Sweet As.

Bundaberg Sugar Canes Another Classic

 by Simone Grounds

Bundaberg Sugar proved yet again why we're Australia's number one team on the weekend after the team's annual road trip to Bundaberg to compete in the annual Caneland Classic.  This year the Classic took the form of a Saturday criterium and Sunday 70km Road Handicap.  This year I'm also on the other side of the action (as swanny/ soigneur) while I contribute to Australia's next generation of cyclists.

 

The first carload of Sugar Girls arrived during the daylight hours on Friday with more blonde hair and media commitments than the Honda Dream Team at a Bay Crit Series.  Trish, Zoe and Sal managed Channel's 7 and 9 news crew like they were born with a camera in their face and added a healthy dose of colour to the Bundaberg News Mail's Saturday morning newspaper (see the report for yourself here: http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2011/06/04/cycle-classic-sweet-as-caneland-classic/).

Sal, Trish and Zoe get handy with the media equipment on Friday.

 

Media commitments met, the girls headed over to the sugar mill of our namesake with Bundy Sugar employee Sean - who incidentally is quite handy on the bike and also raced on the weekend.  Here they swapped helmets for hardhats and met with Ray the mill manager who added some more glamour to the photo shoot for the afternoon.  The afternoon was yet to get more exciting however when, on the sound of the knock-off siren, the girls were treated to some knarly-wicked-sick-to-the-max BMX stunts by some homeward bound workers...which didn't quite go to plan.  I know boys, those stunts work at the BMX park ALL the time don't they?

Zoe, Sal and Trish get some sugar tips off mill manager Ray.  Note the sugar packets – for those of you that ask about the colour scheme of our kits...

 

Saturday morning saw Brielle and Angie joining us for a cafe ride out to Bargara.  What a beautiful spot this is!  Due to the race scheduling of previous years (and a weekend only having two short days in it), we haven't been able to make it out to Bargara, so it was pretty special being able to spend the morning there sipping our lattes and discussing important matters of the world such as how you freeze grapes.

Bargara waterfront – we were lucky we made it back for the crit really.

We headed back in preparation for the 3pm crit (criterium) which was on a smooth and technical hot mix street circuit.  Hot mix = FAST.  The girls were racing against the Elite B men for 45mins + 2laps and after a team briefing from credentialed rider Trish Palmer, everyone was ready to race.

Trish hatches a race plan for the team before the crit.

 

 

As predicted the pace was on from the gun with plenty of testosterone being laid down on the tarmac.  At an average speed of 43kph, the team plan had to change a little and Trish re-organised the girls to keep bringing the heat in the race.  Loren escaped off the front for a few laps and Sal used her trademark diesel engine to drive the pace, with the rest of the team all taking big turns to bring back or get in attempted breaks.  Loren grabbed 6^th overall (lucky 6!) and our crit specialist/team-doctor-in-training, Angie P, valiantly stuck with the bunch, despite relying on carting medical textbooks around south-east Queensland as the basis for her training program.

It's a hard job but somebody's gotta do the signing!  Zoe signs the Bundaberg News Mail for the fans.

 

After a great night of food and chatter on Friday night, it was agreed that Saturday night would again be spent at the fabulous Pappar'Delle's restaurant in downtown Bundaberg,.  With fresh, home-made pasta and fabulous service Pappar'Delle's is the place to go for a hungry athlete... especially fussy ones who like their risotto on demand.  THANK YOU Pappar'Delle's for accommodating our requests!  Big thanks also to Bundaberg Sugar's Guy Basile  – you know the way to an athlete's heart!  We called it a night after an autograph signing and calf comparison (yes the chefs can ride bikes too) and headed home to grab some much needed sleep for the following day.

 

An 8am start in Childers meant a 5am start from north Bundaberg for the Bundy Sugar team, so with the cars packed up again we headed south for a 70km handicap road race around the cane lands.  The team was scattered across the handicap groups so it really was anyone's game depending on if they could stay away with their group OR reel the others in.

Loren and Zoe put their race faces on while waiting for a start in the road handicap next to ex-Astana rider and local legend Scott Davis.

 

According to all reports, all handicap groups worked well together to reel each other in, with team spirit and encouragement building each time another Sugar Girl was collected on the way to the finish line.  This is what team-work is all about!  The last group to be caught was Angie's with 5km to go – who was over the moon to look over her shoulder to see Loren and Zoe smashing it up on the front of the next bunch with Sal, Brielle and Trish (and 50 odd other riders).

 

Sal (third from left) and Brielle (second from right) didn't shirk turns in their handicap group while Jason (aka “Swanny”, seen here in a rare race moment) takes one for the team on the front.

 

The team drove the pace to the finish to avoid getting swamped in the final kilometres by the “Scratchies” and “Chopping Block” groups - full of A-grade men - which have caught everyone in previous years.  The pace was fast enough for the bunch to stay away and hit the nasty hill-climb finish where position and gearing is everything.  Zoe claimed the fastest woman title for the team for the third year running (great work Zoe) and 9^th overall, closely followed by Loren who was first unplaced woman.  Special mentions must go to Trish: who was in her first race back after a nasty shoulder injury and Brielle: who finished the race despite nursing an ongoing knee injury.

 

Zoe (right) and Loren (left) help Scott Davis (second from right) up the hill-climb finish on their way to the fastest woman and first unplaced woman titles.

 

Brielle and Angie pump it up the final hill-climb with encouragement from Jason.  Both girls rode amazingly well to finish at the pointy end of the race.

 

Everyone agreed it was a great weekend and it was fantastic to have the full complement of riders there to represent Bundaberg Sugar who have so generously sponsored us for the last 3 years.  Despite mixed preparations leading up to the weekend every single rider raced with the big heart that Bundy Sugar is known for.

 

The team would like to thank Dave Mohr, Jason Billsborough and Dawn Papajcsik for getting us and our gear up to Bundy, and Guy Basile and Michael Kerby for support and swanny duties over the weekend.  I can certainly tell you that being in the support crew is no picnic!

Until next race!