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Sam Miranda Road Race Course Recon

12/8/2012

 
When the organizers tweeted there would be a reconnaissance ride of the course on Saturday it seemed like a nice idea to tag along.A few text messages later and it sounded like a good group would be taking part.I've put my hand up to photograph the road race so would use the recon. to check out possible vantage points.For those needing a refresher on the Sam Miranda weekend of racing and the Gran Fondo I've written a blog about here .
 A group of 12 gathered at Sam Miranda's cellar door,not for partaking in the produce unfortunately,but to ride the 100km course.It was nice to see Glynn Matthey who had made the trip up from Melbourne to ride the course with us. 
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Waiting to depart,I reckon that little dog is cocking his leg,or having a natural break as is the cycling terminology.
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And this Border Collie is looking for somebody to play with.
I'd ridden about half of the course before,albeit some of it in the opposite direction that the race would go,so was looking forward to the expedition.The first few kilometers are along the Snow Road, before turning left into Kilfeera Road,which is a nice undulating quiet country road.The pace was pretty steady with 5 minute rotating turns on a magnificent winters afternoon with a slight head wind all the way until the Myrrhee (Benalla - Whitfield Rd) turn off.
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Rolling along Kilfeera Rd.
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Beautiful day,quiet road,if your a cyclist, thats pretty hard to beat.
After turning toward Myrrhee on the Benalla Whitfield Rd you could feel a slight uphill gradient,a false flat,some may call it.Also the wind seemed to be coming right into our faces.There are some good undulations along here and the first KOM point just before Mhyree,although not that long will be tough enough to create some gaps in the field.Not long after the Myrrhee KOM it's time to turn right onto the Benalla Whitfield Rd for the infamous "Strade Nero" which is the dirt road climb included in the road race.Any advantage gained on the previous KOM could be added to here and this climb is long and hard enough to split things up even more.I've previously blogged about the Strade Nero here so wont go into detail about it again.Everybody on the ride was impressed by the dirt road and was looking forward to racing over it when the time comes.
After the climb,descending down into Whitfield is spectacular,forget the brakes,don't need them here.
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We gathered at the Whitty Cafe in Whitfield for a quick coffee.And Howie even had a snack.
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We were joined at the Cafe by Gold Medalist,Glenn Clark, who had ridden out on his scooter with there being talk of motorpacing back to Oxley.
I would like to be able to report about all the things I saw on the run from Whitfield to the race finnish, back at Sam Miranda's Winery.But in reality, I pretty much had to concentrate on the back wheel of Tully Lyster's bike as he averaged 43.5kmh for the slightly downhill run down the King Valley.We had been following the scooter briefly but just when I asked about the little roller on the rear guard of the scooter it fell off onto the road.As Glenn pulled over to repair it we just powered on.It was a little under an hour of pretty hard riding and come race day should be a very fast pace.Below is the Strava segment thats been created that includes the whole circuit.It was a nice ride with a great bunch of people who all enjoyed the day.The only incident worth reporting is race directer, Marty Tobin, who had organized the ride had 2 flat tyres before we even got to Myrrhee and had to be rescued by friends.

The Sam Miranda Weekend

4/7/2012

 
Pencil the weekend of the 25th and 26th of August into your diary.Thats when the Sam Miranda Road Race,Gran Fondo and Handicap will be held. What promises to be a fantastic weekend in beautiful North East Victoria with plenty to keep non cyclists entertained as well.The area is full of excellent wineries,wonderful restaurants and is also just a stones throw away from most of Victoria's Ski fields.Sam Miranda owns one of the areas best known wineries. The Sam Miranda cellar door is open 7 days from 10am - 5pm with lunch available 12pm - 3pm.    

A special thank you to Marty Tobin for providing most of the information and photographs.
I was quite interested Sam Miranda's interest in cycling and Marty provided me with the following.  

