Today was a short day. 37km of time trailing, and all over in 1hr 19min for me, and 1hr 10min for the winner. A nice 37km loop through the outback. We are on the plains and really in the outback now.
Riders were set off at 1min intervals after our lazy morning as we started at 9am. My start time was 9:45, so a lazy morning indeed. The first 10km were on a road, more like a corrugation highway, as i could swear there was no easy way through. Usually you can pick a line that is not too violent but not today. You are cruising along along at 30-35km/hr then next thing you hit the corrugations and you are doing 20km/hr looking for a way out. I have a bruise developing on the edge of my palm from the never ending bumps. Luckily the remainder of the course was not as violent.
Bevan, one of the other kiwis started 1 minute behind me and caught me within the first 10km. It was looking like I was not having a great day, and I decided to not give it everything, as I could not. The heart rate would not come up, and i could not get the power, but a good day to have a bad day as it was short. Anyway, I followed about 50m behind Bevan until about 10km to go, and I could see he was fading, and managed to sneak past him. By then I was feeling a little better and tried to make up the minute that Bevan had gained on me. Through the outback bush and scrub, on a semi developed, but smooth track. A pleasant change from the corrugations of earlier in the stage. I put my head down and with 5km to go Bevan was still on my tail, but he had over cooked it a bit in the first 10km, and in the end i beat him by 1 second. I had the luckier timers finger today.
Overall I was third in M2 today, and 22nd overall. The podiums looked a little different today as the roadies and time trailists came out in force. Peter, the guy who is running 3rd overall in the M2 category won the class today. He is a machine on the flat, having worked with him on a couple of sections earlier in the week. Hans came in second, but he hurt today, and Peter had 2 minutes on him. I was happy to get third, as i did not work that hard in the end, and i did not fall, or flat. I am in 2nd in the M2 category, and have about 1.5 hrs on 3rd, and 1st is about 1.5 hours in front of me.
So what do we do for the rest of the day in Laura. If i could include photos of Laura, i would but i can't so i will try and describe it. It is a small outback community (not even a village) of about 80 people, and I am not sure if it would exist if it were not for the highway that passes nearby. It has a roadhouse, (takeaways and very basic store BUT it has air conditioning), a general store. The general store is very light on general, and is only a little bigger than the road house. It does sell Magmum ice cream, and cold water. Then there is the pub, which we are camped behind. The pub is all things I imagined an outback pub to be. Open, i do not think the windows have glass, just shutters. Fans slowly rotating overhead, a bar than must be 30ft long, and last night as we walked though looking for ice cream, a hand full of beer belly locals hanging out. All you can see is low outback scrub, and perched outside the pub, and general store, in any shade anyone can find, must be 50 skinny cyclists, sipping water. I am sure the Crocodile Trophy is the biggest thing to come through Laura, and the English girls who work in the road house, are planning on coming to the pub tonight, as no one ever stays here, and we have stayed two nights. 80 odd cyclists and 60 support crew, we have more than doubled the size of the town.
So what do we do. The riding was all over by 11am today. The three kiwis did a short TV interview, not sure for what, then I headed to the roadhouse for ice cream, and to explore Laura. I was back pretty shortly, but not after enjoying an ice cream, and the air conditioning. Clean bike, every day you clean your bike. A high pressure hose, and the dust is gone for another day. Oil the chain. Clean myself. A cold shower that is not that cold. Lunch, and more lunch. Then i was off to see the doctors to clean my wound on my arm from my fall a few days ago. More food, more ice cream, and the prize giving was at 2:30. That done, my few mins on the podium, and now to find shade again. Maybe more ice cream. Forgot somewhere in there I did some laundry as well, and I need to get a massage. That is effective what you do in a town of 80 for what has been in all effect a rest day. It is now 3:30, so maybe time to find more shade, and read for a while. Did I add it is 36 degrees in the shade, so it is hot. Yesterday was over 40 in the shade, so you cannot escape the heat.
Tomorrow we have 118km to Hope Vale, and so we hear, a swimming pool at the camp ground! Now that will be a treat. I am expecting the ride tomorrow to be more road ride than mountain bike as we are now in the open flat country. The roads are meant to be wide, and fast, so it will be a day of hanging onto the lead group, and then we hear there are a few small hills at the end. The only unknown is what the road conditions will be like, as we hear they are good. If we have 50km of corrugations that will do in our heads, and make what could be a shorter day much longer. I also do not like the idea of riding corrugations in a pelaton at 35-40km/hr.
