The race (or rather, non-competitive timed team event <eyeroll>) was centred around the fantastic Bird in Hand Winery which provided a free coffee for every rider plus some prizes for the random draw. As with the previous PACC Sportif, this one featured some strade bianche, this time in two sections. The first of these sections was up a fairly steep bit of road, while the second had a few deep potholes to avoid. Nothing too bad as long as you remained concentrated and focused.
Six riders had signed up for the PACC Men of Steel, though two late withdrawals, including the tough as nails Mick, saw us down to only four riders, less than the minimum require to be considered for the final results. The riders that we were left with however seemed to be fairly evenly matched pace wise, so we were hopeful for a fairly smooth ride at a less vomit inducing pace. By virtue of me signing on first I was crowned captain for the day, which in my case merely meant I wore the numbers and tried my best to channel my inner Mick.
The first lap was our first real look at the circuit, so we weren't sure exactly how to pace ourselves. Inside the first kilometre the course went sharply upward, and continued to do so for much longer than our still cold legs would have preferred! Once over the top we found a series of undulations which tested the legs, but at the same time provided some nice downhills to give the legs a bit of a rest. A sharp left turn and we had our first look at the first section of unsealed road. For the most part it wasn't too bad; bumpy as expected but fairly reasonable quality. This was also the scene for the second climb in the lap, weighing in at ~10%. There was short section of sealed road, before entering the second unsealed section. The second unsealed section was generally flat, some massive potholes and fairly fast. White road lead to black bitumen for the long (and fairly awesome!) downhill stretch to the finish line. With a lap under our belt we had a bit more of an idea of what to expect for the remainder.
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Second lap was a bit of a consolidation lap. With the legs hurting a bit, the pace was backed off a touch so we had enough in the bank to complete all three laps. Lap 2 was the only lap that our team had a bit of an incident, for which I had a front row seat. Travelling along the second unsealed section, Gus hit a pothole at speed and was bounced sharply to the right, his bike now at an angle of ~45 degrees to the road in front of me. I'd all but assumed that I was about to hit the deck when his bike miraculously righted itself and Gus continued on his way. Quite how it turned out that way we'll never know!
Third lap, and I think we were really starting to feel it on the climbs and tiring in general. As a team we did really well, generally staying in a tight formation, but regrouping if it fell apart on the steep climbs and performing as a team throughout. Pretty sure Mick would have approved :) Home stretch on the final lap was awesome, finishing in a fast, tight formation and then heading straight to the BBQ!
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Miss V and I stuck around for the presentations where there were some random prize draws where, as the only representative of the Men of Steel still present, I claimed a bottle of Bird in Hand Sauvignon Blanc. Nice!
After singing Happy Birthday to Rob W we ate a delicious cake made by none other than Miss V, before sitting and enjoying the scenery at the winery. Awesome day out!
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| View from the winery post-race. |
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