Amy's Gran Fondo 2013 - Part 3

The Start!

Thankfully the morning dawned bright and clear, with a gentle tailwind to start. The joy of staying in the same place as the ride can not be underestimated, allowing a reasonable sleep in and a fairly stress free roll out. 7:30 am saw us in our starting block with the Monkees, quite a privilege I thought. The start of this race is amazing, with about 4,000 cyclists lining the main street of Lorne. The atmosphere was charged, for those riders up the front there were opportunities to be won, for those of us further back there was the challenge of staying in front of the time cuts and doing the best we could.

Riding with the Monkees

The front runners were sent off sharply at 8am, with 200 riders being sent off every 90 seconds thereafter. About 20 minutes later we were off, cruising along in the company of Monkees. The great ocean road is a pleasure to ride, even with the undulations and surprisingly steep rises. The road being closed to traffic made it even better. The sun was shining, a cool breeze was at our backs and we were in the company of friends, this day was going to be awesome.

Mr Carl really likes the PACC kit!

Both Mr Carl and I were resplendent in our Port Adelaide cycling kit which drew a few comments from other riders. Mostly along the lines of pats on the back and commiserations, which was really confusing until I realised there had been some sort of important football match that the Port Adelaide team had lost. Obviously they football guys need to take some instruction from the cycling team!
  

Happy times on the start line

Unfortunately, one of the Monkees ran into a bit of trouble in the form of a faulty cleat and we lost track of the Monkees for a while. Mr Carl and I cruised along the road for just short of 40 km, blitzing our previous time along this section by 6 minutes. It was just so beautiful rolling along the road (and I was so excited to have happy knees) that it didn't feel like a huge effort. With that behind us we turned right and up the hill.

Cruising the Great Ocean Road

I'm not going to say much about the hill right now, suffice to say I made it and I blitzed my previous time. However this had taken a serious toll on my body and it was a major struggle to roll from the top of the hill to the next aid station. It probably didn't help that there were some sections of uphill between me and the aid station, and I had nothing left.

Magnificent views

The aid station had nothing in the way of food but thankfully Mr Carl and I were riding fully stocked. A Carman bar and numerous snakes later I was starting to feel like I might be able to keep my legs going round. While I was recovering the Smudge Monkees rode in one by one, having had their own battle with the hill. We left shortly after the last one rolled in and it was a good feeling knowing all our friends had made it this far.

Gorgeous descents

From the aid station it was a beautiful descent most of the way into Forrest, our next stop. By beautiful I mean both that the road was an absolute pleasure to descend on and the scenery that we rode through was more of the stunning temperate rainforest we had driven through. I couldn't help but start to relax when surrounded by the soft green tones of the forest, the gentle trickling of water and the air rushing past as I coasted along. This is probably what made my descending so much better than previously, well that and CX training!

Rolling into Forrest we were treated to smell of delicious food! A kind group of people had put on a sausage sizzle for the riders, in addition to the cake provided. Unfortunately I wasn't all that confident about how I'd get through the next 40km with sausage in my stomach, so I passed on the opportunity. This was probably my only regret of the day.

Happy times on the finish line

I remembered the next section being very enjoyable the previous year, with gentle rolling flats that were easy to cruise on. This year I was not going to have such fond memories, having nothing left to push with every little rise became a struggle and I was dropped by a number of groups. Still, I was riding through stunning farmland with Mr Carl at my side, there were definitely worse places to be.

We made it to the aid station before the final climb with plenty of time to spare, so we hung around to see all the Monkees roll up. After that Mr Carl and I went to tackle the final climb for the day.


I had an agreement with Mr Carl that we would ride the hills at our own pace, so I sent him on his way up the hill. This is actually mostly for my benefit, as I can't help but try and keep up with him when I know he's a much better hill climber than me. I get slightly grumpy after a couple a kilometres of watching him dance on the pedals while I'm slogging away, so in the interest of relationship harmony we tackle the hills on our own.

Chewie at the end of the last climb!

Not that you are really on your own in a ride with 4000 odd riders and I found myself riding with a couple of the Monkees. One in particular had been having a rough day, so with what little spare breathe I had I yelled encouragement. Actually, I was pretty used to yelling at this particular rider as he is also a Bob, and does an amazing amount of work towing weaker riders (ie me) around the course. Chewie and I made it pretty much all the way to the top of the final climb side by side, until he stopped to hug the devil girl 10m from the finish.

I was feeling pretty awesome that I had made it up the final climb of the day and I was even happier to see Mr Carl waiting for me at the top. We decided to wait and see the Monkees roll in, each of them over the moon to have completed the ride after such an amazing effort. The highlight of my day was seeing Reidy cross the line about 5 minutes before the sag wagon. Hugs and cheers from everyone!

The Monkees make it!

We rolled down to the finish of the course (for safety reasons they don't time the last 10km down the hill so the race officially finishes at the top of the last climb) and perused the main street in search of food. Mr Carl and I eventually decided on calzone and managed to just make it back to the cafe in time to get some take away gelati.


The calzone was amazing and I still can't figure out whether the crust or the filling was my favourite. Seriously, going to Lorne is worth it just for the pizza! We then treated ourselves to a combination of blood orange, bacci and white chocolate and macadamia gelato, which actually looked a lot like the old neapolitan ice cream but tasted so much better.

Worth a trip to Lorne!

After a spa to help that settle, we chilled out for a bit before heading out to town for more food (we had just ridden 120 km). We had spotted a smallish Mexican restaurant down a side street and decided to give that a go. A big plate a nachos followed by a burrito filled with chicken and a whole pile of accompaniments rounded out our dinner, replenishing our energy. With that out the way we curled up, exhausted, and slept.


For those that are interested, here's the Strava file for the ride: http://www.strava.com/activities/82803673


Epilogue
Our awesome holiday was rounded out by a quick side trip to Melbourne to visit my sister and brand new niece. My sister and I share a birthday, though there's 5 years difference in our ages and the day of our visit was the day before our birthday. Mum organised a surprise birthday cake for us, complete with candles and I was very touched to spend my (almost) birthday with my family.

Happy Birthday to me (and my sister)!