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Follow the link on the right hand side of the page to Amy's Gran Fondo - Team Peak Wins

BACK TO BACK BABY !!!!

Peak Cycles’ road to Lorne...
Amy’s Gran Fondo 2012
by Sean Young

After last year’s teams classification win, I had in the back of my mind early that it would be nice to try and defend our title when the Gran Fondo came back around in 2012.  The 2011 Fondo got a heap of publicity as a hugely successful event through various cycling websites, forums, and through Cycling Central on SBS, so I knew that it was going to be a bit tougher 2^nd time around.  All the riders who Cycling Tips accused of thinking “they were too cool for school and didn't think riding Amy's Gran Fondo was PRO enough,” would turn up in 2012 lifting the standard.  Well turn up they did, the North Road/Hell Ride heroes came, but the Mt Pleasant Road Peak boys were well prepared for them, and the challenging hilly course that awaited!

Around the time of the 2011 event, Andrew Stalder became a friend of the Peak Peloton.  Over the course of this year he lifted the standard in the bunch, inspiring the boys to reach a higher level with their training.  The Wednesday morning Mt Pleasant loops and Saturday morning St Andrews sprints were now as hard as anything I had experienced bayside, and the regular riders were improving their cycling by just turning up.

Entries opened, and the Gran Fondo promotion had started at Peak.  Join the team before July 1 and you got your name on the back of our event jersey.  Our team was looking strong straight away.  Stalds was on board, Rowdy and the P Train had come home, Hullster and Dave Charlton were back, helping make up the 27 riders that had joined the team by the end of June.  All of whom had been on numerous shop rides and were pumped about the build up and heading to Lorne.   By the end of July Joel Pearson confirmed he’d be able to ride with us again, and everything was coming together.

Personally I was extremely happy with the quality of the team that had assembled, quality cyclists and quality blokes, but my own form had been horrible all year.  My ride opportunity windows had closed, my wife was back at work three days a week, and my daughter had started child care, which basically meant she was sick for the first six months on the year.  My Strava weekly bar graph was patchy at best, and there was a six week period to the end of July where I hadn’t logged a ride at all.

It was now 5 and a bit weeks out, and I hadn’t ridden since mid June.  I had promoted a Mt Macedon ride a month or so earlier, a 100km loop up the South Side of Mt Macedon, including a bloody hard climb.  The time was now to get pedaling again.  A Thursday night 30km loop with Pappy towing me around the Burbs, then creeping around St Andrews Saturday morning was my lead into Macedon...   Macedon was the ride I had to have.  I had my arse handed to me by the brave 13 riders that took on the 1000m elevation climb in the middle of winter.  But it was good to be back on the bike again on an epic day, and great to experience the buzz again of being amongst these boys!

Sadly on this same day Stalds was in a horrific bike crash during a Cyclocross race.  Long story short, he was rushed to the Alfred where he spent a few days in intensive care being put back together.   He is on the road to recovery now, but it has been long and hard one for him and his family.  Not that Stalds ever asked to be our team leader, the way he rides he kind of commands it, in a good way.  But he was hurt, and could no longer tow us around the 110km course in Lorne.

In the week following I issued a challenge to the remaining 35 team members, to achieve their personal best month for the lead into Amy’s.   A personal best month for training kms ridden, a personal best month for their diet, so they could achieve a personal best result on race day.  It’s fair to say everyone in the team embraced the challenge.  Some fantastic training rides were logged individually and as a team.  Many rides around Kinglake and Eltham, and a week out we had a 1:20 handicap race during a big ride out to the Dandenongs.  A heap of riders that day posted PBs giving me confidence our team was on for a good day in a weeks time!

My good friend from my triathlon days Chris Bradford who is a month out from the Hawaiian Ironman had replaced the injured Stalds in the team, and he brought with him another two cracking blokes in Adrian and Cadeyrn.  Thursday night was our jersey presentation night at Cafe Matto, our jersey sponsors with Punt Hill Apartments and Euro Classique Floors.  Our team was assembled, race day awaited!

Race morning I felt like crap, having slept fairly poorly and was fighting off a cold that had been lingering for a fortnight.  But the race briefing had me excited, especially by the bloke hosting it announcing to the crowd that the bullshit was over, in a few hours time we’ll work out who belongs to the fastest bunch on the road!  I wanted to belong to that bunch.  There was a huge buzz in the Peak house, a good feeling that carried over from the Pasta dinner that Dean and Rus had cooked for everyone the night before.  A latte, a bowl of pasta, and a team photo later, and I was on the start line with my 35 team mates!

