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Geelong Tour - National Road Series
The Geelong tour my first ride with the Bundaberg Sugar team, and they were even sweeter then my introduction to black rice pudding!
Time Trial:
The action did not begin on the start line of the TT it all happened the night before. After super swanie Wayne said he snores I took it in my stride thinking it couldn’t be that bad! Mistake number one of the Geelong Tour. With respect to Wayne and his respiratory system it was like a trumpet band playing by my ear. Numerous items were thrown and things said but at 4am in the morning a solution was needed. I went down to the Lobby and said I got locked out of my room and that I was in room 117 the other team room which contained Sal and Sim...with a few short lies about myself being Sal Robbins I let myself into Sal and Sims room and crashed on the spare bed keen for a good mornings rest! 2 and a bit hours later I was up feeling like I had just had a 15minute power nap...however the show must go and it was into serious TT focus mode!
The opening stage of the Geelong Tour was a mostly flat 20k course, out and back along the Portarlington water front. I was first to head off out of the team, with a strong block tail wind on the way out, left the turnaround to be least then desired with a slog of 10k against a head wind. Sal and Simon were later on in the day however the conditions were the same. Simone finished an impressive 6th breaking the 30minute barrier, Sal came in a respectable 26th and me bringing the team home with 37th place.
After the race the wet and coldness was left outside the Portarlington Bake House which in my option is the BEST bake house going around. The amount of display food in the cabinet is enough to feed a 3rd world country and sipping there coffee and hot chocolates is like a warm electric blanket! Once the tummies were full it was home time. A nap, stretch, shopping..., Thai restaurant for dinner and it was hello land of nod ready for a big race day ahead!
Road Race:
The road race was 94k of a two lap course which contained 4 KOM/QOM and 2 sprints otherwise known as the slaughter house with most KOM’s/sprints happening in the later half of the loop. The morning was cold and windy, so there was a mutual agreement that coffee was needed on the way to the course. The Wiz Buzz cafe a drive through coffee house was out next stop. The free cookies made up for ‘just drink it’ coffee, the caffeine wake up was just what we required! We arrived at Anakie with plenty of time to spare to warm up, and our super swannie Wayne being a great helper getting us organised, before we knew it the start was upon us!
We rolled out at 9am with; hats, gloves, knee warmers and extra clothing on, the start of the race could have been mistaken for a Saturday bunch ride! However this did not last long, with the pace increasing solidly up the first climb over the top and soon it was in the gutter. Looking up from my fix on the wheel in front of me I saw Sal Robbins driving on the front! Simone was close by and we were looking good as a team! It was the second climb at 15k that put the burn in the legs. The third climb of the day is where it all went down. I managed to make the brake of 5. We were working hard and soon our lead grew. Over one last climb and we were riding hard through the start/finish to start our second lap. The first climb the group came down to four and we had a 1min 30sec gap to another group of 5. Rolling through turns we hit the third climb and our group was down to 3 and our gap which at one point was 1min 55seonds was now down to 1min. Over the last climb I got gapped by the two other girls Jo (VIS) and Laura (NTID) and I was in limbo land. With 3 k to go and myself pushing hard to hold on to a placing the group of chasing 5 swallowed me up! I did one last attack with 1k to go, but it didn’t stick. Not be renowned for sprinting I came in 7th. Very disappointing and fustrating considering the hard work done during in the race! But hey that’s bike racing! A couple girls came in after our group a few minutes down, then Simone’s group came in, Sim finishing 10th. While Miss. Consistent Sal finished 26th!
With 32 finishers out of 60 it was a good overall performance by Bundaberg Sugar, I’m guessing one of few teams with all girls finishing a tough race!
The business for the day was done, and to continue on our lucky strike with food, a take away store in Anakie supplied us with the rations we needed! Well Sim had trouble keeping her food down, but certainly not her and only heir’s teriyaki chicken that night at dinner, I like Dim Sims better anyway....ok enough with the lame jokes it is bed time for me now so I we can smash out an awesome crit tomorrow so I can equally smash out the last instalment of this race report!
Crit:
The final stage of the Geelong Tour brought a mix bag of fun! The race started at 1:15pm so we were well rested and revved for the race! The course was a little over 1k and contained a steep 100meter section. The race was very action less, with attacks by Bundaberg and other teams being shut down quickly. The rain came and went as we completed 20laps of the loop.
The race ended in a bunch kick, 60 km/hr with a roaring tailwind and right into a crowd of media!!!We were unlucky Sim and I coming down. Sim hit the deck hard and got a fair shake up I came off lightly but smashed up my bike!
After some after crash shock we loaded the cars up and headed to my Aunty Judy’s for some homemade food, hot drinks and showers!
All freshened up and mended, the girls headed to the airport to fly back to Brisvagas, Wayne driving to New South Wales and myself Adelaide!
Thanks for reading, till next race
Ange McClure
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