2013 Baw Baw Classic

Little did I know when I entered this race, that it would be the hardest 100km race I had ever done. 

As soon as the flag fell, it was on, with 78 A grade riders in the field, all trying to ride position on the road with only one lane to do so. The first hour was hard and fast with riders trying to form the early break. Eventually, three riders got away and got out to a minute and a half gap from the main field, consisting of Dave Kelly (my teammate), Nick Bensley and Pete Smith riding out front. As the main bunch settled into a rhythm, Jason Spencer decided to ride across to the break taking Darren Lapthorne, Tom Leaper and myself with him. We reached the break 10km before the feed zone and hung together until Vespers where Jason was setting a solid tempo and dispatching Tom Leaper, Dave Kelly, Pete Smith and Nick Bensley. Across the top of Vespers, Jason was on the attack again, launching down the descent to hold a 50 metre gap over Lapthorne and myself. With Jason keeping the pressure on, the gap grew out to 3 minutes and Leaper rode across the gap to Lapthorne and myself with 20km to go. The gap was closing to Spencer and the bunch was closing their gap to us, with Matt Clark dragging 38 others with him towards Baw Baw. The race was back together with 6km to go and I quickly found I had nothing left in my legs and climbed Baw Baw in the bunch, going across the line in 24^th position.

Looking back, it was a well ridden race, with Dave Kelly and myself working together as planned. Am looking forward to getting back on the dirt this weekend with the National Marathon Championships being held in Atherton, Cairns.