Tales from the llama...: Cycling Victoria & CCCC Phillip Island TT

Like migrating penguins, it was that time of year again to make our way down south for the Phillip Island IRTT Spectacular. With the forecast of rain, hail, and the chance of bogans, Mal and the crew from CCCC somehow arranged perfect conditions for a TT: Dry, sunny, and windy as hell.

Von was off early in the day so we were able to sneak in a lap before the TT started. It was super-fast down the main straight and super slow back into the wind and up the hill, or "Lukey Heights", for those who like to give nicknames to segments of road. It was good to get a feel for the wind, it really dictated the pacing strategy for the day.

With the honour of wearing #1, I had 2hrs up my sleeve to run around and take photos of Von and a few others... and pick their brains about the conditions when they rolled into the finish.

Not much to report on my ride. Head down, stick to the plan, get it done. I was keeping an eye on my lap splits and was just a touch faster than last year. In the end I was only 5 seconds faster than last year. Fast enough to snag the win over David "Quadzilla" Kelly (Total Rush) in 2nd and a larger than life John "Big" Cain (Giant Celtic) who cut his way into the wind for a very handy 3rd place against much younger (and shorter!) competition.

Photo (c) JXP Photography

A Grade Open Men Top 10:
1 Shane    MILLER    Coburg CC       23:16
2 David    KELLY     St Kilda CC           23:54
3 John     CAIN      Carnegie Caulfield CC 24:15
4 Benjamin JOHNSON Footscray CC          24:20
5 Michael GALLAGHER Carnegie Caulfield CC 24:35
6 Vaughan BOWMAN    Carnegie Caulfield CC 25:02
7 Stuart SMITH     Leongatha CC          25:10
8 Andrew WEIGHTMAN Carnegie Caulfield CC 25:18
9 Ciaran JONES     Carnegie Caulfield CC 25:19
10 Liam     DOVE      Blackburn CC          25:29
11 Martin   LAMA      Blackburn CC          25:55

A Grade Podium - And a bit of Game of Thrones cosplay.

Full results (Cycling Victoria)

Jarrod at JXP Photography was at the circuit snapping all the competitors. Visit http://jxpphotography.com/2012/07/14/2012-phillip-island-itt/ for a full gallery of all the action.

Full results, a few pics, and event wrap up over on CCCC here. (Lap splits hidden away on there too for anyone like me suffering from info OCD). The sun stayed out for the afternoon scratch races and it looked like everyone out there was enjoying the unseasonal sunshine. We also got in a re-con of the upcoming Vic State Masters TT course on the way home too.... summary: First few kms look to be on a busy road with blind sweeping corners, blerk.. after that the roads are pretty good. Looking forward to that one in a few weeks.