Gold in Otago

Tour de Lakes (Cromwell –Queenstown) Easter Cycling Tour

Friday 06^th April - Monday 09^th April 2007

Jason Kelly

 This year was my sixth visit to the South Island for this annual tour. With some solid training behind me and my brother Patrick along with fellow Rambler Gavin Povey also entering the B grade, I had some hopes for a good result. This was especially after suffering from illness last year which ruined my chances. This year saw the same stages used as last year with stages to Manapouri and Te Anau, hence the revised tour name of “Tour de Lakes”.

At the Friday afternoon pre-race briefing, the starting roster handed out for B grade was one of the largest to date with 29 riders registered. The list included no past winners but had some familiar names from previous years. The flags outside the venue were indicating a tail wind for the prologue which I was unsure was a good or a bad sign.

Friday 06^th April

Prologue – 5km Individual Time Trial – Cromwell - Bannockburn

This course is straight out from Cromwell and has an initial gentle rolling nature before finishing with a short sharp descent followed by a sharper and longer climb to the finish line outside the Bannockburn pub. Start order was reverse number order which was based on entry order – last entry started first and first entry started last. Based on this, Patrick was to start last in B grade and I was to start second to last.

After the briefing, Patrick and I cruised up and down the course. By this time the wind had changed and a strong head wind was present for the first kilometre or so before lessening further out. We returned to the start line to see Gavin, who was still suffering from his accident in the previous Saturday’s club race, return to the car and virtually collapse off his bike looking as white as a ghost. While he had hoped to have recovered and race, his warm up showed this was impossible and he had to withdraw – his race was unfortunately over before it started. However, his trip south was not in vain as he was appointed to drive the New Caledonian team’s vehicle and had the chance to practice his French speaking. This team was headed by former Tour de France rider Chris Jenner.

After a solid warm up, I started one minute ahead of Patrick and struggled into the strong head wind. My minute man was hard to see and it was tough to tell if I was gaining or losing time. Hitting the hill at the end, my heart rate went to its maximum but I still felt I could have ridden harder. My time of 7m 58s was 38s seconds slower than last year when I finished 10th! The next rider to finish was an A grader – Chris Jenner – who had passed Patrick on the hill. Patrick finished in a time of 8m 40s. As it turned out, the conditions had slowed all riders and I found myself in 2^nd place, 10 seconds down on yellow and a solitary second ahead of third place. My time would have also placed me 8^th in A grade. Patrick was in 22^nd place. The result saw me awarded the Sprint Ace jersey to wear for the first road stage.

 

                     
Saturday 07^th April

Stage 1 – Remarkables Ski Field to Five Rivers – 82km

The day dawned dry but cool – thankfully there was no snow or frost as there has been in the past. An initial head wind was also present. This stage has traditionally seen fast average speeds despite plenty of false flat climbs, especially in the opening kilometres. South Island riders also seem reluctant to chase and they let wheels go randomly. This year was no different and a bunch of three, including Patrick, soon went up the road. With the bunch not chasing and the gap widening, instead of the front three staying together and working together, the other two riders attacked Patrick at the intermediate sprint. Accordingly, he sat up and waited for the bunch who then put in enough effort to catch the remaining two riders.

Climbing up the Jollies Pass, just prior to the finish, some riders tried to break away but the result was largely just a stretched bunch with most riders regrouping for a mass sprint bunch finish. Patrick was credited with 7^th place and myself with 8^th place in a time of 2hrs 05m at an average speed of 39.3km/h. GC positions remained largely unchanged.

Stage 2 – Five Rivers to Manapouri – 79km

This afternoon stage saw considerably warmer conditions. Again, the typical South Island race format of the bunch letting riders go eventuated with 3 riders up the road, then 4 and finally 5 being up the road. The large bunch, after some prodding and efforts by Patrick and the yellow jersey holder, largely by default, reeled in four of the leaders 1 by 1. The bunch then sat up with one rider way up the road – going up one climb he looked to be at least two minutes ahead of us. Realising that the gap could well be decisive in the tour, I tried to muster some help but ended up leading a long chase virtually solo at a solid pace. Continuing to lead the bunch, I caught the leader with a few kilometres to go and the bunch again sat up. A few riders tried to attack but were quickly closed down. In another bunch finish, I finished 5^th with Patrick just off the back. In what turned out to be prophetic words, I told Patrick the last time I had lead the bunch for so long solo in a stage I had won the following time trial stage. The effort required must be a good ITT warm up!

