From Left to right: Tom Barrett, Mike Willacy, Jerard Ghossein, Carlos De Oliveira, Phil Anderson, Jarrad Lumbewe and Ryan Mo’Fynn

Firstly, a big thank you to the organisers of the weekend, Luke for corralling 36 people into six groups of similar abilities, I think most if not all people were happy with where they ended up.  Many people trained hard for the weekend and for many it was a first for stage racing (definitely a first for me).

Thanks to Andrew for the accommodation, great location and plenty of room for all and bikes..

I don’t have too much to say about the racing, it was Fast, it was Hectic, I made mistakes but the main thing I was worried about was falling off..  And it is amazing that there were no crashes (that I am aware of) in any of the races in any of the categories..  AMAZING and AWESOME as it was fast and congested on small roads..

The SPR ‘E’ (E for Elite naturally) team was made up of some strong individuals who all did respectively well:

Jarrad Lumbewe, tore up the first lap of the TTT, helping rip off Mike’s legs early on..  Proceeded to get a puncture in stage 2 & 4.  Enjoyed the Kermese, had a play but decided that there was only so much bumping of shoulders and knuckles he was prepared to do whilst going close to 50km/hr and decided to hide a little bit more with Jerard towards the end of the race (when he was meant to be at the front leading me out? ;-)..

Mike Willacy, besides the TTT, had an awesome time, always up near the front of the race doning his wayfarers, beard and beaming smile.

Tom Barrett, mr TT, a strong man during the TTT and also during the races, having digs off the front regularly, one notable effort during the Kermese, perfectly timed to be off the front when passing the start/finish line for maximum kudos from the fans ;-),definitely a force to be reckoned with at the moment.

Carlos De’Oliveira, the gentle Mexican Giant (well besides when getting upset at the site of transparent white knicks), very strong in the TTT, keeping things steady and never in trouble.  Gained confidence in the races, great to see him looking comfortable and enjoying himself in the fast paced hectic environment we were in.

Jerard Ghossein, forever the strong man who talks himself down but expects allot from himself.  Old enough to be the dad of a majority of the field (as am I..  Shh, don’t tell anyone).  Jerry was strong in the TT, showed some signs of fatigue on lap two but clung on till the finish..  Kudos..  Jerry, despite being more nervous than me in races, stuck in and finished all the races and finished strongly on the final day..  No doubt will be hitting the TT season this year with a big stick..  Great to have you out there.

I asked the team to submit their lists of highs and lows, so enjoy what we all took from the weekend (can’t believe I feature in so many lows..  I thought the speedos and uggs were a winning combo).

 Ryan

What is a write up without some stats??  See a couple stats from my Garmin for the weekend:

 

	Fri	Sat warm	Sat 1	Sat 2	Sun	Sun Home	Weekend
Distance	25.15	13.15	31.9	29.44	75	52.87	227.51
Max	61.6	53.6	71.2	64	67.9	70.1	71.2
Ave	43.1	36.8	46.2	47.6	40.7	30.9	40.13
Hr Ave	–	157	167	167	153	137	153.3
Hr Max	–	178	194	192	186	167	194
Garmin Effort	–	3.4	5	5	4.4	3.6	4.3

 

Highs:

–          Qualifying in the Elite category, even though we joked we would like to sandbag and go Cat 1, we did well as a team on our first outing together.

–          Defintely staying upright, very nervous beforehand.

–          Organisation of the accommodation and the event, could not fault much.

–          Sunsets by the ocean, great way to cool the legs down post hectic rides.

–          $10 pizza at the Colonial (others who waited up to 2 hours may not agree).

–          Mike getting into the break on Sunday meant we could take it relatively easy in the pack (although, somehow I failed to conserve much..  Not race savvy I have been told).

–          Tom riding past me on the final hill (great to see a non-hill man powering up after the others).