Like last year the neutral zone was hardly that.  It had taken a little while to get on course and we were what seemed 400m off the head of the race.  Josh flew past knowing where he wanted to be, and at this point I thought there could be an early split and I could miss it.  But after a very fast first 5kms, the huge bunch seemed as though it was going to stay together for a nervous 40kms to Skenes Creek.  About 25kms in I wasn’t feeling great, I mentioned this to the P Cat and he told me to push through as I would start feeling good at some point.  Time for caffeine gel number one of many

At the 39km mark I stuck my nose in the wind at the head of the race for the first time, to let Leigh, Josh, Chris and the other first timers on course in our team know the climb wasn’t far away.  The welcome to Skenes Creek sign appeared and competition for the first 20 wheels got a fair bit tougher.  The right hand turn was made and we were all on the climb!  I was happy and concerned about this; happy that a selection would be made and the nervous big bunch of 200 to 400 riders would thin out, but concerned as I wasn’t feeling great ahead of the climb.

After about 5 mins above 180 beats a selection had been made at the head of the race, but sadly it wasn’t going to include me this year.  I had to let the lead group of about 8 guys go, as I wouldn’t be able to sustain their pace.  On reflection I should have held on for a little longer, as it looks as though their pace did slow too, as my climb time from last year would have been good enough for this year, but at that point I wasn’t good enough.  Guirgs came past and gave me some encouragement to keep trying, and we had created a little group of our own.  There were about 4 other guys about 30m up the hill, so I committed to riding back up to them, and the second bunch on the road had formed.  A few boys were pushing the pace for us to sit on their wheel for the remainder of the climb, Josh, Ritchie and Guirgs were with me, Joel was in front, and things were looking ok.

A the top of the climb the group start to freewheel which was a bit silly, so I kicked off the front for 500m or so at a max effort to try and stir the boys up to not waste their effort on the climb, they came back to my wheel as I pulled over to the right hand side and we gave each other a pep talk to start rolling turns and work together.  As everyone pulled through Josh, Gurigs and Ritchie were no longer with me, which was a concern as Joel was up the road and I was on my own.  I had done some jersey counting, and things were looking shaky as there were multiple like jerseys across the lead bunch and mine.

Our bunch was working well together, or so I thought, but we were in sight of the third bunch on the road, and provided them a good rabbit to chase.  At the 70km mark they caught us to my surprise, as each time I looked back I didn’t see anyone.  But this was the best thing that could have happened as we had serious numbers in this bunch.  I was expecting to find Josh, Ritchie and Guirgs, but it was the P Train greeting me with “G’day Captain,” along with Leigh, Adrian, Chris & Scott.  All of a sudden Peak had the weight of numbers, with seven riders across the two lead groups on the road, and I was starting to feel good about things, my body had come around and we were looking good!

We lost Scott to stomach issues around the 80km mark when there was a nasty cross wind causing an echelon across the road.  When we made another right turn at 90kms and the wind was at our back, it was clear this bunch of 25 was going to be together until the tricky final 11kms.

The first hill out of Deans Marsh gave us all a good look at each other, and I had got the idea then that no one was feeling awesome, as I wasn’t getting dropped staying in the middle of the bunch.  Two more step ups to go.  Leigh gave me a pep talk, and said we were just turning on to Mt Pleasant Road now, time to do your thing!

The second last hill, and i crossed it with the lead 10 guys of our original 25 and things were starting to splinter.  P Train was still with us, Adrian and Chris were gone, and Leigh had limped back on telling me that he just spent a lot of ponys to still be here.  His facial expression was gold!  About 18 left in our bunch, and after a fast section we were onto the last climb with the 1km to go sign past.  My legs weren’t terrible compared to last year, but I wasn’t trying to keep up with Joel’s bunch this time around so it may have been slightly easier, it’s hard to tell.  I was in the front 10 wheels when I made my kick for the line, crossing 4^th in our bunch, losing 3^rd by half a wheel to an African Safari rider, with 1^st & 2^nd about a bike length or so in front of him.

