Menzies to Kalgoorlie
Race report by Brendan

After originally looking forward to this awesome event some weeks prior my world was turned around in the last few weeks with a back/leg injury that just refuses to go away, My dear old Gran passing away resulting in another week off the bike while back in Victoria and with the leg finally showing signs of getting better I caught the flu Thankfully no swine flu but still coughing and flem like no tomorrow I boarded my flight to Kal with Jody.

Upon arriving in kal we dropped our gear at our Hotel and thankfully being picked up by Jody’s sis and huge Thanks to Daryl Benson (WAIS) taking my bike up in his van made the flight up so much better. While I went off for my Chiro appointment to hopefully settle the back issue even more, jody went off with sis to visit the kids but as I had a lil time to kill I went for pancakes at Dome and joined Daryl and partner, WAIS girls with Sarah Jean for a few laughs and stories prior to Saturdays race start. Once I was sorted by my old Chiro I was meant to have a nice relaxing massage at another place I frequented whilst living in Kal, it was a nice 20min walk up there which helped to cough up as much flem as possible as I was really dreading the whole thought of racing 2 days. Once there they politely told me they couldn’t fit me in (even though I was booked) as the masseuse was sick, spewing that I was now not only sick but couldn’t have my massage I was rather p!ssed off to say the least so off I walked to a mates place instead and then we headed down to start to register. Once registered Jody had come up to join me we went off for some lunch in town where I made my decision that I would skip the Saturday’s criterium stage. So after lunch checked into our room and had a nice spa to clear the chest and head and then headed back to the main street to watch the days racing.

As many people will tell you I can’t sit still at the best of times so watching this while coughing what felt like my lungs up just didn’t sit well with me and was making me grumpy but we were entertained by some great racing, strange tactics and few crashes. After that we grabbed my bike from Daryl and headed back to the Motel to place Mr Hedley’s Zipp 404’s on as we had a nice tail wind by all reports for Sunday’s race. At 18.30 every rider had a compulsory briefing lasting for 30odd mins covering all things related to Sunday’s race from rules and requirements to general info. Once completed we headed off with friends for an awesome meal at a local restaurant before retiring for the night with enough tablets in my body to make me rattle.

I woke up early and had a hot shower to clear my chest and head and felt surprisingly better so did the usual breaky pre race thing, was picked up by friends, grabbed some drive through coffees and hot chocolates and headed up to Menzies. Trip there was full of stirring and stories between us boys about what we were and were not going to do. Once there we set the bikes up, got ready and went off for warm ups. A grade were off 6 mins behind us and C grade were 6 minutes in front so we were abit worried but committed to get the ball rolling and see what happens. As we only had 12 odd riders and the way I felt I was really in self doubt mode by was determined to have a crack. We were rolling turns averaging 50kmphr leading up to the first challenge the sprint at 30km mark, I so wanted to have a go but knew I was asking for trouble as I coughed and spat mucus like no tomorrow but safely through the sprint we re-grouped and were straight back into formation and surprisingly I was coming better and better, heart rate was sitting where it should be, no leg/back issues and I started to enjoy myself. We got the call A grade had only made 1 minute on us by the 50km mark in as they were attacking each other and refusing to work so that made us focus some more and try for the fastest time honors 2 years in a row (B grade won fastest in 2008). Some of the guys were starting to miss turns but about 8 remained strong and worked strongly for a majority of the way. We talked about things and made a call to smash the speed up for 10 mins to see if we could gain some of the 1 minute back from A grade and to get rid of some hangers on.

It pretty much worked and we were back as the core group again with each of us missing a turn here and there to get some feed in. With 20km to go we got time gaps and knew we had no hope of catching the 2 front groups and A still hovering around 1 minute behind we decided to keep pressing for time honors. With a few big turns we shelled a few remaining to be only 6 of us left with 3 Brooks/Mcmurdo riders I knew coming up to the end the numbers were swinging in their favour.
With 10km to go the attacks started and the Brooks guys took it in turns shelling out some punishment at full speed, personally I was feeling ok but knew deep down my lack of miles of late were bound to catch up with me but I pushed with the attacks for approx 5 km until it was whittled down to still 3 Brooks guys, Paul Lamond and myself. With each attack my zing was slowly going so tried to let others chase the initial surge but the legs were fading fast and knew on the last rise was going to be the spot and sure enough I pre empted it but to no avail as the legs just didn’t have the speed so the 4 of them got a gap of 30meters and I rode my tempo that my legs allowed and looking behind making sure I wasn’t caught I soloed in to lose about a minute but happy to finish reasonably high in B grade knowing that I gave my best and considering all my bad luck of late happy to be able to finish my 8th(from memory) Menzies Classic.

On finishing we waited to see who had the legs in A and with an awesome ride solo Luke Durbridge rode in approx 90seconds faster than us to claim fastest time and first A grader home. Dean Emslie won the race from C grade and from knowing Dean and knowing how honest he is a much deserving winner. He even shed his winnings around the core group of guys in C grade to show his appreciation as without them he couldn’t have won. Congratulations Dean! Sarah Jean came in the front group for 6th overall and first lady.

Over the weekend there were lots of team tactics and actions resulting in a few raised eyebrows just to show passion and politics in cycling remain 
Onto the dinner and presentation over many a drink and some great food we enjoyed some great stories from the 1950 winner who won while half of the course was still gravel! Now that is hardcore! Luke Hardy made us laugh with his impersonations of Russel Brooks, Matt Deck and Mark Petterson while collecting there prizes for them. After that we headed to the pubs and after Jody went home about 10pm I partied on with the boys to well into the morning to try and make sure my flu was well and truly drowned .
The event ran extremely well and coupled with great weather made for a great weekend of racing was had by all, what was a little disappointing was the lack of support from the Perth riders as we only had a total of 90 and compared to a few years ago we were nudging 200 and SBS were talking of televising it! So I am telling you guys now, try your best to be on the start line for 2010 Menzies to Kalgoorlie Classic and they have some great plans to make this event the Premier Western Australian road race it once was, as after all to win it you have to be in it.

Be safe and see you on the road soon (hopefully I will be back to normal by then)…. so I can get ready for my next goal “The Grafton to Inverel”.