GC100 2011

[hosko]

Did a 70km stint today after my fall last Saturday and legs stayed on! Should be all good for this event

Birthday and Fathers day tomorrow probably isn't going to contribute to the ride next week though!

[the_clydesdale]

Weather looking like it is taking a turn for the worse this weekend. Forecast minimum of 6 and windy, not good!

[hosko]

BOM says the following:

Sunday - Fine and cool. Min 7 Max 20

iPhone weather app seems to think by 9am there will be a WSW wind of 27km/h...

[ldrcycles]

Definitely packing the arm warmers and long finger gloves then. 1hr of hill repeats yesterday and this afternoon and i'm well off my previous pace, still looking forward to the ride though.

[notwal]

Is the event kit available for pick up at Mitchell Park?
I hope so. There was nothing about in the registration.

I guess if I front up with my E ticket nice and early I should be ok.

[Crawf]

Is the event kit available for pick up at Mitchell Park?
I hope so. There was nothing about in the registration.

I guess if I front up with my E ticket nice and early I should be ok.

Thinking the same thing, I assume they'll give us something when we turn up?

[hosko]

Guessing so!

This will be my first event I have been in so NFI!

Don't even know where we will be able to park on the morning that we don't end up with a ticket? Might be a Sunday but the parking police are ruthless in that area.

[ldrcycles]

Guessing so!

This will be my first event I have been in so NFI!

Don't even know where we will be able to park on the morning that we don't end up with a ticket? Might be a Sunday but the parking police are ruthless in that area.

+1, any locals know where i can park nearby?

[A_P]

Stevens , William, worendo and walton streets should give you all day parking without hassles.

[hosko]

Taken from BOM:

Dry. A cool morning. Light to moderate W to SW winds, fresh at times.

Now here is the kicker....

Min - 4 <--------------------- ARGGGHHHHHH!!
Max - 22

So far I have packed up few things.
3 Bottles (going to be a very dry day so thought I might take the third)
1 Energy GEL
1 Power Bar (might or might not use it. Chocolate flav and tried one today on the ride...wasn't bad)
Spare Tube
Ticket to ride (DON'T FORGET YOUR PRINTOUT!!)
iPhone currently charging for Strava...so you can see how bloody slowly I go around
Beanie - might come in handy before we start.

I also have a few Electrolyte tabs in my back pocket. Again, probably won't use them but you can't take them unless you have them and they take up no room at all.

Cya in the morning!

[hosko]

Good to see BOM was very very wrong about the minimum temp this morning.

That has to be the hardest ride I have ever done. I know quite a few finished before I did, which was in a time of 4h 30m.

Once you cross that highway, those hills are a killer. Was a very enjoyable ride!

[ldrcycles]

Good to see BOM was very very wrong about the minimum temp this morning.

That has to be the hardest ride I have ever done. I know quite a few finished before I did, which was in a time of 4h 30m.

Once you cross that highway, those hills are a killer. Was a very enjoyable ride!

+1, though i actually found the hills very reasonable, i had been much afearing those two nasty spikes in the middle of the elevation profile but got up them easily. That said though, the lead group i had been sitting wth broke away in the foothills and i had to push very hard for the next 25k to try and get back on. Got caught by what i think was the second group a little after Dreamworld (~80k) and then it was on like donkey kong, pushing up to 44kmh. That group split into 3 and i bridged from the main group to the second and just managed to hold on there until a k or so from the line when i just completely ran out. Easily the hardest bit of work i've ever done. Finished in 3:13 which i'm stoked with . Average HR of 169 and max of 194.

Dunno how the BOM came up with that forecast, i think it was around 14 when it kicked off. (maybe it was a typo and that's what they meant ).
Re gear i had my pump on the frame, some levers (need a bit of help with rock hard commuter tyres), spare tube, 2 water bottles (supplemented by one from the very enthusiastic volunteers near Dreamworld, though not needed) and a muesli bar which i didn't touch.

And re the parking i got there early enough to be able to park in the little pretend road it started from.

[Crawf]

Yeh was a good ride, hills weren't as bad as I thought, the lead bunch went to hell on the first climb but I guess that sorted out the wheel suckers.
Just missed out on breaking 3hrs with a moving time of 3.02 for 102km.
There were two falls, the first right in front of me at about 26km - he went down pretty hard. The other one I didn't see. Hopefully they both pushed on and that wasn't the end of their day

What happened to the timing chips?

[ldrcycles]

Yeh was a good ride, hills weren't as bad as I thought, the lead bunch went to hell on the first climb but I guess that sorted out the wheel suckers.
Just missed out on breaking 3hrs with a moving time of 3.02 for 102km.
There were two falls, the first right in front of me at about 26km - he went down pretty hard. The other one I didn't see. Hopefully they both pushed on and that wasn't the end of their day

What happened to the timing chips?

Was that fall due to the half hubcap on a bridge (i think it was around that distance), when i went through there it was flicked up and hit someone in the head about 15metres in front of me, no one went down or pulled off though.

The bloke in front of me at registration asked about the timing and was told "no theres no timing, it's not a race", i smiled and told her i had heard that one before .
Even after napping for a couple of hours when i got home i'm still feeling pretty spent.

[Crawf]

Was that fall due to the half hubcap on a bridge (i think it was around that distance), when i went through there it was flicked up and hit someone in the head about 15metres in front of me, no one went down or pulled off though
.

