Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race: 4th edition

Across the recent Australia Day long weekend the cycling once again rolled into town in the form of the fourth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The women raced on Saturday in warm sunny conditions however, the men's race on Sunday was contested in temperatures which rapidly approached 40°C.
As I have done in previous years, I headed out onto the course to snap a few photos at various locations along the Barwon:

The Deakin University Elite Women's Race crossing the Barwon at Breakwater

The breakaway in the Elite Men's Road Race about to tackle Challambra Cres
hill climb for the first time

The peloton about to tackle Challambra Cres

...and then there were 3...the remains of the breakaway cross the Barwon at
Queen's Park on the first full lap of the circuit through town

The peloton crossing Queen's Park Bridge

Heading up Barrabool Rd on the final lap

By the final lap the temperature had reached the high 30s

The tail end of the race

The Cadel Evans show rolls into town again...

After Friday's paddle, I switched the 'yak for the bike and on Saturday morning headed out onto course to watch the women's event in the third edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. As I have done in previous years, I headed round the river and took up position along with one other interested local at the foot of the Breakwater Bridge to wait.

The peloton rides over Breakwater Bridge

The tail end

As usual, the arrival of the peloton was presaged by a barrage of scouts and photographers on motorbikes, police bikes, police cars, the race director's car, the commissaire and finally the lead car. Within minutes the riders had come and gone and whilst they made their way to Barwon Heads, I headed to Fyansford.
After a stop for lunch under the shade of the peppercorns, I took up position at the bottom of The Deviation and waited for the riders to return. As I did so, I spotted Sebastian Flaccavento on one of his modified kid's bikes, about to slog his way up the Fyansford Hill ("Cementies" to the locals). As he has done in previous years, I presume Sebastian was the last of around 3,500 riders up the hill in the People's Ride which preceded the women's race.

Not happy with one ride, Sebastian also rode up "Cementies" prior to the
men's race on Sunday

By about 2:15pm the helicopters filming the race came into view over Highton and a few minutes later the riders descended on Fyansford. Significant winds out on the couse had fragmented the peloton. The first rider to enter Fyansford was English rider Emma Pooley with a handy lead heading up "Cementies" however, in a sign of things to come the following day, she was reeled in with the race eventually being won in a bunch sprint by the Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) ahead of Ruth Winder (Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling Team) and Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle High5).

Lead rider Emma Pooley hits Fyansford

The remains of a fragmented peloton riding down The Deviation

On Sunday it was back on the bike and out to see the men's race. Once again I watched the riders leave town from the Breakwater Bridge before heading back to Fyansford. This time I opted for a position halfway up "Cementies" from which to view proceedings.

The peloton crossing the Barwon at Breakwater

The riders came and went, viewed by a cluster of interested locals and I headed off firstly to Queen's Park, then to the bottom of Challambra Crescent followed by a position on the rowing course to watch as the peloton proceeded to reel in a four man breakaway which had been out in front since the opening kilometres of the race.

Riding up "Cementies" with a glimpse of a Eugene von Guerard view
in the background

Lap 1: racing onto the Queen's Park Bridge

Lap 2: heading for Challambra Crescent via the Barwon at Highton

Lap 3: the final time along Barrabool Rd

With the third lap of the city circuit underway, I headed down to the Waterfront to watch what turned out to be a dramatic finish which saw German rider Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) win by half a bike length from Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) and an unfortunate Cameron Meyer (Korda Mentha Real Estate Australian National Team) who had led the final sprint only seconds before in third place.

100m to go as Arndt, Gerrans and Meyer sprint for the finish line

Yell for Cadel!

Following the Momentum Energy People's Ride and the women's race on Saturday 31st January, Sunday saw the inaugural staging of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. As I did the day before, I headed off on Sunday to various points along the Barwon in order to snap some photos of the men in action.
My first stop was once again the Breakwater Bridge which the peloton hit about 15 minutes into the race. With threatening, grey skies overhead, I joined a group of locals and waited for the travelling circus to arrive. This they did with the usual parade of zooming motorbikes and support cars accompanied by the expected cavalcade of police vehicles.