Lows:

–          Jarrad getting punctures in two of three races.  My main helper gone (I am sure we had a plan of some sorts 😉

–          Chasing a breakaway man in race two, just over one km from the end.  Breakaway man sits up, I am at the front for the final km..  Not ideal place to be for a sprint..  Hope Satalyst (and Dome) appreciated the lead out J

–          Final hill of the weekend.  I delivered myself to the bottom of the hill totally spent..  Will be kicking myself for awhile as I undid the zipper, put bike in its easiest gear and just pedalled to the top of the hill..  I guess I may need to enter another race to remedy this feeling..  B-Grade masters anyone??

 CARLOS

First thanks for a fun filled weekend. Hope there are more to come.

I think we did outstandingly well considering that in reality we are weekend warriors.  Given that we had not ridden together, practiced a ttt, or talked about team tactics too much,  to be mixing it up with the “serious” riders and holding our own is outstanding.

…Satalyst (NRS), Unicorn (race Masters regularly), GDT (raced in Belgium a couple of months ago), SWCC (had Trent Derecourt and a national road race champion in their team) and Dome (semi-organised)….

Highlights:

– Tom’s coffee’s first thing in the morning

– Kermesse was my favourite race

– We all worked hard in the ttt and set up the weekend by placing well

– Mike’s ability to hold his position and watching him mount a curb in the second stage. Those MTB handling skills are awesome.

– Fynn’s lead out of 12 Satalyst guys and watching the peleton string out like chewing gum.

– Tom’s huge attack in the Kermesse was awe inspiring. It amped me up to have a few goes on the front on the next lap.

– Mike getting into the break on the last stage

– Jarrad’s huge turn of speed in the ttt. I dont think I had warmed up properly and “asked” you to slow down…you must not have heard me…

– Gerard, although the oldest of us, held his own and mixed it up with guys half his age and still looked like he was breathing through a straw.

– For me personally this weekend has given me a lot of confidence about our ability to race with the elite guys and has given me the confidence to start being more active in positioning myself well within the bunch. I basically felt like I belonged there.

Lowlights:

– I think we all agree on this, but seeing the picture of Ryan’s speedos has taken the cake over seeing his arse in a see through skin suit.

– Meg cracking the shits after Ryan put the pace on during the 60km ride back from Augusta!!

– Jarrad’s double puncture. Sorry mate, I feel like I should have stopped on the last stage and given you my wheel as you are a better climber.

Great weekend, well organised by SWCC and the SPR gang, great bunch of people, hope we continue to work together as a team in the season to come.

JERRY

Thanks guys for letting me ride on your team, you are all very strong riders and I definitely need to get some power/speed/courage/Hematocrit or years from somewhere.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help on the second lap of the TTT, hope the anchor wasn’t too heavy

I made a mistake of not coming to the front at the end of the last road race, I had the legs to climb but was too far back when we hit the hill. I did pass half the field then but paid for my inexperience, another lesson for the future

I think we did extremely well in our first race as a team, and for me it was a morale boost to know that I can still mix it with boys younger than my son

The TT season is upon us and time for me to start training; kings park TT today was very painful on tired legs.

Time to get back to reality and see some patients, hopefully I’ll be stronger next time my services are required

TOM

My highlights…

– our team qualifying middle of the elite category. Considering we all do other things, it’s incredibly satisfying to turn up to an event like that, and be competitive. It’s nice having a few big engines in the team.. thanks to Carlos for the tow back into the line when I’d over cooked my turn on the front.

– Mike’s devotion to a plan… getting himself in the break, and allowing us to stay off the front of the pack down to Augusta was awesome. It definitely allowed me to sit in as the pace went up (50ish km mark) and save a few beans for the hill climb. Doing it in a fluro helmet and a set of wayfarers makes it all the more special.

– The look on Johno & Luke’s faces when a bright green SPR jersey caught up to them 500m from the finish line of stage 4

– Ryan’s ability to get himself in a good position for the sprints. It’s definitely a skill I just don’t have.

– Jason’s reaction to Mel, our nanny… priceless.

– Just getting the opportunity to spend the weekend with crew from SPR. I’ve made a lot of good friends, and the smile & cheery “hello” you get from everyone is really special to me.

