so i woke up at 4am and listened to the thunder and wind and rain and more wind.  thought, “wow, it is going to be an interesting race”.  i had packed the car the evening before and thought about the nice deep carbon wheels that were sitting on my bike.  probably not the best for a windy race with some quick descents.  a few other negative thoughts before drifting back off to sleep.  finally awoke to more wind and rain and a quick check of the radar showed more fronts coming through.  luckily the race was close and didn’t start till close to 10am.  it looked like the worst of it would pass before kick-off.  i grabbed a low profile front wheel and chucked it in the car just in case.

we had a few riders in today race.  jono doing it solo in the open event.  dianne in the women’s race. myself, bonner, julian (regular), andrew (mr rice), morrison (mr flexible), paul o (DiD) and jerry (mr “i won’t ride if it is too wet”).  it was only 4 laps of the carmel, repatriation, observatory circuit and made up 65kms.  fairly short for a state champs, but after last years debacle, we were just glad it was on.  the course had a number of climbs in it though, and more than made up for the lack of distance.  at the end of the day, the four circuits meant that we will have climbed 1,200 vertical metres, probably about as much as a normal sunday hills ride.

i drove carefully out to the start, noting all the water running over the road, the debris scattered by the wind and the amount of gum nuts everywhere.  it was going to be great.  i pulled in to the carmel school and expected that the place would be teaming with people as it was when the peter clark was held here earlier in the year.  however, i was surprised to see very few cars around.  maybe the rain was keeping people away.  i quickly caught up with a few guys and we got the tent up so we had some shelter in which to get prepared.  the rain and wind had eased off a bit and there was a strange calm up in the hills.  smaller showers came through, but nothing like the mornings weather events.

mr bonner eventually showed up after catching the start of his daughters hockey grand final, but he didn’t look prepared for racing.  he said that if it didn’t stop raining before 10am, he wasn’t going to play.  last weekend he endured similar conditions in belgium and was fearing a deja vu.  jerry had heard the rain and decided against racing, but the others were all set to go.  well, as set as could be expected.  there had been much debate on what to wear.  some were worried about getting cold, while others were worried about overheating on the climb.  there was a fair variation of vests, jackets, arms, knee warmers and big gloves through out the peloton.

we lined up and waited for the “gun”.  spr made up close to half the field and the aim was to control the race rather than allow it to be dictated to us.  julian and i got on the front to start and lead the field out.  the pace was moderate and i said to jules to only go as hard as you need to get warm rather than wear yourself out.  the group tucked in behind and we meandered our way to the base of the patterson climb.  jules peeled off but i said that i wanted to stay on the front.  we weren’t going hard and i wanted to make sure i could react to any attacks.  andrew replaced jules and we continued the main climb to the observatory.  i was listening to andrew breathing and it didn’t sound that good.  i eased the pace off a couple of times to make sure he didn’t blow too early, but he eventually peeled off the front.  we were 3/4 up the climb by then and paul prottey attacked the group.  i responded and jumped on his wheel but no-one else followed.  i wasn’t sure if i should work with him or not so i sat on his wheel till the top.  on the descent i did a few turns, but by the time we hit the base of the final climb to the finish, the main group was with us.  by then we had already lost a few but i wasn’t sure who.

i should probably say now what my plan for the race was.  simple really.  get mr bonner a state championship title.  the course suited him to a tee.  lots of climbing, descents that weren’t too tricky and no flat sprint finish.  my aim was to control the race for at least the first 3 laps and then let him go and smash everyone else up.  easy really.

up past the finishline, it was clear that paul prottey wanted to thin the field a bit more.  i asked jules to drag him back and he did, even though it meant that he popped off the back afterwards.  the field had thinned and i had a quick chat to paul prottey.  he was worried about a couple of riders and wanted to thin it a bit more.  between the two of us, we set the pace and dragged the group around to the observatory climb again.  this time i eased up on the climb as bonner moved to the front.  i drifted back to see who was left and was surprised to see a gap start to open almost instantly.  i jumped around the other riders and sat in a group of around 5 or 6.  as we came to the slightly steeper section, there was a touch of wheels and jamie from rccc went down by himself.  there were now 4 of us left on the front with jules trailing about 50m or so behind.  paul wanted to work again, so it was going to be hard to convince him to allow another spr rider onto the group.  all that was left was myself, bonner, paul prottey and paul lamond.

we crested the top and i hit the descent as hard as i could so that we could put more distance into the chasers.  prottey wanted to work, but lamond was a bit reluctant.  my plan was to do double the work and let bonner stay on the back.  this way he would be fresh, but the others couldn’t say that spr hadn’t contributed to the workload.  we climbed to the finish, and i threw my wind vest to andrew who had not enjoyed the first lap.  the efforts were starting to take their toll and i was getting hot.  even the brief showers didn’t really cool things down.

starting the third lap and it was clear the lamond didn’t really want to work too hard.  a few turns between us and then i jumped on the front to lead us through repatriation road and back to the observatory climb.  this time bonner got on the front and set a pace that was just too much for me.  i watched them head up the road as i lost more and more ground.  i waved the commissaire and spares car through and tried to find a rythmn.  about halfway up, i noticed that bonner pulled off the front.  i guessed that he noticed my absence and wanted to slow the group down.  i kept my pace and by the top there was only 10 sec between us.  i bombed down the descent and managed to catch the convoy of cars.  there was a non-race car behind the group and he started moving to the left.  it was not the best move but i managed to jump around the cars and catch the three riders.  knowing that they would have me on the next climb, i kept smashing passed them and took off down the road.  my theory was that they would then need to chase and bonner could then just sit in.  i was caught by the final climb to the finish and that was my race essentially over.

i was going to finish anyway, so started the fourth lap knowing that it was going to hurt.  as i continued along, i thought, well i am still 4th, so maybe someone will get a flat and i can pick up third.  then another rider caught me and passed me.  i couldn’t hold his wheel so the chance of a medal went out the door.  another guy came by soon after and also went straight passed.  hmm.  not good for me.  my legs were shot.  i started the observatory climb and jules caught me on the lower slopes.  he asked if i wanted him to wait for me and i said that there wasn’t much point as i was shot.  i tapped away the remaining kms and started the final climb to the line.  was caught by one more rider and the cramps in my thighs kind of put paid to any chance of even keeping him at bay.  i finished 8th.

for the front runners though, they sped ahead once i was dropped at the end of lap 3.  prottey was a bit worried that i would get back on so he drove the pace all the way to repatriation road.  on the long drag of an incline, bonner attacked and set his normal high pace.  lamond went straight off the back but prottey tried to hold on.  he said that he stayed on wheel for about 600m but all the while watched his heart rate climb higher and higher.  he was pretty sure that bonner was going to slow down but no such luck.  prottey blew and bonner kept going for the win.

this race and the dardanup open last week were the best two races i think i have ever done.  it wasn’t the finishing position that i achieved, but more the work that i did was for a result for spr.  it makes it more exciting and brings about a totally different race when you race as a team and are prepared to sacrifice your own race for others.  congratulations to mr bonner as he is a very deserving masters state champion.  well done to the others that also fronted up in conditions that were far from ideal.

peter – presidential domestique

thanks to tony lendrum for the great photos