Sunday 07^th April

Stage 3 – Manapouri to Te Anau – Individual Time Trial (ITT) – 18.9km

With the even racing to date, this stage looked to be the potentially decisive one. Last year I lost almost two minutes to the yellow jersey holder on this mostly false flat up hill course despite averaging around 40km/h.

This year, starting into a head wind in reverse GC (General Classification i.e. overall time) order, I was the second to last B grader on the road, twenty minutes after Patrick and one minute in front of the yellow jersey. The fine and mild weather, along with the scenery, were impressive but my legs were not on fire and struggled the entire 28m 52s to the finish line. The rider in front of me occasionally came into view but I doubted I had gained any time on him and in fact felt I may have lost some. My time was 1m 12s slower than last year which was not promising.

Once across the finish line, it was time to turn around and count the time until the yellow jersey appeared – one minute went by – he had lost time – two minutes went by – he had lost plenty of time. When he appeared, he finished 2m 29s behind me for a time 1m 29s slower. Patrick finished 3m 27s slower than me.

When the results were available, it turned out I had done enough to win the stage by a mere 8 seconds over the rider who started in front of me. This meant I held the yellow jersey after six years of trying with a margin of just nine seconds and three road stages to go. With bonus time of 6, 4, 2 and 1 seconds awarded to the first four places in each road stage, my lead was going to take some defending.

 

Stage 4 – Te Anau to Five Rivers – 78.8km

On the start line for this stage wearing yellow, the banter around the peleton was contradictory – some riders were saying the Timaru “team” of seven riders was going to work me over while others laughed and said, “Team Timaru? Yeah right!” Given my lead and the small time gaps at the top of the field, my tactic was simple – let no rider go.

A controlled start from town saw Patrick on the front at a sedate pass with me on his wheel. Once racing started, the pace remained so slow initially that the lead car stopped to remind us that the race had in fact started! This saw the pace pick up a little but Patrick remained solidly on the front for the first thirty minutes or so before the inevitable attacks came – I counted eight in eight minutes – which were all quickly closed down by Patrick. The stage then settled back into a constant pace with Patrick continuing to lead the way and control the peleton.

The only climb in the stage saw the bunch split briefly but the fast descent saw it join together again with a few riders again trying attacks down the long false flat hill. However, by the bottom, Patrick quickly restored order and basically apart from the intermediate sprint, he sat on the front the balance of the stage, controlling the pace and protecting me from the increasing head wind. A bunch sprint resulted with Patrick credited with 5^th place and myself 6^th. This saw my lead maintained. Some of the riders were calling Patrick the George Hincapie of the peleton for his sterling efforts. I could but agree.

Monday 08^th April

Stage 5 – Queenstown to Glenorchy – 44.5km

Another day dawned with the weather cool but fine and dry with little wind. The final two stages with plenty of tough hill climbing and the yellow jersey on my back meant this was always going to be an interesting day. Listening around, it turned out one of the younger riders in B grade had completed the 100km Christchurch – Akaroa road race in 2hrs 52m (as opposed to the winner, Hayden Roulston, in 2hrs 48m) this year and would be a real threat in the hills as he was only about 1m 45s back on GC. I noted his race number as 59 as another one to watch. I also questioned why he was trying to burgle B grade!

This stage starts straight into a small climb and the first attack occurred soon after. Patrick continued his domestique role of the previous day while I closely marked the rider in second place while keeping my eyes out for any other potential trouble. Despite the hill climbs, tiring legs saw the bunch remain basically intact with another large bunch sprint finish. The finish into Glenorchy is downhill and very fast and Patrick unfortunately found himself held back by a slower rider to drift off the back of the peleton and lose a further 23 seconds. I had my eyes glued to the second placed GC rider to ensure I didn’t lose time in bonus seconds and again finished 5^th. GC order remained the same at the top with a single stage to go.

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 ensure no rider pulled a great escape on this stage. Gavin gave me the advice to conserve my energy and pace myself. Again, prophetic words for the tour!

With the rider numbers of all those within two minutes of me clearly noted, the stage began under very mild and pleasant conditions. With riders having tired legs, there were only a few attacks in the opening kilometres which Patrick and I quickly closed down. On the “King of the Mountain” climb, one rider, wearing number 46 and not on my “watch list”, put in a blistering attack to pull a few seconds over the top of the hill. I was fifth over the top and thought the bunch would quickly rejoin and close the gap. It was soon apparent that this was not to be but as the rider was apparently well down on GC, I didn’t panic and just took the stage as it came.