My calculations had me 12^th on the road crossing the finish line, but with the timing advantages some people got along the Great Ocean Road, starting in following waves, moving through the field after they crossed the timing point, my effort was good enough for 24^th place on the day out of 4000ish.  A personal best effort I was proud of with the limited preparation I was able to put together.  But I was more proud of the efforts that followed!

The P Train was just a few seconds back, followed by Leigh and Adrian, making up our top five riders in with an average time of 2:58:29.6  Considering only 3 riders went under 3 hours last year, we rose to the challenge and set a personal best to take the teams win again for the second year running!!

Personal best times followed all the way through the team.  Great stories, and more stories of these efforts I look forward to hearing about over the coming weeks.

Congratulations everybody, I look forward to being a part of the build towards the 2013 Amy’s Gran Fondo with you, as we all strive for another personal best, and hopefully a three-peat in the teams classification, a three-peat that other teams will be hungry to ensure doesn’t happen ;-)

Male Teams
1 Peak Cycles Top 5 Avg Time: 2:58:49.6*
Joel Pearson	2:54:31.2*
Sean Young	2:58:31.2*
Paul Muldowney	2:58:38.5*
Leigh Deluca	2:59:24.1*
Adrian Vincent	3:03:02.9*
Chris Bradford	3:03:46.6
Richard Braic	3:05:12.0
Josh Smith	3:05:12.8
Andrew Hull	3:05:19.5
David Yates	3:05:23.5
Rob Shield	3:05:24.0
Cadeyrn Douglas	3:05:47.4
Peter Tzimas	3:08:48.4
Paul Richards	3:09:38.7
Mark Guirguis	3:13:45.4
Rod Davies	3:13:46.2
Marc Bassora	3:15:45.1
Keiran Spencer	3:15:59.7
Adrian Gallagher	3:16:58.7
John Dempsey	3:17:30.1
David Charlton	3:18:49.3
Scott Busby	3:20:39.5
Chris Bertram	3:29:09.6
Ian Mcgregor	3:30:00.8
Troy Papworth	3:33:12.9
Adam Chapple	3:33:53.6
Dean Roberts	3:42:31.5
Michael Butler	3:46:30.2
Zheng Ruan	3:47:11.7
Cyril Dixon	3:50:11.4
Russell Kinghorn	3:50:29.4
Shaun Miller	4:00:33.9
Ash Ray	4:42:44.3
David Loch	5:49:00.8

13 brave riders took on the challenging Mt Macedon South climb in the middle of winter this morning.  A 105km loop with 1400m of climbing, from Digger Rest, through Gisborne, and up to 1015m altitude atop of Mt Macedon out at the Memorial Cross, down the back through Woodend and back to Diggers Rest.  Kudos to the guys that road through the thick cloud and rain at the top!

All part of our training build for Amy's Gran Fondo on 16 September, and if today's effort is anything to go by, our team is in good shape to have a fair dinkum crack at defending our teams classification win from last year!

Can you spot Joel, Matty P and Sean?!

Kevin Turley on the Col du Telegraphe, on his way up to the Col du Galibier (the hard side of the Galibier!!)

Kev credits his successful ascent to his consistent vistis to Mt Pleasant road in Eltham!!

Thanks Kev for representing the Peak Peloton high up in the Alps!!

I decided to saddle up for the inaugural Melbourne Ironman.  The day started out driving down to Frankston in the morning of and Eastlink was even boring me then. (more about the bike later)  Arriving at the swim start was a little nervous as to be expected, I did miss the start a little as about half the field took off before the hooter (and you all know I am not one to miss a hooter)  But that was fine as I could work my way into it.  I chugged through the swim as eventually exiting the water in 1.12.  it was slower than expected but I wasn’t too fussed.

Off onto the bike and I just had to settle myself down and get into a rhythm.  Still feeling the effects of the swim, my stomach was a mess.  Having to stop twice in the bike and trying to dink water to try and dilute some of the sea water I had previously swallowed.

The course was extremely smooth and perfect conditions for those that wanted to go fast.  It wasn’t until the 5.30 mark that I started to come good, but not for long as at about the 6.30 hour mark it was all back and I was about to start the run leg after completing the ever so scenic bike leg (180km) in 5.23hours.

