2,500km in the car that is (not on the bike!). It has been a busy schedule over the last two weeks. I managed to
disguise a few races as 'weekend holidays' very successfully. No
complaints from Von. She shared the driving and got in a few races
herself.
2012 Back to Bright - HCC Social Group
This is an annual gathering of Hawthorn CC members, friends, and other
miscellaneous characters up in Bright. After reports of a pretty
ordinary weather in Bright from Rod Upton the week prior, we had perfect
conditions all weekend. Friday I rolled over the Wandi TT course then
out to Tawonga Gap and back with Von. I skipped the group ride on
Saturday and headed up to Wangaratta for their club TT. Wang CC's setup at
the sale yards is the best I've seen at any club. New toilets, showers,
club rooms with a stocked fridge. Can't ask for anything more.
The 20km T shape course was changed to 2x 10km laps of a square block.
I'd ridden the T course to check out the wind, no time to ride the new
course so I was going in blind. I was off last and chasing my 1 minute
man, Tully Lyster. It took 12km for the catch. Tully lifted and pegged
himself just a few meters behind all the way to the line.
Results:
We made it to the local paper too. Here is tall man Tony Reeckman and I at presentations. Standing next to Tony makes me look like a rugby player. I was cooling down when they called me up, so I ran over to the club rooms with one shoe cover still on, thinking nobody would notice.... check the photo... that'll teach me.
(Click the photo to enlarge)
B2B Mt Buffalo Handicap
Chief handicapper Robin Brown pulled off one of the most impressive
estimation list to date. The top 10 riders were all within 2 minutes of
each other. I knocked a minute off my time up there even before the Tour
of Bright, but still a minute down on a PB. I ended up fastest time but
only manged 8th in the handicap. Fellow Coburg CC ring-in Abby Grave
took the win by only a few meters. One year scratch will get up in this
race, and I'll keep going back giving it a shot.
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| The magpie whisperer. |
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| Wandi TT turnaround. I love this course. It is the new blog banner too. |
South Australian State Masters TT Championships 2012
Just a short trip over to SA.... not. We stopped off in Horsham to
see the family on the way through, and we had a late breakfast with
old-school pro Doug Issell who's now the man behind the
Wal Smith Memorial Casterton 50 Handicap.
Von and I are already locked in to race and volunteer with the Northern
Combine on that race date, which is a bugger, as I'm sure Doug could have
helped us with some generous handicaps. Next year for sure!
The SA TT champs were back at Langhorne Creek, same as last year. We drove
the course a few times to get familiar with the landmarks that would
break the effort up. This included giving the landmarks nicknames... "3k
tree... or 17k tree on the way back"... "4k bush"... "5k house".
Anything to break up a dead flat time trial is welcome come race day.
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| Bike check. The jig was getting a workout. |
MMAS1 entry numbers were thin as always, 5-6 on the list. David Stevens
(Brennan IT/MMAS4), world masters pursuit champ and CA Masters of the Year
2011, had flown over for a few days to compete and head to the track
with the SASI team. He'd be the guy to watch for the fastest 20km
time honors across all age groups.
I came in 14 seconds off last years time with a 24:49 @47.1km/h. Gold for MMAS1
and fastest 20km of the day from David Stevens who clocked a 25:59 in
MMAS4 for Gold. Von won WMAS1 and was so proud of her medal she wore it
all the way home.... all 695kms of it! haha!
Full results/photos:
http://www.sa.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=46434
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| Synchronised zipping. |
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| MMAS1 Podium. |
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| It was a long drive home.... |
Mt Donna Buang TT (Blackburn CC / Cycling Victoria)
We arrived home from SA around 10:30pm, unloaded the TT bikes, then prepared and
packed the road bikes. Long day! Up again at 6am for the drive out to
Warburton. The legs were feeling pretty good for the warm up, aside from
the rain and freezing conditions. I thought I'd go alright after
Buffalo the week prior.... but after 20mins in it was lights out. I
cracked pretty hard on the steep section into Cement Creek and had
nothing all the way to the top. I almost turned around and rolled back
down, but I thought wtf, keep going. 2.2 degrees and frozen fingers, my standard final 1km
smash-to-the-line was at max heart rate and not stressing the strain
gauges in the PowerTap too much. 10th place out of 15. Climb time was
spot on what I did in similar conditions 4 years ago.
Matt Clark won with a high 46min, followed by Genesys Pro Jono
Lovelock, and Budget Forklifts' Jason Spencer. Nick Bensely had an
absolute stomping ride too, check
his write up here.
Full Results
Photos by Michael McRitchie
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Like a scene from Ghost... and like Demi Moore I might have looked the goods,
but on the inside I was feeling like a 49yo lady, sans the coke addition. |
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Von before the race in Carl's hat. Coach Carl even gave me a hug
after the race to warm me up. Ace bloke! |
New Bike!
After 5 years the Scott CR1 frame has finally been retired. I'm forever grateful to have some very generous people and sponsors behind me who make these kind of upgrades possible.
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| Yeah yeah, mismatching wheels... a Beach Rd no-no. |
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| Shimano swapsies from the Scott. The plan is for SRAM Red. One day.... |
Random Visuals:
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| Creeping? I don't get it. |
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| 25km/h?! That is creeping. SA is a confusing place on the road. |
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| Crossbones cupcakes! Yeeeaaarrhhh! |
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| Von testing the beds.... |
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| Strathalbyn, city of churches.. Or a screenshot from Quake 3. |
Last of all... Random Audio:
I put this together after listening to a few pumping tracks in our travels.... and who better to have mixed in but the Tan Man himself. You can download the MP3 and put it into iTunes. Enjoy.
