While I am not participating in the Croc it is interesting to receive updates from mates who are. Steve Billington has recently join the Bernard Racing Team and has been seriously stomping on his peddles all year with excellent results. Here is his outlook on things Tropical QLD.
Stage 1 done. It is hot and humid up here but we have been lucky, the first stage was on single track in the trees. A classic XC race, only 1.5hrs, so the real race starts tomorrow. I managed to get second in my category, M2, which is great, I just have to hunt down the guy in 1st, who is from Switzerland. The track was awesome, its interesting that the euros smash the fire trails but are terrible at single track.
2nd stage tomorrow starts from Cairns CBD so the TV cameras should be there. Look out for green black and white kits. There are 8 of us in the team so we should stand out. A guy from our team is currently 1st overall.
The updates are a bit sporadic as we drift in and out of mobile and net coverage.
Day 3 was a pretty good stage for me. It was neutral for the first 18km and then bang, a massive hill to sort out the field. I felt good so was catching and dropping guys all the way up. We were in the forest for half the stage which was great as it was cooler. We then punched out onto firetrail and it was so hot. I was isolated and had no one to work with so was in struggle street up until the final drink station where some guys caught me so we were able to get a train going, taking
turns on the front. I ended up finishing 25th overall and 3rd in my category so pretty happy.
For my category M2, the 1st guy is untouchable but as someone said, I am sandwiched between 2 Belgium guys who seem to tag on who is going to come 2nd for the stage. After stage 3 Rider 102 had 7 minutes on me.
Day 4 was a 4 lap, 26km track with 600m climbing every lap. The course was a mixture of firetrail and super rough single track. I started poorly, very stiff and had one of team mates lead me out for the 1st 30mins until my legs came good. 3 days of racing is starting to take its toll. I then picked up and was reeling guys up consistently. There was a stuff up with the feed station with the organisers preventing assistance so my nutrition was all mixed up and I ended up having to do
the remaining 3 laps on water. I was consuming 2 water bottles per lap and running out just as I came in. I had to adjust my feeding strategy and was punching gels every 40mins instead of every hour as I usually do with a sports drink. I caught Rider 102 on the last lap, he was frantic when he saw me coming and I managed to put a minute on him. Not much, but least I didn't lose anymore time. Rider 104 got 2.5 mins out of me so we are getting pretty congested in 2,3 and 4th. Today I finished 21st and 3rd in category. Still getting podiums which is good for the team and sponsors.
My strengths compared to the euro guys are hill climbs and singletrack. They can smoke me on the flats though. I am a bit surprised, isn't there some serious hills in europe? I guess all those session riding up and down ryde hospital hill are paying off.
4 down, 5 to go.
PS we have a couple of powerhouses in the team, but they suck on hills, so we are waiting for a stage that starts flat so we can get a 8 man train going aka HTC on the tour.
Regards, Steve.
Stage 1 done. It is hot and humid up here but we have been lucky, the first stage was on single track in the trees. A classic XC race, only 1.5hrs, so the real race starts tomorrow. I managed to get second in my category, M2, which is great, I just have to hunt down the guy in 1st, who is from Switzerland. The track was awesome, its interesting that the euros smash the fire trails but are terrible at single track.
2nd stage tomorrow starts from Cairns CBD so the TV cameras should be there. Look out for green black and white kits. There are 8 of us in the team so we should stand out. A guy from our team is currently 1st overall.
The updates are a bit sporadic as we drift in and out of mobile and net coverage.
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| Care of: Regina Stanger |
turns on the front. I ended up finishing 25th overall and 3rd in my category so pretty happy.
For my category M2, the 1st guy is untouchable but as someone said, I am sandwiched between 2 Belgium guys who seem to tag on who is going to come 2nd for the stage. After stage 3 Rider 102 had 7 minutes on me.
Day 4 was a 4 lap, 26km track with 600m climbing every lap. The course was a mixture of firetrail and super rough single track. I started poorly, very stiff and had one of team mates lead me out for the 1st 30mins until my legs came good. 3 days of racing is starting to take its toll. I then picked up and was reeling guys up consistently. There was a stuff up with the feed station with the organisers preventing assistance so my nutrition was all mixed up and I ended up having to do
the remaining 3 laps on water. I was consuming 2 water bottles per lap and running out just as I came in. I had to adjust my feeding strategy and was punching gels every 40mins instead of every hour as I usually do with a sports drink. I caught Rider 102 on the last lap, he was frantic when he saw me coming and I managed to put a minute on him. Not much, but least I didn't lose anymore time. Rider 104 got 2.5 mins out of me so we are getting pretty congested in 2,3 and 4th. Today I finished 21st and 3rd in category. Still getting podiums which is good for the team and sponsors.
My strengths compared to the euro guys are hill climbs and singletrack. They can smoke me on the flats though. I am a bit surprised, isn't there some serious hills in europe? I guess all those session riding up and down ryde hospital hill are paying off.
4 down, 5 to go.
PS we have a couple of powerhouses in the team, but they suck on hills, so we are waiting for a stage that starts flat so we can get a 8 man train going aka HTC on the tour.
Regards, Steve.
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