Often the only thing we hear about in the media is animosity between motorists and cyclists.It's nice to be able to report the other side of the coin.On last Wednesday's Beechworth Bunch ride, a peloton of 16 cyclists came upon a lady with a flat tyre. 
Whilst I wasn't present on the ride, John Myles sent me this photo of the group in action helping change the flat tyre.The very relieved and grateful motorist was very thankful for the assistance.I did hear it was the older members of the bunch that did all the work, but can't confirm or deny this particular detail of the story.  

Last weekend's racing was the second weekend with back to back racing. Wang CC club race on Saturday and then a drive over to Eildon for the Damian McDonald Memorial which was held on Sunday.I would be racing in C Grade which would also incorporate the woman's A Grade in the same bunch.After the Wangaratta Club Race I drove over to Eildon where I'd booked accommodation at the Golden Trout Hotel which was one of the race sponsors.

There was just enough light left in the day for a drive down Skyline Road which would be the major climb of the race and more than likely where the major action would start.The KOM sign was just being erected so I made some mental notes on it's unusual position.1.5km after the main climb finished was what my speedo showed and almost on a downhill section.

The start time for our bunch was just after 10 am and me being an early riser there was heaps of time to get organised. We would have around 10 C Graders and 5 Women in their A Grade race.Everything seemed very well organised and I'm pretty sure everyone started on time.There were a couple of Wangaratta riders in my group,Chris Howard and Trent Hyde, also included,Thomas Slingsby and Michael Stringer, a couple of young 17 year olds whom I raced against earlier in the year at the Wangaratta club tour.    

Our race began with a 25 km circuit of what's known as the Pondage Loop which is largely flat with some very gentle undulations, but nothing that would create any selections in the race.There were a few attacks but nothing that looked likely to succeed.Eventual race winner William Key had several attempts to get away including riding off the front of the bunch at the start.
That would all change however when we hit the Skyline Road climb.
Four of the C Grade bunch,Key,Slingsby,Stringer,Hyde, and Amy Bradley from the women's A Grade group, managed to gap the rest of us initially, but after delving into the "suitcase of courage" 3 more of us,Howard,Everard and myself managed to ride across and make contact with the front group about two thirds of the way up the climb.The further the climb went the better I felt and we all crested the major part of the climb in our small group.There was no sign of other riders behind us and knowing where the KOM point was I put the hammer down.After a glance over the shoulder, and seeing only empty road, gave encouragement that I may be able to get the KOM for our group.I was disappointed when passing the KOM sign there was nobody there so my attack had been for nothing but it felt good.
At this point the decent had started and I love descending,it takes me back to the days of riding my 1982 900SS Ducati in the mountains around Bright.I could sense another rider on my shoulder, so without really thinking about it tried picking the best lines and keeping off the brakes as much as possible.It was great fun and I only wish I knew the road better so as to be able to really lay into the corners.By the time we reached the bottom I was alone again but was soon joined by Slingsby and Stringer.Our little trio rolled a few turns together but were eventually joined by the balance of our climbing group minus Chris Howard.Bugger,Howie is a good friend and I hadn't given any thought to the fact descending is not his strong point.Talking with him after the race, he had to come to a virtual standstill on the descent, trying to avoid another rider who had taken the wrong line into a corner.As he's quite experienced and we'd of had our 3 Wang riders in the bunch that would of been handy.
This was not to be however,with our group riding strongly into a head wind there was nothing to do but keep rolling turns.
After the climb, it's around another 40 km until the finish and our group worked pretty well for most of it.The young riders were pulling through pretty hard causing the bunch to surge which made it tough at times.I ended up saying to young Key that if he wanted me to come around him at the front then not to pull through so hard.This helped, and made life easier for me at least.We had one rider sitting on the back of the group, not contributing, which was a little concerning but I wasn't about to make a big deal out of it.That pretty much remained the Status Quo for the remainder of the race.There was a little excitement when my rear derailleur and somebodies front wheel came together in a hell of a clatter which apparently nearly caused a fall.I didn't position myself well near the finish and was caught behind at the roundabout which is around 300metres from the finish.Not that it would of made that much difference as the young trio bolted to take the first 3 places.Replaying the finale in my head the only way I could have made a difference is to have tried to attack with about 1km to go and hit the roundabout first.But it had been a tough race and after Saturdays club event I didn't have the legs anyway.The young riders deserved their results and all have a bright cycling future ahead of them.Amy Bradley came in with us in the front group so taking out the Women's A Grade race.     




