Canberra Tour by Brendan Ingram

This was my first Canberra Tour as a rider. Many years ago I had been down to Canberra to watch my cousin (a QLD state rider) ride the tour in A-Grade. At that stage I was a D-Grade club rider, and aspired to ride the Canberra tour in A-Grade.

For me, this time around, I would ride C-Grade with Matt Lucas and Peter ‘The Machine’ McDonald. Robbie Cater and Chris ‘Spongie’ Jenkins rode B-Grade, Mark ‘Slapper’ Robertson rode D-Grade and Shaun ‘What about Higgo’ Higgerson rode A-Grade.

Last time I was at this event, I sat under the shade of numerous trees as the race hurtled past. This time I (and every other poor soul) had not a single tree to hide under as the sun blasted us all weekend. Forecasts had expected temperatures of 36 Saturday and 37 Sunday. Stage 2 on Saturday saw the thermometer on the start/finish line showing 45 degrees…

On the Saturday night we all went out for dinner at Zeffirellis (a pizza and pasta restaurant in Dickson). Excellent food and excellent company gave a hard day on the bike an enjoyable close, and is something that I would recommend all riders and families do when travelling to these remote opens. Getting everyone together brings a pleasant social feel to an often stressful and tiring weekend of racing and travelling.

The official results page is at http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/ccc/results/canb_tour_2004.shtm for those who wish to view all riders stage times and placing’s.

Stage 1

There were 3 crashes in the 1st stage. The first crash happened a few bike lengths in front of me, but off to the side. A simple overlap of wheels and down they go. The second crash happened on my right shoulder. 70km/h on the descent toward the Cotter bridge the rider must have clipped one of the reflectors in the middle of the road. His wheels slid out from under him and he slid along the road. Ouch. The third crash of the day happened on my back wheel – literally. Another overlap of wheels (I maintain I was riding a straight line) and down he went. After that crash my back wheel felt as though the brakes were rubbing, or the tyre was flat, but nothing appeared to be wrong, even though it felt wrong.

At the end of the stage, Matt Lucas decided he wasn’t going to ride anywhere near me for the 2nd stage, figuring I was bad luck for staying upright.

The stage was fast. Pete went early, and the bunch, not knowing his potential let him go. Although Matt Lucas and I sat on the front of the bunch and blocked, Pete would have held us all off on his own.

Coming into the finish I simply made sure I was within the first handful of riders. As we turned right off Uriarra Rd onto Cotter Rd this was made difficult by the sudden surge of riders, but a quick kick (of the pedals) and the position was regained. Turning left into Eucumbene Rd a few riders went, but knowing the finish was uphill, I was content to let them go, as they would come back in the last 100m. The sprint was quite uneventful, I simply remained seated, and held the wheel in front. For some reason I did not rise out of the saddle and kick for the line. Perhaps fatigue (though I felt strong), perhaps the heat, who knows.

An average heart rate of 79.9%, and a maximum heart rate of 93.9% had gained me a 5th place in the finish. It had been a hard day, and the sun was only just getting started on us riders. To top it all off, Slapper almost got himself slapped by asking me if I was going to ride the RBCC vs BRAT ITT in two weekends. In a delirious state of mind I said yes...

Stage 2

45 degrees. That’s what the thermometer says. Who am I to argue?

Robbie had been sitting in the car with the air conditioning cranked since he got off the bike at the end of stage 1. I had my doubts about this tactic. Would his body be shocked by the sudden heat when he got out for the start or would he be refreshed? That's enough thinking, my mind is fried. Just keep drinking.

Chris, Matt, and Pete had been huddling in the shade of the Jenkins car. Wet flannelettes and constant fluid intake was the order of the day for these guys. I sat in the shade in front of our Nissan Patrol, drinking and eating, and trying to stay cool.

Onto the start line and away for 2 laps of this mornings course – in the reverse direction. This was not going to be good. I remember too many nice descents this morning that are going to be climbs this afternoon.

I got back onto the bunch as they commenced climbing the other side. I went straight up the outside (tyres between the two unbroken centre lines) and straight to the front of the bunch. My tactic for the rest of today and tomorrow was going to be to get on the front at the start of the climb and drift back through the field, in the hope of keeping contact with the back markers so that we may get back into the bunch over the top. This worked a charm. I got to the start of the 2nd lap in contact with the bunch.

I ease on the pedals slightly and let this rider join me. When he is on my wheel I continue my pace and let him sit for a while so as to rest. He was one of us three riders that was actually working in the break. The other rider tried to bridge across but has now dropped back to the chasing group.

Scott Wines, number 242. One of the gutsiest rides I’ve seen in a while. He was absolutely smashed, but was willing to work. Out of water, he cramped on the climb off the Cotter bridge, coming almost to a standstill in a scream of pain. 10km of uphill, when you know you are close to the finish, but it never seems to come. I encouraged him to get out of the saddle and alternate between sitting and standing. I had been on the brink of cramping on the first lap, but had fought it off.

I gave him my water, and he found another gear. I let him sit as long as I could and made sure that whenever the terrain got tougher he was still there. I could have ridden him off my wheel with ease, but why? It was a matter of survival. He needed water, and we both needed a wheel to sit on.

We rode 30km together, not only holding off the chases behind, but swallowing an unbelievable number of riders ahead. We felt horrible, but we kept going. Having no idea how many riders were in front of us, or what place we were riding for, we were riding for personal satisfaction and pride.

Turning right into the finishing straight Scott ran wide on the corner. I sat up and waited for him to catch back up. In the 20m before the line he said to me “It’s your position”. As we crossed the line and shook hands I said “Mate whatever place you got you’ve got to be proud of that effort. You worked when nobody else did.”

