Tour of Bright

[Strawburger]

Wow, quick time!!! Congrats on the win. That would have earned you top 25 in A grade. Hopefully you can keep in the pack to retain the leaders jersey.

[nescius]

Well, not quite so good today, it was all together until the bottom of Tawonga then everyone just took off. I tried to stay with the front group but it was just too quick, I settled back into my own pace and picked off a few stragglers but I still lost a couple of minutes. I'm 9th in GC now, not really looking forward to Hotham tomorrow, especially if the pace is anything like today. I can only hope that some people overcooked themselves today and are too tired to push the pace tomorrow.

Some bad news from the roll back to Bright from the finish, some mates of mine were in a bunch and got clipped by a car (silver wrx I think). At least one rider hit the deck and another cracked the frame on his brand new race bike. Nobody managed to get the number plate and the car did not stop.

[foo on patrol]

That's not good Nescius, bloody low life mongrel!

Don't entertain negative thoughts about tomorrow or you have already given yourself a handicap! Race smart and stay in the front 25% of the pack. You should already know what riders are going to be fast and who are climb strong, so ride and place yourself accordingly.

Foo

[nescius]

Yep, no good at all, the boys are heading to the police station to make a report shortly. No major injuries, just a bit of skin off.

Now I've had a bit of food and rest I'm a bit more positive about tomorrow, it's only 50km or so, and I wasn't really that far off the pace. I think a longer climb might suit me better, I can hold a decent steady pace so I'll just try for a nice consistent effort. I'll aim to hang on to my top 10 GC position.

[Derny Driver]

The bunch usually goes nuts at the bottom of Hotham .... hang in there with the leaders, once they get up the Meg things should settle back into a rhythm. Stay with the front group for the bottom half. After that see how it goes. Lots of time to be made or lost in the last couple of km.

[Strawburger]

Some bad news from the roll back to Bright from the finish, some mates of mine were in a bunch and got clipped by a car (silver wrx I think). At least one rider hit the deck and another cracked the frame on his brand new race bike. Nobody managed to get the number plate and the car did not stop.

That's terrible. Hope the guys involved are ok to back it up for tomorrow. I've had some verbal abuse thrown at me but no car swiping

For me today I hung in there until the final climb. I ran out of water pretty quickly on the last climb and suffered. Stopped at the natural spring and lost 9 mins by the end of the climb. I'm still mid pack though.

I managed to finish at the same time elite A grade men's winner did. Should be on the highlights reel when they come out

[Strawburger]

The bunch usually goes nuts at the bottom of Hotham .... hang in there with the leaders, once they get up the Meg things should settle back into a rhythm. Stay with the front group for the bottom half. After that see how it goes. Lots of time to be made or lost in the last couple of km.

Thanks for those tips there DD. I was scratching my head wondering how to ride the climb tomorrow.

Good luck tomorrow nescius, hope you hang in there!

[skull]

are you serious about the hit and run coming down tawonga gap? No Wai...

Anyway I made 3 hour and a couple of seconds today, pretty happy with that considering I am a fat tourist.

[toolonglegs]

There must have been dozens of go pros on that road coming back... Get the organizers to make a call to see if anyone caught the number plate... F'ers !

[Derny Driver]

The bunch usually goes nuts at the bottom of Hotham .... hang in there with the leaders, once they get up the Meg things should settle back into a rhythm. Stay with the front group for the bottom half. After that see how it goes. Lots of time to be made or lost in the last couple of km.

Thanks for those tips there DD. I was scratching my head wondering how to ride the climb tomorrow.

I think its a rookie error to climb the bottom section conservatively. You are thinking "I cant do 32km like this so I will just ride my own pace" and let everyone go. You then lose 20 minutes by the top. As I said try hard to go with the leaders up the steep Meg (its only short) and then you will be on the relatively flatter middle part of the climb where everyone gets into little groups of 10 or so and you just get pulled along with your group. The top section must be ridden solo at your own pace. Good luck.

[fluro2au]

Great tip DD, passed that same one onto Scott H this morning.

Paul

[nescius]

Very tough last stage for me, I stuck with the leaders as long as I could but got dropped at the Meg. I caught onto a small group along the false flat then got on the front of that group and dragged them up to the next group, I managed to stick more or less with them until CRB hill then I was gone. The last few km seemed to drag on forever and I lost a lot of time there. I dropped from 10th on GC to 30th. They were really fast.

That was my first time up Hotham, I'll have a better idea of what I'm in for next time. I need to either get lighter or get stronger (maybe both!) if I want to be competitive next year.

[foo on patrol]

The bunch usually goes nuts at the bottom of Hotham .... hang in there with the leaders, once they get up the Meg things should settle back into a rhythm. Stay with the front group for the bottom half. After that see how it goes. Lots of time to be made or lost in the last couple of km.

Thanks for those tips there DD. I was scratching my head wondering how to ride the climb tomorrow.

