2011 Stratford to Dargo Cycling Victoria Event - C Grade

This weekend I conquered a mountain, along with a few other climbs thrown in for good measure. To make it harder, the bunch was pushing it most of the way and the temperature was up in the mid to high 30's. It was my home club, the Wellington Cycling Club's annual Cycling Victoria event. Photos of the event can be found here at Aurora Photography. Some say this is the toughest event in the CV calendar and as it was my first, I would have to agree. C Grade had the largest field with 21 one registered riders competing as we rolled out at 9.40am. I am not sure everyone knew what was ahead of them with two riders breaking off the front just past race neutral. There was some discussion on weather to chase, but I said to the bunch to let them go as it was a bold move. From there it was fairly relaxed until Beverly's Road (a 15km stretch of undulating road) where the pace started to pick up as gap grew closer to 3minutes.

The first selection came on the climb just after the wooden bridge (which unfortunately took a victim whose wheel got caught in between the boards), where the race really started to heat up and a number of riders started disappearing of the back. By this point, I had already received my first cramp and consumed as much food and drink as I could before the first feed station at 60k's. This being my first CV event, as an after thought I packed a musette with food and drink which turned out to be handy as the bunch rolled through without stopping. After I reloaded, I had unfortunately got slightly off the back of the bunch and had to fight to get back on.

From there, we started descending with one great straight stretch on the Bairnsdale to Dargo Rd allowing myself to hit a top speed of 90km/h which smashed my previous personal best. Unfortunately this all came to an end with one last climb before Dargo.  The break was still clear with a gap over approaching 4mins and the hammer was down all the way up the climb. Unfortunately, I was on the verge of blowing up for quite a while and another cramp (coincidentally occurring as a rider broke off the front) saw myself lose touch with the bunch at the 85km mark just before the descent into Dargo. If only I could have held on a little further....

Riding into Dargo alone, I had backed off the pace of knowing I wouldn't catch the bunch and remembering what was ahead of me. I didn't stop at Dargo, dropping my first neutral water but I managed to hold onto the second and kept pedaling through with cheers of support from the Wellington club members volunteering on the day.  I knew this final climb was going to be tough gaining 870m over 11km with an average gradient of 8%. I climbed the first section no worry passing a few stray C graders. But it was the next part that killed me averaging 11-12% for what felt like an eternity (realistically it was around 1.5k's). There was no shade and  my Garmin was showing temperatures up to a whopping 38degC. I was starting to feel dehydrated and I may have stepped of my bike in a shady section not knowing there was respite about 300m up the road. From there on it, it was a matter of just getting to the line and as the gradient relaxed to 5-6%, I felt a little better with speeds starting to top a massive 12km/h.

 

(2011 A Grade Winner - Jason Spencer)

As I passed the 1km to go, it was just me and 'The Wall.' 500m of  road with gradients up to 19% and the the whole time you could see the finish line taunting you to keep pushing. By this point, everyone in site was walking and two simultaneous cramps didn't make it a hard decision to get off. With the pleasant walk over, it was time to get on the bike and roll the last 200m to the finish line in a time of approx. time 4hrs 10 minutes. It was over and I could not have been more relieved. Facts as per my Garmin 500 (ride details here):

Distance:	105.56 km
Time:	4:11:45 (to be updated once official results are released)
Avg Pace:	2:23 min/km
Avg Speed:	25.2 km/h
Elevation Gain:	2,282 m
Calories:	2,814 C
Avg Temperature:	31.1 °C

Overall, it was probably the single most toughest thing I have ever done and in the end finishing was an achievement in itself. Next year, I will be back with a compact group set (as a 39/28 combo made the last climb tough) and a lot more training (Inverness repeats essentially until you are forced to walk).

SKCC D grade - Strong and stupid

There is one thing that can be guaranteed in a race, your plan never goes to plan and today I managed to prove this theory. I was just stretching my legs at the front (not much of a surprise to see me that the front, especially with multiple camera's around the course) in order to start increasing that pace and suddenly I was off the front by myself and well clear. Checking my heart rate, I was doing alright and thought I would just steady my pace and wait for the group to catch me.

 A lap or two later, I was still out there and the gap had significantly increased. By now, I had a reasonable tempo going and thought I would keep on pushing on (why not?). Once I let B grade pass (notice I used the word let), I was still well clear and going strong. The race was over half complete and I was almost starting to think if only I could keep this going.

Every time I hit the main straight, I could just hear the roar of the crowd over my excessive breathing. By crowd, I mean my supportive girlfriend. Unfortunately at the 26 minute mark, I was very slowly captured but I wasn't overly devastated. I think my pace had starting to wain and at least I could have a rest. In the final laps while jostling for position, I made my move up the pack but it was premature and I wasted my last chance. As the pace increased on the final lap, all I could do was hang on and finish around the top 10.

Overall, it was a great learning experience filled with pain and self doubt - if only there was a most aggressive rider award. I am still waiting for the sponsorship requests to come through, but they may be confused (just like I am) of where I actually live. Looking ahead, I have the punishing Stratford to Dargo followed by the Gippsland Crit Champs at the Maffra Mardi Gras. Both with the Wellington Cycling Club.