Men's C grade
-------------

1. 52  KEY, WILLIAM1:59:001:59:00Ballarat/Sebastopol C C
2. 53  SLINGSBY, THOMAS1:59:00stPreston Cycling Club Inc
3. 51  STRINGER, MICHAEL1:59:00stBlackburn Cycling Club Inc
4. 84  HYDE, TRENTON1:59:00stWangaratta Cycling Club Inc
5. 57  REECKMAN,ANTHONY1:59:00stWangaratta Cycling Club Inc
6. 56  EVERARD, CRAIG1:59:00stBlackburn Cycling Club Inc
7. 55  WEBBER, VAUGHAN2:04:455:44Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
8. 29  HOWARD, CHRIS2:04:485:47Wangaratta Cycling Club Inc
9. 54  O'SULLIVAN, CRAIG2:06:307:29Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
10. 28 JEHU, NICHOLAS2:09:3810:37Wellington CC
11.50  WOODING  DREW2:21:0622:06Blackburn Cycling Club Inc

Full results here.

Read about Damian McDonald here. 

Thanks to the Blackburn Cycling Club for organising the event and all the helpers and volunteers who make these events possible.
Also the Wangaratta Cycling Club had a large involvement in the day bringing Damian's Race(Under 17 men) across from Wangaratta.

This afternoon I had the opportunity to have a bike fit with Laurie Lyster. Laurie recently completed the Retul bike fit training and has started his own bike fitting business.I wanted to get Laurie's opinion of my TT set up.We ended up being pretty happy with my original position.The only alteration being Seat height which was raised 10mm and moved forward to retain original seat set back in relation to bottom bracket.Small fluorescent markers were placed on six specific locations on my body before I was filmed riding my bike on a stationary trainer.Then with the help of some very clever software called Dartfish Laurie could plot my bike position perfectly.It was also very interesting to compare the functional changes the seat height adjustment made, after binging up the before and after video capture on the one screen for direct comparison.Below are a few photos I managed to sneak in during the process.     

Racing has returned to the Wangaratta Cycling Club and this weekend sees the first race for points that will count for the 
McDonald O’Brien sponsored WCC Spring Series Aggregate 2012

$1500 Series Prize money – 
1st -$500, 2nd -$300, 3rd - $200, 4th- $100, 5th - $100
+ $100 for first unplaced rider in each grade

Graded Scratch Races – A, B, C, D

Todays bunch ride was well attended and the weather was pretty good.It was so foggy when I left my house I wasn't sure I'd be able to find Wangaratta,let alone be there by 7.30am for the Beechworth Ride.In an unusual event the fog completely lifted by the time I got to Boorhaman.Usually the Ovens River flats are thick with fog and I was expecting today to be no exception.
But luckily for us we had completely clear roads and skies for the whole ride.The only thing we seem to have to contend with was worms.Yes Worms,my bike looks like I've ridden through a worm farm.It appears the worms have gone on the rampage after the late storms yesterday and decided the road was the place to be.A few pics of the boys below and even a couple from Cafe Derailleur  where we have our fantastic lunch on our return. 

Last year my friends and I had a wonderful time in Lorne participating in the inaugural Amy's Gran Fondo organized by the Amy Gillet Foundation ,so we made sure we got our entries in early for this years event.I'd also decided to enter a Time Trial held by the Geelong Cycling Club which would be held at Paraparap just out of Geelong.So this meant I'd be taking 2 bikes and assorted wheels and paraphernalia which ended up being quite a load. 

