Many avid cyclists will be descending upon the Victorian Alps this weekend for the Tour of Bright, one of Australia's toughest amateur stage races. 3 stages over two days: a hard, 91km (or 127km for A Grade) slog from Bright towards Ovens, over Rosewhite Gap to the Kiewa Valley, a high-speed dash towards Mt Beauty before heading up and finishing at the top of the Tawonga gap; a undulating, out-and-back, 15.7km time-trial the afternoon after stage 1; and a 56.5km ride from Bright to the top of Mt Hotham, 30km of which is uphill.
Being 6'1" and 80-odd kilos, I'm not a climber. Not even by a long shot. I was dropped less than 1km into the Rosewhite Gap climb and lost 40-odd minutes (largely thanks to two punctures on the way up Tawonga Gap - C Grade didn't have neutral support) and descended like a grandma on a ruined rear tyre. However, even though I'm no good at it, I love the mountains. I love the challenge they present. For some, its about getting up them in a really fast time, or beating someone else up them. For me, its getting up them at all. I was the lanterne-rouge (or for those of you who don't speak Tour de France language, the last placed finisher) of C Grade in the 2008 Tour of Bright. However, I did beat a couple of people who didn't finish at all so that at least doesn't make me the most pathetic cyclist in all of human history.
For the serious racer, this is a proper test, a challenging, testing course in an environment that can be very harsh. Temperatures can be very warm this time of year in the valley and quite cool at the top of the cols. We rolled into Hotham Village to refuel and return our transponders before heading down and it was a barmy 8 degrees. Down in the valley, it nudged up to 30 in the arvo. Also, it can be windy, raining and, rarely, snowing.
And, inevitably, it attracts the serious racers. A Grade is filled with semi-pro and sponsored teams. B Grade is full of frustrated A graders, who haven't won any races since they were promoted. C Grade is full of B Grade sandbaggers, who blow the field apart on the first climb, and stragglers, like me. This is one of the things that I hate about these tours. Plenty of people who could be competitive in the grade above but just want to win and trounce everyone lie and squirm their way into lower grades. It just doesn't make the experience for the rest of us any good. I was in the line at Sandown the other day, waiting to sign up for crits and I overheard a couple of guys complaining about this very issue. One even mentioned that a junior national champion was entered in C Grade, despite the fact he is A Grade equivalent. What's more, the state handicapper sounded like he wasn't particularly sympathetic when one of them rang up and lodged a complaint about it.
Despite this, I do love the Tour of Bright. Like I said, it's a great event. The town has a great vibe to it when its full of cyclists and the Alpine Cycling Club does a magnificent job in getting it well sponsored and well run. If they can get Cycling Australia, who's smallest problem is the state handicapper, to clamp down on sandbagging so much, it would be that much more enjoyable. I really wish I was going again this year, but alas, financial struggles mean I'll be stuck in an office. But for those of you heading up to Bright this weekend, good luck and safe racing.
P.S. Sorry for such a long time between posts. I had been in exams for uni for 3 weeks and have been busy working ever since. They will be more frequent from now on!
No comments:
Post a Comment