The bunch put in some chasing effort but the stage leader was well out of sight before we hit the nasty steep climb that precedes the final 1.5km Moke Lake Road hill climb. This saw the bunch splinter as the tour’s racing effort hit home and I lead the bunch across the top. The last climb starts after a hard left turn off the main road and straight up Moke Lake Road. The locals have compared this climb to Invercargill’s Bluff Hill in difficulty. Knowing this, I changed into first gear just before the turn which comes at the bottom of a fast descent and hit the climb spinning. The second placed GC rider, who had already fallen a little behind, managed to drop his chain and lose any chance of catching me.

Spinning up the hill, one rider from the bunch pulled in front of me with another on my wheel. The rest fell back and out of contention. About half up the hill, the gradient eases and I could see the rider in front of me was no threat to my GC position. The rider on my wheel began to falter and slipped back a little. In the closing few hundred metres, with the question on my mind of, “How much gap had the stage winner secured?”, I pushed hard knowing that every second could be vital. I crossed the finish line in 3^rd place for the stage, 15 seconds off second place and just 3 seconds in front of 4^th place.

I went to congratulate the rider who was first for the stage, who was wearing race number 46, and not on my GC watch list, and asked him by how much time he had won the stage by. He said he did not know. As stage winner, he also secured six bonus seconds while I got two for finishing third. The final result was thus unknown but I knew I had at least second place on GC and would be kicking myself if I had let victory slip through my hands ….. Despite all of his domestique work for me, Patrick finished the stage in 9^th place.

With the final result not going to be available until the prize giving function that evening, Patrick and I cycled “Stage 7” back to Queenstown. This includes the notorious Fernhill Road back to our accommodation which is also very step and demanding. Thankfully we were no longer racing but the final climb still hurt the legs!

Later in the afternoon, our support crew, an essential part of this tour, of my father Brian, Gavin, Patrick’s wife Pauleen and their two children Nicholas and Amanda, along with Patrick and I, went for jet boat ride up and down the Shotover River in perfect autumn conditions. We could not celebrate or commiserate without the final results!

Arriving at the bar for pre-prize giving drinks, it turned out the hotel was ill prepared and had run out of beer glasses already. With the exorbitant prices they charged for the drinks, including a surcharge as it was Easter Monday, this was a poor start to the evening and did not bode well.

This year they had thankfully changed the meal from a set menu, which had left cyclists hungry in the past, to a buffet. However, again the hotel let itself down by running out of some food items before everyone had eaten. I was “forced” to indulge on oysters and mussels to get my fill!!

Finally, on South Island time, i.e. when they get around to it, prize giving started and I still did not know the final result. They went through C grade and then onto B grade, starting with eighth place and then moving up. Once they reached third place, Pauleen started the mantra “Not Jason” for second place. Thankfully, this was not the case and “number 46” had moved into second place. I had secured gold in Otago!! For this effort, I received modest prize money, the yellow jersey, a trophy to return and one to keep along with a gold medal and a wheel bag. I gave Patrick the wheel bag for all of his efforts which undoubtedly helped me secure the victory.

After prize giving had finished, Pauleen went and found a copy of the results and came back smiling. My winning margin? – a single second! My run to the finish line had been timed to perfection in accordance with Gavin’s advice of pacing myself – I had not wasted a single joule of energy in the overall result! Patrick had moved up to 13^th place overall but still out of the prize money as they only paid down to eighth. It also turns out that the last stage winner – who I swear was wearing race number 46 – was in fact rider number 59 and the one I had heard to keep a close eye on in the hills. While I was confused, and still am, as to how this arose, it does not matter – my name is now firmly etched on the B grade winner’s trophy for 2007.  
                                                     

After four days and around 350km of racing, the final results show:

1^st - Jason Kelly - 08hrs 12m 04

13^th - Patrick Kelly - @ 5m 35s
Gavin Povey – did not start

Although the prize money is not the best in the world, there are plenty of spot prizes and with daily prize givings on sponsors’ premises, plenty of opportunity to socialise with fellow riders. With A, B, C and Ladies grades, a wide range of cyclists are catered for. The Tour is scheduled for Easter each year and is a good excuse for an Easter break and an annual “South Island fix.”