The silly season has descended upon us all, and for the embattled triathlete/fitness freak it's all about balance this time of year. Trying not to mix too much beer with bourbon, nor eat too much crap food, that is unless you have been unbalanced and drank too much the night before and you need Dim Sims to counteract the effects of the alcohol. Balance I feel is definitely the key! It was with this inhand and a very counterweighted training regime of social drinks with mates - 2 parts, versus training rides - 1 part, that I set off in search of fitness at the Tour of Bright.
I've been looking at this race for a long time. There's something about Bright that I really love. It is probably the hills and being close to the snow, the weather - hot in the summer and bloody cold in the winter. A little bit like Cooma where I grew up. The race is a 2 day, 3 stage race consisting of Stage 1 on Saturday morning, a 105km road stage from Bright to Ovens then over Rosewhite Gap into the Kiewa Valley before going up over Tawonga Gap and back into Bright. Stage 2 on Saturday afternoon was an Individual Time Trial of about 16km length along a rolling road to Wandiligong. Stage 3 was a Sunday morning start from Bright straight up to Mt Hotham summit, a climb of over 1600m in 55km. I was slotted into Masters 2, which in triathlon terms is the 35-39 age group. Masters 1,2 & 3 all raced together, making this a massive field of approximately 90 racers varying in age from 30 to 45 years old. Apart from the elites racing in A grade, this is probably the next most competitive group with times very similar to B grade although the riders are a lot smarter which tends to compound any other riders weaknesses. A great thing about riding in the Masters bunch was the bikes, this is where the money definitely is, high expendable incomes etc. saw heaps of high end bikes that had me in awe as I rolled around in the pack.
Stage 1 started well with the pace being pretty quick after a neutral start through Bright. We hit Ovens with an average around 39km/h, although it was pretty easy sitting at the front 1/3 of the pack. After the turnoff a few attacks started and a small group managed to get up the road. I decided after a few km's to try to bridge accross to them - BIG mistake...... I was on the limit for 20 km trying to chase them back only to have the peloton catch me at the foot of Rosewhite Gap. Being on the limit for so long, and with all the ensuing attacks that were rolling off the pack for the 'King of Mountain' left me absolutely shattered for the climb. I tapped away and tried to limit any loss as best I could, once up the top the main pack had split into 3 smaller packs with me at the back of the 2nd. A crazy, lightening fast descent saw us all regroup before the turnoff onto the Kiewa Valley H'way. We hung a right onto the H'way then a massive turn of pace came on, it was surge and recover for the next 6 - 7 km's until the front guys had broken everyone. I was shattered and still had Tawonga Gap to climb. I went as hard as I could along the valley and up Tawonga, again descending like a madman and finished in a messy bunch sprint with 8 other riders from various grades. In the end I was already 12:46 mins down on GC finishing in 45th spot with an ave of 33.89 km/h, not bad for a hilly stage.
Stage 2 was the ITT complete with a proper 'le Tour' style starting ramping, beeping clock and a 5 to 1 countdown from the race commissaire. Whoosh down the ramp and through the large crowd of what was the start/finish line of an out and back course. The first 3km were horrible, I went anaerobic straight away, couldn't breath, my legs felt shit and there was a 4% climb coming up that was 600m long. I hit the hill as hard as I could when an amazing thing happened - the legs clicked into gear, the heart rate stabilised and pow, off I went. It was like riding with a tail wind but there was none. I was sitting 0n around 50km/h on the flats, my speed dipping on the rises slightly, and finished really strongly in 18th spot for the stage with an average of 40.1 km/h.
Stage 3 is the stage that defines this race. All riders know this is where it will happen and the race will more than likely be won or lost here, the expectation is huge, the thought of climbing one of the biggest mountains in Victoria on shagged legs is not a great one. A massive drama 15 minutes before the stage when I punctured near the start line while warming up had me sprinting back to our tent to quickly change it. I got back to the start line with only a few minutes to spare, a very solid warm up indeed! I didn't have time to reglue the single (tyre) so I just had to be sensible on any descents and not corner too hard. The race started but was neutralised for 5 km until 2 fellas caught up after puncturing. It was pretty cruisie into Harrietville, even slowing down to 25km/h while everyone fuelled up and drank in readiness for the climb. I hit the 1st part of the climb and settled into a nice rhythm. My HR was just below threshold, just where i wanted it to be, my speed was also quite good as I was pulling strong turns at the front of my pack of about 12 riders. This pack stayed together through 'The Meg' right up to the Toll gates where the road again steepens. I was still strong so powered on by myself through the last 10 km's to finish the stage in 27th spot with an average of 25.14 km/h.
My overall position in GC was 35th, 20 minutes down on the race winner. A result that I'm ok with, it could have been better but for the amount of riding I've done I'll treat this as a positive.
Until my next installment, which will probably be about some of the training rides I have planned over the next 4 -5 weeks as well as the Alpine Classic, Take it Easy and have a Merry Xmas and a happy and Healthy New Year.
Cheers, Matty
