Friday 25th March - Monday 28th March
2005
Jason Kelly
This year saw
the 10th annual running of this event since it was resurrected in
1996. The course returned to that used in 2003 and was all in the Cromwell –
Queenstown area. This year, other than myself, the only other Rambler to travel
down south was Gavin Povey. While Gavin flew to Christchurch to travel on with
former Rambler and last year’s B grade winner, George Masters, I made my way
down by car with my parents, Gavin’s bike and plenty of extra bike bits. George
elected to compete in A grade while both Gavin and I raced in B grade. As my
form and training had been very poor to non-existent in the two weeks leading
up to the event, I thought even B grade might have been a bit taxing for me.
At the Friday afternoon
pre-race briefing, the starting roster handed out for B grade was one of the
thinnest to date with just 14 riders registered. However, as is typical, two
late entries boosted the numbers and had major effects on the race outcome.
Friday 25th March
Prologue – 5.4km
Individual Time Trial – Cromwell - Bannockburn
I read
somewhere once to always be wary of short prologues as they tend to include
some hard climbing. This prologue was no exception. Having ridden this course
previously in 2003, I knew what to expect and hoped to put in a practice ride
in the morning. However, constant drizzle and cool weather meant this did not
happen. By the time racing started late in the afternoon, the sky had mostly
cleared and the temperature risen to be very temperate for the area with no
polyprop required for extra warmth. Gavin and I cruised out and back along the
course to re-acquaint ourselves with its initial gentle rolling nature which
finishes with a short sharp descent followed by a sharper and longer climb to
Bannockburn.
With riders
starting in reverse number order, I started one minute behind Gavin. The person
holding me at the start kept putting me on a bit of a lean and did not let the
bike go until well past the countdown had passed zero. Finally underway, I
tried to settle into a solid rhythm and see Gavin up the road. With the
memories of 2003 still fresh when Gavin, who rode C grade that year, beat me in
this stage, I wanted to see some personal improvement. After only ever seeing
Gavin way in the distance once and crawling up the final hill in first gear, I
thought I would have a fairly poor time but was happy to see that I had at
least beaten my 2003 time.
As it turned
out, I beat Gavin by three seconds, with my time of 8m 22s earning me 3rd
place and the position of the default KOM (King of the Mountains) jersey
holder. Neil Gellatly, a late entry, professional athlete and well known
adventure racer, took the yellow jersey in a time of 8m 08s. This left Gavin
and I just 17s and 14s respectively away from yellow with all riders within 50s
of yellow. The top C grade rider recorded a time faster than all B graders and
would have in fact finished 5th in A grade.
Saturday 26th March 2005
Stage 1 – Cromwell
– Lake Dunstan Circuit – 88km
Sporadic
drizzle and a cold south easterly wind were the main early features of this
stage. With an early tail wind, the pace was fast with a number of riders
attempting unsuccessfully to break away. However, once past the half way mark
and back into the wind, a solo rider went up the road. As is typical in this
event, the bunch just sat and watched him ride ever further away. Gavin came up
to me and asked if I wanted to try and jump across the gap. Looking up the
road, the gap looked to be at least 30 seconds and growing. Combining this with
the racing still to come and the fact that a B grade rider who is a doctor was
going to be awarded bunch time anyway as he had gone back to help with a nasty
C grade crash at the intermediate sprint, I told Gavin I didn’t think the
required effort was really worth it. Just as I finished saying this, the bunch
pace eased and the road opened in front of me with an identified “non-chasing”
rider on the front. With the opportunity presented, I attacked off the front
into the gutter with my eyes set on the rider up the road. As my legs started
to fade, I pulled over and Gavin came through. Looking behind, we had dropped
the bunch so started to work together in pursuit of the yellow jersey.
It soon became
apparent that we were holding to only slowly catching the stage leader on the
flat to downhill sections of the road but quickly closing the gap on rising
road. After several kilometres, we finally caught him and again looking behind,
we saw we had a workable lead over the bunch. With three of us now working, we
kept up a solid pace but were, a little surprisingly, caught by the bunch. Once
caught, the bunch pace slowed and I sat on the front at a Sunday ride pace back
into wind with a bunch sprint deciding the stage.
After our
breakaway effort, we had gained no time but had not lost any either. Post race
discussion observed that the yellow jersey holder did little chasing with the
bunch led by current Vet 1 4000m champion and former international cyclist
Jerard Stock and local Christchurch rider Darron Burns. Darron had indicated he
would help us as he only wanted KOM.
Stage 2 –
Cromwell Criterium – 30 minutes
The C grade
crash in the morning stage caused a re-jig of the criterium starting and racing
times while various C graders and their bikes were attended to. Our race was
re-scheduled to start first and reduced to 30 minutes plus three laps in
duration. The wind had strengthened a little and it remained cool but the road
remained dry. To add a bit more excitement, two large vehicles were parked on
the course despite the best efforts of the organiser to keep the circuit clear.
One was moved during the warm up and the second one late in the race.
After a hard
and fast start for the early few laps, while Gavin was up the front having fun,
I found myself and a few others off the back of the bunch after a rider in
front of me gave up and dropped the wheel. With the group we had, I thought it
should have been relatively easy to rejoin the bunch. Unfortunately, no one
else wanted to chase and it took a solo effort of several laps for me to get
back on. It turned out that no one else managed to get across with a number of
riders losing a lap so the effort was worth it.
The morning
stage efforts started to kick in and the bunch pace slowed as the stage
progressed. With three laps to go, I was warmed up and attacked off the front.
