Mt Baw Baw Classic

A three-inch snow dump, rain, sleet and sub-zero temperatures greeted riders for the 6th annual Mt Baw Baw Classic. The final climb to the summit required clearing of snow by Mt Baw Baw Resort staff before racing commenced. I had heard many stories about how tough the final 6km climb to the finish was. After hearing about snow on the summit, my apprehension about the race grew. It was difficult to know what to wear but I eventually decided on two Sockguy undershirts, my VIS jersey, arm warmers and warm up oil for the legs.

Photo: Carl (carl@aboc.com.au)

The women's field was combined with Masters 4 & 5 men so my husband, Bob joined me on the start line. The race of 94km, started in Warragul and finished at the top of Mt Baw Baw. It was raining and 8C at the start and I was shivering. My legs felt heavy from the cold and so when the attacks started at the 15km mark, I was in trouble. Only 5km later the men attacked again on a long steep climb and I lost contact with the front group. Two girls had made the front group so I was determined to chase back on.

A masters guy caught me and we chased together as the rain turned to sleet, stinging my face. The front group were soon out of sight and I started to wonder if I was racing for 3rd place. The race consisted of several long climbs and we rode these at a hard pace but without blowing ourselves up.

About 30km on, we caught one of the female riders who was dropped from the front group so now there was only one rider, Peta Mullens, in the front group. A by-stander informed us that Mullens was 3 minutes in front of us. I was very doubtful about being able to catch her. But at the base of the final climb, I saw Mullens walking her bike up the climb. Her legs had blown up and she was forced to dismount. The climb averaged 13% so even walking was tough.

I took a few deep breathes and settled into my own climbing rhythm. I switched my computer to the time mode and focused on 5 minute increments. I had read last years report and knew the men could climb Mt Baw Baw in 34 minutes so I set 40 minutes as my target. I could only turn the cranks at 50rpm so it was a real grind on the legs. I like to climb at 80rpm so the legs were burning the whole way up. Well, I won by 8 minutes and it was very satisfying to win solo.

I fly to Europe on Wednesday 12th so until my next report. Ciao.

Photo: David O'Leary http://www.allstar.net.au/photography.htm