KM's Ridden Today: 148km
Total KM's Ridden: 727kmPre Ride Weight: 79.8kg
Post Ride Weight: 79.2kg
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| BCT Stage 4: Norwood to Victor Harbour |
Another very early start this morning and when my alarm woke me up at 4.20am it only felt like I only went to bed 10mins ago. Each morning when I get up, my legs are that much more sorer and feel like concrete blocks!
I got myself organised, then left for breakfast and had a quick flick through the paper only to find a little article on myself as the BCT Rider Profile - a great pick me up!!
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| A Little Article In Today's Paper |
We set off from the Hilton at 5.25am and today's stage from Norwood to Victor Harbour was also the day of the Bupa Challenge Tour where any rider could register to ride today's stage. As the official start line in Norwood was going to be absolutely packed we decided to go out a different way instead. There was very little race neutral today, officially only 4.4km, then there was the first climb of the day being Norton Summit where we were told that we could 'go at our own pace'. For the climbers in the group this meant another opportunity to smash ourselves up the climb, a pretty dumb thing to do just 7km into our day of nearly 150km, but nevertheless, an opportunity we weren't going to miss.
The pace was on right from the start with Jase and Cahn going off the front, then there was the three of us in a little group being Matty, Greg, and myself. We were about half way up the hill when we caught Cahn, then he went again, Matty chased him and Greg and I were left together when he dropped me. I could see that they had slowed so I dug in and managed to catch up to them, then the pace quickened again and I got dropped again. I still went as hard as I could and when I checked Strava I did a PR by 1m04sec in 15.24!!
We all re-grouped at the top, then continued up Woods Hill Rd and went into Summertown, Crafers, and Stirling again. The road was mainly downhill from now and the weather was great too, overcast, relatively cool, and great riding conditions which was very different from the forecast of thunder storms!
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| Me And The Girls From The Wiggle High 5 Pro Team |
We headed into Echunga, then Meadows, then into Macclesfield where we stopped for our lunch break. We were ahead of time so we stopped for quite a while and the media were also here so they did some interviews etc.
LeavingMacclesfield, the girls go on the front and set a great tempo into Strathalbyn where on the decent we saw another rider that had fallen and had smashed his face up - luckily emergency services were in attendance and looking after him.
Because of the Bupa ride, there were cyclists everywhere which at times made it difficult for us to stay as a group, and people wanted to jump on and get a draft from us. One guy came right in next to me and basically cut Cahn off, so I politely told him that we were an organised cycling group and he couldn't be part of our peloton. I even backed off and made room enough for him to pass out on the left but he wasn't having any of it. Once again I politely asked him to leave our group and he shouted at me saying 'F... Off or I'll punch you in the face!!' Charming!! Anyway not long after his pathectic outburst he got the message that he wasn't welcome and sped off ahead, only for us to see him a little further on about to have a coronry on the side of the road from over exerting himself!!
We stopped at Goolwa for another break rolled through Pt. Elliot, then turned night up Crows Nest Rd for the KOM climb of the day. Once again we had free reign to go as fast as we could, so again most of us went as hard as we could. It is not an overly steep climb, but ut kicjs, then a little less gradiant, then kicks again, and does this a few times. I managed to get 6mins flat but I have never done this climb previously so don't know how it really compares.
We all re-grouped at the top before taking the descent onto Victor Harbour and crossing the finishing line all together to the many cheers of the crowds that were there! I found today's stage pretty easy overall, we had the climbs of Norton Summit and Crows Nest, but apart from that it seemed pretty flat or slightly downhill. We also had a tailwind for a good part of it too which helped.
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| The BCT Team With The Wiggle High 5 Pro Womens Team |
Our organisers had hired two rooms at a hotel across the road so we were able to have a shower, then come downstairs and we had to ourselves the outdoor dining area which was right on the finish line and also within easy view of the big screen showing us all the pro action, so it was a great spot!
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| Our View Just Past The Finish Line Looking At The Giant Screen |
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| Myself With Jens Voigt |
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| Some of the BCT Team with Jens Voigt |
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| Our View Of The Finish Line |
Another great, but long and tiring day!!
