Mr Elliott did a great job, making all the typical 'dad' style gaffes....."HSC study".. Interviewing the sponsors before they handed out the prizes, and interviewing some of the riders too.
- Event sponsor, Griffyn, from No Limit Cycle Repairs dominated in the marketing/PR department all weekend. I spoke to him a few times, and I watched him fix bikes on the spot in no time at all - The guy had energy.
- Lisa walking around with a tub of lollies for D Grade... which I did a handful of damage to.... nom!

The Bad:
- Timing system issues in the TT and road stages. A number of contested placings ended up with interesting results, not just mine.
- No finish line cameras. Essential for disputes. Wireless chip theory is good, but visuals are a lot better.
- Results being published on another site before the official 3DT site. Many people couldn't find them. One site, one location, all the information. Stick sponsors names/images/links all over it, but distributing the info across sites meant people had to go on a click-hunt session.
- One of the sponsors missing at the presentations, awkward for them. 100+ racing cyclists in one room? A marketing/branding/PR opportunity missed guys!
- Three days isn't long enough. Lets race for a week! :)

The Links:
Photos by Brian Mangano - All Stages
Photos by Robert Groom - (Stage 4)
Photos by Ash Milne - (Stages 1,2,3)
Video by Kathryn Feldmaier - http://vimeo.com/25014573 (Linked to in my last post)
Blog by SoulDevotion: http://staytruecycling.blogspot.com/ (A Grade)
Blog by Brendan Bailey: http://thenewtimer.blogspot.com/ (A Grade)
Blog by Dave Anderson: http://gobravedave.wordpress.com/ (His weekly wrap ups are great.)
Blog by TDR Racing: http://tdr-melbourne.blogspot.com/ (C and D Grade)
Blog by Andy Christie: http://achristiecycling.blogspot.com/ (A Grade)

Three Day Tour Sponsors List: http://www.3daytour.org/sponsors.html


My Thanks:
- Everyone involved in running the show from start to finish. Lots of people behind the scenes, their work very much appreciated.
- Team Kosdown and our sponsors. The guys rode hard, rode smart, and the results followed. 2 stage wins, a 2nd, a 4th, and 2nd on GC. And 3rd in the KOM battle.
- Cycling Victoria again for their re-Tweets and Facebook link sharing of my race reports.
- The StKilda Womens Dev Squad - For finding great accommodation, and providing amusing stories from the Womens B Grade race over the weekend.
- Raoul from Luescher Teknik - The shoes are going strong! So is the carbon repaired frame I rode in stages 1,3,4.
- My Chiro, Dr. Elizabeth Walker at absolutebodyhealth.com.au... essential when riding a TT bike all the time.

So what's up next.....? Four time trials in the next two weeks. Back to pure TT training and forever chasing those one-percent advantages in between..... get on board, hold on! 

55.2km/h ave on the stealth bike... 1st place Stage 2 ITT