The most enjoyable part of this ride was the beer and burgers at the summit on the Austrian / italian border, followed by about 30minutes of extreme downhill, where the brakes spent more time on than off, which is tricky when Italian bikes use the left lever as a front brake and the right as a rear.

Group photo of our bunch...

Slow going on such a big climb...

Passo campolongo @ 1850m above sea level...

Extremely steep section of the climb...

Snow & ice still litters the roadside in summer...

Great view of the mountains near the Italian/Austrian border...

The highest point of our ride, approx 2100m above sea level...

Great pub about 30 min ride from base camp...

Saturday is the Road Race over 51kms at Eastern Creek Raceway with an 8am start. I went out there last Sunday morning and raced with the Warratah Vets, raced C grade with over 50 riders starting and finished 5th in the intermediate sprint (30 mins) and then at the finish (1 hour) was about tenth across the line. Average speed 36.5 kph! and we nearly caught B grade who started 1 min in front of us.

It has been blowing a gale today so I am hoping that the winds moderate by Saturday as Eastern Creek is very open and would make for a very hard ride. It has been a great experience to be part of the Masters Games so far.

Road Race - Sat, 17th Oct 2009

My Road race was raced this morning at Eastern Creek Motor race circuit, 50 kms flat chat, no hill, only a couple off small rises which meant the speed was on from the start. 80 plus riders faced the starter around some tight and twisty corners so you had to ride the fount half of the bunch or get dropped off very easily as quited a few riders did. Some time mid race an American rider got away and no one chased him, I did not see him go either, and he went on to win.

With three laps to go the bunch split with 15 rides in the main bunch in front, then I was with three other riders chasing but could not bridge the gap to get back on, With half a lap to go the bunch behind us caught us (8 riders) so it was a bunch sprint finish. I did my best in the sprint to finish mid field, Robyn thinks I finished around twentieth across the line.

Average speed for the 50 kms for us was 35.6kph very fast !!!!

I was happy with my result amongst a world class field of oldies.

We are going to see Marco  race  tomorrow  then home  Monday.

Regards
Alan Miller

Sean Golding
Tough Day for me. Got cramps, pulled out after 140klm. Will try again next year.

Luke AlcockI 
made it. Felt dreadful from bottom of mountain to 195km mark with snot flowing very freely (ed. too much information Luke!).

Vanessa McDonald
After spending Friday afternoon in bed fighting off a sickly cold feeling, I lined up on Saturday morning not feeling crash hot. The concoction of panadol, cold and flu tablets and whatever else I thought would work, wasn't good pre race nutrition. Anyway our race got underway, with our glamour lap of the thriving town centre of Glen Innes. Our first QOM was at 15km's, my thoughts were do I step off the bike or wait for me to faint? There was a good downhill that I could recover on so I continued on. There were a few small attacks that were quickly shut down. The QOM at Wire Gully saw an attack by Louise Kerr and Lauren Kitchen and 4 other girls stick. The group of six stayed away for the rest of the race, I was in the second bunch of 6. We worked well together and held the bunch in sight until the Elsmore loop, 25k's from the finish. I had once again (happened last year) ran out of water..so a quick scab amongst the bunch and I found a willing rider to offer me some watered down hot endura...mmm beggers can't be choosers! Anyway it fixed my drought mouth from the cold and flu tablets and got me through the last 15kms. Port Macquarie rider Lauren Kitchen took the sprint to claim the win ahead of my friend Sue Forsythe from North Sydney CC and Loren Rooney from the Gold Coast Goldstars. My bunch came in for the sprint which resulted in me taking 8th place. I was so happy for Lauren and Sue to take the podium spots and glad that I finished the race. A bit disappointed that I was sick but, what can you do? Thanks to my support crew once again. The girl's peloton are really getting to know my cheer squad. Hubby Dave, what can I say, chief mechanic, chief child minding, chief director sportif!

