Nowra to Sassafas n Back

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 31 May 2013, 18:18

Who's doing this after the NSW Club TT on Sunday 21st July?

I'm keen for both and lining up leave pass. Anyone else got accommodation recommendations as I'm looking into staying the weekend.

http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/cy_nsw/ra ... /13148.htm

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Dougie
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Postby Dougie » 31 May 2013, 20:58

I don't have an elite licence. Noel, I thought you had a MMAS1?

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 31 May 2013, 21:11

Dougie, how old are you on 31st Dec 2013 ?

I'll be entering

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Dougie
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Postby Dougie » 31 May 2013, 21:17

45 (I know, it's a freak skin condition that makes me look 44)

Link says elite, no mention of masters

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 31 May 2013, 21:18

Your in mate, but you can't take the M5+ podium

Last year Lacy and I booked a place that could of accommodated about a dozen people. (also suitable for family)

Add a case or 2 and some pizza's and we are set

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 01 Jun 2013, 00:50

Sorry I gave the link to the 90km Elite Handicap. There is a 70km Masters event. Ill be entering that one. Link here: http://www.nsw.cycling.org.au/cy_nsw/ra ... art%20List

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 01 Jun 2013, 00:52

And yes I'm a spritely 32 years old.

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Stuart
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Postby Stuart » 01 Jun 2013, 09:49

Best ask Eleri about this race ... she had all sorts of fun last year in the pissing rain, wind & low temps. There are hills. We went to lunch.

As for accommodation Noel, our house in Nowra is full but I'm sure others are staying Sat night.

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 01 Jun 2013, 10:53

I did this race last year and it was tough. http://app.strava.com/activities/29445397
I got dropped in the first 15km. Make sure register for the Masters race. As an Masters 1 I got thrown in the Elite mens race.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 01 Jun 2013, 15:14

Mark and I will probably rent a cabin that will take all of us plus a keg and some pizzas.

Last year this was my best road race, I almost podium'ed

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 01 Jun 2013, 21:38

Best ask Eleri about this race ... she had all sorts of fun last year in the pissing rain, wind & low temps. There are hills. We went to lunch.

As for accommodation Noel, our house in Nowra is full but I'm sure others are staying Sat night.
urrgh - the memories ...

But a man gave me a whole box of gels for coming last. I guess it wasn't all bad.

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Nozzle
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Postby Nozzle » 03 Jun 2013, 18:06

Mark and I will probably rent a cabin that will take all of us plus a keg and some pizzas.
Mike/Mark - if your booking something let me know. I'll try and join you guys in either sharing a place or arranging something close by.

Keen for some carb loading on the Saturday night....

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geoff m
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Postby geoff m » 01 Jul 2013, 15:00

Guys - If anyone is still going down to Nowra, I happen to have accommodation available this weekend in Jervis Bay. Its our holiday cottage we rent out as follows:

http://www.bushandbay.com

http://www.stayz.com.au/61643

If anyone in the club ever wants to stay we can do 15% off the advertised price (except XMAS/Easter holidays) BUT you must email or PM me directly and not go through any third party sites such as Stayz.

So for the Nowra to Sassafas weekend its $325 including the discount for up to 6 people with 2 queen beds made up and 2 single beds and towels provided. We can take up to 3 more for $20 each per night.

Julian in the club has stayed here during the Husky Triathlon and will be back.

I"m here now - the sun is out.... might have to go for a ride to Booderee National Park this arvo and get rid of 2 wet weekends worth of fat!
Last edited by geoff m on 01 Jul 2013, 15:28, edited 1 time in total.

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geoff m
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Postby geoff m » 01 Jul 2013, 15:01

The Cottage is about 25 minutes drive from the start line.

Derek
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Postby Derek » 01 Jul 2013, 15:38

HI Guys,

I am riding on the Saturday in the TTT and will stay overnight to try my hand in the 70klms masters Race. I too need accomodation on the Saturday night and am happy to carb load. I am leaving on the Saturday morning and will have some room for at least 1 person and a bike. If needed I could try to get a car from Work (workinig for VW must have some perks) and take a group of 3 or 4 if things get desperate.

Dougie maybe we can stratagise whilst carb loading on the Sat night.

