To summarise the main ethos of the below report, I (and most others) got around the course mainly due to the extraordinary camaraderie of the ER’s. We chatted, asked each other how they were feeling, formed trains and recruited passengers, offered our gels and winners bars to each other to carry when down to our last 10 or so jammed in our pockets, and in particular waited for others and fell back to help others starting to do it tough. Very proud to be a ER member and part of it all.
BYW I am sitting in bed with my winners jersey on having been ill all night and whilst getting dressed this morning to commute I had a banana and it made a mess of the bathroom. Half a pack of Mr Muscle used the correct way cleaned it up but the good wife who is a nurse has grounded me. Was it overexercise, dehydration, solid food yesterday instead of gels and bars??, or I can’t help thinking back to the stagnant swamp water I got in my water bottles at the official water station just past Ovens. More about that later…..
I enjoyed the start and joined the other boy racers hurtling down the hill using both sides of the road. Vigilance was required where some overtook just as a corner approached and started out wide and cut straight across onto your line. Through Mt Beauty uneventfully and taped away up Tawonga Gap but couldn’t find a rhythm as numerous overtook me. I was pleased to see SatNav glide past in unfamiliar territory. I stopped at Tawonga Gap briefly and had the best fruit cake (same as last year) to scoff before a delightful descent to the turn off to Bright. Just one fearful moment where I was cutting the corner on the wrong side and it became corrugated & almost shook me off my bike. Just past there were the legs of someone sticking out of the gutter so suspected he chose the same line.
On the flat bit I found a huge guy gunning it and joined him and we started recruiting members for the express train to Bright. Passed B1/c chatting up some girl rider (sorry recruiting I meant) and I yelled to him as we went past to join. It was fantastic and reached 43km/hr for long sections with all of us taking turns rolling off the front. Thought about going each side of the roundabout at Bright ala Tour de France but traffic was coming the other way which quickly broke the romance of the idea. Brewery noted on the left for next time.
As I started up Mt Buffalo at 9am a bicycle blur came down past with a tag on and in that nano second they sort of looked familiar – it was Steve Cunningham the line honour winner who I rode with on his tours with my wife at the Tour Down Under recently. No one else came down for a while so he was smashing it. About 2/3 way up Stealth came hurtling down like he had just used a Mr Muscle wipe. 2 minutes later NNnnick, 2 mins more Mr Pink & then 2 more & then Satnav and so on. Were they time trialling or something I thought. After that I ground up Mt Buffalo still not in a great rhythm which annoyed me but got me to the top, saw B1M & Simba there and a 20 long cue for water so I turned and took off straight back down behind them.
Lunch was v hot and we decided to regroup and form a train to Ovens so waited until we were all ready. Sadly as we pulled out Danny was pulling in but he had to stop for lunch. We were proud he was right on our tails. We rode along as a group of 6 and the chief recruitment officer B1m gathered lots more as we went. We were riding nicely at 30km/hr when B1m and me got to the front where it went to 32, 34, & then 35km/hr and I looked at him wondering what the B stood for as I tried to keep up beside him. He had a little grin on him when I tried guessing some ‘B’ words on him and he said they were still talking behind so obviously not exerting themselves. (Ivan shut up next time!). We peeled off and realised we had 20 or so on the train and then we caught another train of 20 and whilst fun, cars were getting annoyed they couldn’t pass. As we turned right into Ovens (prophetically named) and stopped for water the heat was blast furnace quality. We refilled water bottles and tried to form a train but it disintegrated in the heat.
The Happy Valley way was anything but. BT started to feel uncomfortable with the heat so I dropped back to ride with him and we backed off a bit. We tried to form a slow train of 3 but that fell apart & BT’s chain came off twice, his food larder was sitting uncomfortably and we stopped for a pee and when nothing would come out I knew dehydration was setting in. I drank from the bottles and it was putrid – stagnant swamp taste with Hydralight in one and Perpetuem in the other. Had to drink them though as nothing else for 30kms and 40 + heat. Some others also complained of this. As we hit the hill climb & a bit of shade BT let me go and after 10kms I caught up with the other ER’s at Running Creek. Quickly refuelled and new water and the old ER train waited for me so thanks guys. BT came in just as we were departing but was going to rest & refuel.
Our train cranked up & was going 25-30km/hr but Simba got rather quiet and started to flag & suffer badly. He didn’t want to stop so we slowed down and then formed a first aid train with Simba the caboose at the back for some 30kms to Mt Beauty. That stretch was v hot also & went on for ages and when we saw someone jumping off a rope into the river beside we nearly all rode off the bank into the river to join them.
Mt Beauty & 30km to go – Simba made friends with the paramedics & we all refuelled with me, Flash, B1m, WBA & Ivan the terrigal heading off for what was less than a return commute with a wee 1,300m hill in between. On the first rise Flash had sniffed home or a XL hill and was off. People were starting to unravel as we kept climbing with one poor chap lying down with his bike upside down beside the sign ‘Pain is temporary, memories last forever’. Yep. At the 10km water station we saw Flash as he was departing. The next 10km I found a strong rhythm finally and cranked away until we saw VD having a nap in the shade beside the road. He was cramping & shot & convinced his ride was over. Flash was there also just getting off his bike & we all stopped to see what assistance could be given. Then Flash said he was cramping & done and lay beside VD (they drew the line at holding hands). Sh**t I thought this can’t be happening with less than 10km to go. After another few minutes they said they work something out and B1m, me, WBA & Ivan pushed on. To their credit & tenacity VD & Flash also pushed on later & finished within time – courageous!
The rest was a grind to the finish and I laughed when SatNav was there taking photos and Stealth was running alongside you for the last 100m but thankfully not dressed in his underpants or a devils suit. That last lift got me in just under 12 hours so improved on last year time by 12 mins and I punched the air as I crossed and said ‘Never again’ – same as I said last year.
Dopey