David Leckenby
Fitness wise, it was the best G2I I've ever done, but tactically it was a disaster. First 70km was fine, at the start of the climb I stopped to pick up 2 bottles that my support had dropped for me only to find they were 90% ice. Oh well, I did order my drinks cold! Having a history of blowing up on the climb, I decided to let the leaders go and settle in to my own pace - problem was I couldn't find anyone else riding at my pace. At Heffron's lookout I realised I was having a good day, and decided to try to rejoin the leaders who were about 3 min ahead. By the top I was 1 min behind and had to make a quick decision to keep chasing or sit up and wait - I elected to chase. What followed was a 35km time trial with no thought to the remaining 150km I had to ride. Every 10 minutes or so I would catch site of the bunch and that would encourage me to keep going. At Mt Mitchell I was 4 min behind and decided to sit up and wait for the next bunch, and they caught me about 5km later.

This turned out to be the most frustrating bunch I've ever ridden with. Only about 5 of the 20 riders seemed interested in chasing the leaders. What ensued was a lot of attacking in an attempt to split the bunch, a couple of breakaways with one other rider, but all to no avail.

At the Glen Innes feed station I started to feel a bit off. The missed bottle of High5 (the frozen one) had just caught up with me and I was going into a hunger flat, but as usual I didn't recognise the warning signs. At the start of the Waterloo climb the engine just shut down and the lights went out. I started sucking down Coke as fast as I could but there was nothing I could do to stay with the bunch. That was about the time that Sean and Leigh drove along beside me and offered me a lift, and I was oh so tempted. But I decided to keep riding, and about 15min later the Coke kicked in and I was off again.

Decision time (again) - should I sit up and cruise in with the next bunch or do another 50km time trial? Nah - might as well make it a good training ride, so I opted for the time trial. I actually really enjoyed that last 50km. At the finish I was surprised to discover I was only 14 minutes behind the time of the lead bunch, so all up I was pretty happy with the day.

Zeno Baston
After 2 months of dodging cars trucks and caravans I finally made it to the Grafton to Inverell race “Oh My G what have I got myself into.”

Race day, 5.55am all the alarms are going off in my daughters place at Grafton. It is here finally!

Now for the 6 weetbixs, 2 Bananas ( mine of course) 1 litre of milk, protein drink. “Oh dear now I really do feel sick “ I stated to my wife and daughter “I’ve eaten much”. Do the final get ready stuff and off to the start.

6.58 am arrived at the start. What No-one is here ??? There are NO Bikes or riders. SO, we park get the gear out. Luckily a young rider came up and said the start is at the crown hotel so off I set to the crown half ready. Wife turns up with the car and all the stuff. The nerves set in.

It was good to see familiar faces and have a chat. Then I saw David Leckenby and that made 2 of us with hairy legs - he he !!!!

Mandy then left with all the other cars and Handlers of to the Mt Mitchell.

A grade start with Dan and Aaron ready for the challenge B grade with Erin flying the Coffs flag . By this time the crowd was in a frenzy waiting for C grade to start.

Here was me, a little hairy chicken legged broken down banana grower in amongst some legends’ of the sport like Mat Vagg, Sean Golding ,Dave Leckenby, with young guns Chris, Reece and Luke ready to put Coffs cycling on the world map. The starter counts down...

8.30 and we're off 134 rider bunch. I thought the biggest bunch I have ridden in is 20, I was to scarred to have drink for the first hour just in case I dropped my water bottle and caused a pile up!

The first 30 km was a breeze except for the surges of such a big bunch, the first climb at Cattle Creek got rid of a ¼ the bunch and that nearly included me, luckily a young bloke kept pulling me back on to the back of the pack. The final straw was a nature break agreed by the bunch, by the time I got organized, I looked around the young guns had been and gone up the road 300 meters and the chase was on. This wasn’t much fun! So I bit the bullet and finally worked my way though all the carbon bikes and the fast sounding Zipp wheels. Finally a familiar face appeared, Reece was cruising along , much easier ,1st lesson don’t be shy get up front.

Stayed with Reece to the bottom of the Gibraltar climb I wished him luck and knuckled down for the climb.

Feeling I had done a bit too much work hanging of the back I got back into a good rhythm.

I saw the Grafton team ahead so then rode with them for a while 2nd lesson - I made the mistake thanking Grafton for supplying Coffs with the water I was drinking out of my bottle, after a bit of good banter it was time to move on and upwards and started to pass a few riders now.

The Rainbow boys must have thought that silly old bugger would get lost so they left a trail of rainbow water bottles all the way up the mountain for me to follow.

3rd lesson no use passing all those riders up the climb and get to the top and ride by yourself for 20 km!!.

