Grafton to Inverell 2006

“THE GRAFTON” – It seemed liked a good idea at the time i had entered Australias toughest,longest and most famous road race.I was lining up in beautiful spring weather in Grafton with 200 of Australia’s best and craziest road cyclists. The day before I drove over the 228km course –Yes that’s right 228km and after driving the course I wanted to go home. It’s a hilly course with one climb being the Gibraltar Range, a 18km climb with no rests, climbing from basically sea level up to the New England Tablelands. We raced for about 70kms before the Gibraltar Range and the peloton was all together except for one rider, Andrew Grady from Qld who attacked and tried to conquer the range himself. The race had 5 feed stations with the first being at the base of the climb and being such a long race I slowed down looking for my support crew Damian Cumming and John Cook. FIRST ERROR. With over 100 riders in my race it was hard to find my man holding the feedbag and what I didn’t know, that some riders didn’t take the first feed and or had a faster station and attacked the range without the rest of the peloton. As I started the climb I saw the breakaway group of over 20 riders disappear around the first corner chasing Grady which they caught before the top. DAMM !! I missed the breakaway that would stay away for the rest of the day.


The 18km climb took a hour to ride and picking up dropped riders that couldn’t handle the pace of the breakaway, we had a group of about 30 riders in the chase group coming over the summit. At the second feed station we were given the gap time of 10 mins, they had ridden the mountain hard and this was our chance to pull back some time. Only 8 riders including me were working on the front pushing the wind , while the rest of the group drafted not willing to help and saving energy. We wore the deficit down to about 5 mins and that’s where it stayed for the rest of the day. We raced through Glenn Innes with the town’s folk lining the main street clapping and cheering and then on our way to Inverell. Another small climb the Waterloo Range 40 km out of Inverell and the attacks started again with riders trying to break free from the group, but this time we didn’t let anyone go. It came down to a sprint in the main street of Inverell and I was 7th over the line, which gave me 15th place overall. A little disappointed that I missed the break but happy that I finished the toughest, longest and most famous one day race in Australia. My computer read 236km in 7h 5 mins with an av of 33.2 kph and with 5 mountain climbs one being an hour long I knew why my legs were feeling a little tired.


It seemed a good idea at the time and it was. What an amazing race, anyone who finishes it does well and anyone who wins it is a bloody tough bike rider. I learnt a lot about such a big race, with a major climb, multiple feed stations and associated tactics. I’ll be back next year

THE EPIC

An EPIC Tale…
On Sunday 3rd of September the Flight Centre Classic (EPIC) took place over 110km of tough terrain from Preston Peak to Peppers Hidden Vale (near Laidley). Tony Lloyd-Jones (2nd Epic), Greenie (2nd Epic) and virgin competitor Brady took to the course with gusto.


Anthony Walker and Bron competed in the PURE BLONDE PURSUIT, a 54km ride starting from checkpoint 2 on the main course. This was a first time for both these guys. Bron and Anthony had done extremely well finishing their Pursuit in 4 hours, Bron finished 7th in her catergory and Walker finished 28th in his. If only she didn’t stop for her picnic lunch, she would have placed much higher. Covered in dust and dirt and little bit of blood, they both looked good and ready to go again next year.


THE EPIC
This race is also the Australian Marathon Mountain Bike Championships, a race that requires the winner to take over 4 hours to complete. 240 riders started out in their category. With 3 checkpoints along the way there is time for a quick rest and feed, stock up for the water bottles and a cold can of coke (or 2). Brady came through the checkpoint first in just on 3 hours, Tony about 20 minutes later and Greenie about 40 minutes after that. They had all restocked and refreshed pockets and water bottles and hit the road for the final 54km to Peppers.
With support Crew Rachele and Bec waiting on the grassy knoll , we no sooner cracked open our first PURE BLONDE when Brady arrived in an unbelievable time of 5 hours 52 minutes to place him in 28th position overall, an incredible effort for his first ever EPIC. Tony was next in, in the a time of 6 hours 59 minutes (an hour up on last year) to place him in 128th spot, after a quick back crack he was ready to savour the moment… Greenie nearly had us sending out the search party but alas he arrived looking fresh as a daisy and in a time of 8 hours 21 minutes. No easy feat with an ankle injury, but altogether a “SOLID” ride….
An awesome day was had by all, supporters and riders alike. This is an excellent event, with entertainment, food, cold drinks and a family atmosphere, no doubt we will be heading back in 2007. WRITTEN BY WIFE OF CHICKEN LEGS

2006 "CUNNINGHAM CLASSIC"

2006 CUNNINGHAM CLASSIC

Bright and early on the 5th of August a strong contingent of Dalby riders fronted up to compete in the annual “Cunningham Classic”. It was a cool and very, and I mean VERY, windy day.

The “Cunningham Classic” was raced over 97 km into some very fierce winds. Brady and Cookie raced in a large field of 75 riders. The strong winds along with the strong climbers at the king of the mountain climb managed to whittle the field down to about 23 riders who stayed together until the end. There were a few unsuccessful breakaways but in the end it came down to a group sprint with Cookie finishing 4th and Brady taking out 6th.

Vet C saw Nolesy and Luke line up in a strong field of riders. The pace was firm and constant given the conditions. The King of the Mountain climb saw Nolesy in good position over the top with a small group of riders. However, Luke worked hard with a group of other riders and managed to regroup with the lead pack. Unfortunately Nolesy succumbed to the dreaded Cramps with only 20 Kms to go while Luke managed to hang on with a PISSA effort to finish with the group.

Andrea managed to stick it out in the unforgiving conditions, her group saw a few mishaps (crashes, dropped chains etc) along the way. Andrea stuck with the group through KOM. Andrea did extremly well, finishing in a small group of riders after riding solo in the very strong winds for most of the second half of the race, this girl has got some ticker!. She said she will be linig up again next year.

All in all the riders from Dalby had a great day out. All riders said that although the race was extremely tough they would be keen to ride the race next year. But I think that all the riders would agree that we hope that next year the weather will be a bit better.

Written by Cookie