What an awesome challenge and a great way to spend a day. Three intrepid explorers
took on the challenge of the year this year, a 215 km circumnavigation of the
bay in one day. This year 7000 riders took part with half going in one direction
and the other half going the opposite way. The two groups crossed at the ferry
in Portsea/Queenscliff.
This was my second year at this event and so I went with some knowledge of the
challenge that lay before us but the other two riders, Duncan and Darryl had
never done this ride before so it was all new to them. I had a target to beat
from last year of 8 hours and 4 minutes for the trip. (actual riding time) This
year we had the direction we wanted which was from Melbourne to Queenscliff
and then back to Melbourne. As the official start time for those who expected
to average 30 kph + was 5.00 am we decided to sleep in a campervan that Darryl
owned and after the bike show on the Saturday afternoon we scouted the area
for a likely spot to park. Having found one in the industrial area of Port Melbourne,
we came home got the van and went back into the city arriving at 10.00 p.m.
We decided to get up at four so that we could have breakfast and that meant we had 6 hours to ride time. We were like little kids who were going on a holiday. None of us could get to sleep straight away but after quite some time we all slept fitfully. We were up prior to the sun and I could just hear John's anthem of why do we do this echoing in my ears!! Regardless we pressed on with breakfast of bacon and eggs and a can of spaghetti. I had learned two weeks earlier that riding on an empty stomach was not a good idea only lasting 50 km before I crashed out with stomach cramps.
We had decided that instead of starting from the start we would begin at the
Westgate bridge and avoid the rush of bikes at the start and so at 5.00 we were
riding over the bridge with many other riders who had the same idea. Right from
the beginning the pace was on. We found ourselves part of a peloton of about
30 riders who had settled down to a 30 -35 kph pace and settled in to get warmed
up and in the groove. One of the most important things on this ride is to get
into a rhythm quickly and work on keeping it. I found a cadence of around 90
rpm works well for me. We made great time over the first 30 minutes or so and
quickly found the difficulty of keeping together.
Within these groups the lead often changes and in the early stages the group
sorts itself out into strongest to weakest riders. On a couple of occasions
the peloton 'crashed' red lights and on one of these occasions the back half
of the peloton did the right thing and stopped. Darryl and I were in the front
half and Duncan ended up in the back section.
Because of the number of bikes and speed we were traveling at it is not possible to look around too much because it is very easy to cause a crash. As a result about half way to Geelong I realised that Duncan was not in our group. I found out later that when he stopped at the lights he lost the group and ended up riding into the headwind on his own. This set him back about half an hour at the end of the first leg.
The first leg was 120 km and we did not stop at all along the way. Sections
of the course ran east west and this meant we were riding head on into the wind
for quite some time. During this time I had a go at leading the bunch and found
out what hard work that is. Here it is important to point out that you need
to communicate your movements so that people can let you out and give others
a go at leading. We rode in two lines and if you were on the left hand line,
there was no way out except to get the person beside you to move over at the
same time as you and then drop back in the peloton for a rest. I traveled at
an average speed of 31.2 for the first 120 km with Darryl averaging a little
less at 30.2 and Duncan at 29.0 The speed of the peloton was usually over 33
and often up to 40 +. The legs into the wind dropped the average because we
got down under 30 km for periods of time.
The highlight of the first leg for me was the run from about 10 km out of Geelong
to Queenscliff. I had hit the wall a bit, had lost the group and could not get
back with them again as I didn't have the strength. They built a lead of about
3/4 of a kilometer before we hit a couple of climbs and I was able to catch
some of them on the first climb. After getting a gel pack from Darryl and washing
it down with plenty of water I recovered climbing the second hill section and
arrived at the top with three other blokes none of whom I knew. I tucked in
behind the leading rider as he headed off down the hill at 40 + kph and stayed
there! WE were only 50mm apart and I was not going to let go of his wheel for
anything.
On we went for about 15 km. I didn't know if I could stay with him and at times had to dig deep to make sure I didn't lose the draft. On and on we went, the man was a machine! It was here that I realised the importance of training in high cadences for long periods. It gets you into the habit of spinning and that’s what you need at high speed t stop you burning your legs out. (Thanks Bob!) After leaving Port Melbourne at 5.00 I arrived in Queenscliff at 8.30! We had really pushed it. Darryl was nowhere in sight and neither was Duncan but I knew my sister was waiting for us in Portsea and that it would be easier to spot them both on the other side at they had to come through a fairly narrow area off the boat. I decided to get on the next Ferry which left at 9.00.