Started getting cramps about 15 km from Mt Mitchell but luckily a bunch caught me and took the pressure of my legs, we made Mt Mitchell feed station picked up our food and off we went.

1.15pm By that time we had a bunch about 10 riders. It was agreed that we would try and get everyone to the finish.

We push on to Glen Innes weave our way through town all the crowd barriers in place ,the only people we saw where 3 drunks and a flea bitten cattle dog outside one of the pubs who’s fun for the day was to see if the dog could heal a few lycra wearing bike riders, cramps didn’t matter every one out of their saddle and out of there.

2nd feed station looked in my feed bag guess what!!!, more gels and bars by this time I thought 160km we usually have stopped and a couple times and had café latte and cake by now, I slapped myself about and got my mind on the job again.

60 km to go, still having bad cramps luckily the bunch where kind enough not to let me do a turn out in front. We climbed the Waterloo range but going down thinking how good is this 2km fast downhill run I got a speed wobble by the time I slowed down the pack was about 1/2km ahead it took about 3km to get back on. One more climb, Wire Gully, feeling pretty good up and over 20 km to go, started to feel guilty about not doing a turn, so off I went a couple minutes out in front.

Lesson 4 - don’t be a hero; as it took the next 3km to get the cramps in the legs under control.

Last effort coming into Inverell and then it’s all downhill to the finish line. Some of the bunch picked the pace up I think they were all feeling like A graders, we can see the finish line and all sit up together, feeling that we all deserved to finish together. at 8hr 16min.

Well done to all the Coffs riders.

Ciao
Zeno (mad dog)

The seeds of desire to have a road bike were planted while watching last year's Tour de France. I had watched the multipart 'suspense/thriller/who is gunna do it' for many years, but that year I was convinced I too could ride like Robbie, Stuart or Cadel if only I could have a bike with drop bars and skinny tyres. Ok ok, I'm a little more realistic now!!!

Surely I could get a reasonable bike for around $1000, and get it within a few days too. Then I was confronted with terms like sora - tiagra - 105 - ultegra - Dura Ace, compact frame, compact crank, composite forks, alu or carbon fibre frame, vertically compliant, and that was all before the question of which brand came into the equation. My head was spinning from the myriad of options, and me without any idea where to start to determine which option was going to be the best or most suitable for a future champion as I was sure to be. Ok, I had to concede the decision might take a little longer than the one or two days originally planned.

So as my steep technical learning curve ascended the 'mont du cycling knowledge', so did my realisation of the amount I was going to need to spend. From the $1000 I had originally anticipated, it grew to $1800, then to $2450, then to what seemed like an outrageous $3200. It was just a bicycle for heaven's sake, but if I wanted to have a bike that satisfied me on aesthetic, technical and performance levels then that is what it would take.

Many, many weeks of research and study, and changing of mind back and forth eventually led me to the acid test of riding the bikes on my short list. As a new comer to the road discipline, I had little idea of what felt 'right' or vertically compliant, but after test rides on various brands and models, I took the hot looking Specialized on the bike shop floor for a spin. I was reluctant to even bother trying it as it was yet another step over and above my price limit. But silly me decided to have a test ride anyway, purely for comparison sake of course. Well as I'm sure you can guess, it was by far the best ride so far, and I just knew I wasn't going to be happy with anything less. With amazing (and unusual) restraint though, I left the shop without making a purchase.

Having slept and dreamt on it overnight, I rang the bike shop the next day and with a little coaxing on accessories pricing etc, a deal was done. Later that day the bike was mine, but little did I know the bike was contaminated with an addictive substance that would come to control my life. From that time I was cursed with an unrelenting urge to spend many thousands of dollars on lycra, tools, tyres, lights, shoes, glasses and gels. I felt compelled to rise before dawn to ride up hills so until my legs would scream in pain as my lungs and heart would attempt to escape through my throat to avoid the torture.

I am not the only one who has been foolish enough to 'just try it once' though, and I have found some solace in support groups where others similarly afflicted gather to try to defeat this cycling demon. We ride together, admit our weakness and strive to be strong in the face of such powerful forces. I have even tried to COD (cycle over dose) to see if that would end my suffering. I have ridden with BUGs, tried criteriums, road racing, ridden over 100km multiple times, clocked up 8090km for the year, but no, I am still addicted.

