139 on the Elite men start list last Friday, 119 showing up to post a time. Apart from the 550 riders across all grades at the Tour of Bright TT, this is one of the largest TT fields anywhere in the country. The 28km course was the roller-coaster we rode two years ago. The wind was blowing from the other direction this year so times were a lot slower this time around. I gave it everything I had, my numbers were good, and I was happy with the pacing.I was 21st last year in Portarlington, 23rd on this course two years ago, on Friday I rolled in 10th. 40 seconds off a podium spot and 90 seconds off winner Edward Bissaker (Team Jayco - AIS). Bissaker, 14 years my junior, was 1 second behind me two years ago in 24th place.... so give me two years, AIS backing, and knock off 14 years and I'll see what I can do in 2013!
Yes that is about 5 minutes of my arse. The video was all shaken up, so I'm now up to speed in VirtualDub and anti-shake video processing filters. I liked what the video showed though. There isn't much going on in a TT, just yourself, the wind, and a few traffic cones to keep you honest.
The best part about a top 10 is popping up on a few more write ups, like the Genesys report: http://genesysprocycling.com.
Top 10 Elite Men:
1 Edward Bissaker (Team Jayco – AIS) 38:26.2
2 Nathan Haas (Genesys Wealth Advisers) +00:38.3
3 Kane Walker (Genesys Wealth Advisers) 00:49.7
4 Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth Advisers) 01:00.4
5 Mark Jamieson (Jayco 2XU) 01:00.6
6 Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisers)01:06.1
7 Thomas Collier (Tineli Racing) 01:15.8
8 Nicholas Dougall (Jayco 2XU) 01:21.6
9 Taylor Gunman (Pure Black Racing) 01:24.8
10 Shane Miller (Hawthorn CC) 01:30.0
Full results: Cycling News Report/Results
Leanne Cole Pics
I rolled back down the hill to watch a few riders tackle the final climb, where the kids from the Ceres Primary School were cheering us on. They were out in force with cow bells, posters, and had a million questions all about why TT bikes have silly handlebars and covered in wheels.
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| Poster of the day. Awesome work kids! |
The final round for 2011 at Kew was held with the sun out, but damp roads, so no full speed cornering on the course. 12 entries in A Grade with 9 riders showing on the day. Tom Leaper (Croydon Cycleworks) was my 30 second man again. I caught Tom on the same section of the course as last round. Knowing he'd have to put 30 seconds into me on the final lap I got to back off just a little. Tom passed me at the turn as we started lap 2, but I was back in front by the bottom of the next corner. I pulled away and kept clear to the line. 100m to go I sat up and ticked over to the line. My splits were good, low 30 minute ride, and Von was there taking photos.
A Grade Results
1 MILLER, Shane 30:13.65 Hawthorn Cycling Club 2 KELLY, David 30:43.63 Carnegie Caulfield CC 3 LEAPER, Tom 30:56.19 Blackburn Cycling Club Inc 4 LAMA, Martin 32:06.41 Blackburn Cycling Club Inc 5 LANE, Stephen 32:36.87 Footscray Cycling Club Inc 6 JOHNSON, Shannon 32:49.31 Preston Cycling Club Inc 7 JONES, Ciaran 33:34.25 Carnegie Caulfield CC 8 HALE, Michael 33:42.19 Carnegie Caulfield CC 9 SAWFORD, Mal 34:35.75 Carnegie Caulfield CC Full results
David Kelly (Total Rush) just nudging out Tom for 2nd spot. That win made it four from four in the Blackburn CC / Bikes De Ver series, and the overall aggregate win in Elite. A big thanks to Blackburn CC for running the show again this year. It is a stupidly tough course to test ourselves on, and that is the best part!
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| Another battle with Tom Leaper under way. Photo by Marisa Farrell |
Current tally is 23 TTs for the year, 21 TT wins. Castlemaine CC are holding a TT this Saturday at Newstead (details here) so I'll be lining up there for #24. I'm looking forward to a few long flat kms on that course. I've also registered for the South Australian Masters State ITT Championships on the 27th, a fair distance and investment for a time trial, but it's a state level event, so I'm in! In the mean time, back to grinding away, on the road and in the lab, building for October which is going to be super busy on the bike.
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| Never! |
1 comment:
Congrats Shane on a fine effort!
I saw your name on Cycling Central..I hope you "taped" it..
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