The Long and Windy Road

Saturday started early with me driving down to Paraparap just past Geelong to race a Geelong CC Time trial. Did a good warm up on the roadie then chucked on my skinsuit, grabbed the TT bike and mounted for the fray. The course was a blast, lots of undulations and a howling wind made for a great out and back course of 27k. I finally got my pacing right after a few poorly paced TTs of late and came home with the win in 38mins and 11 seconds averaging 43.8 kph. Thanks to Geelong CC for running a great little race, everything was done and results sorted with no fuss. Then it was time to do some more horizontal riding in the wind and pray that the rain held off. Somehow I got 3.5 hours of riding on Saturday without a drop of moisture, not sure how, but I ain’t complaining!

Edit- A nice write up from Geelong CC, they better not praise me too much, I wont be able to fit my Lazer Aero helmet on any more!

Sunday was the Victorian 100km Championships in Port Fairy. The wind was up again and the rain came down in spurts but I’m told it was not a patch on the horrors of Hamilton from the day before. The racing was a typical mix of aggression and negativity and in the end I made the right break with Dan Braunsteins and a stack of Decked Out riders. After we settled into a nice tempo another group came across bringing more riders and even more Decked Out team members, this was going to be a tough group to get away from. There were repeated attacks from the never tiring Prime Estate team duo Reece Stephens and John Cornish, Rush Racing's kiwi import Myles Watson and of course yours truly. As the rain started to pour I began cursing myself for not cleaning the salt from my helmet, boy oh boy were my eyes stinging; never mind, just keep attacking! Unfortunately, none of the attacks split the breakaway for long enough and it seemed we were destined for a small group kick to the line.

In the end it all stuck together until I had a final go at the flame rouge. I got out to a small gap and was crossing my fingers that the others would look at each other for just long enough. No such luck, the Decked Out boys set up a good lead out and delivered Sam Witmitz to the win. I was having flashbacks to many stages of the Tour watching unlucky escapee’s getting swamped 100 metres from the line! At least I was only out front for 1 kilometre, not 200! That would be heartbreaking.

A quick change, a coffee, a roast beef roll and 3 hours jamming to Triple J in the car and I was home ready to relax and watch the tour!

As I sit typing this, more than 24 hours after the race finished, I still find myself picking bits of dirt and grit out my eyes and ears!

Next up is Melbourne to Ballarat. The talk around town has been about the pretty steep $75 dollar entry fee, it is more than other events, but not every event goes straight up a double carriageway highway! Either way, it’s gutter time!

Ciao