With the short distance of the course (just over 500m per lap), I was unable to
gain any advantage and the inevitable sprint finish saw another bunch finish
for both Gavin and myself. An average speed of just over 37km/h was similar to
last year but considerably slower than previous years, especially when compared
to the first year when Olympic gold medalist Sarah Ulmer was racing and we
averaged around 40km/h.
Sunday 27th March 2005
Stage 3 –
Remarkables Ski Field to Athol – 65km
After early
morning fog and low cloud cleared, the day turned out to be sunny and mild.
With an afternoon ITT to race and the following day’s two very hilly stages,
Gavin and I decided to take it easy in the bunch. With this being traditionally
a fast stage, I started from the front in case any riders tried to attack
early. This resulted in me having a dress rehearsal for the ITT as riders sat
on my wheel for about 10-12km as I spun comfortably along up false flats. As we
turned a corner with a slight tail wind push, I changed into a big gear and
drove it up a climb at over 40km/h but still failed to split the bunch.
The balance of
the stage was fairly tame with a few attempts at breaks and some high speeds on
downhill sections. No rider was dropped and another bunch sprint eventuated
with Gavin taking fifth place.
Stage 4 –
Athol to Garston – Individual Time Trial (ITT) – 11.4km
With the even
racing to date, this stage looked to be a potentially decisive one. When this
stage was held in 2003, I averaged 42.8km/h and still finished well down the
field and over a minute behind the leading C graders! As such, while I had some
positive anticipation of this stage, I also shared some of Gavin’s trepidation.
Starting into
a head wind in reverse GC (overall time) order, I was on the road two minutes
after Gavin and two minutes in front of the yellow jersey. My start was much
better than for the prologue but after about 4 or 5km, my legs started to
protest at the pace. Glancing at my speedo, I thought I was in real trouble as
I was only pushing 36 to 37km/h. Looking up the road, I could see my minute man
far in the distance. Digging it in, I pushed on, hoping for a downhill and
tailwind that never came. At about the 8km mark, I thought I could see two
riders up the road but thought I must have been dreaming. Closer to the finish
line, I saw one rider pass another rider and I wondered if one of the riders’ I
could see was Gavin. As I closed in on the finish line, I saw that it was Gavin
and I passed him just after the finish line, having pulled almost two minutes
on him despite me only averaging 37km/h.
Turning
around, I started the count for the next rider. He was well over a minute
behind me and so out of second place on GC. Awaiting the yellow jersey, he was
in sight within the two minutes and I started counting once two minutes had
elapsed. I reached 10 before he crossed the finish line and the official stage
results showed I had won the stage by 10 seconds over the yellow jersey. This
left me in 2nd place overall, just six seconds off yellow! Gavin
slipped from 5th place with his GC aspirations all but gone but was
still in the money if he could hold his overall place.
Monday 28th March 2005
Stage 5 – Queenstown
to Glenorchy – 44.5km
The predicted
constant heavy rain thankfully failed to eventuate although a head wind added
to the challenge of the constant hill climbing. With Gavin now over two minutes
down on GC, he decided to target a stage win. However, the yellow jersey holder
easily chased down any attack. The result was another bunch finish. This stage
finishes after a sharp downhill and is always fast in the last few kilometres.
As I was lining up the sprint from the back of the bunch, I looked up the road
to see a walker directly in my intended line. Not wanting a collision at
50/60km/h plus, I switched my attention to the yellow jersey holder. Easily
holding his wheel, I found myself boxed in with a few hundred metres to go and
had to settle for fifth place in the stage. Gavin found himself better
positioned and just missed on his goal by finishing second in the stage.
Stage 6 –
Glenorchy to Queenstown finishing up Moke Lake Road – 41km
After all the
previous riding, it came down to the fact that I needed to win this stage by a
handful of seconds to secure the tour victory. With the wind at our backs, the
bunch started slowly but at the top of the first climb, another rider and I had
a small gap on the bunch. Picking the speed up to around 50km/h, I drove the
pace for several kilometres but it was again to no avail. The yellow jersey and
bunch were still glued to my back wheel. I eased up to rest in the bunch as the
best chances to take any time would be on the main hills.
As it turned
out, on the mid stage KOM hill, the yellow jersey holder and another rider
simply rode away. The current KOM jersey holder (Darron Burns) and the rest of
the bunch were left in their wake. Once at the top of this climb, the two
leaders started to work together and ride away. The rest of the bunch was split
but we managed to quickly get a chase together which Darron and I led. After
some hard work, we caught the front two and then continued to push the pace so
following riders could not catch us. Gavin found himself further back and then
had trouble with his gears and despite his best efforts, was unable to catch
us.
Heading into
the final two climbs, there were six riders in the front bunch. My only chance
of victory appeared to be to try and make the yellow jersey holder crack.
Accordingly, I went to the front of the bunch and climbed at a solid tempo. Two
riders dropped off up the first climb before we turned into the notorious Lake
Moke Road climb. I started this climb in first gear and my legs still protested
at the pace and gradient. Despite a good tempo, the limpet mines remained on my
wheel. In the final few hundred metres, as the gradient eased, I flicked back
into the big ring to try and gain some time but was outclassed and finished
third for the stage. Gavin finished almost 4m 30s later after being unable to
use his first gear and slipped out of overall prize money.
After four
days of riding, the final results were:
Jason Kelly, 08hrs 12m 04 at 15s, 2nd
Gavin Povey, 08hrs 18m 24s at 06m 35s, 10th
Although the
prize money is not the best in the world, there are plenty of spot prizes –
Gavin won a Fly by Wire experience – and with daily prize givings on sponsors’
premises, plenty of opportunity to socialise with fellow riders.
