Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge 2009

[kiso]

This was my first time in this event. I arrived at the finish in about 5hrs elapsed, after taking plenty of time at the rest stops.

Great atmosphere, and the event was very well organised. The bit of light drizzle that developed kept things cool, and had stopped by the time I finished. Food and entertainment at the finish was great, and catching the bus back to South Bank went without a hitch.

I had a great time, and it appeared that nearly everyone else did too.

[waynohh]

The lifecycle group had no incidents - all mature riders.

A friend of mine went down when 2 people crashed in front of him and he turned into a passenger. He got a bruised arm, no other damage. Same arm he got pins in a few months ago after a crash, so pretty lucky.

The only incident I saw was a bloke laying on the ground around Jacobs Well, the ambulance was there.

[Dave R32]

The lifecycle group had no incidents - all mature riders.

At 45yo I consider myself fairly well matured

Thankfully the x-rays showed no breaks, just a wider than normal gap between my collar bone and the top of the shoulder joint..I smashed this shoulder about 10 years ago and comparing x-rays shows the gap is only slightly wider than before. Sore as hell today but all will be fine in a week or so.

Due to work commitments and repairs I wont be back on the bike until next Sunday...missing it already

Cheers
Dave.

[BrisBoy]

I had a good ride without major incident. Rode 119k's for the day in almost exactly 5hrs which is faster than last year

Had the great privelage of riding with my dad from the first rest stop (he started at 8-mile plains so rode 80-85k's?). Last year he bonked big time at about 60 k's in the hills around Coomera (like, couldn't walk type bonked) so I was very happy to cross the line alongside him yesterday. Very happy

[winona_rider]

Had a great day out guys was a nice easy ride too, first time I have done that course and I found it very forgiving.
The last big ride I did was Brisbane Noosa that nearly broke me

I saw a few crashes probably 4 or 5 that I would call bad, medical attention required, broken bones etc.
I saw one guy slide out ( I think) break his collar bone (assumed by the way he was holding his arm and shoulder) and then his bike got run over by a dumbass in a car - rather poor all around.

I will echo the other posters and say there were a fair few out there out of their depth, riding on their limits - people insisting on passing you on downhill sections taking risks to get around people and ride fast only to be blitzed on the uphill sections where they didn't seem keen on staying left.

I actually stopped in a section to let a few riders go and let them put 5 mins on me so I wouldn’t see them again, two of them in particular were shonky as, one with an arm covered in road rash and the other had his knees and elbows skinned and chain grease all over his leg all woobly and inisting on riding very close to me

By the time we got past the second stop I had found a good group of riders and did turns on the front with them.
Managed to do the last 20Km (AT) 37ish km/hr with good group riding. Caught the KFC team train for a few kms and out group pushed out at 41Km/hr. The 5 guys I was working with at the end were excellent riders very safe and held their line nicely was a pleasure to push out the last 20km with them, we all stopped at the end and thanked each other for a nice safe finish.

Saw the fixie boys there but didn't say hello sorry felt a bit antisocial - saw whoever it was on the fixie with the pink deepV rims blitz past our group in the last 2 or 3 km, that was a beautiful sprint and was like watching art

Great day out, I was prepared for the rain so I didn't really care, just made you pay attention to the surfaces and corners.

I managed a 3hr 28mins for about a 28.1Km/hr average - not bad given I had some petrol in the tank at the end.

Tom

that guy with the pink rims is ed. you might have seen me blast past too as i finished just before him! hehe
i think the "fixie crew" did it in about 3 hours - subtracting rest stops. which isn't too bad for one gear and plus the big fast groups had all left by the time we started. ed and i were rolling 73" and another guy we were with was running 69" (which was an awesome effort).
next year i am doing it on at least 75".

and tom - i agree, some peeps were punching a bit above their weight. i swear some riders just like being overtaken (overtake u on downhills only to slow down to almost nothing on the next hill.)

[soc]

Winona, were you one of the fixies that blasted past me doing a wheelie? Nice work...

[winona_rider]

no - but i know who that was! (pink bike?)
there was a second group of us that came in later.

[Neumo]

first big ride did it in 3.23 pretty happy
hated the rain and what was with the flat tyres??
is that normal for that ride

[Lark2004]

3 hours 38 minutes, avg 28kph.

Had a good time, luckily I didn't get caught up in any incidents, although I did see the remains of some.....

[chris641]

The bit of light drizzle that developed kept things cool, and had stopped by the time I finished.

Wasn't light drizzle for me Pouring rain and somewhat difficult to see for about half an hour.. cornering became slightly treacherous in a large group.

[Hobbanobbachobba]

Had a great ride except for the guy that overtook me and slowed down to do a "bush hanky". It hit me in the face and he rode off. Noice.

[Purt]

that guy with the pink rims is ed. you might have seen me blast past too as i finished just before him! hehe. i think the "fixie crew" did it in about 3 hours - subtracting rest stops.

I was speaking to a guy and he said a guy with pink rims came absolutely flying past him he was pretty .

I was on nearly 73" and I think abit higher next year and that would be perfect. I finished in 3:22 not including rest stops and fixing a flat....

Hi to the guy on the charge fixie that was in the group that I was riding with from the last rest stop into the finish. I would of drifted over and had a chat but I was set on wasting all my energy on trying to go between groups .

Overall it was a pretty good ride, lots and lots of bikes. As above though there were lots of people riding above their limit...

[Max]

Had a good time, luckily I didn't get caught up in any incidents, although I did see the remains of some.....

Speaking of which, did anyone see that silver Commodore stationwagon that was totalled not far from the 1st stop? Looked like most of the front end was totally gone. Single vehicle incident. Did anyone see what actually happened?