Starting the marathon at Frankston was very scenic running out along the water for a km out then a km back, I got to Sean’s drink station at the 6km mark feeling in decent shape, but I knew that I could not stomach any more gels.  The run to Mordialloc was as I expected pretty hard as it was on the off camber road really making for sore hips and feet.

Got to Mordialloc where I could finally see some of my Emily and the girls, but it was from this point where I started to struggle a bit.  There was some walking involved but it was very hard to keep any fluids in by this point.  I had 3 car loads of spectators following me tag teaming in driving ahead to cheer me on.  So I definitely could not blame a lack of support.  Once I got Brighton I knew I was home and now it was just down to a matter of time.  Checking my watch and doing the math regularly, I was now confident on going sub 11hours.

The finish was amazing running the last km I kept on running into friends and family of whom I very much appreciated coming out and cheering me on.  Finished my run in 4:09:46 with a total time of 10:57:14.  Well exceeded my expectations and could not ask for too much more out of the day.

Big thanks to Seano for getting my bike in tip top shape, and for all the motivation during the year helping me get back to the ‘Matto’ of old.

What a weekend!  The Amy Gillett Foundation Gran Fondo held in Lorne on Sunday the 18^th of September had it all for the touring party from Peak Bike Hub and the Banyule Cycling Club!  Where will I begin?

The excitement had been building for weeks.  Unlike the lead up to the Alpine Challenge in January, the Gran Fondo had a more competitive feel about it, as it placed more emphasis on the timing side of things.  With 5:15am rides out to Kinglake on a week day morning happening in the last few weeks, it was clear that our riders were motivated to do well, and that a winter of Mt Pleasant road loops in the early morning darkness were not going to go to waste.

Troy, Matty and I arrived in Lorne to the fantastic accommodation that Anthony had organised, a stones throw from the action, and walked into to an equally great dinner that Frosty had been planning all week.  Thanks guys.

But the first shock and slice of bad luck of the weekend was when we decided to call it a night, after Carlton had fallen painfully short of beating West Coast.  We were told by Phil that Wristy had come down with a bad stomach complaint, and was on his way to Geelong hospital with a fair chance that he would be having his appendix out when he arrived there.  We thank Kiwi Kev for taking care of Kieran, and making the trip to Geelong.  Kieran had done a heap of kms in the weeks leading up to the Gran Fondo, so it was very disappointing for him to suffer such bad luck the night before the event.  We hope to see him back on the bike very soon.

Our pre-event safety briefing and registration was between 6-7am, and it was super impressive to see how organised the Amy Gillett Foundation were, and the event only got better from this point.  So much so that they had tabs on all wildlife in the area and held up the Grand Depart for an injured Koala on the road ahead!  A coffee, banana and an up&go later, I was in my bike gear on the start line with a resting heart rate of 90beats ready to go!

The first 1.5kms controlled section, was hardly that, the pace was on as we rolled out past the pier.  Riding in the front wave of what would have been closer to 300 than 200, we flew along The Great Ocean Road, with different riders having a go out in front.  There was a block headwind waiting for each of them, and after David Charlton had a little go out there, he came back to me and said it was not all it was cracked up to be being at the front of the race!  Matty P also learnt this, deciding it was pointless to drive the peloton as we flew along The Great Ocean Road.

As the kms went by, it was clear that this massive bunch was going to be together until the start of the Skenes Creek Road KOM.  With the block headwind, the hills along The Great Ocean Road weren’t big enough to split the bunch, so I did my best to stay out of trouble, and keep close to my mates.  At any point in the first 40 kms I could have been riding close to Dave, Paul Muldowney, Andrew Hull, Kevin Russell, Matty Panopoulos, Kevin Turley, and my guardian angels, Phil Catton and Paul Richards, who were in charge of keeping this retired triathlete in the right position in the peloton for when we hit the start of the KOM.

Coming into the race, Mt Pleasant Road in recent weeks had told me that I had found my climbing legs again, so I was keen to see how they measured up.  I was looking forward to the KOM to sort out the massive bunch and make it a little less sketchy on the road, but the KOM start took me by surprise, riders throwing their hands out right to indicate a turn, and then there it was, the pink KOM Start sign greeting us.  I was a little further back in the bunch than I wanted to be, about 50m from the front of the bunch, as the heads of state from the front wave started to play their hands.