I'd stayed Friday night in Melbourne with my sister who lives in Coburg so I wouldn't have to drive to far on Saturday for the TT.I couldn't quite work out where the Geelong Cycling Clubrooms were so a quick text to the TT ing/ computer Guru, Shane Miller, and the next thing you know I have the address complete with a google map location.Just as well too as the GPS in my ute is a few years old now and it didn't recognize the location.The club rooms are pretty much out in the middle of nowhere and without the google map location I reckon I'd still be driving around looking for them.

The Time Trial was to be 2 laps of and 11km circuit and on arriving I found another familiar face in Stephen Lane  l have got to know Stephen recently, when he came up to race at this years Tour of Wangaratta where he came 3rd in A Grade, with some pretty tough competition.I got Stephen to jump in the passengers seat and take me for a guided tour around the course.

Everyone was very friendly and I really enjoyed the atmosphere before and after the race.I rode my fastest time trial to date averaging over 39kmh so was very contented with the effort.Possibly would have been quicker had I been paying more attention when doing the course recon,I missed one of the corners and locked up the rear wheel sliding sideways down the road,luckily keeping the bike upright.So I lost some time having to turn around again and get back onto the course.I ended up coming 8th in the open aero category.My legs were so sore after the race I thought it would be impossible to ride the Gran Fondo the next day.My quads just seized up and I could hardly move my legs,it wasn't a nice feeling. 

Full results of the Time Trial can be found here.

It took me about an hour to drive from Paraparap to Lorne and I arrived just in time to have a coffee with several of the Captain's Crew, before the compulsory safety briefing at 5pm. The safety briefing was informative and to the point, so it wasn't long before we'd collected our rider packs including ride numbers which also included the event timing transponder.
I was still trying to get my legs working,walking downhill was the killer and uphill wasn't so bad.Luckily it was uphill back to our accommodation.

Sunday arrived overcast but no rain was forecast in the morning with the possibility of showers later in the day.It's an incredible sight at the start of this event,if you can imagine around 4500 cyclists eagerly awaiting permission to be let loose on the Great Ocean road,the entire course is closed to traffic,and you have a recipe for a great ride.There was plenty of locals sitting on chairs in their driveways clapping and cheering as we flashed past.As this year I was starting quite a long way back in the field and wanting to better last years time, I made sure to position myself towards the front of our start bunch and set a solid pace right from the start.This event runs like clockwork and the waves of 200 riders starting every 90 secs went perfectly.We were soon on the road with a short section at the start neutralized before the event timing began.To ride the first 38 km on the Great Ocean Road with no traffic is worth the price of entry alone,Amy's Gran Fondo is the only opportunity to  be able to do this I'm aware of.Finding a group of about 8 guys who were travelling pretty well I jumped into their slipstream.We passed hundreds of riders and the feeling was great,even my legs weren't complaining.
After turning off the Great Ocean Road at Skenes Creek riders were face with a 10km climb to Skenes Creek north        

I felt really good on the climb and pushed a solid pace determined to better last years effort by a considerable margin.Cresting the KOM the road descends briefly and there a several rolling hills to contend with.There are also several fast descents and we had been warned about some of the corners closing out during the safety briefing.Riding the event last year was a big advantage and I was able to remember most of the course.This back section of rolling hills is probably where you can make the most difference to your overall time.I had one rider with me who was prepared to help push the pace so together we swapped off turns until finally others started to help with around 25km to go.Arriving at Deans Marsh I could feel my legs burning a little and with a little over 10km to go and most of it climbing the job wasn't quite done.I couldn't quite get the power output up this last climb compared with Skenes Creek but found that bit extra to finnish in the "Big Ring"(thanks Ash and Jake).

Another thoroughly enjoyable event and it's great to support such a wonderful organization in the Amy Gillet Foundation.Also great to catch up with several friends I don't see that often and to enjoy some competitive rivalry.Having the timing live online brings another element to the event as everybody huddled around iphones and laptops checking out the times and comparing. The Tour of Bright does this too and it's really appreciated by the competitors. 
And where can you ride on closed roads with no traffic? As was mentioned at the safety briefing even the Australian Nationals are not held on completely closed roads.

