It has been a long time between cycling adventures but this one was a terrific event and a wonderful weekend away with cycling friends.
Amy's Gran Fondo is held on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria on FULLY CLOSED ROADS! I did the full Gran Fondo, which was 110km. It is a community participation event as well as a qualifying event for the amateur international UCI championships.
The race started in Lorne on a day with prefect conditions. No wind, sunny skies and not too cold. We set off in our age categories, youngest to oldest, with one minute between groups. I was in the third group to go (35-39 year olds). We set off fast! Males and females were in the same group, so of course the pace was a bit quick with boys setting the pace. I think I stayed on the back of my age group for about 5km.
I should point out that the first 36km was along the Great Ocean Road towards Apollo Bay. Beautiful scenery if you had time to look, but very undulating. Up and down and around corners. The hardest bits were the long uphills. Maybe only 500m, but long enough that I couldn't sprint up them. Which meant I got dropped off the back of the group.
However, it wasn't long until the boys from the next age group came past. A big fast peloton, I managed to get a good spot about halfway down the bunch. I stayed with that group for another 5-10km. It was fine except for the uphills ... Then we came to a longish hill and I just had to go up at my pace. Goodbye peloton.
But that was okay, cos coming up behind was the next age group 45-49 year olds. I got in their peloton and continued on. And so it went for the first 36km, getting in with groups and getting dropped.
At 36km, we hit the start of the big hill on the course. It starts in the little town of Skenes Creek, and this is where we turn inland to the Otways. The climb is 10km long. It is not terribly steep, mostly around 6-8% with some flatter sections and some maybe a bit steeper. I knew I had to just take the climb at my own pace, so I rode along at a steady pace. Playing leapfrog with other riders - I would pass them, then one minute or maybe five minutes later they would pass me.
I was pretty happy with my efforts on the climb but I was tiring towards the top. After the official end of the climb the road keeps undulating for another 5-10 km before the actual descent. I was pushing on at my own pace, trying to eat and recover a bit. Then a group of about four riders came past with a woman amongst them, she said "jump on with us, come on, you can do it". So I did. That little bit of encouragement got me going strong again.
Then came the descent, which was terrific fun. Closed roads, no fear of traffic. Sweeping corners and a gradient that was not too steep but steep enough. Steep enough to pick up a bit of speed. Pedal hard, get aero, sweep through the corner. Check behind that there is no one coming, onto the right hand side of the road to get the best line for the corner. Look through the corner, lean the bike over, weight hard on the outside pedal to improve grip and balance. I was lucky I wasn't in a group at this point as I could pick my own line through the corners and really enjoy it.
After the descent I was fired up and I was tackling the undulations. Hard up, fast down. Then the road got a bit flatter and a small group caught up to me. I was a bit annoyed when the guys pulled in front of me and slowed down. I was faster than them on the descents and on the climbs, I was sure. I keep coming out and around them. Then we got swallowed by an even bigger group, and although I was free-wheeling in their peloton, I realised that I couldn't out ride them. So I sat in and conserved some energy. At this point we were at the one flat section of the ride, so it actually worked well to be in a group.
The flatter section lasted for around 10-20km. Somewhere in amongst this group I exchanged words with the guy I was riding next to. Something along the lines of "gosh this road is rough" and other typical things you say in the midst of a Gran Fondo. I was also having a bit of trouble with my gears, which he commented on.
Then we must've gone up a hill and both got dropped from the group. He said to get in his slipstream for a bit to save some energy for the last climb, and take in some food. Then another group came up from behind and we joined in with them.
Then we went up a hill and I dropped my chain going into the small chain ring. I had to pull off the side of the road to fix it, and watch the peloton ride away. The guy I'd chatted to was such a gentleman that he stopped with me. He said he couldn't leave me by myself. I got my chain on after a couple of tries, then I had trouble getting clipped into my cleats. I have new cleats and they are very stiff. I got one side in, then my new friend pushed me up the hill as I clipped in the other side. What a nice guy!
The next 10km we chatted to distract ourselves from the upcoming climb at the finish and enjoyed the views. At 10km to go the road went up again, and pretty much stayed that way. We stopped chatting. But we did keep pace together. I was riding at the pace I wanted to, hard but not too hard, and it seemed that it was the same pace he wanted to ride at. Also finally I was passing some people! I had spent the whole ride getting passed by others, and now the riders I was amongst where more tired than me or worse climbers than me.
The last 1km I'd been told was quite steep for 500m then flattened a bit but was still uphill to the finish. At this point Jayson, the guy I'd been riding with, said "off you go, don't let me hold you back". So I did. I heard him yell encouragement as I picked up my climbing speed. I passed a few riders, and eyed off two riders ahead of me with green labels on their bikes (in my age category). The 500m sign came quickly, then 200m to go, then I was out of the saddle and sprinting past the two riders in my age group. Yes!
Past the finish line I found a place to stop and wait. It seemed to take a long time but finally I saw Jayson riding up. He came up and we thanked each other for the company on the ride and parted ways.
This is one thing I love about epic events like Amy's Gran Fondo, other UCI qualifier events, Three Peaks. There is that bond that you feel with fellow riders because you are all attempting this challenge. You are all pushing yourself and dealing with what the event, the road, the weather or your body is throwing at you.
The best bit about finishing at the top of a hill was the descent back down into Lorne. So much fun! Like the previous descent, I had some road space so I could pick my line and enjoy the corners and the speed.
Then back into Lorne to relax in the sunny warm afternoon with my cycling friends, new and old, who had challenged themselves and were all winners.
For those who like the stats, I came 9th in my age category, which was one place too low to qualify for the UCI finals, with 32 ladies in my age group. Eighth place was only three minutes in front of me. Maybe I could have beaten her if I hadn't dropped my chain, if I'd tried harder, if I hadn't thought I was so far back in the field it didn't matter. Or maybe not. I could qualify in Perth. But I don't want to race the UCI finals again until I can be somewhat competitive. Just scraping through in qualifying is not it.
I'll be back to Amy's Gran Fondo. It may just be my favourite event so far. And I'll be looking to beat my time of 3:45. And have fun doing it!
Thanks so much to the crew from Hall Cycle Training who I shared this cycling adventure with. It was a really great group with a mix of abilities - our finishing times ranged from under 3 hours to 5:58! But we all challenged ourselves and had fun. The trip was even better than I hoped and I look forward to making it an annual event on my cycling calendar.
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