Matty P pinched me on the bum as he went past at the base of the climb, giving me a wheel to follow if I was good enough to get to the head of the race.  I turned myself inside out to get up with the lead guys for the first 2kms of the climb, at VO2max with my heart rate well into the 180s.  I didn’t know if this effort was going to make my day or break it, but my best chance for a good result depended on climbing the KOM to the best of my ability.  Once it was a clear break of 18 or 20 guys, the pace did settle, my heart rate dropped into the 170s again and I thought I could survive.  We were putting time into the riders behind, and as I did a head count of jerseys in our breakaway, I could count three Peak Bike Hub jerseys, and no other multiples.  We had Joel Pearson, Matt Panopoulos and myself in the front group, a good early sign for our team!

We were 8kms down on the 6% grade climb, and the 1km to the summit sign came.  At first I was happy to see it, I was going to survive the KOM with the leaders... or so I thought.  This sign was the signal to put the hammer down, full gas to the summit!  Once again my heart was beating out of my chest, and we were flying, over the summit and the first km or two after that.  But I had survived again, and once it was clear that no one was going to be dropped over the terrain we were on, it was time for the breakaway to start working together.

I hadn’t ridden the course before or studied the descents that well, and it is well known that I descend like a triathlete, so it took me about 15kms more to believe that I wouldn’t be dropped Andy Schlek style on the down hills.  Maybe the descents weren’t that technical, but I didn’t seem to find myself in any trouble, my Zipp 404 tubs did their job when I had to bridge a small gap on the down hills.  The only nervous moment in this period was not for me, but my teammate Matty P.  He pushed about 50m off the front, which stirred the group up, but didn’t pick his corner to do it on.  As the apex sharpened, Matty found himself with a little front wheel lock and on the wrong side of the road.  After this he put his cue in the rack and road tempo for a little while!

At about the 80km mark, I spoke with Joel and said there are three of us, so hopefully we don’t f*ck this up!  He had a chuckle and asked me how I thought Paul would still be going on the climb?  A little harsh, but childhood best mates can get away with such questions I think!  We rolled turns, with some riders doing more work than others, I knew my limitations.  I came through a few times, but I knew how tricky the final 12 kms were going to be.

At this point I did take a small moment to reflect, I was in the lead group of 20 riders out of 2200 in an event that had been widely promoted, I own my own business and work 6 days a week and most weekends, and my longest training rides had finished at 830am.  My wife and seven month old daughter were waiting in Melbourne for me to come home safely and it this point I was confident that was going to happen at least.  But I was thrilled to be mixing it with the big boys, and being able to do it with my great mate Matty P for the first 100kms!

But now it was “business time,” three climbs to get over in the last 10kms.  I asked Joel how he was feeling and he told me average.  This concerned me a little, as if he was feeling average it was very difficult to describe how I was feeling as I didn’t look as good as him to say the least.  They hit the first climb of the three at a speed that put me over the limit, and I was off the back for the first time of the day.  Three of us had popped and over the next km or so we had fallen off the back of the bunch by about 60m or so.  But then the ducks and drakes started, and the lead guys had slowed as they worked each other out, and we were able to get back on.

5kms to go, it was now clear to everyone that I wasn’t a contender, although I knew this all along, but for me I was focussing on Peak Bike Hub still having three representatives up the front.  2^nd last hill and the honeymoon was over for Seano, I had blown big time as my lack of 100km+ rides came back to haunt me.  4.5kms to go and i’m riding scared, constantly looking over my shoulder for the tsunami that had to be coming up from behind, the second lead bunch!

Over the 2^nd last hill and a loan rider from the Hawthorn Club came past like a freight train and I was able to jump on his wheel for 500m or so before the road kicked up again for the final time.  Now there was 1km to go and the road was steep again.  I could see a fair way back and couldn’t see another rider, at this gradient I didn’t think the next bunch could catch me over a km, even though I was at VO2max again and had my reverse beepers on!  I crossed the line on my own as far as I could see, which was 20^th position overall in the end, and as it turned out, the second bunch were only 45 seconds back.  I had just held on!

I was pumped to later find out that my training mates were in that bunch, Andrew Hull finished in 23^rd position and Paul Muldowney in 34^th!  And up the road, Joel Pearson had taken out the sprint to the line, while Matty P had just fallen about 100m off the back in the final km to finish 12^th.  David Charlton, also the proud father of three month old baby Amelia had crossed the line in 117^th, rounding out Peak Bike Hub’s top 5 riders out of 17.  A huge result for David with a new born, as I know he hadn’t been able to get out for many long rides at all in recent times!

