Update time ’09

January '09
As promised I’ll put in my ’09 update. Marie’s currently doing her driving stint on the way up to Port Macquarie so no better time than now.
The New Year started off really well. Over the Xmas holidays I set myself a goal of riding 100km’s a day for 10 days in a row. I did this in 2006 before IM New Zealand and although it hurt and I got slower as I progressed, it gave me a great base from which to train off. Robbie Taranto joined in on the 2009 festivities as well and although hampered by bad weather we actually got faster as we went on. It even got to the point that the last few rides were pretty insane, the last ride to Frankston (130 km’s) actually ended up with an average of 36.7km/h ! We definitely got stronger and faster as we progressed through the 10 days.
Training went well throughout January when Team Lewis again set up camp for the Alpine Classic in Bright over the Australia Day long weekend. The camp area was pretty insane with 9 families making the journey from Niddrie to watch the weekend’s festivities. Gary Pertot and Sean Fry were part of the camp and the ride so it was good to have a few fellas around that were off the turps and more content to sit around sipping Gatorades instead.
‘The Alpine’ went really well. I had a goal time of breaking 7hrs for the 200km, 3 minutes quicker than last year. Things started off well, I held onto the front pack over Tawonga Gap then down into the Kiewa Valley. I got dropped on the foot of the climb up to Falls Creek but managed to limit my losses when I teamed up with a few other fellas that had been dropped. With 3 km to go to the summit we still had the lead pack in sight. About 500m before the Falls checkpoint the first fella shot down the hill so I wasn’t far off the front. I had a quick turnaround at the Falls check and started the descent. The TREK was as stable as she comes and an absolute sheer delight to ride. I picked up 5 spots before Mt. Beauty then started to look forward to my arch nemesis – Tawonga Gap – the Kiewa Valley side. I’ve climbed this in previous Alpine’s, whilst training, and also racing and have never been able to climb it well. My legs were good so I hit it as hard as I could. My HR screamed the whole way up and my legs responded amazingly. This is the first time in over a dozen ascents of Tawonga that I’ve really creamed it. Satisfied I hit the descent really hard and caught a few more stragglers from the former leaders group. Another quick turnaround at the Bright checkpoint after loosing valuable time being sent down the wrong streets by volunteers and it was off to Mt. Buffalo. A few quick calculations and it looked as though 7 hrs was very achievable. I worked to Buffalo and half way up it with a chick (Pro) cyclist who was a Pom and training over here with Manchester 2012 in her sights. Jeez she could ride. She had a fantastic Chris Boardman Carbon bike and she was so light and fluttery on her pedals she made it look effortless. I hit a bad patch 7 km’s from the top and was dropped by her. The bad patch was nothing much more than what a gel couldn’t fix, I pressed on still hopeful of breaking the magical 7. I hit the Buffalo checkpoint at 6hrs 8mins 15secs. Its gunna be tight, I knew I had 36 km’s to do in 51mins 45secs. Said a quick G’day to Shane Friend who was riding well within the top 10 at the checkpoint then off I went. I descended hard, bloody hard ! I had 2 dodgy moments, one where I locked up the back brakes and nearly crashed into Greer coming up to the hairpin just after the water stop (aid station 10 km’s from the top). I hit the bottom and powered along the flats of the valley. I had spit and snot flying everywhere, no one to work with, my HR was through the roof but I HAD TO MAKE IT. I pushed hard and a few of the smaller rises saw me go anaerobic which hurt like hell. Still I pushed, hit Bright with 3 minutes to go, I had to go harder, the legs responded, I flew down the finish chute to a massive Rock Star cheer from Team Lewis, then fumbled to get my timing card out, got it stamped AND …………….. 7hrs 00mins 02 seconds………. BUGGER, missed it by 2 seconds – shattered. I couldn’t believe it, an average speed of 27.8km/h and a top speed of 79.6km/h and I missed it by 2 bloody seconds. Oh well, put it behind me, but keep it in mind for the ‘2010 Alpine’. The ‘Alpine’ is always a great day and this one proved yet again that a great event can be had at a really great price of > $100. If you cycle for the pure pleasure of the scenary and the challenge of melting the muscles in your legs, this is for you!