All together over the Breakwater Bridge

A few short seconds and they were off to Barwon Heads and with drizzle beginning to fall, I was off to Queen's Park to await the return of the field, with enough time for a coffee stop along the way. Once there, I sussed out my options, selected a spot and as the rain continued to fall, I ate lunch and kept an eye on the live stream to see how far off the riders were. As I waited, I was joined by increasing numbers of the locals who had come out from the surrounding homes to watch the race pass by, which it eventually did at about 2pm.


The entourage crossing the Queen's Park Bridge ahead of the riders

I snapped away along with everyone else as the three leading riders swept across the bridge closely followed by the peloton with a number of riders off the back.

Again the riders disappeared, although not so quickly this time, as the field was quite spread and their next move was a sharp left up the 20% gradient on Melville Ave.

The lead riders clear the bridge with the peloton hot on its heels

I suspect the front rider was not so much smiling for the camera as grimacing

Once they had passed, I followed on foot at a much more leisurely pace and headed off to my next viewing location overlooking Queen's Park at the top of the Deviation. Once again, I waited with another group of locals as the riders hit the first lap of the 20km street circuit around Geelong. I estimated a wait of about 20 minutes and I was pretty close to the mark.

The leading trio hit the Deviation

The peloton about to descend

With thunderous-looking grey clouds in the background, the field were over the hill and gone in short order, on their way to climb the cement works hill, (known by us locals as "Cementies"). At about this point, the rain started to come down again - harder. My next test was to see if I could ride the 5km back to the Barwon Bridge in town in the time it took them to ride the 10.5km to the same point via Geelong West and the Waterfront. And the answer was? Not quite. I did make it to the opposite side of the river in time to grab a few more snaps but then had to cross the river and wait to catch them on the third (and final) lap of the street circuit.

This I managed to do and set myself up at the bottom of the bend in the hope of some good action shots. Although the man of the moment didn't oblige by appearing front and centre in any of my photos, I did get a reasonable shot of some of the Team Cannondale-Garmin boys taking the bend for the final time.

Team Cannondale-Garmin rounding the bend on Barrabool Road

Then there was just one final climb for me, up from the river and down to the Waterfront, hopefully in time for the big finish. This time, I arrived with more than a few minutes to spare and took up position about 100m from the finish line to wait.

The sprint for the finish line

It didn't take long for the riders to appear and then the sprint for the finish line was well and truly on. When it was all done and dusted, the win went to Gianni Meersman of Extixx-Quick Step, second was Simon Clarke from Orica GreenEDGE and third was Nathan Haas from Team Cannondale-Garmin With Cadel finishing fifth.

Cadel and son Robel heading for the presentation area after the race

As the riders headed for their tents, we headed over to watch the presentations before heading home to wait for next year's race...

A ride to remember

This weekend sees thousands of cyclists once again take to the streets and roads around Geelong, this time in the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. The elite men's race will take place tomorrow (Sunday) around a course in part based on the route used during the 2010 UCI World Championships.
This morning however, it was the turn of the citizens when at 7am, almost 4,000 riders left the Geelong Waterfront on a community ride over a distance of either 65km or 111km. All riders head first to Barwon Heads, with the short course riders heading back to Geelong whilst those on the long course followed a similar route to be taken by the elite riders, heading next to Torquay and Bells Beach before returning via an inland route through Moriac to Geelong to take on the seriously nasty hill-climbs of Challambra Crescent, Melville Ave and "Cementies Hill" on the way back to the Waterfront.
Whilst I wasn't up early enough to watch the riders depart, I did come across the tail end of the bunch making their way across the Barwon at Queen's Park before heading up Melville Ave.

Riders in the Momentum Energy Community Ride crossing the Queen's Park Bridge

Some were making harder work of it than others this late in the ride, but spirits still seemed generally high.

Riders heading up "Joey's Hill" to Melville Ave

Meanwhile, things got a little more serious with the start of the elite women's race at 11:30am. I grabbed a spot on the Breakwater Bridge, settled in and waited for the fun to start - and it didn't take long. Within 10 minutes of the race start, I could see the media helicopters overhead and then the support vehicles and media bikes began appearing, accompanied by a sizeable squad of Geelong's finest flashing their reds and blues.