Max

[winona_rider]

that guy with the pink rims is ed. you might have seen me blast past too as i finished just before him! hehe. i think the "fixie crew" did it in about 3 hours - subtracting rest stops.

I was speaking to a guy and he said a guy with pink rims came absolutely flying past him he was pretty .

I was on nearly 73" and I think abit higher next year and that would be perfect. I finished in 3:30 not including rest stops and fixing a flat....

Hi to the guy on the charge fixie that was in the group that I was riding with from the last rest stop into the finish. I would of drifted over and had a chat but I was set on wasting all my energy on trying to go between groups .

Overall it was a pretty good ride, lots and lots of bikes. As above though there were lots of people riding above their limit...

to be honest - i didn't wish for gears once. I know a few hills might have been "easier" - but i just rode up them harder and thus faster.
I did wish for a bigger gear - but next year that will be sorted and i will also get myself up the front so I can hook up with the fast groups and see if I can mix it with some srs roadies. lol. can't wait!

even in such a big field it was hard to draft in a group traveling at a decent speed. we rode much of the course on our own - just cause fixies ride a more consistent speed - whereas on a road bike you:
1) react to the hill, rather than anticipate it. so you slow down excessively at the base of hills
2) then practically stop at the top as you roll over...
3) then gradually speed up on the downhill
4) then you slow down when your coasting isn't improving your speed
5) then you have to find the right gear so you can start spinning again.

All very inefficient and quite lazy/bizarre.

[chris641]

Totally agree dude. It was very difficult finding a group with the pace that I wanted, hence me jumping between groups and wasting a whole lot of energy bridging gaps at a speed of 40-45kph by myself

Also your comments about fixies and roadies... SOOOO many people slow down dramatically on hills, it almost caused crashes a few times. I stayed in the big ring for the entire ride and just powered up the hills rather than wimping out on the small ring and causing chaos around me By the way dude, if im running a 39/53 and 25/12, what "gear" would I have been in to be equivalent to your fixie gear?

[winona_rider]

53 x 19 is about what I was running. so I reckon that is about halfway up your rear cluster when in the big chainring.

so I reckon 53x18 would be perfect. good enough fr up hill and less of a hassle spinning down.

on a fixie it often hurts more spinning downhill

[Purt]

on a fixie it often hurts more spinning downhill

Yep, I was hurting more coming down those hills coming into coomera then I was going up them...

I agree with chris, I wasted so much energy in that last 30km by jumping across into other groups by myself only to find they were going just to slow aswell .

[chris641]

Very nice. Yep that is my fourth sprocket down! Don't have an 18... mine goes... 25, 23, 21, 19, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12.

[ryan]

Hi to the guy on the charge fixie that was in the group that I was riding with from the last rest stop into the finish. I would of drifted over and had a chat but I was set on wasting all my energy on trying to go between groups

what colour? I was on a silver charge and there was another guy on a blue one around me from last stop to finish, I meant to say hi but the it was a bit all over the place when the traffic picked up towards the end.

I ended up clocking in at 3:40 running 66". Definitely spinning coming down those hills at 59km but a great ride and look forward to next year (with a higher gear!).

[Purt]

what colour? I was on a silver charge and there was another guy on a blue one around me from last stop to finish, I meant to say hi but the it was a bit all over the place when the traffic picked up towards the end.

I ended up clocking in at 3:40 running 66". Definitely spinning coming down those hills at 59km but a great ride and look forward to next year (with a higher gear!).

Yeh it was silver had front and back brakes, I didn't see a guy on a blue one though. I was on a brown Surly Steamroller with a white back tyre and only a front brake. It did get abit crazy after that last rest stop. Wow I feel for you riding 66", thats definitely an awesome effort. I was hurting coming down those hills with 73" .

[soc]

no - but i know who that was! (pink bike?)
there was a second group of us that came in later.

Can't remeber the colour, but there was a group of about 5 or 6 fixies and 2 guys were poppin' wheelies for 100 meters or so as they came past. It was pretty to watch (bloody show-offs ).

Wasn't that many "different" bikes that I saw except for the fixies and a few scooters - I thought that there would be a lot more 'bents and tandems on the ride but I only saw a couple.

[Dave R32]

Wasn't that many "different" bikes that I saw except for the fixies and a few scooters - I thought that there would be a lot more 'bents and tandems on the ride but I only saw a couple.

I spoke to one guy who made the comment "if I get passed by one more f!(AT)#$%g scooter I am going to throw my bike into the bush and walk home" so there must of been a few about.

Saw one tandem which then had a tandem tag along attached to it....the B double of push bikes that one.

On the fixie subject, there was a group of guys wearing woollen jerseys (endevour foundation I think) and riding light blue fixies, which I think had "The One" on the down tube, I cant imagine riding 100kms on a fixie or a single speed.

Cheers
Dave.

[a.briggs]

Had a great ride, became a honorary fixie (albeit with gears) for the last 20-30 k after my freehub started to collapse. Was making some pretty interesting noises towards the last few k's but decided to just go for it anyway.

[waynohh]

28 Max


102 Winona_rider
n/a

121 Wazza


308 Waynohh


3146 Matt#73


3489 Lark2004


3797 Chris641 - wrong camera!


3855 soc


3984 DaveR32


4554 Neumo


8805 Elantra
n/a

http://www.allactionphotography.com.au/

Looking at the photos of the start, it's no wonder they only got through half the 30+ group before 5:45, everyone was so spread out!!!!

[Wazza]

Thanks for putting up the photos from Sunday Waynohh
Waz