I think its a rookie error to climb the bottom section conservatively. You are thinking "I cant do 32km like this so I will just ride my own pace" and let everyone go. You then lose 20 minutes by the top. As I said try hard to go with the leaders up the steep Meg (its only short) and then you will be on the relatively flatter middle part of the climb where everyone gets into little groups of 10 or so and you just get pulled along with your group. The top section must be ridden solo at your own pace. Good luck.

This I have been saying for quite sometime, train to attack the steepest part of a hill and keep it going over the top and then recover. You will do more damage to the opposition than hammering at the very bottom or easy parts. Anyone can ride fast on the easy parts but the cream will rise to the top and hurt you when it counts!

Foo

[Derny Driver]

Very tough last stage for me, I stuck with the leaders as long as I could but got dropped at the Meg. I caught onto a small group along the false flat then got on the front of that group and dragged them up to the next group, I managed to stick more or less with them until CRB hill then I was gone. The last few km seemed to drag on forever and I lost a lot of time there. I dropped from 10th on GC to 30th. They were really fast.

That was my first time up Hotham, I'll have a better idea of what I'm in for next time. I need to either get lighter or get stronger (maybe both!) if I want to be competitive next year.

Still a good result Ben and not a bad time up Hotham either. You should be pleased with that. 30th is good.
29th in C is a young guy who boards with my son and I. He's a decent cyclist so you have done well.

My nephew was 3rd up Hotham today in B grade (2:00:57) for 9th overall which was pretty good.

[Strawburger]

Some great results here! Well done!

Had a miserable day today. Stayed just off the pace until the meg then lost too much time on the recovery bit. May have ridden too conservatory through this section. Had the legs in the final pinches to put a good 4 mins into the riders around me, but was 20mins off the pace at the end.

Mid pack for all three stages meant a mid pack gc result.

The legs are really throbbing, I've done quite a few HC climbs but this was my first at race pace. A whole different story!

[skull]

So my garmin died 7km in today. So no proof for strava. Ended up 2hrs 33min.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Strawburger]

They were really fast.

That was my first time up Hotham, I'll have a better idea of what I'm in for next time. I need to either get lighter or get stronger (maybe both!) if I want to be competitive next year.

That is an understatement. The masters c flew past me with a few kms to go.

As for weight, the leaders would have been putting out close to 4.5w/kg for that climb.

[march83]

according to strava, jack haig holds the kom from last year's ToB at 4.7W/kg if his profile on the torq website is to be believed. sounds painful.

any comments on the quality of the grading this year?

[Strawburger]

Every grade had A grade riders in it! Most stage winners ended up with very similar times. The difference in grades was the spread in the field.

[jules21]

congrats to everyone who rode. it looked like very tough going. i rolled down from Dinner Plain and watched some of the grades finishing on Tawonga on Saturday. riding back up Hotham, i really felt for what everyone would be going through the next day. that is a tough hill!

everyone said the competition this year was a step up from years before - it's getting harder, it seems. i plan to be there next year!

re: the hit and run. surely someone knew someone in Bright who they could have called ahead to and asked them to wait on the main street with a suitably large object?

[Strawburger]

+1 Jules. The guys I spoke to who did it last year said the same thing: the quality is a step up this year. I'm afraid what it would be like in a couple of years if it continues this trend

[Derny Driver]

...everyone said the competition this year was a step up from years before - it's getting harder, it seems...

When I did ToB it was 4 stages in 2 days, and in May. One could argue that 3 stages in 3 days in spring / summer is relatively soft.

My last ToB was about 1998 or 9. It rained for the Saturday morning TT and was about 5 degrees in the village. The Saturday afternoon consisted of the Gaps loop, WITH the descent into Bright to the finish. Black ice on the ascent and descent of Tawonga.
Sunday morning was a loop around Porepunkah and the 23km climb up Mt Buffalo, it was snowing at the top. After coming back down we had a criterium around the shops using that back road they have the sprint eliminator on. It was drizzling and slippery and to add to the mayhem there was sprints every 10 laps for cases of alcohol (Bundaberg Rum).

Everything was always harder / better in the old days

Looking at the amount and quality of riders in the NSW Grand Prix this weekend, the A grade ToB was not really that strong apart form the top 10 or 15 blokes. Its a stupid time of year to have a Tour because the road season has finished. Most guys are already doing track racing.

But I take your point. Its very hard to get a placing in any grade, no matter how good you are and prepared you are.

[thearthurdog]

Everything was always harder / better in the old days

The truth.

[Ross]

Looking at the amount and quality of riders in the NSW Grand Prix this weekend, the A grade ToB was not really that strong apart form the top 10 or 15 blokes. Its a stupid time of year to have a Tour because the road season has finished. Most guys are already doing track racing.

When would be a good time to have it then? Obviously not in May with black ice and snow...

[Uncle Just]

Anyone know the reason for the disqualification of four riders in A grade?