Sam has been a cycling tragic for quite a while, long before he moved to North East Victoria from Griffith.
He still has his classic custom made 1990’s Zanella Road bike that he got made when on a trip to Italy, sitting in the shed.  
Sam’s involvement with cycling in the north east came after a chance meeting with some local club members at the winery in about 2005.He then started  donating a few bottles of wine to the Wang CC for the Club tour, then it grew. The next year Sam was the Sponsor of the Wangaratta Cycling Club tour.In 2007 Sam became the major sponsor of the Wangaratta CC. 
Also in 2007 Sam became the major sponsor of the High Country Road Race (Mansfiled to Oxley) a joint club run event with Mansfield CC, in 2008 the race became bigger with a criterium added to make it a weekend.
2010 saw Sam Miranda King Valley take over management of the event. 
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Sam Miranda on the Col du Galibier,one of the classic "Tour de France" climbs in the Alps.
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Some of the racing from last years criterium
There have been some big changes made to the format of the event from previous years with some very exciting additions.A Road Race and Gran Fondo will be held on Saturday with a Handicap Road Race held on Sunday.

"The ROAD RACE has been changed from the point to point circuit to one big loop(See map below). We feel the circuit is just as challenging as the old course. We have kept the distance to 100km, like previous editions, and have incorporated some fantastic roads not previously used."

"This year we have two KOM’s. The first as riders come into Myrrhee (km 50) and the second is the infamous ‘Strade Nero’ which will take riders from Myrrhee up towards Whitlands (km 60) is sure to test and some have said “this will make the race”. Just like the Italian classic ‘Strade Bianche’ this climb is on dirt! The surface is in really good condition so you don’t need your Paris – Roubaix wheels!" 

There will be an intermediate Sprint and a teams category has been introduced for A Grade Men.
Minimum of 3, maximum of 5 riders per team.
Riders who are not part of a team, who wish to ride A Grade will be placed into a composite team by Cycling Victoria.
The Teams Classification winning team will be taken on the combined times of the first 3 riders in each team.

Champion Systems are on board again to provide Race Winners and KOM Jerseys for all grades.

Another first this year is the Sam Miranda ‘Grand Fondo’ over 100km to be ridden over the same circuit(see map below) before the Road Race.
The Grand Fondo is a participation ride and will start at 11:00am  one hour before the first riders set off in the 2012 Sam Miranda Road Race. 
In true ‘Grand Fondo’ style this ride has full event timing and is a mass participation ride preceding the Sam Miranda Road Race. The circuit is a mix of quiet country roads, unique climbs including the famed ‘Strade Nero’ to Whitlands, a great descent into Whitfield and rolling country side and vineyards.


SATURDAY 25th AUGUST
SAM MIRANDA ROAD RACE:
DISTANCE:     100KM
GRADES:        A, B, C MEN
                       A, B WOMEN
                      (A GRADE MEN – TEAMS CATEGORY)
START TIME: 11:00 AM ‘GRAND FONDO’
                     12:00 PM C GRADE
                     12:10 PM WOMEN B
                     12:20 PM WOMEN A
                     12:45 PM B GRADE
                     1:00 PM A GRADE
KOM:             2 PER GRADE
                     50KM MYRRHEE SCHOOL
                     60KM ‘STRADE NERO’
SPRINT:        15 MILE CREEK 35KM
PRIZEMONEY: MINIMUM $5,000 CASH & PRIZES
WINNERS / KOM JERSEYS ALL GRADES
ENTRY FEE:    $60.00 – INCLUDES DINNER SATURDAY NIGHT AFTER PRESENTATIONS.

                       EXTRA TICKETS FOR THE DINNER ARE AVAILABLE FOR $25.00



On Sunday the 26th the inaugural SAM MIRANDA HANDICAP will be held.

DISTANCE:           85KM
GRADES:             Open to all riders U19 and above
START TIME:        10:00AM
COURSE:               Oxley, Moyhu, Greta, 15 Mile Creek, Myrrhee, Moyhu, Oxley(See map below)
PRIZEMONEY:        PRIZEMONEY for the weekend exceeds $6,000 in cash and prizes
                                Prizes for 1st Unplaced U19, Woman, Fastest Time
ENTRY FEE:             $45.00

PRESENTATIONS:    AT CONCLUSION OF RACING 
                                AT SAM MIRANDA CELLAR DOOR

Should you require any further information a race website has been set up www.sammirandaroadrace.wordpress.com

Follow on Twitter - Sam Miranda RoadRace
 
Cycling Victoria’s race listing http://vic.cycling.org.au/?ID=46867



Amy's Gran Fondo

18/9/2011

 
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Beautiful Lorne
As soon as I heard the Amy Gillett Foundation were going to be holding a Gran Fondo with a decent portion on along the Great Ocean Road and the entire route was going to be closed to traffic I couldn't get my entry in quick enough. I was joined by 4 members of the notorious Captain's Crew for this cycling adventure and with our accommodation having a great view over the ocean things were looking good.

