A cold, wet and misty morning greeted us to the Cedara College, for my 2nd Super Classic of the year. On the line a big bunch of Jeep riders sat together, waiting for the race to begin. The lead car pulled of at 8:30 and we followed it through the neutral zone across the grass and down the tar road. After about 1.5km the neutral zone ended, and the racing commenced and the chaps in the front group put down the hammer in an effort to spread out the field and settle down into the race.
The start loop separated the race into bunches, onto the first climb I managed to hook on to Mike Smith’s wheel, we pushed the pace up the climb and into the single track where at the stage we were sitting in about 9th and 10th place overall but about 2km later we managed to catch and pass Daniel Paul and another rider which put us up into 7th and 8th before dropping into the next single track. The support we had from the “Jeep Crew” made up of parents and siblings was tremendous and before we knew it we were closing in on Carl Calvarly and Andrew Hill. At the exit of this section of single track we had closed up and were now riding in a bunch made up by Carl, Andrew, Mike and myself.
Then came the first real long climb and going into the climb I was sitting on the front of the bunch in 5th place and decided that I would need to work with these older and much more experienced riders. By the time we had conquered the hill and had descended back down into the valley I was still sitting in the bunch and we were all doing our bit to keep it together. Pushing the pace, through out the remainder of the race we rode like this, constantly working together.
As we began to approach the finish, with about 4 or 5km to go, the chaps began to attack and although I knew the guys would start putting the hammer down, I was hoping I would be able to hang in with them. The first attack came as Mike Smith sprinted away down the road but I was able to react quickly and I managed to latch on. A couple of hundred meters or so down the road Andrew Hill and Carl Calverly caught up to us again and the bunch continued at a faster pace as the finish got closer.. With about 3km to go I tried a couple of attacks, but only managed to stay away for 30 seconds. My plan at this stage was to avoid a sprint finish with these guys as they are all Under 23 riders and are a lot stronger than me, so I was trying to break a little earlier in an effort to put some clean air between us.
The final stretch to the finish finally loomed and, had Carl put in a long gradual attack which saw the pace gain some serious intensity and as expected it was just too much for me to close again. Mike Smith followed and I tried again to hang in there but was just not able to close that gap.
I eventually managed to sprint into 7th place overall, some eight minutes behind the overall winner but with 32 seconds eventually separating 5th to seventh place and Andrew Hill just 45 seconds behind me.
I must thank Carl, Mike and Andrew for a most awesome racing experience. I learnt so much from these guys during the race. Thanks a million guys.
Well done to the Jowett’s team for an awesome event. A great course with great single track and some muscle burning climbs.
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