Race Report: Queensland Road Teams Series (QRTS) Gympie, 2-3 September 2017

QRTS racing is pretty much as hard as it gets in Queensland. I was racing in a six man squad with my Toowoomba based Colliers International Racing Team. Joining me would be Jonathan Curry, Taj Jones, Jono Noble, Louis Pijpers and Trent West. A real mix of youth and experience with Jono Noble by far our strongest rider after some great performances at QRTS and NRS level this year. With three stages across two days on what looked like some brutal courses, it was always going to be a tough weekend.

Stage 1 - 123 km Road Race:

With 2,000m of climbing, this was always going to be a difficult one for me. For the first time in a long time, my legs were not great. I was literally in trouble from the start and ended up popping from the front group at the 30km mark on a steep berg. There were literally bodies strewn all over the road and I did manage to find myself in little groups from time to time. Having said that, I was on my lonesome for probably 60km or so. I ended up 66th of the ninety starters, which is probably not too bad given the amount of climbing and the quality of the field. My concern though, was my shitty legs. Not something I have experienced in a long while. 

Stage 2 - 55 minutes + 2 laps Criterium

As is so often the case with me, the second day of a weekend race brings better legs and that is exactly what happened. This one was a fast and furious affair with an average speed of a touch over 45.5 km/h. One highlight for me was cutting through a corner a touch fast and shoulder charging a giant plastic bollard, which in turn sailed onto the footpath sending spectators scattering. I was happy to spice up their Sunday morning. I finished safely in the main bunch and was very pleased with that.

Stage 3 - 31 km Team Time Trial

We returned to the road race course from the day before, albeit with a different start and finish point. We were up against it right from the start. Taj withdrew after a spill in the criterium and Jonathan succumbed to an injury very early, leaving four of us on the road. The time is taken on the fourth rider so we had to stay together no matter what. Louis was having a tough day out but he fought gallantly and we looked after him to make sure we made it to the line together. We ended up 9th of the fifteen teams which is not a bad result all things considered. The good news for me was that again my legs were feeling good and I was happy with how I rode. 

So there you have it, a very tough weekend of racing which has hopefully set me up well for the Masters Queensland Road Race Championships this coming Saturday. A huge thank you to Colliers International Racing Team and all our sponsors for making opportunities like this possible. We also had plenty of support on the sidelines from friends and family and that is also very much appreciated. Finally....credit young photographer extraordinaire, Josh Curry, for the photos. 

Race Report: Queensland Individual Time Trial Championships, 19 August 2017

This was my last crack at winning the state time trial title for 40-44 years men (I go up to the 45-49 division next year). I had previously finished 5th (2013), 3rd (2014) and 2nd (2016). The course was on North Stradbroke Island. I have some strong views about this location and course, but Cycling Queensland's Social Media Policy prevents me from making further comment. 

It was an exceptionally windy day and (like may others) I had no opportunity to ride the course before the day. It was 20km out and back with quite a few hills. Overall, I felt pretty good and managed to keep the power where it should have been. The hills were a lot steeper than I expected and this definitely knocked my time around as I needed to put a lot of watts out to prevent slowing down too much. I ended up riding 29 min 46 sec, which was good enough for second place. I was beaten by a rider from NSW (Ben Neppl) so as much as I don't have the title, I was at least the fastest Queenslander on the day. No shame in losing to Ben though, he is a good bike rider and rode an impressive 29 min 02 sec which was one of the fastest 20km times across all divisions on the day. Ben and I have raced each other on the track previously and recently shared two podiums at the Masters Track Nationals in Sydney.

So there you have it, not quite what I wanted, but happy all the same. I also managed to represent both of my registered kits on the day!

Race Report: Cunningham Classic, 5 August 2017

The Cunningham Classic is regarded as the most important road race on the Queensland calendar. It has been running for a long time now and it still manages to attract some quality fields. This year was especially significant for me, as it was twenty years since the first of my two Elite A wins in 1997 (and then again in 1998). After the good legs I had at the Charles Coin Memorial, I actually considered riding Elite A. 171km though, is very different to the 126km at the Charles Coin, so I opted for the 96km Masters A race instead. 

Almost fifty riders lined up in Masters A. I went in with a rough game plan of 'see what happens after the climb - and hopefully there will be crosswinds'. I felt reasonable at the start and I could feel my legs improving as the race went on. I stayed out of trouble early and didn't really get too involved. I went up the main climb no problem, cresting over the top in (I think) fourth spot. 

After the climb things started to get interesting. The cross wind wasn't too bad, but it was certainly enough to make things difficult. This is where I decided to get active and make sure I was in every move that looked like it had potential (which turned out to be most of them). 

I lost count of how many breaks I was in, but at 18km to go, I escaped with Ian Johnston (Hamilton Cycling Club). Ian is a very solid rider, but I knew he had a much stronger sprint than me. We worked very hard together and managed to get a lead, which by the look of it, never went much above thirty seconds or so. Coming into the finish the bunch was closing fast and with about two kilometres to go Jack Brumpton (Lifecycle Cycling Club) managed to get across to us. We manged to hold the bunch off (by about nine seconds) which was just enough for Ian to take a well deserved win, with me in second and Jack in third. I also managed to pick up the 'Most Impressive Rider' award, after being so active in the second half of the race.

Rob Walker (CyclingTex) helped out on the day and put together one of his vlogs. It is worth a look:

Cunningham Classic

Race Report: Charles Coin Memorial Road Race, 30 July 2017

It has been a few years since I have raced in Elite A. I still have an Elite A / Masters A grading, so it is nice to have the option. There are a couple of reasons why I chose Elite A on this occasion. Firstly, the morning start suited me a lot better than the afternoon timeslot that Masters A had. Secondly, the Charles Coin course has always been good for me and I thought that the fast and long hit out in Elite A would do good things in terms of preparing me for events later in the year. So 126km with some solid young riders was ahead of me. I was in fact, the oldest man in the race at 44.

Thirty-five of us started the race and it was a solid pace right from the start. A group of about seven slipped off the front early, but they never really managed a big lead. This left the bunch in a position where a reasonable sort of chase could keep the break in view and this situation went on for literally around 100km. At around that time, the break started to unravel with Kaden Groves and Ollie Smith forging ahead on their own (they would finish first and second). The leftovers from the break came back to the bunch. Two riders (including Troy Herfoss) went up the road, leaving a shatterred and tired bunch of about twenty or so racing for fifth place.

We hit the last climb near the finish line very hard. Around seven of us slipped off the front and went full gas down the other side. I had a really well timed sprint with surprisingly good legs and took second in that group, for sixth place overall. 

You don't need to be too switched on to realize that I am pretty happy with this ride. Our average speed was 43.2km/h and there was plenty of talk about how tough this race was. This was probably my best 'non-masters' result since getting back on it six years ago.