In the end we came 7th and 8th. It was truly a matter of survival. We had no idea what riders or how many riders were in front, the only thing that we were aiming for was the finish, and the thought of some nice cold water and a bit of shade.

I had no mind to check the GC after the day’s efforts. I was wrecked. I later found out I was 12th overall at the end of the 2nd day.

Matt Lucas had a most unfortunate puncture on the first lap. He said he chased with everything he had for ½ a lap but with the bunch going the speed they were, and the conditions being so torturous he did exceptionally well to finish at all.

Robbie placed an excellent 5th on the afternoons stage, while I remember passing Chris out on the course, telling him to “keep going Spongie”. I guess any encouragement helps, no matter how lame.

Stage 3

The start times for today’s stage had been brought forward by 1 hour due to the expected heat. Shaun must have had a hard day on Saturday and in his words, “the chain fell off the heart”. A sentiment obviously held by many, as there were a massive number of riders who did not front for the 3rd stage. Yesterday was h.a.r.d.

I was running a bit late for this stage, and literally got out of the car, got my bike ready, rode up to the start line, had a couple of photos taken (above showing Brendan and Matty -ed), and rolled away. I hoped that the pace would be moderate for the first 20km so I could warm up.

Kilometres 40 through 55 had me doing a lot of time on the front of the bunch. Up to that point I had not been feeling good, and figured the best place to be was near the front where the accelerations were less savage. In the end I was sitting on the front! This was fine though, as I was able to dictate the pace, keeping my heart rate at a sustainable 79%.

On occasion I even put the bunch under pressure over some 53/19 climbs. This is the type of climb where if you keep it in the big ring and punch it out of the saddle it is much less torturous. That type of climb suits a sprinter like me. You can make good use of your strength and fast twitch muscles to power over the top before you start to fatigue.

When we got to the turnaround I was relieved. We were more than halfway now. Homeward bound! Pete and I had been talking about where he was going to attack. Pete suggested he was going at ‘the roadworks’ and that I go with him. I offered an alternate solution. If that is where he wanted to go, then there was no chance I was going to be able to go with him, so I would hit the bottom of the climb flat out with him on my wheel, ride flat out as long as I could and then he would launch off my wheel.

It took us ages to get to the roadworks. Finally, after a very uneventful ride where nobody wanted to pull a turn, but everybody wanted to complain, we got to the bottom of the climb. I could see that the initial section was steep but then led into a plateau out of sight to the left, so I powered up it, only to turn left at the top and be greeted with another monster steep section.

In hindsite I should have dug deeper on the second section, but the sight of it mentally crushed me, and I just tried to survive up it.

In the closing 10 kilometers Pete and a small group containing the yellow jersey led another group of riders, with myself and two others chasing like mad. Up the climb away from the Cotter bridge and I found some extra strength. The last 2km of the climb I threw it in the big ring and alternated in the saddle, out of saddle, fighting the gradient, trying to keep the cranks turning.

It paid off. Over the top of the climb I was in sight of a group of 10 to 15 riders. I put my head down, took a few deep breaths, and concentrated. I concentrated on pushing each gear to a high enough cadence to drop it into the next cog. A slight downhill had me pushing 60km/h in 53/14 and as I approached the bunch (probably doing 45km/h) I thought “stuffed if I’m gonna slow down after that effort” and proceeded to go straight past them on the right hand side, with cries of disbelief coming from the bunch. I had no intention of trying to stay away, and gradually allowed them to catch me while I rested.

As they caught me I slotted in about 3 wheels back. Only 1.5km to go now and I started to feel a bit better. We rounded the corner into the straight and, sitting 3 wheels back, I was content to let someone else lead out the sprint. The guy on the front started the sprint, but didn’t really accelerate much. 2nd wheel went left, I went right. On the line, Trent Butler (2nd wheel) got it by half a wheel from myself. In the end, the results sheet says we sprinted for 32nd place.

I was cactus. Rolling through the chute I grabbed a handful of PowerBar products from Stephen Hodge and tried to drop it into 39/21 with hands full of PowerBar. Then I went in search of my fiancé, a big hug, and lots of water, followed by a Coke, a Splice ice-cream, a sausage sandwich, a killer python, and another Coke!! There is something so refreshingly toxic about Coke after a hard ride – it just eats away all the lactic acid (and the teeth, stomach lining…).

So after 229.6 km of riding, I ended up 12th on GC. An immensely pleasing effort.

Pete McDonald had another astounding ride, coming out 2nd on GC with Matt Lucas a bit further back in 31st, his puncture the day before stealing a lot of time away from him.

Robbie and Chris had awesome rides in the 3rd stage with a 21st and 8th respectively – Chris coming in only 30 seconds adrift of the winner, a solo breakaway.

In the wrap up, we left Canberra very tired, and very fried, with a ferocity I have not seen in many years from the Sun.

The Canberra Tour was very successful for Randwick Botany, and a promising sign of results to come from all riders involved.

Photos (Courtesy of Ann Armstrong, Canberra Cycling Club).  See all Ann's photos here

Brendan climbing in 7th wheel.	Matty Lucas tucks in on the back	Matty sucking in the big ones !
Pete "The Machine" in a most usual pose.  "Up the road"	Robbie Cater sucking in some big ones !	Higgo in A Grade action
Slapper mows down a break in D Grade	Slapper marking the yellow jersey	In this rare photograph, Anne Armstrong, captures "The Slapper" without a smile on his face.
	Left- Chris "Spongee" Jenkins keeps clsoe to the front of the B Grade peleton.

Statistics (Brendan's)

For those technically minded folks, I have included the statistics from my computer and heart rate monitor.