Once the dust had settled, we found out about and the rest of our bad luck stories.  Phil Catton and Paul Richards had punctured a tubular each about 20kms after the KOM, rotten luck for these guys who had put so much work into training for the event, and that Joel’s overall time had pushed him back to 3^rd by a few seconds, even though he had won the sprint for the line.

But the great news was that Peak Bike Hub had taken out the team’s classification!!!  Our top 5 riders - Joel “Killer” Pearson, Matty P, Seano, The Incredible Hull and Dangerous Dave Charlton were the fastest top five riders out of all teams entered!  Super proud of the guys, and all of the Peak Bike Hub and Banyule CC riders who push each other along each week in training.... we came home with the prize!!!!  Which, was a big arse novelty cheque for $500 and a pretty sweet trophy that will take pride of place at Peak Bike Hub, 124 Burgundy Street Heidelberg.  The Banyule CC team finished in 6^th position, a tremendous result for these great fellas.

Full Results:
http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/news/show/215-amy-s-gran-fondo-results

http://app.strava.com/rides/1663878

Amy’s Gran Fondo will definitely see us back next year, and Peak Bike Hub will be welcoming all comers who wish to join us in our team!  Now it’s time to reload for the Alpine Challenge in Bright in January, but maybe after a little rest first ;-)

Cadel Evans, Jo & Alex Papworth ride BMC !!!

Love is a drug. The power of love. Addicted to love. Love is many splendid thing.  There is a plethora of song titles, books, and movies with the theme of 'love'.  But none capture the pure passion, enthusiasm and 'love' for cycling that Italian’s posses.
Wilier was founded over 100 years ago and with the release of their all new Zero 7, I was honoured to be part of the first test rides in Asiago, Italy.  Based at 1000m it is truly magnificent. My passion runs deep for cycling, but over the 2 days, it has renewed with vigor.  Viva Italia!

CHALLENGE CAIRNS  3.8km swim, 180.2km bike, 42.2kms run

Race morning was nice and clear. Typical Far North Queensland weather.  I got off to a good start and followed the pack from marker to marker. After receiving my fair share of kicks in the face, the pack thinned out and the first loop of 1.9km went well. After approximately a 50m run up the boat ramp and back into the water lap two started. It wasn’t long into lap two that I started to get caught by the half competitors, which gave me some more feet to chase. The swim finished and I was quite happy.

After a reasonable transition, I headed out on my recently serviced bike and lovely new wheels (Thanks Sean!) from Yorkeys Knob towards Port Douglas via Smithfield Shopping Centre. The Highway was in reasonable condition, however only having partial road closures in some areas made for some congested riding (and plenty of people who were taking advantage of the almost unavoidable drafting). Eventually the packs spread out, the road surface improved, the ½ ironman competitors turned around and the rest of us kept on going up towards Port Douglas. I had been told before arriving in Cairns that the road to Port Douglas was like the Great Ocean Road.  I have never ridden on the Great Ocean Road however I don’t think the Captain Cook Highway was as hilly as some would have you believe. It was undulating, but not overly so. What made the ride was harder was the humidity. Time flew on the bike and next thing I knew I’d left Port Douglas for a second time and was on the homeward stretch of the ride going much faster than I had expected (Thanks again Sean!). A small mechanical problem (solely caused by me and a pothole) and the heat did slow me down a bit but I still arrived in Yorkeys Knob in reasonable time and I was very happy to finally be off the bike.

The run started slowly and the heat and humidity were quite tough. The first 18km was from Yorkeys Knob into Cairns and was a pretty hot stretch with not a lot of spectators. It was great to finally arrive in Cairns and see the crowds. Then the loops of the Esplanade began. They were tough, but not because it was hilly or windy. It was hot, humid and I was exhausted. My aim was to finish without a glow stick, which I did, but only because I strategically avoided the glow stick lady at the turnaround.  They encouraged competitors to have one of their spectator run down the finish line with them so just as I reached the red carpet my fabulous mum grabbed my hand and started running (a momentous occasion because my mum is not a runner).