Until tomorrow, that is another day down at the Croc Trophy. 2 to go....
Hamish
Riders were set off at 1min intervals after our lazy morning as we started at 9am. My start time was 9:45, so a lazy morning indeed. The first 10km were on a road, more like a corrugation highway, as i could swear there was no easy way through. Usually you can pick a line that is not too violent but not today. You are cruising along along at 30-35km/hr then next thing you hit the corrugations and you are doing 20km/hr looking for a way out. I have a bruise developing on the edge of my palm from the never ending bumps. Luckily the remainder of the course was not as violent.
Bevan, one of the other kiwis started 1 minute behind me and caught me within the first 10km. It was looking like I was not having a great day, and I decided to not give it everything, as I could not. The heart rate would not come up, and i could not get the power, but a good day to have a bad day as it was short. Anyway, I followed about 50m behind Bevan until about 10km to go, and I could see he was fading, and managed to sneak past him. By then I was feeling a little better and tried to make up the minute that Bevan had gained on me. Through the outback bush and scrub, on a semi developed, but smooth track. A pleasant change from the corrugations of earlier in the stage. I put my head down and with 5km to go Bevan was still on my tail, but he had over cooked it a bit in the first 10km, and in the end i beat him by 1 second. I had the luckier timers finger today.
Overall I was third in M2 today, and 22nd overall. The podiums looked a little different today as the roadies and time trailists came out in force. Peter, the guy who is running 3rd overall in the M2 category won the class today. He is a machine on the flat, having worked with him on a couple of sections earlier in the week. Hans came in second, but he hurt today, and Peter had 2 minutes on him. I was happy to get third, as i did not work that hard in the end, and i did not fall, or flat. I am in 2nd in the M2 category, and have about 1.5 hrs on 3rd, and 1st is about 1.5 hours in front of me.
So what do we do for the rest of the day in Laura. If i could include photos of Laura, i would but i can't so i will try and describe it. It is a small outback community (not even a village) of about 80 people, and I am not sure if it would exist if it were not for the highway that passes nearby. It has a roadhouse, (takeaways and very basic store BUT it has air conditioning), a general store. The general store is very light on general, and is only a little bigger than the road house. It does sell Magmum ice cream, and cold water. Then there is the pub, which we are camped behind. The pub is all things I imagined an outback pub to be. Open, i do not think the windows have glass, just shutters. Fans slowly rotating overhead, a bar than must be 30ft long, and last night as we walked though looking for ice cream, a hand full of beer belly locals hanging out. All you can see is low outback scrub, and perched outside the pub, and general store, in any shade anyone can find, must be 50 skinny cyclists, sipping water. I am sure the Crocodile Trophy is the biggest thing to come through Laura, and the English girls who work in the road house, are planning on coming to the pub tonight, as no one ever stays here, and we have stayed two nights. 80 odd cyclists and 60 support crew, we have more than doubled the size of the town.
So what do we do. The riding was all over by 11am today. The three kiwis did a short TV interview, not sure for what, then I headed to the roadhouse for ice cream, and to explore Laura. I was back pretty shortly, but not after enjoying an ice cream, and the air conditioning. Clean bike, every day you clean your bike. A high pressure hose, and the dust is gone for another day. Oil the chain. Clean myself. A cold shower that is not that cold. Lunch, and more lunch. Then i was off to see the doctors to clean my wound on my arm from my fall a few days ago. More food, more ice cream, and the prize giving was at 2:30. That done, my few mins on the podium, and now to find shade again. Maybe more ice cream. Forgot somewhere in there I did some laundry as well, and I need to get a massage. That is effective what you do in a town of 80 for what has been in all effect a rest day. It is now 3:30, so maybe time to find more shade, and read for a while. Did I add it is 36 degrees in the shade, so it is hot. Yesterday was over 40 in the shade, so you cannot escape the heat.
Tomorrow we have 118km to Hope Vale, and so we hear, a swimming pool at the camp ground! Now that will be a treat. I am expecting the ride tomorrow to be more road ride than mountain bike as we are now in the open flat country. The roads are meant to be wide, and fast, so it will be a day of hanging onto the lead group, and then we hear there are a few small hills at the end. The only unknown is what the road conditions will be like, as we hear they are good. If we have 50km of corrugations that will do in our heads, and make what could be a shorter day much longer. I also do not like the idea of riding corrugations in a pelaton at 35-40km/hr.
Until tomorrow, that is another day down at the Croc Trophy. 2 to go....
Hamish
