CLP and Miss V's Fifth Amy's Gran Fondo.
Our fifth Amy's Gran Fondo! Wow! What started as a bit of an experiment for us seems to have become our regular getaway and escape. We love coming back to Lorne, not just for the cycling, but for the general atmosphere in the town which really seems to embrace the event and the buzz around the place.
Weather-wise, things were looking a bit grim. Weather forecasts leading up to the event seemed to indicate that our miraculous run of dry weather Gran Fondos was up. Most years we've had the threat of rain, but dry weather would magically appear on the Sunday for the ride. I don't think that any amount of wishing was going to deliver that outcome this time around!
Friday - Travel and arrival
We arrived in a fairly damp looking Lorne on the Friday night, checking in to our super luxury (for us!) apartment practically on the start finish straight. Weather forecasts indicated that it was likely that our 4 year good weather streak was likely to run out with showers forecast for both Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, we'd come prepared and had our wet weather gear at the ready. A walk up to Chopstix for our standard Friday night meal and we were set, and we'd truly arrived. We bumped into a bunch of familiar faces at Chopstix and had a bit of a chat as we waited. It's really amazing how many people from Adelaide we bump into here!
Saturday - Time to ride
Saturday morning was used for bike setup and checking. After a bit of breakfast and check of the weather, we decided to head out for a short shakedown ride along the coast. It was still pretty dry, but fairly breezy. If nothing else, it gave us an opportunity to practice keeping Miss V on my wheel to shelter from the wind.
Our Saturday ride was a bit shorter than we typically would do, primarily because Miss V was looking to save her legs a bit. For once, health leading into the event wasn't a problem. No colds, no sore backs, no sore knees.. nothing. We thought it best not to mess that up by over doing it now! So a simple 10km out, 10 km back was plenty to assess whether the bikes needed any attention. Fortunately, everything was running smoothly so there was nothing much to do. Even though the ride was short we were still able to take in some of the beautiful scenery along the coast.
Strava data
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| Pinny and Red Flash resting at Mt Defiance |
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| Selfie time! |
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We arrived back in town as the course was being setup for the Womens Criterium. Back to the room, showered and changed, we headed to the event village to redeem vouchers, and purchase items we felt needed a home ;) We hung around to watch the criterium, and then Amy's Wall before heading back to the room for dinner and to prepare the bikes for the big ride (attaching the multitude of stickers required mainly!).
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| Womens criterium - super tough racing. |
Sunday - The big day
Sunday morning arrived and it was dry! Cold, but dry. That said, we suspected that it wouldn't stay that way. We've also done enough of these rides to know that the temperature can drop a number of degrees as soon as you enter the rain forest areas, so we dressed and prepared appropriately. Our initial concerns were the first cut off time, which seemed stupidly tight for the recreational riders. We assumed, and were shown to be correct, that they'd almost ignore that cut off.
As we waited for the start we caught up with Denis Safe and had a bit of a chat. It's always good to catch up with Mary and Denis, though this time around, sadly, we didn't manage to bump into Mary.
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| Miss V waiting at the start. |
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| Large crowd covering Mountjoy Parade |
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As we were doing the course in reverse compared to normal, the ride started with a 10 km climb. A nice way to wake the legs up. The climb itself wasn't too bad, with very few steep bits. I did more than half in the big chain ring, before I thought that I'd best not tempt knee issues later in the ride! The "descent" from the first climb was more of a roller coaster ride, with a number of undulations along the way. We reach the first cut off 5 minutes over time, but they were letting everyone through, and encouraging people not to stop too long.
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| Miss V on the climb out of Lorne. |
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| Looking up the climb, mist in the distance. |
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The next bit through Barwon Downs was generally pleasant, with a few bits heading into a strong headwind, but manageable nevertheless. One feature of doing the course in the reverse direction was that the undulations present in this stretch felt easier gradient-wise. We reached the town of Forrest about 20 minutes ahead of the cut off so we could afford to stop and have a small break and a quick snack. Refuelled, we rolled out towards the KOM.
Out of Forrest, the road started heading upwards fairly quickly. I must have read the rider guide incorrectly, as I was expecting a 10 km KOM climb. Once the KOM start sign came into view, I figured 10 km of climbing.. except there wasn't. About 4 km I think it actually was. A bit of a disappointment as far as climbs go in my opinion. Another minor disappointment was that there was no individual timing for the climb itself as they have done in previous years, rather just an overall time to get to the KOM point.
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| Miss V riding out of Forrest towards the KOM. |
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| Miss V cresting the KOM point. |
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One fun thing was there was a "Wiggle corner" just before the KOM where a bunch of people dressed in orange, supporting a certain online retailer were making a huge amount of noise encouraging people to push hard to the summit. A nice touch. A regroup with Miss V at the KOM and we headed own the hill to the coast. The descent down Skenes Creek road was billed as being safer, but I'm not entirely convinced, especially when it was raining. That said, most of these roads are likely to be a bit sketchy in damp conditions. We got to the end of the descent and started our much anticipated 40km ride along the Great Ocean Road back into Lorne.
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| CLP at Wiggle corner |
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| Miss V at Wiggle corner |
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It was absolutely beautiful riding along the Great Ocean Road as usual. We had a few showers during the final stretch, but nothing to be too concerned about, and certainly nothing that would dampen our spirits or enjoyment. We just kept a steady pace and crossed the line under the arch together on the main street of Lorne. Job done! :)
We rolled into the event village for a well deserved bowl of pasta, and then decided to go the extra mile and treat ourselves to some food from a couple of local vendors that we discovered on Saturday. A couple of pulled pork sliders from Naturally Otway, washed down with some beer from Prickly Moses were just thing we needed.
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| Miss V enjoying the Great Ocean Road. |
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| Misty rain on the Great Ocean Road. |
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Strava Data
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| Job Done! |
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| CLP post-ride. Happy smiles! :D |
Wrap Up
As usual, a brilliant event and weekend. While doing the reverse direction was an interesting change, I really hope they go back to the original travel direction next year. I think that makes for a much more fun event.
As per usual.. if anyone is reading this sitting on the fence about signing up to do it next year. Stop sitting on the fence and do it! Hopefully we'll see you there! :)