Derek.

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 05 Jul 2013, 09:41

For some strange reason, I have also entered the road race. As has Pia I believe...

Hoping to unleash the furry but may end up at breakfast with the others. ;-)

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 05 Jul 2013, 10:00

Last year they ran the masters race as a 4 bunch handicap race. Eleri and GeoffM were in the limit bunch, MarkL and I were in the second bunch. There were some Drapac Porsche riders in Scratch. This was my best race of 2012 where I came close to the podium.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 05 Jul 2013, 13:18

I've also entered against any sensible assessment of the evidence. This was my worst race ever last year.

Mind you, only 2 women in it last year. The other woman beat me.

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jonboy
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Postby jonboy » 06 Jul 2013, 17:55

If you are keen on entering this event please note that entries close tomorrow.

I'm keen to unleash my furry at my very first road race.

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paul
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Postby paul » 07 Jul 2013, 12:17

I'm in.

Paul

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 07 Jul 2013, 13:56

Eleri did pretty good, she managed to tack on to bunch 2 and was there for a while.

I've entered

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 07 Jul 2013, 21:02

Eleri did pretty good, she managed to tack on to bunch 2 and was there for a while.

and STILL came last :-)

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 08 Jul 2013, 09:13

What about the DNF's? They weren't (wo)man enough to tough out the weather conditions

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 22 Jul 2013, 08:15

Well... I don't think this was quite the best introduction to road racing for me.

Having done a number of crits and some track racing, I decided the 70km Nowra to Sassafras and back would be my first road race. I knew Eleri and Pia had entered so figured there would be a good group of us to ride with if nothing else. Thankfully Eleri, Pia and I were all in limit so we'd all be riding together.

Wishful thinking! Straight out of the start gates and around the corner the climbing starts. Eleri and I bravely managed to hang on for... 1.7km! But the blokes and a Bathurst rider were just too strong. Kudos to Pia for hanging in there for another half an hour.

Eleri and I then battled our way up the hills for the next 20km. We tacked on to Adrian's bunch for a little while (limit + 4mins), but they were too quick. However, they were a well disciplined bunch and we could tell already they would do well in the race.

I lost Eleri at about the 25km mark. She jumped on a wheel and I wasn't able to do the same. I have never ridden in such tough conditions. Along the plateau the winds would have reached about 70km/hr and it was a battle to simply stay on the bike. In hindsight, I'd probably question using the Zipp 404's but on our way there (Eleri and I rode to the start line) it wasn't nearly as windy so difficult to predict.

My average dropped from 24km/hr to 20km/hr over a 7km stretch. Everyone was suffering. Eleri had told me there was a hill at the end before the turnaround point but that it should be 'sheltered'. Far be it for me to point out that Eleri was wrong. But she was. It was the toughest climb I have ever done (and it wasn't even THAT steep) and I seriously considered getting off and walking as it would have probably been quicker.

Finally the turnaround point. I was hoping for a reprieve with a tail wind and a descent. I got the descent but the tail wind was more of a cross wind and it was dicey. It didn't help that at the bottom of this particular hill, a P plate drive had decided to drive on the wrong side of the road, heading straight for me, in order to pass a bunch that was on the other side of the road (the 90km race riders). Idiot. I had to brake pretty hard which reduced my ability to climb up the next hill.

Going home ended up being my own personal time trial. I didn't see another soul for about 20km though I knew there were a few riders behind me. I passed 2 other riders (surprising), before coming home 5th last. My average went from 20km/hr to nearly 26km/hr.

Sore and sorry today, and very wind burnt. I can't say I learnt a lot about racing as I didn't do much of it. Happy to have finished though and a massive congratulations to Adrian on his placing. He was riding well and was rewarded for it.

Although there weren't many women in the race it would be nice to see more than just the first place female receive a prize. It was a little galling to see 8 men receive prizes and only 1 woman. Would more women be encouraged to race if the rewards were greater? Not sure.

Until next time (probably not)...!

For those who are interested, here is my Strava data:
http://app.strava.com/activities/68623667

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jonboy
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Postby jonboy » 22 Jul 2013, 09:40

This was my first introduction to road racing and I must say that despite the conditions, I really enjoyed it.