So if you decide to try it, you will certainly get your money's worth, but be warned, you might get more than you bargained for.

Emma Richardson

The Inverell Junior 2 Day Tour is a 4 stage race consisting of a road race, criterium, time trial and final road race. It is based on points only, so place across the line is all important in every stage.

Josh
After his good results in Port and club champs, Josh was ready and keen. The first stage was a fast and furious 12km road race. All 12 U13s came in together for a fast bunch sprint, and Josh impressed us all by winning by half a bike length. Much to his surprise he was then presented with the leader's yellow jersey - and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

In the criterium, Josh decided he wanted to win in style and launched a big attack on the 5th lap. The others were having none of it though, and he was reeled in by the end of the lap. One of the Sydney boys proved a better tactician, jumping clear of the bunch just before the final corner. Josh chased hard, and managed a safe 2nd place to hold his yellow jersey

The second day brought terrible weather with very low temperatures and rain. Josh's plan was to go flat out in an attempt to win the time trial, which would then allow him to race a conservative final road race and stay out of trouble (actually that was my plan - avoid crashes). The time trial was shortened to only 1.8km due to the wet road, and Josh pretty much sprinted to finish in 3:16. Unfortunately though, he had no idea where he placed as the results were not published prior to the start of the road race.

By the start of the road race the rain was falling steadily and it was very cold. Josh's revised plan was to burst out the blocks and ride it like a time trial - that way he would stay warm and stay out of trouble. It almost worked, as the rest of the bunch were taken by surprise, but they managed to reel him in before the turnaround where disaster struck. He went into the turn too fast and fell heavily. By the time he got to his feet, the bunch had taken off and one of the marshals was telling him they would drive him back in the car. No way! He jumped on his bike (with bent shifter), and took off again in hot pursuit. He quickly caught the bunch and again rode to the front and stayed there finishing 3rd in another bunch sprint.

Feeling pretty confident that he had retained the jersey, disaster struck again. The marshals were directing cars to turn right at the next intersection, and thinking he had to turn as well, Josh tangled handlebars with another rider and hit the tarmac again! This one really hurt as he was going pretty fast, and the bike was looking pretty mangled.

15 minutes later though, with the wounds all treated, and the confirmation that he had indeed won by 5 points, the smile was back on his face. He got to keep his yellow jersey, and won $80, so he definitely wants to come back next year.

Guy
Guy was keen to race, but with his lack of experience wasn't planning to take any risks. Starting on the back of the pack in the opening road race meant he soon lost touch with the lead riders, but managed to stay with the chase group and finished in a respectable 8th place.

The criterium started very fast, and before long there was a lead group of 5 riders with everyone else strung out riding solo. At this point Guy was second last. Rather than give up, he put his head down and time trialled as hard as he could, almost lapping at the same speed as the leaders. By the bell lap he had picked up all of the chasers bar one, but then it all went pear shaped. One of the commissaries called out for the chase group to stay left (to give the leaders a clear track), and Guy thought they were telling him to get off the track - so that's what he did! So all his hard work went out the window.

The next day he was hoping for his best result in the time trial. The cold wet weather was not to his liking, but he was happy with his 6th place finish.

Like Josh, he decided the best way to battle the cold in the final road race was to go hard, so he moved to the front and started doing turns with the leaders. Much to his surprise, he found it actually was easier than rubber-banding off the back, so instead of being dropped on the first hill, this time he managed to stay in the lead group until about 1km from the finish. At that point someone put in a big attack and he couldn't close the gap, but still finished not far behind in 6th. He was very happy with this result and is now starting to feel a bit more confident.

Not a lot open at 8.30am in Inverell, jewellers shut, chemist was an option however at the last moment noticed the camera shop. They had the right battery even had a philips head screw driver small enough.

The sky started to clear up as it had been raining over night. Alex, Guy Leckenby & Nathan Hardaker started their race at 10.10am which was a 30k road race. I grabbed the paper and a drink and headed out to see what was happening (not meant to as per race booklet but knowing Alex may drop off due to being sick thought would be OK). The leading bunch of four came past, then another bunch with Guy and Nathan and then Alex with another rider. Alex finished in 9th , he was happy.