One of four media helicopters covering the race

In a matter of seconds, the peloton appeared around the corner...

The peloton sweeping around the corner over the bridge

...and then just as quickly, they were gone..

The rear of the peloton crossing the Breakwater Bridge

Meanwhile above the river, one of the local White-faced Herons was forced to share airspace with a much larger type of bird:

There were several birds in the sky today.

Then, while the peloton headed off to take in the sights of Barwon Heads and the Great Ocean Road, I headed for "Cementies" (Hyland Rd in Fyansford which runs up beside the cement works). I arrived (via bike) in time to take up pole position on the seat half way up. There were a couple of other amateur snappers already waiting a little further up the hill and as we waited...and waited...well past the expected time of arrival, several more of the locals wandered down for a look.


One of Cadel's boys sussing out the course

At one point, a couple of the men's teams headed past - no doubt checking out the route for tomorrow's race - then we were treated to the spectacle of local Geelong West legend Sebastian Flaccavento slogging his way up the hill on one of his tiny bikes. He had his seat up nice and high today as he does for long rides, so I can only assume that he was the last rider through in the earlier community ride (the long course...of course).

Sebastian making his way up "Cementies"

After Sebastian came and went, we continued to wait. By now I had become quite well-acquainted with the lady standing to my left who then introduced me to a friend who also arrived. And still we waited. I know that the riders had expressed concern about the high winds forecast leading up to the race and I suspect their concerns were justified.


Not long to wait now...

It was not until about 2:30pm that the lead rider appeared around the corner and headed up the final hill. This as it turned out, was South Australian rider Rachel Neylan from the Building Champions Squad who made her move up Melville Ave and managed to hold off Valentina Scandolara from Orica - AIS and Tessa Fabry from High5 Dream Team to take the win.

Orica - AIS rider Amanda Spratt climbing the hill

After the lead riders passed, we waited in vain for any sight of a peloton. It seems the hills had taken their toll and the group pictured below was the largest remaining.

The remains of the peloton heading up

The tight bunch which had crossed the Barwon at Breakwater, had been torn to shreds by the time the riders climbed the hill above the Moorabool and somehow I doubt they had time to appreciate the view!

Looking past the riders to the Ring Road and the Lewis Bandt Bridge over the
Moorabool River

Pedal Power

It's summer in Geelong and sporting events abound. Some are local, some are national and some are international. Yesterday, one of the bigger shows around rolled into town: the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. The tour is Victoria's oldest road cycling stage race and is listed on the international cycling calendar. The arrival of the 2011 edition of the tour, finishing up Deviation Road beside the Barwon was the subject of one of my previous posts.
This year however, things were a little different. Instead of October, the event was moved forward to February and (unfortunately) there was no stage finish into Geelong and the Barwon was not on the route - although the Moorabool was, albeit briefly. So, after Wednesday's prologue in Melbourne, the first stage got underway at 10:30am along a sparkling Geelong Waterfront - but I wasn't there to see it.
Instead of fighting with the crowds in town, I opted to catch the peloton on the outskirts just outside the neutral zone and where the racing really began. Co-incidentally, it was also the point at which the riders passed between the Moorabool River as it flows from Batesford and that earliest of squatting runs taken up by John Cowie and David Stead, now the site of Kardinia International College at Bell Post Hill.

The entourage preceding the riders through Bell Post Hill

I arrived early and watched as first a string of officials streamed past - judges, timer, race director, tour guests, chief commissaire, a flotilla of marshalls and media in cars and on motorbikes, all escorted by a sizeable contingent of Geelong's finest law enforcement officers. The riders appeared over the hill en masse, with the first attempt at a breakaway already happening as I watched, with one rider off the front of the bunch by several metres.

The peloton as the race got underway

As fast as they arrived, they were gone again with their support cars and yet more police cars bringing up the rear.

The Peloton a Bell Post Hill with the Moorabool Valley behind

For them, it was out to Anakie and Staughtonvale via some steep-ish hills before heading across to Yendon and into Ballarat for the stage finish.

