With 10 women entered, we had our very own Women’s grade.
The JM15 and Men’s D Grade riders ended up racing with us, and it certainly
made the racing a whole lot more interesting with 3 separate categories in a
single bunch racing for separate prizes!
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| My trusty lil' Giant prepped up for the race! |
Stage 1 – 36km Road
Race
Stage 1 kicked off with a 36km out and back road race with a
hill climb over Taminick’s Gap. Winter was certainly making its presence felt
with a chilly 3 degrees greeting us at the start line. Brrr. The racing soon
got underway as we rolled out of the start line with casual rolling turns to
start of the race. The first little climb over a Glenrowan saw a few attempted
attacks – each keen to test out one another’s legs. Nevertheless, nothing
really stuck and the group was soon brought back together.
As we were approaching the first intermediate sprint, riding
buddy Von Micich pointed it out – halfway up the road from the corner – get
ready. I found a position in the bunch, making sure I had enough room to sprint
without crossing the white lines on the narrow country road. The pace lifted as
we approached the sprint – but I waited, timed my kick, and took the first
sprint points.
Chloe and Von tried to attack immediately after the sprint,
but the group managed to hang on. 2 other girls soon took the front and held a
solid pace on the steady incline towards Taminick Gap. “Caution – Carpet
Pythons!” Despite the pace, everyone burst into laughter as we rode past the
sign. As soon as we hit the hill, one of the JM15 boys jumped – still trying to
find my legs beneath me, I missed the break as Chloe took off with them. A
couple of the other girls in front of me started slowing down as the gradient
increased – I couldn’t sit back now, I had to chase solo, or the race would be
lost. With the break a few hundred metres up the road, I dug in to close the
gap. The 2 girls on my wheel were quite content sitting on, and I could not get
them to pull a turn. As soon as we hit the KOM, I descended as fast as I could,
dropping the other 2 girls, with the break within sight.
8ks to the finish – I just had to chase solo. The gap was
closing, but with the tail wind, it was going to be hard to bridge across to
the group of 4. 2 other men soon caught onto my wheel, I sat in for a bit, but
the pace wasn’t quite high enough to chase the break down. 5ks to go – I just
had to get the diesel fired up. Both of them were racing each other, and as
hard as I tried to get them to, neither wanted to pull a hard turn. “You’ve got
to tow us through – I don’t have quite enough.” And each time I looked back,
both were super-glued on my wheel, both saving it for the sprint. I had no
choice – the bunch was fast chasing us down, and Chloe was in the break. I
crossed the finish line in 2nd place, legs feeling pretty
stuffed.
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| Geared up for the TT |
Stage 2 – 10km ITT
Fuelled up after a lunch break, I was sure glad to hear that
our TT had been cut back from 18k to 10km. I had certainly done a fair bit of
time-trialling in that morning’s race! From the gun, I kicked off and
immediately tried to get into the TT pace. However, with the headwind at the
start, I found it difficult to get into the threshold zone and it wasn’t until
2.5 km at the first left hander where I could get my HR high enough. I caught
my minute woman just before the turn around, and another one not long after. With
a slight tail-wind on the final 2.5km stretch, I tried to make the most out of
that section. Nevertheless, I found myself pushing too big a gear and was
swerving all over the road. Finished in 16:11 in 2nd place – just
+2secs from winner Chloe. So close! Nonetheless, I was fairly happy with my
effort that afternoon – I managed to pinpoint my weaknesses on that time-trial
and will certainly be focusing on those at my next TT race!
Day 2
Stage 3 – 25km Hill
Climb
The weather was a little warmer this morning, and with the 3
separate categories now racing for points/places, the racing was going to be a
lot more exciting! Chloe was now leading on GC, and I was up on the Points
Classification. Von couldn’t race the last stage that afternoon (she had a
flight to catch to France
that night – lucky girl!!), and offered to help me out that race. With Chloe
and I now up on points/placings, we were shooting targets and the rest of the
women were now working together to race against us. The race kicked off with a
lot more surges, but nothing really stuck. At the 10km mark, one of the women
launched a solo break, but was brought back by the peloton within a few hundred
metres. As we approached the intermediate sprint, I had a lead out from Chloe.
As Chloe left me for the last 200m, Melinda got over the top, but I managed to
kick just before the line and took out the intermediate sprint.
Everyone was now keen to save their legs for the hill and
just rode tempo to the base. Von maintained a good pace for us to hold on. Just
before the base, I managed to get Chloe to the front of the bunch, before she
took off with the JM15 boys once we hit the climb. Halfway up, I heard Melinda
coming up alongside me and Chloe was just a stone’s throw ahead of us. I surged
a couple of times and managed to shake off Melinda, caught on to Chloe just
before the finish line rolling across in 2nd place.
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| Stage 3 Hill Climb - we were both hurting! (Photo by David Stannus) |
Stage 4 – 24km
Kermesse
A 4x6km race with 1 intermediate sprint on Lap 2. The narrow
roads meant we had to maintain a good position for the sprints. The race
started off at a fairly high pace with constant attacks being launched to test
everyone legs. It was a fairly long stretch from the final corner before the
sprint – and timing would be crucial if it came down to a bunch sprint. Coming
into the intermediate sprint, I was just behind Melinda after we took the
corner. I waited, kicked, ended up behind one of the men who sat up, found a
gap, kicked again and managed to take out the intermediate sprint points. Only
1 more sprint left for the stage. Bell
lap – and everyone was starting to jostle for places in the bunch. The wind had
started to pick up by now. As the km’s ticked down, riders were trying to come
around left and right to get a good position. Chloe launched an attack just out
of the final corner, and I managed to get onto her wheel. I saw the line,
kicked again, whoops…I had too small a gear, and revved as fast as I could for
the line - ended up winning the final bunch sprint.
I managed to win the Sprint Queen category whilst Chloe took
the QOM
category. Chloe won GC, followed by myself in 2nd, Melinda 3rd,
Erica 4th and Nicci 5th. It was certainly a great weekend
of racing and we all did have a lot of fun. Thanks to Wangaratta CC for hosting
the tour (and for putting on a Women’s Grade too!) – organisation was certainly
sensational for a small little country
club and everyone enjoyed themselves. We will definitely be back in the near
future for more racing.
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| Women's GC winners (Photo from Wangaratta Cycling) |
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| Chloe and I in all smiles - we'll be both doing some shopping this week!! :) |
Feels great to be recovered after the flu bug and back into
the racing again. Next up – Northern Combine 3 day tour!
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