It was compulsory to attend a safety briefing and in conjunction with this we collected our rider kits. The briefing was not to long and the highlight for me was when the police officer in charge of road safety for the event had his mobile phone go off during his presentation. He didn't miss a beat said it was his boss calling  and sent the call to voice mail. Once the briefing was over we collected our rider kits as we left.
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At the safety briefing,I'm not the only one with no hair.
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Collection of rider kits. The closest row is the fastest riders, I can only wish.
The weather was kind to us after a little drizzle over night and a brisk wind blowing off the ocean in the early hours of the morning. Riding down to the start line you really I was blown away at the scale of the event and to see all the riders lining up in their starting waves was unbelievable. With Dave McKenzie on the microphone and Phil Anderson making a guest appearance to greet the crowd you could be excused for imagining yourself about to start one of the Grand Tours.
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Looking toward the start line from my group
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Looking backwards from my group at the start
We were all getting restless and wanting to get going as the clock ticked slowly toward 8 am. I could hear something about a koala being announced over the PA, and as it turns out a Koala was apparently wandering around on the road just out of Lorne after consuming one to many Gum leaves delaying the start of this huge event by 10 minutes os so. Only could happen in our wonderful country.

The first 1.5 km was neutralised to allow the bunches of 200 riders to get settled down and organised before the pace hotted up. And hot up it did. I had a few people say to me they didn't think the event would be competitive enough for them and all I can say to that is when my heart rate hit around 180 bpm on the first little climb, the competition was well and truly alive.
We blasted down the Great Ocean Road and when I wasn't completely on the rivet I had to remind myself to soak up the magnificent views and enjoy this opportunity to be on this road with no traffic.
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Riding along the Great Ocean Road.
I was happy when we turned off the Great Ocean Road as I knew the KOM climb was about to start. I like climbing and got into a good rhythm for the next 30 mins passing plenty of other riders and getting passed like I was standing still by others.
The decent was great, a little wet but not too dangerous and then the course was a series of rolling hills that could pretty much be ridden over in the big ring. I got in with a few others and we pushed pretty hard to keep the pace up. After one of the small towns that had a comfort stop (I was determined to ride the event without stopping) we were joined by a group of maybe 40-50 riders that kept a good pace all the way to Deans Marsh. Rounding the right hander here it was not long until we going up hill again. The legs were starting to hurt and the "suitcase of courage" was calling for a withdrawal to be forthcoming for the last 10 km which was to be mainly uphill. Plenty of people were really doing it tough now and all I could do was keep pushing as hard as possible knowing the end was almost in sight. Climbing out of the saddle for the last couple of hundred metres and crossing the line spent but feeling content that I had done a good time.After catching my breath it was nice to have a chat with a few people I had rode with during the day. Everyone I spoke to had a great time and were already talking about next years event. I can only imagine how fast it will fill next year.
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Part of our crew contemplating our trip to Belgium and what beers we could taste there.
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Cobram legend Ray Jarratt was first placed in his age group after a great ride. Must have been the training ride he did with us to Beechworth the other week.
So many highlights really.
The local people who were sitting out in front of their houses clapping and cheering as we went past. Especially as they would      have been quite inconvenienced by the road closures.
The beautiful scenery.
Closed roads.
Friendly competitors.
Great organisation.
Time spent away with friends.
The elder statesman (The Silver Streak) arriving back at the car
announcing "let's go around again". 

For the record my time was 3h 28min 17sec at an average speed of 31.6kmh
average heart rate 161bpm and cadence of 79 rpm


All results from Amy's Gran Fondo are available here and you also have the option to print out a certificate that gives your ride time,overall placing,age category placing and KOM time. 

    Tony Reeckman

     

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