Back into town for lunch and prepare for the 15 minute plus 2 laps crit. The riders had attacked from the go at the road race so I told Alex to be prepared and “muscle” up at the start line, (meaning, start near the front). The stronger riders again went for it at the start, Alex was placed 5th, yes, he listens. Fitness and sickness kicked in and he dropped off. Guy Leckenby caught up to Alex and motor paced him to the finish. Alex said that Guy could have gone all day at the one pace, there was no way he could come round him to assist. Alex was 9th again.

Dinner done and an early night again, woke to rain. Racing started at 8am for a 6k time trail, Alex was off at 8.47. It was raining and cold as Alex set off just after Guy & Nathan. Guy and Nathan came back but no Alex, got the info that Alex had a flat tyre within the first 500 metres. Knowing he would be disappointed I went to pick him up, first words “can I do it again”, “not sure mate we will see”. One commissaire said no way and walked off while the others said lets go it was not his fault, we are here to encourage young riders (faith restored). Followed him this time, he came 11th which was great considering.

Around 40 minutes between finishing and the start of the 2nd road racing. The last stage was 35k, raining and 11 degrees as per Alex’s computer. I went out again to have a look, this time Alex was in the 4th bunch, around 11th place. He was shaking like a leaf when he got off his bike and his feet numb.  Alex said that he enjoyed himself and would be back, next time hopefully not getting sick the night before and a bit more training. Alex came in at 10th overall. Alex is really happy with this result. Thanks to the Leckenby’s and Hardaker’s for their help and company over the weekend. Next mission, Glen Innes to Inverell for Vanessa.

The weather fairy was not on Inverell’s side for the weekend with Saturday starting out with some light showers to clear to a beautiful sunny day.  Racing started with a 30km road race held at Gilgai followed by a Criterium around a town block of 15minutes and two laps.

The U15m had the pressure on with a break tried right from the start, that was to continue a couple more times before seeing  four riders ride away.  With a large lead they were not to be caught and the next four came through with Nathan leading the sprint to take 5th. The Criterium in the afternoon moved to a closed road block in town.  Nathan again stayed with the main pack keeping the pressure on again to finish 5th with a sprint to the end, despite the desperate attacks from nearly everyone in the field. They eventually lapped the whole field leading into the final lap.

Sunday was back to Gilgai for a wet 6km time trial. Nathan was feelling good after Saturday and went out hard in the time trial to give it all.  Posting a 10.38 in wet chilly conditions.  This was again would place him 5th.

After a slight rest it was back on the bike for another 30km road race, by this stage the drizzle had increased dramatically pouring down just as the race began with the temperature down to around 9degrees.  The pressure was on again with an attack straight off the line.  Attack after attack eventually saw the pack break leaving a breakaway of four followed by two and Nathan found himself riding by himself for the return leg chasing the lead packs down to finish 7th.

This gave Nathan an overall placing of 5th for the tour.  Nathan was happy with his riding and is starting to find his race fitness again after having three weeks of the bike  in July.

For Troy, racing was confined to rest in the back of dad’s truck with a severe dose of tonsillitis putting an end to his racing for the weekend.

Warburtons
Results didn't come through for Liam and Numa who had trained quite seriously for this event. Health wasn't on their side this week-end, then Numa took the wrong turn on his time trial and got disqualified, and Liam had a fall at the end of the road race, nothing too serious. They are going to Inverell and hope for a better week-end there.

Beedie
Alex travelled down to Port Macquarie for the state titles road race with his Dad and Step Mum. He was up at 4.30am to get down to Port nice and early for rego and warm up. I had mentioned to him that most races start with a bang with riders trying to catch other riders out that have not warmed up or may not be switched on. Luckily he listened and was attentive as the race started at high speed. The course is a long hotdog circuit which is undulating with three good climbs per lap, Alex’s grade were down for 2 laps. Unfortunately at the first turn Alex started to drop off the bunch. You do a long climb, descent, turn around and climb again.

Alex kept on riding and finished around 4 kilometres behind the winners. It was a good experience for him to ride in a large bunch. He is looking forward to travelling to Inverell for the 2 Day tour which is 2 road stages, time trail & crit.

