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Northern Cycling Club - Race Report 14th April 2024

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Sunday 14th April - Kew Tear Drop On a weekend with plenty of racing options, including the Euroa Crits and the Northern Combine Classic on Saturday , numbers were down on previous weeks. Still it was great to see quite a few riders backing up for a second day of racing on the challenging Tear Drop course. The commissaire sent each bunch off with a neutral lap first to get a feel for the course and conditions. C, D and E grades headed off at 9am, while the weather barely hovered over 10 degrees. Meanwhile A and B grades kicked off at 9:45am, just as the sun was breaking through the cloud to aptly warm things up. C Grade finish A Grade correspondent, Keith Trovatello reported that within the first 10 minutes of the race, Emilio Romano and Vaughan Bowman proved way too strong for the small field and rode clear out of sight. The chase group accepted their fate early, with their eyes now firmly planted on the last spot on the podium. Coming into the bell lap, the chase group was lapped an
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Easter Epic 2024 / Everest Roam

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After doing an Everest in late December 2023, I really had no interest in doing anything quite like it again, other than supporting those who supported me on the day in their quest, when and if they were ready.   However, when a window of opportunity opened for the Easter long weekend to do an Everest Roam, I thought let's do it.  An Everest Roam is a ride consisting of climbing 10,000 metres, covering at least 400km, within 36 hours.  Sleep is allowed and you can drive from point to point in between climbs. I put it out to my Everest support crew, Gruppetto Melbourne and Knights of Suburbia, here in Melbourne.  Other than a few laughs at my expense, and don't worry, I laughed at myself too, one brave soul put up his hand to join me on day 2 from Tawonga to Falls Creek.  Thanks to Joel, my brother from another mother.  It was great sharing the time with you. I want to say a special thanks to the guy from Southern Vets (now Masters) who 40 years ago, invited me as a 16 year old
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Reflections on the Tour of Mansfield 2024

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Mountains and bicycles.  What a combination and what better place to put them together than in Mansfield, just 2.5hrs from Melbourne.  This is my second trip to Mansfield for the  Mansfield-Mt Buller Cycling Club's (MMBCC) Tour of Mansfield , a 3 stage event held over 2 days on the 16th and 17th March, 2024.   Stage 1 an undulating 10km Time Trial on the outskirts of the town, suited to the power rider. Stage 2 a 37km circuit with something for everyone.  Flat sections, a steep climb (Col Du Tolmielet 6.4km at 7.2%)  and a fast flowing descent. The higher grades riding 2 and 3 laps. Stage 3 the Queen stage of 45km from Mansfield to Mt Buller (15.3km at 6.2%). This was going to be my 3rd 3 stage tour after Mansfield and Bright tours in 2022.   Before I had even entered this event, I fired off an email to the Aus Cycling event co-ordinator and Jarrod Appleton, the President of the MMBCC to ask if they would consider adding a Men's Masters 6+ (55+) category, like the Tour of Br
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2023 Year in Review

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If someone had asked me five years ago, at what level do you think your cycling will be at in 2023. I would have replied better than where I am now. In 2018,  aged 50 I dipped my toe into the local road racing scene as a novice in D Grade.    Looking back on the year, 2023 is the year where I became a more rounded cyclist.  What I mean by that is being competitive  in a wider range of events and better race craft.   Highlights from Strava The type of riding I did this year varied more from previous, where I focussed on Zone 2 riding for the first four months of the year as I prepared for an Ironman and I credit this with the improvement experienced.  Following the Ironman , I returned to road racing and had my most successful season ever, with 8 podium finishes and that promotion to C grade that I had been working on for a few years.  All up, I completed 29 events across triathlon (Olympic, Half and Full IM), Individual and Team Time Trials, C riteriums, graded scratch races and Handic
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Euroa Everest - Once in a Lifetime

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In a Talking Heads moment, an existential question is posed; And you may ask yourself "Well, how did I get here?"  Bending that slighty, the most frequently asked  question on Friday 22nd December 2023 was what made you want to do an Everest?  What led me to the bottom of the Strava segment, Kelvin View Short KOM , a category 3 climb of 3km, with 218 metres of vertical gain at an average of 7.2% and riding it 41 times?   Strava segment - Kelvin View Short KOM What lead me to this place on this day, was the culmination of events, people, thoughts, feelings and actions. Firstly, for those of you who are wondering what an Everest is all about, let me explain. The concept of Everesting is fiendishly simple: Pick any hill, anywhere in the world and ride repeats of it in a single activity until you climb 8848m. You could also walk, run or do this virtually on one of the many indoor training platforms which capture elevation. There are a few rules, such as no sleep and the unwritte
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