The wind was very strong and made all the more difficult when it was swirling over the top of the ridges, around treelines and at times gusting up to maybe 65-70k/ph. That made it difficult to take hands of the bars for drinks, gels etc.

I started in the same bunch as Adrian and Derek, four minutes after limit, (Jo, Eleri and Pia).

I ended up finishing in 24th place on handicap, about 30 seconds behind 5th place, Adrian, and about five and a half minutes behind the leader. Mark Lacey was the fastest DHBC rider – well done Mark.

I learned quite a bit about road racing in my first outing.
- That sprinting off the start line and being first around turn one was not the done thing. The bunch let me know that they didn’t like that effort very much.

- You can’t win on your own and you need the bunch to share the load.

- There’s not a lot you can do when one or two lazy riders sit on the back and don’t do their share of the work.

The highlights for me about the race were:
- Dropping the chain up the hill and having to sprint to try and catch the bunch.

- Seeing Adrian at the turnaround, leading the race.

- Sprinting after the turnaround on my own, the wind behind me now, hitting speeds of 85kph, the bike bouncing around on the downhill, swaying in the crosswinds.

- Catching up to the second bunch, and working together with some really nice fellas, a couple of them, much older than me, one of them on a vintage looking steel Hillbrick.

- Being caught by a bunch about 10kms towards the end, but hanging on all the way, until the very last kilometre.

- Being part of a great club, with lots of support and camaraderie.

I’ll be back next year.

John

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 22 Jul 2013, 10:01

- There’s not a lot you can do when one or two lazy riders sit on the back and don’t do their share of the work.
"Lazy" or just spent?! Given I was one of those who hung off the back of your group... There was no way I could have done any of the work (my HR sky rocketed over that period) and in fact, you wouldn't have wanted me to as I would have split group up and slowed you all down.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 22 Jul 2013, 11:49

Congratulations to Adrian on taking 5th, totally well deserved and after a gutsy 30k solo return ride.

Well I said that with this race, either I will blow early or be there all the way. Last year racing in the rain I finished 14th, 19seconds behind the winner and 4th in the M5+ division, which they didn't have this year. Time was 2h27m40s an average of 36,5kph, which was the 90k route, same as this years 70k route but we went out further before turning around.

I was handicapped in bunch 4, 16 minutes behind limit, the hardest handicap of all DHBC riders in the race and it was pretty soon after the start that I found my bunch too hot, my heart rate was sitting on 182, I knew it wasn't sustainable and I was dropped out the back at 5k with 2 other riders.

The 3 of us worked together and we got to 15k where we got caught by the next bunch, which I lasted in for 3k.

This time I found myself solo and while every so often I caught other riders, none of them were in a position to work. Steve Cassidy (waratah's) and another rider were holding my wheel. Wind conditions were the worse I've ever encountered in a race, I recall seeing 10kph on one small hill. Then we hit the big hill and I found good rhythm, dropped the riders and kept on picking various other riders as I came upon them.

Then I got to turn around and what a relief after 22k solo into the head wind. Down the hill I hit 84.2kph, this race has given me the slowest I've ever done and the fastest I've ever done in a race.

After a couple of K I was caught by another rider from behind and the 2 of us worked together for about 25k, just before Nowra airport, where we were catching a group of 5, who upped the pace and splintered, the other rider took off dropping me.

So it was the last 5k? solo, I caught 3 of the 5 riders in that group and the finish came as a relief.

Result wise I was something like 76th on handicap and 66th fastest time, about mid field. An average speed of 31.8kph, same as Grafton to Inverall 2011. Time wise the other DHBC boys had done much better on the day, some impressive figures;
2h10m - Mark
2h12m - Adrian
2h13m - John
2h15m - me

Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/68870766

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 22 Jul 2013, 21:42

If I were to give a title for my race it would be "Coming 5th the hard way". I was in the second bunch along with John and Derek. Eventually we caught Eleri and Jo's bunch and before getting caught by the chasing bunch. The pace started to turn up until eventually there were only 6 riders left as we continued towards the high-point turn around point at 33km. The winds were just terrible and there were several points in which I thought about quitting the race for it seemed madness to race bicycles in such conditions Doing a turn on the front was like hitting a wall and there were several occasions when I was blown a meter crossways.. For some strange reason I thought some of the riders we're getting twitchy in anticipation of a KOM so I decided to attack 1km from the turn around point which was rather stupid decision in retrospect. I didn't realise there was no KOM prize on offer so it was a waist of energy!!!! I ended up off the front for a while then sat up and waited to regroup. When bunch caught me I heard the C word as they flew past then I tried to jump back on. At this precise moment the last rider fell off the back of the bunch and I found myself gaped 5, 10, 20, 50m... with the four leading riders speeding away. I rode with the other dropped rider for about 5km but he didn't want to work which was frustrating because I didn't want to ride solo but I knew if I didn't go hard we'd eventually get caught by all the chasing bunches. I rode off without him, not trying to drop him, but not waiting for him either. I rode solo down the hill for around 30km with an eery feeling that I was going to get caught at any moment. I thought of Jens Voigt talking to himself "come on Jensie" and I pushed myself has hard as I could in a delirious state of mind. I made it all the way to the Albatross turn around point without seeing anyone behind me. Then suddenly when I turned around for the final 3 kms around the airport, there was not one, but three bunches all within my sight chasing me down. I must have been pedaling squares but I squeezed every last bit of energy I had just to try make it home in 5th place. It felt like a horror movie as I was about to be gobbled up by a monstrous swarm of aliens on bicycles. I could feel them breathing behind me. I keep pushing not wanting to let all my efforts go to waste but as the same time feeling like I had nothing left. I saw them behind me at the turn but didn't look back in the final straight. I crawled over the line with 8 seconds to spare. It was weirdly emotional relief/disbelief to have gotten home before the bunch. I'd ridden out of my skin all for the sake getting 5th place, prize money, and the lowest step of the podium.

Jo, Derek, John and Pia all put in a stella effort in what was their first road race/handicap. John in particular was unlucky as I think he could have made it back with the winning bunch had he not had a mechanical. Those headwinds were about as tough as they come... a lot of riders didn't even bother competing so it showed a lot of spirit for everyone who finished. Race antics aside it was an awesome weekend. I loved seeing so many DHBC riders at the TTT and it was really fun sharing a house with fellow clubmates for the weekend.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 22 Jul 2013, 22:24

Now I read other race reports I realise it was very windy. I've been a bit despondent today that I was only 0.5kph faster than last year. But it WAS windy. I did get blown off the road, onto the verge and nearly into a ditch except I unclipped. On the downhill, I was too scared to brake and was doing 75kph, hurtling down the hill when I got a wobble in the front wheel. It took all my mental strength to let go the bars at that point. Instinct is to tighten up my grip and try and control the bike. Fortunately it sorted itself out.

Shouldn't have kept the Zipps on. I spent a lot of energy fighting the bike - wind is hard on small people and light bikes! And it was hard to eat and drink because that meant letting go of the bike.

SO - I should be happy with my ride. I rode as fast as I could as long as I could and finished way better than last year by not coming last. This year, moved up about 10 places which is OK for WMAS 5 I think.

But another great weekend with housemates, excellent choice of house Stu and I got to light a fire a few times.

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Trouty
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Postby Trouty » 23 Jul 2013, 10:39

Well done you hard core riders. Kudos just for just making the decision to ride on Sunday, whilst us not so hard core riders took refuge in a restaurant. Great race reports and stellar efforts from every one. I must say after reading these reports, and also the Ken Dinnerville reports, I'm pretty sure I will remain one of the softies and leave Open handicap road races alone. Again - hats off to a great weekend for DHBC.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 23 Jul 2013, 16:24

Eleri, well done on beating last years average time, in such windy conditions. Give me the rain we raced in last year any day over this years wind. I remember it pulling hard at my front wheel, something I've never experienced on an alloy wheel.

Here's the vid of my start and you can see the wind in the trees. It was a lot worse up the road. Note the lack of deep dish wheels on the start line.

http://youtu.be/GWqp9P1tsQ8

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 24 Jul 2013, 13:50

Adrian on the Podium
Image

Image

Got about a 1/2 billion photos here, let me know if anyone wants the original high res version


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