What a weekend. I have had 2 of the best days on the bike in a long time. I attended both the Melburn - Roobaix and the BMC 100.
Saturday saw Huzza, Aaron and myself line up for Melburn Roobaix. It is a fun event run for the last 4 years by Andy from
fyxomatosis. Over 300 riders turned up for it and made Federation Square in the centre of the CBD look like a giant bicycle car park. Many a fine example of bike was seen, with classic cinelli's, colnago, moser, merckx, and even a few gellie customs! The rules are basic, get your map and destination points worked out, line up and enjoy. It aint no race cause there is no prize for first or any place. Even a few cafes who served one of the event sponsers coffee were offered as places to get your fixx along the way. After the 13 sectors of pave you eventually end up on the Brunswick velodrome for a few laps and then off to the pub for a few beers (which I didnt get to as I had to get organised for the BMC). We had a fun day and got lost once or twice and had a ball riding the pave with other riders, and it was nice being in a part of town I rarely go to.
Basically it was a tour of North Melburn's pave alley ways with 12 sectors of pave all given familiar names of famous belgian pave. It was a bloody hoot and I will line up again next year.
The master of ceremony Andy White!
The nicest Kona Longboard 29er carrying a slab
Bikes and riders take over Fed Square
Dirt and gravel were included in the sectors of pave
Enjoying the pave of Nth Melburn
The Brunswick Velodrome
More pictures and stories will be available on the fyxomatosis website.... but I highly recommend this day to anyone!
Sunday saw me leave home at a little after 5am for the drive to Woodend for the BMC, which I had signed up to compete in the the 50km single speed. Thanks to my neibours who had a party starting at midnight, I got little sleep. Not long after leaving the comfort of home it started raining and became foggy which meant it was going to be a cold day on the bike. The rain continued all the way on the 1.5hr drive - not a good thing in my book.
This was the BMC's second year and the increase in numbers of riders was astounding. The car park was almost full (given that it is a massive paddock thats a lot of cars) and my number was in the 1100's so there were plenty of riders. The carpark entry was a nightmare and given that the start of the race used the same access road the race starts were delayed by the sheer volume of cars.
After getting the race kit and number I hopped back in the car and turned on the heated full bore. I eventually bit the bullet and suited up and rolled down to Shane who had his coffee cart and had a coffee and shot the shit. After a brief warm up and catching up with a few people that I hadnt seen in a while it was go time. I had hoped the I would have a good ride after a placing last year but I new that the cold and rain may reek havock making the trails slippery.
I lined up in the first group and off we went. I had a OK start but the legs felt heavy and the gear of 34:18 felt big but bearable. We entered the first single track and formed the conga line and wove our way. Some riders would not ride some of the obsticles and were holding up the trail so I spent some time jumping off and running around the blockages. As we progressed through the various sections of great single track in the first 25 kms, I was begining to feel good. I decided I needed a quick piss, so I swung off the trail (obviously I drank to much before the race start) and post finishing the business I saw Big Al. Just in front of him a rider ate a tree head on post a log roll over that had no down ramp. His chainring gripped the end of the ramp and catapulted him superman style.
People began asking if anyone had medical training and I stated I was a nurse. The rider was laying prone and was in a state of shock. He said he couldnt move his legs, which is something I dread hearing especially in the middle of the bush. I asked someone to ride back and tell the marshals that we needed a ambulance and maybe a spinal board to carry him out. After about 10 minutes he could move his legs and rolled himself over. He had a nasty gash on his nose from his glasses and a mouthful of dirt. He eventually recovered and could sit up and Al and I left him with a marshal. Lucky is the word I choose to use and things could have been far worse for him.
So after 20 -30 odd minutes on the side of the trail Al and I were cold and wet. We decided to ride together and have a chat as the race was effectively over. As the race progressed we rode to epic trail with ladder bridges over gullies, flowing single track, and log roll overs. However at about 20 km to go the single track started to dry up and then there was plenty of fire road and for those riding SS it became a chore. In my book there was to much fire trail but I understand it is hard to get 50kms of single track.
I was glad to get to the finish, and looking back the number of riders were maybe to big, but I will more than likely do it again next year. As yet I have no idea how I finished but it was fun none the less. I will admit that my gearing was too big for some sections of the climbing but spot on for the fire road.
We finished the day with a ale at the Holgate Brewery in Woodend, nice little pub in the main street serving great beer and meals.
