Tony Reeckman Photography
  • Home
  • Tony's Blog
  • Galleries
    • Corowa Floods 2016
    • Pic of the week
    • Landscape Photography
    • Bird Photography
    • Dance Photography
    • Los Angeles
    • Sport Gallery
    • Cycling Photography >
      • Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
      • Tour Down Under 2015
      • Ian Bullus Memorial
      • Greame Daws Memorial Handicap.
      • Australian Masters Time Trial Championships 2013
      • Masters Cycling Classic-Austria
      • Wagga to Albury Hcp.
      • Australian Road Nationals >
        • Mens U23 ITT
        • Women ITT
        • Elite Men ITT
  • Contact
  • Links

2011 Tour of Bright

4/12/2011

 
Picture
Friday night was registration time.
Picture
Wes pins on his race number. No turing back now.
Picture
Bikes fitted with race numbers and transponders.
The Tour of Bright one of Australia's biggest and best cycling races was held over the weekend. It was my first attempt at the race after spending the 2010 version photographing the action.There was a large contingent of local riders competing and it felt a little like an extended family as we all checked each others progress on the excellent results website which updated the moment you crossed the line. You can view the results website here.

Stage 1 on Saturday morning saw my group of Masters 4/5 start last at 8.45am and I had been awake for hours raring to go. After deciding to drive out to the base of Tawonga Gap and ride into Bright as a warm up. I figured after the stage I could save myself the 10 km ride into town.For the 90km stage I had some company in my group with Gavin Frawley,Stephen Fields,Ray Jarratt who had all raced the TOB before and Tony Barton who was like me a first timer. The highlight of the stage was flying down the Ovens Valley in a big peloton and feeling like you were almost a pro at speeds up to 50kmh. The lowlight was getting dropped by the main bunch up the Rosewhite climb. That being said I wasn't the only one and forged a small working group of around 8 to ride to the bottom of Tawonga Gap. Just after starting the climb the A grade bunch motored past like we were standing still. I did the climb in around 33 mins and was greeted at the top by several local riders waiting at the finish line.

Stage 2 on Saturday afternoon was a 16km time trial which is 8km out the Wandiligong  Rd and the turning around and riding 8km back. My start time was 16.48 precisely. Riders start every 20 seconds and you even get to roll down a proper starting ramp . The out leg is a gradual climb up the valley punctuated by a couple of small hills particularly the first one which takes the wind out of your sails. I had a decent ride and came in just under 26 mins which was a little slower than I'd done the course in practice but after stage 1 in the morning I could live with that.

Stage 3 on Sunday morning was The Queen stage from Bright to the top of Mt Hotham. Due to pretty bad weather on the top third of Mt Hotham the race organisers made the decision to end the race and the end of the false flat near the ticket box about 10km short of the summit. My bunch was still together at Harrietville after all the breaks were kept well under control, but as we rounded the first hairpin the sounds of chains being shifted up cassettes into easier gears for climbing could be heard reverberating throughout the peloton. The first part of the climb is really tough and any disappointment felt from not being able to finish at the top quickly evaporated into relief. After the initial pinch it settles down for quite a while until the Meg which is a real gut buster section albiet quite short but enough to make the legs hurt and the heart rate climb skywards just to maintain forward momentum. After a few more kilometers of 5-6 percent gradient the road levels out to around 2-3 percent for around 10km and in this case the end of the race. It was great to be cheered on at the end by the local riders and their families who had made the journey up to watch the finish of the race.  

It's been fantastic to have had support and encouragement from heaps of people. All the local riders who have had to put up with me asking endless questions about racing and gear etc. The health professionals who looked after my injuries when about 2 weeks out from the race I thought I would not be competing. Also the help of all the volunteers that make events like these possible and the Alpine Cycling Club for putting the race on.For the record I finished 53 rd out of about 70 riders in masters 4/5. As I sit here this morning typing my legs are sore and I'm feeling pretty stuffed but I reckon I'll be back again next year. 

A few little anecdotes from the weekend.

Watching all the riders sizing each other up on our Friday afternoon ride around Bright.

Having a chat with Bridie O'Donnell at rider registration but at the time not being quite sure it was her.

Meeting Wade Wallace from the CyclingTips website in person after some of my photos from the Bright race last year were used in his race report.

The constant surging of a big peloton and the smell of burning carbon under heavy brakes.

When Wes said "you know when you think you might well be right on the back of the bunch but don't want to turn around and look just in case you are" and knowing exactly what he means.

Ashley Baines screaming out "Reeeeeckmaaaan" as he blasted down Hotham as I struggled up.

Shane Miller the leader of The Mount Buffalo Challenge saying he is not riding up Buffalo again on Monday.

Seeing some of the older guys in your group fly up the hills leaving you in their wake.

Watching Laurie Lyster climb onto the podium several times during presentations.



 
Picture
A classic shot of Wes at the end of stage 3 taken by his wife Kylie.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Bridie O'Donnell nears the end of stage 3
Picture
Picture
I reckon Larie Lyster on the right would have been exhausted from the number of times he climbed onto the podium at the presentations.

Comments are closed.

    Tony Reeckman

     

    Archives

    October 2016
    January 2015
    October 2014
    May 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010

    Categories

    All
    2013 Mt Buffalo Challenge
    2014 Mt Buffalo Challenge
    2015 Mt Buffalo Challenge
    Adelaide
    Agriculture
    Alpine Cycling
    Baw Baw Classic
    Beechworth
    Benalla
    Bike Fitting
    Bike Maintenance
    Birds
    Bright
    Christmas
    Coffee
    Coffee Stops
    Coffee Stops
    Cooking
    Corowa
    Corowa Floods 2016
    Cycling
    Cycling Calendar
    Cycling Training
    Cycling Training
    Dance Photography
    Dji
    Domestic Racing
    Floods
    Floods 2016
    For Sale
    Gellie Custom
    Gellie Custom
    General
    Gran Fondo
    Greenedge
    House Renovations
    House Renovations2999b04abe
    Hume Veterans
    Ian Bullus
    Local Races
    Local Rides
    Local Rides
    Los Angeles
    Major Victorian Races
    Masters Racing
    Mt Buffalo
    Mt Buffalo Challenge
    Mt Buffalo Club
    Murray River
    National Championships
    North East Victoria
    NSW
    Photography
    Poetry
    Professional Races
    Professional Racing
    Race Calendar
    Recreational Rides
    Recreational Rides
    Rutherglen
    Rutherglen Cycling
    Rutherglen Cycling
    Rutherglen Wine Bottle
    Signs
    Speedplay Pedals
    Strava
    Surfing
    Sydney
    The Captains Crew
    Time Trial
    Tour Down Under
    Tour Of Bright
    Track Racing
    Travel Bike
    Veteran Racing
    Wahgunyah
    Wangaratta Cycling Club
    Wildlife
    YouTube

    Follow @TonyReeckman
    Tweet

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.