– Jerard the limpet mine… I think we should pack you off to Europe for the giro… you’d probably get a top 10 place there and it just seems impossible to get rid of you!

– Finally, the roar from the SPR tent on my kamikaze break away in the Kermesse.

Lowlights:

– launching a kamikaze attack, only to round the corner to the start/finish line and seeing the race official holding up a sign with “2” on it, rather than ringing the bell.. I really should learn to count better than I do.

– the pant filling experience on the TTT when the car reversed out. I seriously thought we were going to go down.

– Jarrad’s flat tyre… it sucks to go all that way, and get taken out by something so trivial.

– Getting fined for going over the white line… I still think we were probably the team that did that the least. I hope he enjoyed his free pizza’s, and that Jerard & Ryan asked for a tax receipt.

– Monday. I could hardly muster the energy to get out of bed.

catch you saturday folks.

JARRAD

Highs:
– A solid TTT putting us well within the pack, and really set-up the weekend;
– ‘Qualifying’ so to speak via the TTT – a great way to seed the grades;
– A 2nd shout out to the SPR Committee for the accommodation and organisation;
– Hitting the beach and the food;
– Tom – The Machine. Solid attack on Saturday’s Kermesse, covering the breaks Sunday and great final result. I hope to see you out road racing a bit more.
– Mike – Tearing it up all weekend – The Racer’s Racer. Loved your work getting in the break on Sunday. I can’t speak for the other guys but I was using all of my Jedi mind powers to help you bridge that gap – for what they were worth  – TAKE YOUR MEDICINE UNICORNS!!!
– Carlos – The Rock. Strong as an Ox. Never looked in trouble out there and super solid in the TTT.
– Jerard – Looking solid all weekend, keeping out of trouble, I know there were some nerves at the start, but you belonged up there.
– Ryan – Capt. Fynn, Satalyst’s 13th leadout man. Keeping up the front, and mixing it up all weekend.

Lows:
– Old matey in the Corolla (I think) on Friday arvo – looking at my Garmin, I forgot how much we had to slow down there.
– My dismal showing.
– Yelling at a cow from the side of the road.
– Ryan’s Speedos.
– The state of my perineum and surrounding area after wearing that Champion Systems gear for 12+ hours all weekend.
– The prospect of now having to pay money for Bindi’s ‘Magic Melon’ or whatever it was called – that stuff was fantastic.

Also, apologies for being perhaps a little abrupt, b!tchy, moody, aggro or whatever on Sunday – I wasn’t exactly a happy camper.

MIKE

Highs:
-The SPR accommodation and organisation was perfect. Really well organised. Massive thanks to Andrew, Peter and crew.
-You boys landing 6th in the TTT despite my way earlier than I expected departure.
-Ryan’s epic 1km turbo turn on stage 2 leading out the sprint and still grabbing a near top 10.
-Tom’s attack on Stage 3 – my nomination for the attack of day 2.
-Me just making the break on the final stage was my personal highlight. Despite finishing basically last on the climb I rode an honest race at the front.
-Tom’s stage 5 finish. Smashed it!
-Ryan’s Mo (Not sure if its a high or a low?)
-Carlos being invincibly strong all weekend.
-Jerry hanging tough all weekend and keeping out of trouble.
-Jarrad’s big turns in the TTT – so big that he vaporised his rear tyre leading to subsequent numerous punctures.
-The Pie and coke stop after the Augusta to Margs return ride – delicious.
-Great result ending up 6th best team in the race despite all riders being part time, social riders / weekend warriors with masters licences.

Lows:
-Mike getting dropped on the first lap of the TTT. Turns out I’m allergic to TTs.
-Jarrad’s double punctures. Double morale hit.
-Ryan’s Speedos.
-Ryan’s Uggs.
-Getting caught by the peleton 5km from the finish after being out front for 70km on the last day.
-Ryan recording someone’s snoring and sending it to them (omitted name, don’t want to be giving people’s secrets away ;-).

Cheers for having me on the team, I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend riding with you guys.

Mike