Tamworth 2 Day Tour - August 9-10th

Road cycling & upcoming rides
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T-Bone
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Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 01 Jul 2008, 23:23

Well, it's getting closer, and with no Canberra Tour this year, here's you chance to race a multi-stage event. Entries close 27/7/08.

The course is relatively flat, with a small hill approx. 15km from the finish, though the finish is an uphill drag of around 2km. The schedule is stage 1 saturday morning, stage 2 afternoon, and a longer stage 3 on sunday morning. Last year we had great success with our 2 competitors. I one overall in Div 5 thanks to a solo breakaway in stage 1, and a 3 man break in stage 2, while Eugen took out 3rd overall in Div 2.

This year i'm hoping we have more riders present as it is a very enjoyable weekend of racing. Travel to Tamworth requires leaving on the Friday at midday due to the distance and the morning start on saturday.

Let me know of your interest.

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Adrian E
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Location: Newtown

Postby Adrian E » 02 Jul 2008, 07:23

Hi T-Bone,
I was at Al's last night to pick up some stuff I'd left in the car. (btw: did anyone leave a gray jacket behind?). Anyway, Al said he was keen to support us with the van for the Tamworth tour. I think this would be a great choice for people who'd never done thought of going in a road open.

It looks like a really fun event so count me in.

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T-Bone
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 02 Jul 2008, 12:24

I dropped into Al's after you'd left, and he mentioned your interest.

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T-Bone
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Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 10 Jul 2008, 22:58

BUMP!!

Any interest?

So far:
Me
Adrien
Eugen
Al (driving the van)

Kieran
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Joined: 13 Mar 2007, 14:54

Postby Kieran » 11 Jul 2008, 12:22

Okay James, this one looks good.

wallman
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Location: Marrickville

Postby wallman » 20 Jul 2008, 20:32

I've just entered this as well.
Matt

Eugen Schilter
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Joined: 13 Nov 2006, 20:05
Location: Eastwood
Contact:

Postby Eugen Schilter » 25 Jul 2008, 20:35

So far:
James F
Adrian
Matt
Kieran
Eugen

Al is looking for 6+ strong (and suitably groomed) men or girls to stand in for Coral in feeding the driver with nibbles during the drive to and from Tamworth. With a friendly-short distance-multistage-not overhyped-country racing looming, let us know if you join. Fun guaranteed. Entry close this Sunday 27July.

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Adrian E
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Location: Newtown

Postby Adrian E » 27 Jul 2008, 18:10

Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to tamworth. I've just got too much on atthe moment. Still I hope to get to cootamundra.

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T-Bone
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Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 27 Jul 2008, 21:41

No worries adrien, hope you're able to make it to coota, and don't forget about ride for life in centennial park.

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Adrian E
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Joined: 07 Mar 2007, 13:15
Location: Newtown

Postby Adrian E » 28 Jul 2008, 13:22

I've registered for ride for life and I'm getting some training riding between art galleries and coffee shops on a mountain bike in brisbane at the moment. :wink:

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T-Bone
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 06 Aug 2008, 22:50

Well, the gradings are out!!

Div 3 for Eugen.
Div 4 for the rest of us. (i should be able to recruit a few allies as well)

Might make it a bit hard to repeat last years results, but with 3 of us in Div 4 i'm sure we can pull something out of the bag, though i would have liked to get a bit more training into me.

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T-Bone
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006, 22:50
Location: Up the Hill

Postby T-Bone » 10 Aug 2008, 23:38

Well, it was a good weekend away, although the weather could have been warmer, and the wind a little kinder today, but overall very enjoyable.

In Div 4 it was Me, Matt and Kieran racing together.
In stage 1 i tried my trademark attack up the KOM(no KOMs this year :( ) but as i suspected, the bunch was having none of it, and coming into the finish it was all together. With no one driving the pace up the long 2.5km uphill drag to the line, it all bunched up across the road and i found myself boxed in, only able to sprint past Matt for 6th when the door finally opened, with Matt getting 8th (online results probably won't be this accurate... ), Kieran finished in the bunch.

Stage 2 proved to be my stage, with people constantly attacking with no success i was happy to sit in. When i moved to the front up a hill, i thought i'd speed the pace up down the other side, however when i looked back at the bottom i had some how gotten 50m on the bunch, so i decided to go for it briefly before sitting up to conserve energy as the bunch started catching. While still away a rider from Dubbo bridged the gap to join me, so off we went, working well until we hit the hill, and with me driving the pace he coouldn't hold my wheel, even when i slowed a bit to try and keep him there, so i left him to go alone, and stayed away for the next 5km (not riding completely flat out as i expected to be caught). After slotting into 3rd wheel when the bunch finally reeled me in, it became a procession, and i believe many were settled in to wait for a sprint at the finish, but with other thoughts in my mind, and after 4km of shelter, i attacked the sleeping bunch with 5km to go on the last rise before the long drag to the finish. Luckily for me, i managed to hold the bunch off..... just, with probably only 10m in hand on the line.

Stage 3 had me start in 1st place, though on equal time with the stage 1 winner due to the time bonuses for the first 5 places, which would prove to be my problem. The temperature wasn't very pleasent, as i kept my newspaper for the whole 100km, and a strong wind was making things worse. I stayed at the back of the bunch for the first 25km, staying fresh before moving towards the front for the rest of the race, but pretty much stayed off the front except for 1 or 2 times, i seemed to have become a marked rider by some after my attacks in stage 2. Matt and Kieran joined me at the front, with all 3 of us in a line for a while in 4, 5 and 6 wheels (hopefully there's a photo), but we stayed away from being on the very front, and left it to others to keep a lone rider who had gone away way too early in check. When the rider was reeled in after maybe 30km alone (suffering in the wind), the attacks started, though i was fairly comfortable letting others chase. Kieran got himself into a nice break for a while with 2 girls, but with a strong headwind blowing it was hard work, and the were soon back in the bunch. Finally, coming into that tough finish, Matt took the lead for me, and keep the pace high for most of the last 3km, which kept the bunch from getting too crowded at the front. As he pulled off i had to make sure my way was clear to avoid being boxed in, so stayed on the front, in line with a couple others, but the sprint didn't work out and i had to settle for another 6th. Matt and Kieran were both in the bunch.

All up, due to those time bonuses, i was pushed back down to 4th (equal time with 5th and 6th, but better on countback). The race was fairly even, with 3 different stage winners, though the top 2 overall didn't need a win due to their consistency in high placings and those precious bonus seconds. Very enjoyable racing, and good team work of resiting the urge to work, but i think i'll either need to get a better sprint into me, or make sure my breakaways provide me with a suitable time buffer.

Eugen raced Div 3. Didn't hear much on how he was going, but i think it was tough due to the higher speed. He finished in the bunch on each stage, with his best placing 6th (from memory).


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