All in all it was a good race. It was hard (harder than Busso) but enjoyable and I will do it again. Beautiful scenery on the bike (however to be honest I wasn’t really concentrating on the scenery all that much).  Being the first Challenge Race it wasn’t without its hiccups but they can all be easily overcome next year.  I would without a doubt recommend it to anyone who is looking to do an ironman distance race in Australia (Sean?).

FAST CONCEPT TEASER from ridley-bikes on Vimeo.

THE PAST IS THE PAST, THE PRESENT WON'T LAST, BUT THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS...

Peak's "P Train" wins Northern Vets Cycling Association B Grade Crit on Sunday!!!

"B grade was dominated by a 4 man breakaway that became 5 and then 6, but the strongest man in the race prevailed as Paul Muldowney won comfortably in a powerful sprint."

Summary by Warren Smith - Northern Vets President

Winter can be a melancholy affair in Melbourne, particularly from a cycling viewpoint.  Motivation is hard to come by and increasingly harder as the Winter Solstice rapidly approaches.

Luckily, this season has been much easier for me.  The Peak regular rides have been a blessing. Great routes with good company, made even more enjoyable with Sean, PR and myself having some Epic early morning Kinglake and Dandenong’s adventures!  Nothing like a midweek sojourn into the dark and wet at 4.30am to met with 2 degrees, slush, slosh and gritty, filthy road grime!!

But amidst the joy of riding on the road, and don’t get me wrong, the Winter Peak Dandenong’s 100km was spectacular, something has been missing....

The answer, my friends, was blowing in the wind at the Dirty Deeds Cyclocross.  Darebin parkland was the venue and my newly acquired Wilier MTB was my steed.

Fun!  Fun!  Fun!    Given my lack of a genuine CX bike, the open class was for me. It was an absolute blast, reminiscent of urban MTB races of 10-15 years ago.  Lots of spectators, happy to heckle and watch the 150-200 riders battle through the mud and hurdle their way around a great little circuit.

The Pro CX was amazing to watch and to plagiarize an old saying – “do yourself a favour” and check out the next 2 races. Or better yet – have a go – more fun than a pig in mud!

Thanks to Brian Mangrove for the image, makes me look like I actually know what I’m doing?

The Peak Peloton of 23 riders headed off into the Dandenongs at 6am on the Queen's Birthday Monday, knowing they were in for acycling treat!  Fog blanketed the suburbs as we rolled to the base of the 1:20 climb up to Sassafras just before dawn, then as we approached the summit there was a beautiful clear blue sky waiting for us as over the eastern hills.  There was a fun roll down through Sherbrook Forrest to The Patch, with new record speeds being reached on Priors Road.  Then a left turn back to Monbulk and the climb up The Wall to Olinda, followed by a trip up Ridge Road to the summit of Mt Dandenong and Sky High for a coffee.

This photo is taken out the front of Sky High looking back over the suburbs to the city!!  Not today, just a beautiful view above the clouds to the western sky!  On a clear day you can see the You Yangs, Mt Macedon and Kinglake, but today an even more special view was waiting for the Peak Peloton!!

We headed home with a chilly trip down the Tourist Road into the fridge that was waiting for us half way down the descent to Montrose (the fore mentioned fog/clouds), continuing across to Wonga Park, through Warrandyte and Templestowe, and back into Heidelberg.  102kms, 1775m of climbing, one magic day!

Thanks to all riders for making it such an enjoyable morning.

Follow Peak Bike Hub on Twitter to find out when our next epic ride will be, and feel free to join in on any of our regular weekly rides!!

Madeleine adds the 2k-80k-20k Victorian Long Course Triathlon crown at Falls Creek to her long list of victories this summer, racing on her Malvern Star bikes.  Mads was too strong once again, making four elite female victories in a row in Victoria's premier Triathlon competitions.  Read about her race in her online blog
http://madeleineoldfield.blogspot.com/2011/02/falls-creek-long-course-triathlon.html

Joining Alex Troy Papworth as the smallest members of the Peak Peloton !!

Madeleine Oldfield, Peak Bike Hub's favourite triathlete, continues her clean sweep of the 2010/11 Gatorade Triathlon series with her 4th win in a row in the Elite female category!!  All of these wins achieved aboard her Malvern Star Oppy C7!!
Congratulations Mads on another fantastic performance!!
Check out her race report below...
http://madeleineoldfield.blogspot.com/2011/02/expect-unexpected.html

Madeleine in action at Sandringham in Race 3.... another win!!

