Torq/BSS FKG Tour of Toowoomba
After putting in all the training miles on the Cube and doing everything in my power to get ready, my first NRS tour was looming on the horizion.
Dean with the Land Rover and Torq Camper trailer turned up on my doorstep on the Tuesday afternoon and we hit the road after packing two bikes, turbo trainer, 2 kit bags and a back pack, plus 9 wheels into the back of the trailer.
The Torq Set up hitting Molong
The long road north through Molong, Dubbo, Gilgandra, Coonabarrabran, Narrabri, and stopped just outside Goondawindi for some kip just after midnight which made for an 18hr driving day for legend Dean.
Back on the road at Sparrow Fart to get to Toowoomba and meet up with team mates Brenton and Jarryd (and family) to get ready for the tour.
The rest of the boys turned up later that afternoon, with Mark Fenner, Damian Mason, James Rix and Scott Butler making up the rest of the team. We decided that a good way to roll out the legs would be to pre ride the Team Time Trial course that we were going to be confronted with come Saturday morning.
Race day loomed on Thursday morning with a rolling 140km stage. There was enough breeze to keep you on your toes, and coupled with rough slow roads and rolling hills made for a solid day in the bunch. I tried one little attack about a third of the way through the race after a sprint prime to try and take the bunch by surprise coupled with a change of wind direction. We got a couple of hundred metres on the bunch but they weren't letting us get anywhere.
After that dig I sat in and tried to conserve as much energy as I could for the coming days. In the last 20km Fenz and I teamed up to guide Brenton up to the front of the bunch and try and set him up as best as possible for a sprint finish. Unfortunately a break had got away over the last King of the Mountain sprint and with the chaotic and technical finish, Brenton got a great second in the bunch kick which gave him 13th. Fenz and I rolled in just behind.
Day two was shake down day. With a 6km climb at the end of the stage. Going in, again it was a matter of saving as much energy as possible through the day to give the finale the best nudge that I could.
Mid way through the stage a dangerous break formed which I jumped across to but it came to nothing so it all came down to the climb.
Unfortunately we didn't have a chance to pre ride the climb but knew that it was steep. So I strapped the 27 tooth cog onto the climbing wheels and hit the 18% grades. BOOM! Unfortunately in the carnage at the front of the bunch I got shunted into the gutter and had to do some cyclo-cross to get back going and missed the main split but truth be told I would't have been able to go with it anyway. Riding right on the rev limiter all the way up, clocked a 21st position.
Saturday dawned, with split stages; the team time trial in the morning followed by a 120km stage in the afternoon. We were hoping to put in a good performance in the TTT which is why we brough along our TT guns in Scotty and Damo plus Fenz. Unfortunately it didn't pan out as good as we hoped and Scott and Damo blew in the first third of the race, leaving us with the minimum 4 riders to finish. This changed our game plan a bit as we couldn't sacrifice anyone and had to make sure we held it all together and get all four of us to the finish together. The four of us left put in a great ride considering, all right on the rivot and working togeher brilliantly and communicated well to hold it together.
The middle of the pack TTT ride plus only an average 23rd position on GC for me (and top place rider on the team), the team game plan changed and I was given free reign to do what I love… ATTACK. And that's what I did as the TV coverage on SBS shows, as soon as the lead car pulled ahead and the red flag was dropped, I flew the coup. Unfortunately that initial break got reeled in, but not long after the road opened up nicely on the left hand side and I smacked it again and went of solo, this netted me a sprint prime. Coming across the gap a few others joined me and soon we had a nice working group of six and we swapped off nicely for the next while on the flat open roads south of Toowoomba. I also manage to sprint and take the next prime. After over 50km swapping off the bunch was starting to reel us in and the group lost it's impitus so myself and a rider from the South Australian Sports Institute went off the front only to be picked up by a lead pack of 10 or so that had splintered off the front of the peleton in the cross wind and gutter action.
Rolling through with this new bunch I knew that I was starting to get into some trouble, as after such an intense start and lots of cross winds, I hadn't eaten enough and it was on the KOM sprint coming into the feed zone at about 65km mark the the lights went out.
After a little stint chasing the break, I then drifted into the peloton, then out the back of the peloton, through the chasing groupetto and then a nice solo 30km to the finish. Thank goodness the road had turned nicely to give me a tail wind home.
Rolling into the lovely Toowoomba crit circuit the team mates who had finished told me Brenton got a well earned third in the stage and I had netted the most aggressive rider award. A nice reward after such a hard day!
Most Aggressive Rider Jersey
The final stage of the tour was a crit in the town centre of Toowoomba. I had some realitives visit and brought along my mother to surprise me and watch the stage.
Unfortunately I was still in deficit from the previous day and had no legs to do anything to help our team sprinter Brenton in the finish. I was chewing bar tape just to hold onto the peloton.
At the end of the tour I finished right down the placings in GC due to Saturday, but was first in the Most Aggressive Rider category and 3rd on the Sprint classification.