Golden Spokes 2010

Thursday before the race... phone call....
Dave : "So how you feeling about the weekend?"
Toby (deadpan): "Yeah, I'm gunna win C grade at Golden Spokes"
Dave : "Oh ok then!  I'll come second shall I?"

  This race had been on the calendar for a while but it only really morphed into a 'must do' race for me once it became clear that it would be the first race that the South Perth Rouleurs were hosting.  It was important that the host club presented well for their inaugural official race event.

  As was my usual way, I was running late and rocked up to Champion Lakes a little behind schedule.  No time for a proper warm up, just register and make sure the bike was functioning before a short roll around before the start.  C grade was a sea of green with something like 14 of the 21 starters SPR members.  Talk about stacking the deck!  The general race plan was to get Toby to the finish so he could do his thing.

  When we were released the pace wasn't anything special and the pack was cruising along. Everyone seemed to be settling in and finding themselves in the first five kilometres or so. Approaching the hairpin for the first time, I made a bit of a meal of it and I was on the tight inside line. Accelerating back up to speed it seemed the peleton was a bit sluggish resulting in myself, a guy with a red jersey and a moustache, Mark H and Zac getting a bit of a gap. I was bang up for a bit of this action and kept it going. Had no plans on staying away for the entire race but it'd be fun to ride in a break for a bit. These plans needed a slight re-assessment when I looked about after a turn and discovered Mark and Zac had gone back to the bunch. Moustache and I persisted for another lap but I had to ease up about four times and wait for him to tack on. No point pushing on with five more laps to go so we just pedalled on until the bunch caught us just after the hairpin again.

  Completing lap two the peleton was stretched out through the start area in kind of a venturi effect, but once the turn onto the back straight was done nobody wanted to apply any pace. There was a crosswind but it wasn't exactly raging, yet people seemed content to amble about. Being the patient soul I am, and having had enough time to recover from my earlier effort, I upped the tempo and moved off the front. Once again, not hoping to stay away but figured the longer I stay out in front then the better off any SPR team mates in the bunch would be. This move probably also contributed further to the slower pace as nobody would've bothered chasing hard. My time in the sun came to an end shortly after negotiating the hairpin for the third time and a bit before Scott's and Lorraine's vantage point.

Strung out down the back straight.

  The third lap and nothing much was doing. Down the back straight the crosswind dictated that everyone was hard right on the bitumen, ducking the occasional bush and shrub that was jutting out. Irish Nick in particular stood out for me doing some strong work on this lap.

  Fourth lap and I was starting to pay for my earlier adventures. Took in a gel at the end of the back straight, which was right when some guy wanted to try it on. Zac covered the move easily, and I could go back to trying to refuel. There seemed to be a lot of green hanging about at the back of the pack which concerned me at the time. Looking back, with the number of club riders it was inevitable that this would happen - there were just so many of us!

Jordan, Toby & Nick pushing it.

  The usual speed up occurred at the end of the lap and Jordan was upping the speed across the top.  I wasn't aware of it at the time but it was the little general himself, Toby, calling the shots here and he wanted the pace up. Down the back straight he was ended up well off the front by himself. I can safely say that I don't think I was the only one thinking that he'd had a brain explosion! How the bloody hell was he planning on hanging on for two laps? I even heard a few of the non-SPR riders mentioning that he was our sprinter. Toby built up a decent gap and by the end of the lap it was a few hundred metres.

Toby showing how it's done.

  Sixth and final lap revealed Toby to still be off the front. A few of the independent riders were trying to organise a chase down the back straight but a couple of crafty SPR riders were constantly inserting themselves and disrupting the effort. It was almost heart-breaking to see the moment when the non-SPR riders realised they were screwed and had to bite the bullet and chase. There was a guy in Cyclemania kit that wasn't helping at all much to their consternation. Despite Toby's mammoth effort, we approached the hairpin for the final time and it was clear that he would be reeled in. Jen tried to bridge across (and may have done, I was too far back to confirm) and a couple of other riders had a go too. No joy. All together with a few kilometres to go. Only one dodgy moment was when the speed was going up and somebody had a wobble in the gutter.



Zac in the lead - daylight second.

   The death. Just before the final turns Zac had a dash. More than one of us thought this a race winning move. Clearly some had other ideas! This point of the race had kind of snuck up on me and I found myself in a less than desirable position down the back. Ian and myself had caught the Jordan Express and moved up a bit but was still nowhere going into the turns.


Out of position... far from ideal.

 The group snaked it's way around the final turns and then we were in the finishing straight.  Not quite sure how, but I'd gone ok through the turns and now there was a more manageable number of riders in front of me.  Zac was still out there, Toby had somehow dug deep and was stuck to Mark H's wheel, as well as a few others.  A flat out, dead straight drag to the end.  I don't recall finding a suitable wheel so just went up a few gears and powered on.  Pulled in a few punters, Zac and Toby still ahead.  I didn't think I could reach our captain on the road, but had just enough to steal second place on the line.   SPR taking the first four places!

Winner winner chicken dinner!

  A video of the finish can be found here courtesy of El Prez.

Placings inversely proportional to height?

  It was a fun day out racing and the SPR team spirit was in full effect.  A massive thankyou to those volunteers that helped setup and packup, take photos, manned rego desks, marshaling the course, counted laps, supplied support and all the other things that made it a successful day on all levels.

Results can be found here, and my ride details can be found here or here.

Toby's awesome writeup is also well worth reading and more photos, courtesy of Mark de Castro, can be viewed here.

All pictures used in this report credited to Mark de Castro and Richard Smith.  Many thanks.