Peak's Audax Alpine Classic Riders for 2011

Keiran "Wristy" Spencer, David Cole, Patricia Urcia, Dan "Äloha" Evans, Sean "Risky" Young, Phil "Wilier" Catton, Ian "Phar lap" McGregor, Troy "Red Hammer" Papworth, Rocking Rod Davies, Paul "P Train" Muldowney, John "Frosty" Dempsey

Dan "Äloha" Evans & Nick Mitchell lead the charge over Tawonga Gap for the first time of the morning.  Apart from them flying down hill in the other direction, it's the last we see of them for the rest of the day!!



Wristy, Risky & the P Train enjoy a fruit bun or two in Mt Beauty.  Thanks Keith for the photo!!



The Red Hammer & Patricia on the Falls Creek climb



Peak Bike Hub owners Troy Papworth & Sean Young at Falls Creek



The Peak pace line - all aboard the "P" Train.  Paul Muldowney leads the boys towards the base of the Mt Buffalo climb.  The group's form looks great at this point, a little better than in 2 hours time!!



Riders working their way up from the base of Mt Buffalo for a very hot ascent.  Over 1.5hrs to go at this point!



Into the Mt Buffalo climb proper, Phil Catton leads a very focussed group of riders concerned with only the next pedal stroke, to get them closer to that Frosty Fruit at the top of the mountain!!



Rocking Rod Davies focussing on the job at hand!!



Keiran with the end goal in sight on Mt Buffalo!!!



Sean with his 6.6kg Ridley Damocles with Super Record Titanium and Zipp 404s on Mt Buffalo.  Struggling to blame his equipment as he looked for excuses when both Ian & Paul road away from him as they approach the end of the Mt Buffalo climb!!



The hard work is done, all that's left is tricky descent down Mt Buffalo and the spin back into Bright. 200kms & 4000m of climbing in the bank. Well done guys!!!

Sue Scully on the run course in the Olympic Distance Triathlon at Sandringham in January.  Sue had just lit up the 40km bike course on her brand new Oppy C6!!  Well done Sue on your first Olympic Distance Tri!!!



Tony Scully on debut at Sandringham
Doing it easy as he crosses the finish line in the Gatorade Triathlon!!!

Phil Anderson rides with the Peak Peloton!!

As part of our 1st Birthday celebrations at Peak Bike Hub, over 40 loyal customers joined Phil Anderson on their road bikes on Saturday morning the 7th of November for a 35km ride out through the Eltham and Research Hills.

Phil floated up and down the bunch, giving encouragement to everyone as they powered up the hills including the famous Mt Pleasant in Research.

We'd like to thank all of our customers for your support during our 1st year, and look forward to being your local bike shop for many years to come!!!

Congratulations Madeleine for winning the Bronze Medal (20-24 age group) at the 2009 World Triathlon Championships on the Gold Coast!

Peak Bike hub sponsored triathlete Madeleine Oldfield has had success in a number of triathlon athletic events including the Gatorade Triathlon Series, awarded 1st Elite Female in 2008 and 2nd Elite Female in 2009. At the Australian University Games 2008 she received the Cycling Green and Gold Award.

Peak Bike Hub Supports Madeleine Oldfield

Check out Madeleine's latest Race Reports HERE

 

Well, the last two weekends have seen the cob webs well and truly dusted off and the team at Peak Bike Hub have been in the mix both on and off the bike.

Last weekend saw the Melbourne Tri Club duathlon at Kew Blvd. Very challenging course indeed. Sean, Troy and Adrian rolled out the flag for Peak along with Laura ALLAN and few other of Peaks finest. Sean took home a 2nd place in the 30 - 34 and your truly featured 7th in category. Adrian finished his first full distance duathlon strongly and Laura blitzed the dash track. Well done!

Continuing his strong run at todays Sri Chimnoy 1/2 marathon at Yarra Blvd Sean placed 3rd overall with a blistering 81 minutes flat. I PB'd the 1/2 course with a 1:34:56.

And a big shout to Madeline, placing 3rd in her age group at the ITU sprint distance championships held on the Gold Coast this week end!!

Next weekend sees the Vic champs of the duathlon at Yarra Blvd and is sure to be a cracker. Hope to see you all there. Until then, stay fit and train well.