Yesterday, Aidan and I completed the Grafton to Inverell. For Aidan, it was his second go after his first try in 2009 (last year he sat out after his crash at the Melbourne-warrnambool). For me, it was my first time and my longest race by about 70 km. Yes, I was nervous.

The race started at 8 under pretty awesome conditions: Sunny and not a wind in sight. A Grade had about 100 starters, of which about 25 percent were U23. The pace for the first many km was very sensible. I think everyone had at the back of their mind that the race was 228 km ‘short’. That being said, I knew when the KOM sprints were and as we approached the first one (at the 30 km mark) I said ‘what the hell’ and stayed a few wheels from the front. At the top, I got second.

Up until the start of the climb, I kept up with my nutritional plan: Two large bottles of water (one with a bit of coke in as well), two bars (one chocolate – mmm – one vanilla powerbar – hmph) and a significant number of honeyshots. Just before the climb, I got another bottle from the neutral waterstation – useful to cool myself down a bit. It was quite warm.

Unfortunately, Aidan had a flat and quite a slow change right before the climb. He managed to get back to the chief comm. car, but couldn’t quite reach the main bunch. He spent the rest of the race chasing. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have raced the climb the way I did.

I stayed right at the front throughout the climb. In the first few kms, Lachlam Morton (the guy who’d taken first up the first KOM) set the pace. A few km in, he attacked (yes, from the front) and quickly got a gap. I think a lot of people were tired of the high pace he was setting; nobody initially chased. After a little bit, however, he was joined by Mark Jamieson and they went on to get a 2 minute gap at the top. I must say I regret not going with this move. I was feeling awesome at that point and I could have easily kept up with them. Even two minutes after they went I knew it was a mistake not to have gone with them. As it turned out, Herzo thought the same thing and he went off in pursuit but was eventually reeled back.

For the rest of the climb, I went I into ‘silly mode’, setting the pace on the front and closing down moves. The adrenaline got the better of me. Over the top, I got fourth in the KOM. At this point, there were about 30 riders left in the main bunch, which had also slit slightly. I was in the first group along with Herzo and a few other big names and for 10 km or so after the summit, we had a gap. However, we were brought back before the feed.

Feeding went surprisingly well. Actually, was the first time I’ve EVER taken a feed bag, so I was a bit worried. But I didn’t crash and despite the inevitable attacking through the zone I stayed with the front. I also got third in the next KOM. About 10 km after the feed zone, however, the group split and a group of 7 got away. I was in a second chase group of about the same number of riders and we nearly got back on, but were then caught by the group behind which stuffed the pace up. That group would end up staying away till the finish.

Coming through the second feed at Glen Innes (160 km in), the leaders had a gap of 1.5 minutes. By now, I was moving into unknown territory distance wise, but was still feeling reasonably good. I got my second feed, but ended up only taking the bottles and chucking the rest at a group of local spectators with the message that they could keep it. By now, my nutritional pattern had broken down a bit. Ever since the first feed, I’d been actively participating in either attacks or chases and I didn’t have time to eat enough. Hence, my pockets were still brimming with uneaten food.

Like at the first feed, people attacked through feeding and a Genesis rider rode up the road solo at a furious pace (they didn’t have anyone in the front group). A few km out of town, Michael Cupit attacked and I followed, jumping over the top of him when he eased up. We got a good gap and managed to increase it over the next few hills. We were then joined by Matthey Lloyd and a few others and kept the group behind at bay for a long time. In the last 40 km, Lloyd began going absolutely baserk, riding people off his wheel and making us work extremely hard to keep up. As a result, we caught the Genesis rider and for a while we were 9th to 15th on the road.


In the last 10 km, we were unfortunately caught by the group behind, which had a lot of fresher riders in it. On the last hill, a few people put the hammer down and I was popped along with two others. We rode together to the finish and agreed to cross the line in one line, coming in at a tied 28th place about 4 minutes behind Mark Jamison; the eventual winner and the only rider who had joined Morton on the climb. Damn.

Herzo got 25th and Aidan came in about 10 minutes later with a big group.

I was destroyed, but I think that was deserved. I’m very happy with the way my first 200+ km race went and I feel that if I’d raced a little more maturely and eaten better, I would definitely have been in with a shot to be in the top ten. I had the form, but not necessarily the head. Results-wise, the race was still a success, though: I got third in the KOM competition overall and I think there was only one first-year U23 in front of me. Next year! Bring it on!