I got on and then tried to ring Darryl on his mobile. When I finally got through he told me he had lost his ticket!!! They were not going to let him get on the boat. Great I thought! Now I would have to ride back without him and Linda (His wife, my sister) would have to drive around and get him as he said he was not going to ride back to Melbourne. I little later he rang back saying that they had searched their database and after checking ID had let him on. WE were 3/4 behind but we were going to finish together. As I had hoped we re grouped in Portsea and at about 10.30 ish left on the second leg.
All things considered we were not feeling too bad. Our bums still loved us and our hands and wrists were doing ok. We had ridden most of this leg so we thought and therefore knew what to expect. After leading for a while again I tucked in behind a tandem that was traveling at 33kph and the others followed suit. We traveled together most of the way to Safety beach and then spotting another group of riders in the distance, we began to work together to bridge the gap. In the end I took of to try and lead the others up and found myself going along the flat at 44 kph. I didn’t realise the others had been left until I got to the other group and found they were not behind me. They soon caught up and we now had about 60 riders. The first shock came when we continued up Nepean Highway instead of the beach road, the second shock came when we hit the hills again.
One incident that happened at this time was the idiot in the black car who
decided he wanted to turn right and expected to go right through the middle
of the group. There is security in numbers though because we simply did not
let him in and half a minute later we were clear of the turn and he went around
the back of us anyway! Some people need to get a life!
As we hit the hills again the group split very quickly with the strongest riders
taking the lead and disappearing! A few younger blokes went sailing past me
only to blow up three quarters of the way up the hill. I just kept a steady
pace and beat them to the top. This continued to Frankston where I found that
the hills had separated the three of us again. I stopped and refilled my water
bottle but not wanting to cool down too much, took off again in search of another
peloton. Just up the road I caught a guy who was traveling at about my speed
and as I went past I suggested that we try and catch another couple of guys
ahead of us. We got out to about 34 kph as we got them and I kept the lead for
about 5 km.
As I started to fade I pulled across and the others went through telling me I had done enough work. The speed picked up to 35-36 as they went past and I tacked on behind grateful for the rest. Not too much later another group caught us and now we had a peleton of 30 agianand the speed upped to 40 kph. What a ride we had home! We caught every red light and you had to sprint to 40 kph each time the lights went green if you wanted to keep in the bunch. It was fantastic. Each time you felt your legs give a bit more but as long as you made it to the 40 kph and stayed with them it was ok. Beach road was a blast and we got back into St Kilda at 1.30 p.m. I had cut one and quarter hours off my journey from last year.
Duncan arrived about 10 minutes later and Darryl 15 minutes after that. We
had all held our average speed over the second leg and arrived elated at our
efforts. Duncan and Darryl did incredibly well considering this was their first
round the bay. Both of them beat my first out time by about an hour and it was
especially good for Darryl who had only been riding for 6 months! What a buzz.
We were rapt. We continued back to the van completing the ride and worked out
our times (the ones quoted earlier). I had a bit of soreness in my right knee
due to a motorcycle injury where my right ankle was smashed and I think it has
set a bit crooked. The extra effort put strain on it that caused discomfort
for a day or so but has now sorted itself out. For the rest, Darryl had a stiff
back probably caused by wearing a hydrapack on the first leg and Duncan was
fine.
Some things I have learned.
1. Lead if you are strong enough. Do your share while you can and you will earn
respect for having a go. Then when you sit at the back nobody minds.
2. Keep a wheel. If you want a great time learn to hold a wheel. Develop the
ability the watch the wheel in front and the rider so you can anticipate his
moves. It is quicker to steer just to the left of right than to brake if something
goes wrong. Concentrate all the time.
3. Eat and drink. Start drinking as soon as you leave and keep sipping. Eat
as well or you will hit the wall.
4. Train. You have to train at 30 kph on rides leading up to the round to keep
with a good group. The fast speed you can hold the safer group you will ride
in because they are the ones with the hours in their legs. These riders are
the least likely to cause an accident. Last year the 25 to 30 kph group were
all over the place and accidents were much more likely.
5. Don’t expect to stay together. In these groups it is very hard to stay
together unless you deliberately stick to each others wheel. Don’t stress
if you lose each other, you will regroup.
6. Make the gap. If you find yourself out on your own, make the jump to somebody
ahead of you and hold their wheel. You are more likely to see somebody ahead
to ride to than catch somebody passing you that you don’t see coming.
7. Listen to your body and you will avoid the bonk! If you ride enough you will
feel the symptoms of loosing energy. Do something about it early and if you
stat to cramp, back off and manage your body until you work through it. You
will work through it if you give yourself a fighting chance.
8. Just do it. Set yourself the challenge and have a go. It is a great day.
See you there next year!
Editor's Note - Just as well it's not a race, just a social ride !!!