Woodford to Glenbrook Classic 2012 - words by Robbie McNaughton
With the woody rolling around quickly this year I was reminded by one of our
long serving customers Steve Rugendyke that I needed to enter what is one of
the best races in Australia. I stuffed around too much last year and ended
up racing under someone else's name. SO this year I did it properly. Thanks
Stoive!
The Woodford to Glenbrook event raises money for Care Flight and
consistently attracts 100's of riders to compete in its 25km point to point
fireroad course.
Starting at Woodford train Station the event weaves through some of the back
streets of Woodford before dropping onto the main fireroad that leads all
the way to the bottom of Glenbrook, dropping through 500 metres of elevation
in the process. The best thing about this race is the first 15k is made up
of primarily flat or undulating fireroad with some short sharp climbs but
once at the 15k mark it is an all downhill finish.
This year I scored a lift down with Craig Coates and Tim Wright and we
parked at Faulconbridge which afforded us a nice 5km warm up before the
start. The weather was warming and the day was a perfect 10! As usual the
race got underway on time and the 30-39 category looked pretty stacked with
well over 50 riders. The Elite field left in a hurry with Brian Price going
for his 3rd event win.
Off the start no one appeared to want to hit the front and the pace took a
while to get going. By the end of the 2nd hill though it was just myself and
an elite level rider who had started in the 30-39 bunch left to duke it out.
Typical of my racing style I would be reeled back in on the climbs and make
a get away on the following descent. This format lasted for about 15km where
I managed to put a sizeable gap of around 400 metres into the elite
challenger. I stayed out front for about 2km but with a solid 8km to go I
slowed up a touch to let him catch up so we could swap turns for the
remainder of the race. We both worked about 500km at a time up front before
swapping out for a break and the final km's went very quickly.
The last kilometre starts to wind and undulate and here is where I put some
time into 2nd place and managed to hold a small gap to the finish.
Given work has been full on, the preparation for the race wasn't great and
my time was 2 minutes slower than last year with a 46:49. A little
disappointed not to have improved but it was good to be going home with a
win none the less. Coates, Tim and I hung around at the bottom for Steve but
bad luck had come a knocking and a twisted chain followed by a broken rear
derailleur saw Steve's chances of a solid finish thrown by the wayside.
After a steep ride out back to Glenbrook shops we topped up with caffeine
and a snack before riding back up the highway to Faulconbridge. Typical of a
leisurely ride with coatesy my heart rate went higher on the way back to the
car than it did for the whole race! The day ended up being a 52km ride all
up with almost 1000 metres of climbing. Not a bad Sunday amongst all the
rain that's for sure!
For full results jump through here
Careflight Woodford to Glenbrook Classic 2012
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Woodford to Glenbrook Classic 2012 - words by Robbie McNaughton
With the woody rolling around quickly this year I was reminded by one of our
long serving customers Steve Rugendyke that I needed to enter what is one of
the best races in Australia. I stuffed around too much last year and ended
up racing under someone else's name. SO this year I did it properly. Thanks
Stoive!
The Woodford to Glenbrook event raises money for Care Flight and
consistently attracts 100's of riders to compete in its 25km point to point
fireroad course.
Starting at Woodford train Station the event weaves through some of the back
streets of Woodford before dropping onto the main fireroad that leads all
the way to the bottom of Glenbrook, dropping through 500 metres of elevation
in the process. The best thing about this race is the first 15k is made up
of primarily flat or undulating fireroad with some short sharp climbs but
once at the 15k mark it is an all downhill finish.
This year I scored a lift down with Craig Coates and Tim Wright and we
parked at Faulconbridge which afforded us a nice 5km warm up before the
start. The weather was warming and the day was a perfect 10! As usual the
race got underway on time and the 30-39 category looked pretty stacked with
well over 50 riders. The Elite field left in a hurry with Brian Price going
for his 3rd event win.
Off the start no one appeared to want to hit the front and the pace took a
while to get going. By the end of the 2nd hill though it was just myself and
an elite level rider who had started in the 30-39 bunch left to duke it out.
Typical of my racing style I would be reeled back in on the climbs and make
a get away on the following descent. This format lasted for about 15km where
I managed to put a sizeable gap of around 400 metres into the elite
challenger. I stayed out front for about 2km but with a solid 8km to go I
slowed up a touch to let him catch up so we could swap turns for the
remainder of the race. We both worked about 500km at a time up front before
swapping out for a break and the final km's went very quickly.
The last kilometre starts to wind and undulate and here is where I put some
time into 2nd place and managed to hold a small gap to the finish.
Given work has been full on, the preparation for the race wasn't great and
my time was 2 minutes slower than last year with a 46:49. A little
disappointed not to have improved but it was good to be going home with a
win none the less. Coates, Tim and I hung around at the bottom for Steve but
bad luck had come a knocking and a twisted chain followed by a broken rear
derailleur saw Steve's chances of a solid finish thrown by the wayside.
After a steep ride out back to Glenbrook shops we topped up with caffeine
and a snack before riding back up the highway to Faulconbridge. Typical of a
leisurely ride with coatesy my heart rate went higher on the way back to the
car than it did for the whole race! The day ended up being a 52km ride all
up with almost 1000 metres of climbing. Not a bad Sunday amongst all the
rain that's for sure!
For full results jump through here