Melbourne to Warrnambool – 275km – 13 October 2001

Conditions: fairly strong S/W winds, 10 – 18°C, 7am start

I only decided to do this race, after returning from the Nationals at Mooloolaba.  I only had 3 weeks to prepare and my preparation had to be juggled with my demanding audit commitments.  September/October is the most demanding time for one of my clients, so I was working long hours as well as weekends.  I managed to do a few 160km plus rides as well as an 800km week which gave me a solid base of km’s.

Two hundred riders lined the start at 7am, with clouds threatening rain.  There were a number European riders, in Australia for the Herald Sun Tour, and doing Warrnambool as a hit out.  The first 20km were neutral but the pace wasn’t just a leisurely roll.  Everyone wanted to be at the front of peloton so I still had to fight to hold position.  The first sprint was at the 23km mark.  One attack after another went down the road from the 20km mark.  The cross headwind, rough roads, train tracks, corners and roundabouts made things quite tough in the peloton.  I was amongst 5 girls with my aim being to win first female and get into a good bunch of guys.

The winning break was formed at the 41km mark.  Nine riders got away and were never brought back.  The peloton was strung out in single file with the cross winds and then splintered into pieces.  I was in the 3^rd bunch of about 40 riders.  I was really struggling to hang on and was unable to pull a turn for at least 20km.  I settled into the pace at the 100km mark, just in time for the first KOM.  I was concerned about being dropped from my bunch over the climbs so I positioned myself at the front of the peloton at the base of the climb and crested each climb before the last rider passed me.

We hit the first feed zone after 130km.  Getting a feedbag was interesting.  I grabbed my bag at 35km/hr and the weight of the bidons caused the straps to twist around so I couldn’t get it over my head.  It took me nearly a minute to untwist the straps.  Once it was over my head and swinging around I managed to get my hand in and the bidons out, whilst negotiating the wheel in front and the headwind.  I was wired up and radioed to Bob to tell him where I was dropping my feedbag to use at the next feed zone.

The next 70km passed without incident.  All I was focusing on was eating, drinking, pulling a turn, watching wheels, dodging potholes and hiding from the headwind.  I grabbed the 2^nd feed bag at the 200km mark.  This time it didn’t twist which was fortunate because the feed zone was up an incline with mud all over the road and negotiating the slippery mud and other riders took some effort as fatigue had started to set in.

With only 75km to go, down came the rain.  It just drizzled for a while and then the heavens opened up.  There were a couple of rolling hills in the last 75km and they were absolute leg burners.  The final hill at McDonalds at Warrnambool felt like Mt Everest but it was a welcome relief to see the golden arches and know that I was almost there.  All the other girls had dropped out, so by natural attrition I won first female and finished 77^th overall.