Leckenbys
Josh and Guy both approached the state titles with a degree of apprehension. Although they both have lots of experience riding bikes, neither had much race experience, and certainly none at this level. They both put in a solid effort in the time trial, Josh was very happy with his 11:19 over 6km giving him 7th place (46 sec behind the leader). Guy was less than impressed when he was told his aero bars didn't meet the regulation, so they had to be quickly removed before the start. He was still pretty happy to finish with an average speed of 36km/hr over the 8.6km course, but was humbled to discover that his time was only good enough for 23rd (out of 45), and was amazed that the winners were able to average just over 40km/hr. That blew me away considering these boys are 13/14 years old and pedalling a restricted gear. Try that in the 39 x 14!

Guy decided that the Port Mac criterium course, at state level, was not a good place for his first crit - and I whole heartedly agreed. Josh was determined to have a go though, and learnt very quickly how much harder it is when you start from the back of the pack! Just about every lap he had to ride around someone on the bottom corner and chase to get back on the bunch, and no one watching would argue he didn't give 110% to stay in the race. Although he was never really in the running, he was still happy not to be eliminated and finish in 14th place.

In the road race Josh had a new tactic - stay near the front! Unfortunately he discovered this was not as easy as he thought. Unfortunately he was on the back of the pack at the 2nd turnaround when a break of 4 went off the front. The bunch chased hard, but whenever they got close, the 4 leaders attacked again and managed to stay away to the finish. The chase group came in hot on the heels of the riders in 3rd and 4th place. Josh went way to early with about 300m to go, but managed to hold on for a close 5th place. He was over the moon with this result, and is now all fired up about the Inverell Junior 2 day tour.

Guy was not so sure about the road race, but after a bit of encouragement from the Warburtons decided to give it a go. His tactic was to stay on the back and stay out of trouble. Certainly not a race winning strategy, but probably not a bad idea for his first road race! After approx 10km of racing they came back through the start/finish, and it was no surprise to see he was off the back, but he and Nathan were working together, and were only about 30 seconds behind the leaders. Unfortunately with the hilly terrain the chasers were all strung out and never really got organised. Guy ended up finishing in 32nd place, but more importantly really enjoyed the ride and learnt a lot about how races are won and lost. He is also keen to line up in the Inverell Junior 2 day tour.

I started off by drilling a hole through each of the 6 legs and fitting an axle with skate board wheels to each end. The skateboard wheels though are quite expensive ($50 set of 4 and I needed 6). After further thought, I decided to get some inexpensive chinese bearings (30mm) from the local bearing shop and fit them on the side roller rails. The bearings were less than $3 each. All other items came from Bunnings which included 10mm nuts, bolts and washers, aluminium angle (20mmx25mm), wood for the frame (20mmx70mm) and elastic rope to keep the rollers centred.

Wooden frame with aluminium angle as tracks for bearing to roll along...

Bearings bolted to side rails of rollers...

I also fitted 4 guide bearings...1 to each corner to keep the rollers tracking within the frame.

Elastic rope to centre the rollers...

I did fit 2 skateboard wheels to the front roller to prevent the front wheel slipping off, but this is not necessary. Once one is familiar with using rollers, the front wheel doesn't come near the edge anyway. I have since added 6 rubber feet to base to protect floor and allow it to sit better on uneven sufaces.

These sliding version of rollers are definitely more versatile to use and one can get out of the saddle much easier. The ability of the rollers to move forward and back absorbs the inertia created by the pedalling force and give a much nicer ride than the original version.

It's raining again today so will get on the motion rollers and do a few kms inside with the fan creating a stiff headwind...and bike wont even get dirty...

Emma R.

Vanessa’s director sportif was unhappy with her time at the front wasting energy while other riders sat on and prepared for an attack. All part of the learning process.

Unfortunately for Aaron, his day ended in an ambulance. He was looking great and very comfortable within the bunch when we saw him. He hit a pot hole, hands slipped off the bars, result both wrists broken, grazing on his back & bum and damage to his bike, lever & derailleur. Aaron’s season was going great until now, we wish Aaron a speedy recovery.

FOOTNOTE, PLEASE POINT OUT ANYTHING ON THE ROAD THAT MAY IMPACT ANOTHER RIDER, STICKS, POT HOLES ETC ETC. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF THE BARS YELL IT OUT.  I WAS NOT THERE BUT I BELIEVE AARON’S PREDICAMENT IS AVOIDABLE.

David McDonald