2011 Stratford to Dargo Classic

Wellington CC in conjunction with Cycling Victoria  hosted the 3rd Annual Stratford to Dargo Classic on Saturday 5 November 2011.

Dargo Pub

Classix Racing was represented by Mathew Marques and myself – our primary aim being to tackle the monster climb at the end of 92 km of hard racing over rolling hills and serious intermediate climbs. We were joined by Brave Dave Anderson from GoBraveDave fame in his maiden moto/swanny role and my father Laurie who came along for the ride. Angelo (Vanilla) Gasparini was a late withdrawal due to injury.

Laurie "the Statistician"

The team bus headed down the highway on Friday morning to set up base camp at Eagle Point, about 45 minutes from Stratford.

Eagle Point Jetty

Mat and I rolled the legs over on Friday afternoon on one of the local road race circuits used by the Bairnsdale and Riviera CC before settling in for night of carbo loading.

Pre-race training

The day of the race was met with a warm but foggy beginning. Mat was lining up in C Grade and I was in the M2-4 race.

At the start

The M2-4’s didn’t wait for long after the neutral section before David (Steggles) Sturt and his domestique, Andrew Weightman attacked the bunch. Steggles was urging a group of 6 riders (including myself) to push on but the peleton responded and bridged the gap after several minutes. Weightman rolled off the front a few more times before Steggles launched a solo attack – within 6 km of the start he was 100 hundred metres ahead of the bunch and not to be seen for the rest of the day. We later found out that he had bridged across to the A/B bunch making up the 5 minute headstart that they had on our bunch.

It wasn’t until the first major climb of the race just after Iguana Creek that the rest of the bunch came to life. After scooting or walking our bikes across the wooden bridge as directed by the race officials, Ciaran Jones, Weightman and some other riders formed a small break.

Crossing the wooden bridge

A chase group consisting of Gabriel Carey, Mike Villani, Sean Wilkenson, Wayne Flint, another two riders unknown to me and myself were in pursuit. I was able to work well with the group on the climb but as we headed down the descent I found myself losing contact and was soon 100 metres off the back. Although trying in vain to bridge, and closing the gap slightly, it was too much for me and my race was over at that point. I pushed on to the feed zone and soon after was caught by the rest of the bunch who must have regrouped after the climb. We all rode into Dargo but again I lost contact on the last descent. After a drink bottle from the feeding zone we were onto the final climb of the day.

At the feed station (courtesy Marissa Farrell)

 

Mat pushes on (courtesy Marissa Farrell)

Words cannot describe how hard this climb is – I have done several Mt Baw Baw Classics and I don’t know if it was the weather or what (Baw Baw is held in cool to mild conditions) whereas Dargo was hot (30 degrees) but this climb was much harder. The climb goes for 11 km at an average gradient of 10% – it seems much steeper (eventually the climb intersects on the Mt Hotham climb near CRB hill). Apart from one small section of downhill (a few hundred metres), each bend is met with another and then another and then another pitch upwards. It is unrelenting. After about 7 kilometres, my body gave in to the rigours of the day and the climb and I retired to the team bus.

Struggling on up the climb

Mat fought on bravely and finished a fantastic 4th in C Grade. David Sturt ran out the eventual winner for the M4s.

Mat - exhausted after the race

Sunday was spent on a recovery ride before exploring the waterways of Paynesville and Brave Dave and Mat trying their hand as crew for local yachtie and identity Johnny G.

Captain Brave

Wellington CC are to be congratulated on running an extremely well organised event. The set up facilities at the Bowls Club were great, water was provided to all riders at Dargo, and free refreshments were available at the top of the gruelling climb. Finally, a bus was organised to transport riders back to Stratford if the did not have a support vehicle. Well done on a great day. Thanks to Marissa Farrell for some of the great action shots on the road and of course to Brave Dave and Laurie for all their help on the day.

Dargo Pub

Mat – exhausted after the race

At the start

Mat pushes on (courtesy Marissa Farrell)

Struggling on up the climb

Laurie “the Statistician”

Eagle Point Jetty

Captain Brave

At the feed station (courtesy Marissa Farrell)

Crossing the wooden bridge

Pre-race training