And then they were gone (note the attempt at an early break at the front)

For me, it was off up the highway in air-conditioned comfort to my next vantage point on the Yendon-Egerton Road where I had lunch and settled in to await the arrival of the peloton, or what remained of it after two and a half hours of solid riding, including a sprint and two hill climbs with temperatures rising to the mid-30s.
So why there you might wonder? Because this was the point at which the route crossed the Moorabool River - or to be specific, the Moorabool River West Branch. I had been there on one other occasion to snap some photos of the historic bluestone bridge which spans the river at this point.

Bluestone bridge over the Moorabool West Branch on the Yendon-Egerton Road

I doubt that this particular piece of history was of great interest to the cyclists, who began to arrive almost on schedule a little after 1pm. As before, there was the usual swarm of lead vehicles before a much-reduced bunch swept down the opposite bank and across the little bridge, passing my position as they made their way up the opposite side.

The lead riders and their support vehicles cross the Moorabool West Branch

In addition to the odd toot from the lead vehicles, I fancy I may there may even have been a quick grin or two from the bunch as they headed past - or was that just a grimace of pain?

The boys from Garmin-Sharp including - I believe - the then race leader Jack Bauer
(yellow left) and Orica GreenEDGE's Simon Gerrans (yellow right)

 Either way, the group of about thirty riders was dominated at that stage as expected by the big guns of Garmin-Sharp and Orica GreenEDGE. Following them, a lone rider from Team Budget Forklifts was trying to cross the gap with three riders - two from Rapha Condor JLT and one from the Synergy Baku Cycling Project team - in pursuit.
The next group to pass were being lead out by the UHC Pro Cycling Team and some of the African Wildlife Safaris Cycling Team with a few of the Avanti boys, a couple of the New Zealand National Team and a Cannondale rider thrown in for good measure.

Follow the leaders! The second group of riders crossing the Moorabool

A third and a fourth group followed and then one final rider who was making hard work of it up even this relatively small slope. I didn't get a photo but suffice to say you know it's been a hard day at the office when you are being lead out by the sagwagon!
A later reading of a race report informed me that it had been the plan of Orica GreenEDGE to use the parts of the stage where wind was likely to be a problem to break the peloton apart - a plan which at that point seemed to be working.
The end result I read however was that the Orica boys couldn't manage to shake Team Garmin-Sharp and it came down to a bunch sprint for the line in Ballarat in which Garmin-Sharp rider Nathan Haas just edged out Orica sprinter Matthew Goss.

Vive le Tour!

Cyclists on the Barwon at Geelong

With half the country - me included - currently obsessed with the sport of cycling, I thought it might be of interest to look at the history of cycling along the Barwon and around Geelong. Over recent years, this has usually taken the form of leisurely rides and a few more energetic forays for the purpose of exercise, especially as new trails and paths have been built.
Historically, bikes have always been popular in Geelong and our association with the bike dates back to 1869 when a local coach-painter began producing the new "velocipede" (what we would call a penny farthing) which he had heard was the new thing in France. By 1881, there was enough interest the new sport that the call went out for those interested to form a penny farthing club whose first ride departed from the post office on 3rd October.
As the sport developed, Geelong was able to boast its champions, such as Sir Hubert Opperman in the 1920s and 30s and Russell Mockridge in the 1940s and 50s, before his untimely death in 1958 when he collided with a bus on his way to a race. Now of course, Geelong (well, Barwon Heads) can boast one of the red hot favourites to win the 2011 Tour de France - Cadel Evans.
In an earlier era however, when owning a car was the exception rather than the rule for many, bicycles were an important mode of transport, however their recreational value was also recognised through the establishment of social riding clubs, such as the Geelong Pedal Club which was established in August, 1954 - the second in the country and established a week after the Ballarat club. It was estimated that there were some 35, 000 bikes in Geelong at this time.
A close association between cycling and the river has only eventuated in more recent years as facilities have improved. There can be no doubt however, of the necessity for such infrastructure as a quick glance at the newspapers from the first half of the 20th century are littered with articles describing the circumstances under which cyclists and motor vehicles came into contact - often with fatal consequences - as it was expected that cyclists use the roads like all other traffic. In particular, the Barwon Heads Road seems to have been a treacherous stretch for those on bikes.
Likewise, not all associations with the Barwon and cycling have been positive. In one particularly gruesome incident in May, 1929, the body of a missing Japanese laundryman was found in the river at South Geelong. Newspaper reports at the time stated that he was found with a bicycle "entangled around his neck". No further information was provided to clarify this odd set of circumstances.
In another sad incident in January of 1915, the body of a teenage boy who had drowned whilst swimming with friends near the Excelsior Woollen Mill (now Godfrey Hirst) was recovered, along with a variety of debris, including a discarded bicycle.
In recent years however, as leisure activities have become more important and facilities have improved, the river has become one of the best places in Geelong for recreational riding. Recognising this, various official bodies are working towards providing a network of interconnected bike tracks and trails throughout Geelong and surrounds. As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are moves afoot to connect the river trail to the Geelong Waterfront via a dedicated bike lane up Swanston Street which, I am pleased to note, is nearing completion.