No I don't think so, looked like sudden braking in the bunch then a touch of wheels.

[ldrcycles]

Was that fall due to the half hubcap on a bridge (i think it was around that distance), when i went through there it was flicked up and hit someone in the head about 15metres in front of me, no one went down or pulled off though
.

No I don't think so, looked like sudden braking in the bunch then a touch of wheels.

Ok, yea i wasn't particularly impressed with the bunch riding ability of that group, quite a bit of speed up, sudden brake, speed up again, and coasting up to the bottom of hills rather than using momentum to help, lines were held pretty well though not much swerving about. Did you have any grief from the magpie at ~20k? I saw him swoop a couple of times then sit on a power line with a helpless expression lol.

Oh and because everyone is quick to criticise poor organisation i have to commend the organisers on their efforts, i had no idea where the course was going before i started but never felt lost (although the lead motorbike took a wrong turn near the stadium but no ones perfect).

[notwal]

Well I lost touch with the front at the traffic lights onto the highway. You must have been pretty close to the back of the lead mob crawf. I was at the front of the mob caught at the lights. After that we only saw the occasional straggler from the front half.

There was the usual small number of flats. I didn't see any prangs but I rode past a bloke who seemed to be injured from a fall. A couple of blokes were with him and he seemed to be nursing an arm or collar bone injury. Hope its not serious.

The weather couldn't have been better - goldilocks temps and zero wind. Yesterdays wind would have been a real test of character. The course was very good, not at all boring with more than enough rolling hills to test your stamina and provide some fun descents and tons of big roundabouts to roll through without stopping. There was just enough signage and plenty of course marshals to keep you on the track. A big thanks to the volunteers. Good on ya.
They had fee egg and bacon burgers at the finish and free massages too. Whoo hoo.

I had a great ride in a good bunch most of the way. It came apart in the last 30 km. My time was 3.10 with an average of 32 which is good for me. Doing better is largely a matter of luck. Its a case of catching the lights and finding the right wheel to suck .

I'll definitely try and catch this ride again next year hopefully with some improved fitness - target <3 h or if not fit then target = fun ride.

[notwal]

Oh, does anyone have a gps track file of the course? They didn't publish a course map and I like to keep KMZ files of rides for display and tinkering on Google Earth.
I think Google Earth accepts GPR and possibly other gps formats.

[Crawf]

Oh, does anyone have a gps track file of the course? They didn't publish a course map and I like to keep KMZ files of rides for display and tinkering on Google Earth.
I think Google Earth accepts GPR and possibly other gps formats.

Try this link ...
http://www.strava.com/rides/1579010

[ldrcycles]

After that we only saw the occasional straggler from the front half.

They had fee egg and bacon burgers at the finish and free massages too. Whoo hoo.

That was my ride, lost the front group and then as i tried to get back on i passed about 8 guys in 20k who had dropped off it.

My bad for not mentioning the free burgers, BIG +1 there. Got a quick rub down on my calves too, with the drive back up to the sunny coast i thought it would be a good idea .

[hosko]

Some pics from the start line







Some of you guys were very quick around the course but even at my pace I still had a lot of fun and that's the main point.

As for

hills weren't as bad as I thought

for some of us they were just BAD!! That entrance to Maudsland Rd was just plain nasty.
Didn't actually mind Mt Nathan though and in fact passed a few people going up it...no idea how that happened but it did!!

I also noticed that there were a few people riding probably not as fast as they normally would but were going slow to assist others. Was exceptional to see that.

Started to cramp a little just after Maudsland Rd, so dumped that Electrolytic tablet in a bottle at the 60km stop. It worked! Hurt still but no more cramps.

The Bacon and Egg rolls were brilliant too at the end. Rotary did a great job of organising the marshalls and the event.

Time to loose some more weight now before the HTM Challenge. 106kg now and wouldn't mind being under that 100kg before that race. Rollers every night from now on! Would love to do that one (as it is quite flat compare to this!) in the 3hr zone rather than the 4hour one.

[hosko]

Also Crawf, this has got me stumped... the elevation between your and my ride is quite different and we did the same course?

iPhone app mapped mine, guessing a Garmin maps height better than the app!!

http://app.strava.com/rides/1576924

[ldrcycles]

Some pics from the start line





I also noticed that there were a few people riding probably not as fast as they normally would but were going slow to assist others. Was exceptional to see that.
The Bacon and Egg rolls were brilliant too at the end. Rotary did a great job of organising the marshalls and the event.

I'm in that pic just above and slightly to the left of the Cervelo guys head, in white and orange gear (with my wonderfully supportive gf standing off to the side, can you believe she waited at Mitchell Park for 3 hrs for me to finish?)

I saw a few like that too, and quite a number making a point of calling out a thank you to the marshalls, made for a really enjoyable ride.

[notwal]

Oh, does anyone have a gps track file of the course? They didn't publish a course map and I like to keep KMZ files of rides for display and tinkering on Google Earth.
I think Google Earth accepts GPR and possibly other gps formats.

Try this link ...
http://www.strava.com/rides/1579010

Saved it. Thanks Crawf.

[Crawf]

Also Crawf, this has got me stumped... the elevation between your and my ride is quite different and we did the same course?

iPhone app mapped mine, guessing a Garmin maps height better than the app!!

http://app.strava.com/rides/1576924

Lol are you sure you went the right way?
I take the elevation stats on my devices with a grain of salt, they're so inconsistent, even on a bees knees Garmin 800.