For or the record my times was roughly 11 minutes faster than last year which was another box ticked.

I'm sure many people are inconvenienced by the road closures that we. as cyclists, get to enjoy for the event.I made sure I greeted people with a friendly wave where possible and thanked corner marshalls and other volunteers who make these events possible.  

 

Below are a couple of photos I'm often asked about.It's the perfect time of the year to put them on the blog as Magpie season
is in full swing.I took these photos a couple of years ago with a $300 Olympus point and shoot camera.The first photo is now hanging proudly in France, on the wall of my cycling friends holiday unit.It also featured in my first Cycling Photography Calendar and a black and white version even made Cyclingtips photo of the day for 2 days.  

A couple of months ago I was asked to do some photography for the Sam Miranda weekend of cycling which was held last weekend. Initially I was a little perplexed about the offer as I was particularly keen to join in the racing myself.After thinking it over I  agreed to photograph the road race held on the Saturday and race myself in the handicap on the Sunday.That way I wouldn't miss out on racing and still get to take photos, which I love doing.As the road race was going to use a section of dirt road which has come to be known as Strade Nero, a 6km stretch of dirt road with a average gradient of just under 6%,I knew it would be important to get some images there. 
Photographing and event like this takes a little planning and I was aware of this during the reco. rides we did over the course leading up to the event.I wanted to take photos from various points throughout the course so there would be some variety in my images.I would start at Sam Miranda's winery,where I was quite keen on getting a broad shot of the landscape encompassing the winery and cyclists. 

I watched various grades start from the winery and calculated if I left after B Grade then hopefully I'd be able to drive up to the 1st KOM point near Myyhree, before C Grade arrived there.Just making in time with about 5 mins to spare a decision was made to set up right near the KOM point to photograph the riders as they passed over the top. I was a little rushed and not that happy with the shots I got here.

After the bulk of C Grade passed the KOM it was time to head for the dirt.This was what I had been waiting for and had a few ideas of where I might park myself.But in reality it was a case of stopping where ever you could find a spot to squeeze your vehicle off the road.The first riders to pass me were the leading A Grade women closely followed by the remaining A grade and B Grade women's field. 

After the women I shot the B Grade men's field and then the A Grade Men. I was pretty happy with the photos I managed to get on the dirt.

After A Grade men had passed I drove back down Strade Nero to Boggy Creek Road, made my way back to Moyhu.Thinking about it on my drive down Boggy Creek Road I was pretty sure that C Grade would be getting close to the finish of the race and I wouldn't have a chance of getting there before they did.So on arriving at Mohyu I asked some interested spectators what the state of play was.C Grade had come through ages ago and the A grade women had just passed a couple of minutes before my arrival.So I decided to see if it would be possible to overtake the women and then pull over to get some shots of them at a couple of locations.

Driving up and down this section of the road trying to work out the best options for some more pics knowing B and A grade men were still on there way I knew I wanted to get a couple of finish line pics too. After B Grade passed me about 5 km from the finish A grade appeared very close behind and it was at this point I decided to make a bee line for the finish.After explaining to the Police on the last corner that I was an official photographer for the day they let me pass and drive down the little side road to where the finish line had been set up.

That's pretty much my day in a nutshell.I'd left home around 9 am after double checking all my gear and stopping in Wangaratta to purchase another memory card. Leaving Sam Miranda's after taking photos of the presentations around 5.30pm.Lucky I had Shane Miller and Von,his fiancee,staying with me who had kindly offered to organise dinner Saturday night so I could get home and download my photos and upload a few onto twitter.It was a hectic day and as usual I forgot to eat anything until presentation time,well there wasn't really an opportunity before then.I had a ball and was reasonably happy with the day's results.This was the first time the race has been run over this course and it's quite difficult to always pick the best options,you certainly need an element of luck on your side too.