Section of UCI cycling course along the Barwon

Biking along the Barwon is not only an activity for all types of people, but increasingly includes a rather wide range of cycles. Of course there are the traditional mountain and hybrid bikes to say nothing of kids on trikes and scooters, but the small-wheeled, fold-up bikes are also becoming increasingly popular with riders of a certain age whilst the traditional tandem bicycle can also be seen on the odd occasion. Recently however, a new breed of tandem cycling has become popular with family riders - namely the various options which enable adult riders to pull smaller children on their own bike or wheeled attachment.
Another, rather different take on cycling with a Geelong twist, is the recent invention of a front wheel drive, recumbent bike by John Tolhurst and his brother Kim who grew up at Ocean Grove. Known as the Cruzebike, it was featured in an edition of The Geelong Times early last year which also gives an interesting insight into kids and their bikes in the 1950s and 60s. Whilst I have yet to see a Cruzebike in action around the river, newspaper articles inform me that I just have not been in the right place at the right time, although I suspect I may have seen one of these curious machines - or perhaps it was a more traditional recumbent bike - being ridden along the Barwon Heads Road.

The Peloton rounding the corner onto
Barrabool Road during the Men's Elite
road race

Whilst much of the cycling along the Barwon takes place in Geelong and its surrounds, one small town has reinvented itself as the home of mountain bike riding. The town of Forrest near the source of the Barwon in the Otways was built upon the logging industry of the 19th and 20th centuries which saw much of the old growth forest in the region clear felled. As logging in the region was discontinued, these little towns had to find other ways to survive and so Forrest turned to cycling.
In recent times, the off-road trails and tracks around this region of trees and hills have been opened up to mountain bike riding. There are routes to suit all levels of ability and Forrest is more than happy to play host to these cycling tourists.
In addition to the more serious mountain bike tracks, the route of the old railway line which was built to service the logging industry is now in the process of being converted to a riding path, known as the "Tiger Rail Trail". Currently, it extends from Forrest to the town of Barwon Downs, but the eventual plan is to have the route extended as far as Birregurra, taking in the full length of the orginal branch line - a distance of some 30km.
Cycling has been important to Geelong and the Barwon for over 140 years, since that first boneshaker was built by a local enthusiast, however the region's association with cycling reached a pinnacle last year when the World Cycling Championships were held in Geelong. In addition to introducing Geelong to the world, it also provided a perfect opportunity to showcase the Barwon as the world's best riders pedaled along Barrabool Road and came flying down Scenic Road and across the specially installed Bailey Bridge at Queen's Park.
The general community benefited from this increased interest in cycling as sections of the river trail were resurfaced, new signage was erected and the aforementioned bike lane up Swanston Street was started. Another big plus for those wanting to exercise a little more seriously, was the construction of the criterium track beside the river on Belmont Common. No doubt the local bike retailers also reaped the rewards of a renewed interest in cycling throughout the region.
Whilst the weather of late has not exactly been conducive to riding, walking or making any other type of progress around the river, it is probably time to drag out the bike and do another lap or two of the trail.