Hit me with your event recaps and race reports! I don’t race much but love hearing about peoples crits or RR or crazy ass gravel ultras. Strava files and photos encouraged!
Enjoying this enthusiasm but an ideal scenario would be to create an individual topic for each race report 
I’ll start for a laugh (this will become clearer) and post here as I don’t feel confident my report justifies its own thread.
I raced one of our state graded races last weekend, basically club racing level but a slightly higher level, nothing outrageous. I’m training for Amys Gran Fondo in October, which will be the World Champs of gran fondos this year here in Australia.
I got rag dolled on the hilly circuit, which has numerous 10 degree pinches. I was happy my normalized power for the 2 hour race reached 300w, but this didn’t do the hip/back injury I’ve been carrying any good. I spent the next week at home nursing a very sore back and not riding. I finished about 30 seconds down from the winner after being gapped on the final pinch and bottom half in the finishing order.
If I can get my hip and back sorted, training for Amys should in theory go OK, but a bit worried now.
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Amys Fondo looks like such an amazing ride, you’ll definitely have to post a recap and photos from that!
I was waiting for the action photos from the race organizer but haven’t seen anything in a week, so might as well throw my report in here too…
The Bluff to Bluff Road Race, 49mi race in rural Wisconsin. A small race in a series of small races called the WiSport series, which will unfortunately fold after this year. I never made it to another series event as they were all >3 hours drive away, but this was my 3rd year to the Bluff to Bluff. There is very little racing to be had around here and Im not part of a club, so i only do 1-2 races a year so this is a big event for me, even if the total field is only usually ~55 riders.
My goal every year is just to improve upon the year prior and learn from my tactical failures. Year 1 I was dropped at mile 3 (yes, really) after the peloton shot off at 33mph after the neutral roll-out. Year 2 I lasted to the KOM at mile 13, got into a groupetto, but after taking a pull, dropped to the back of the line but fumbled with my bottle and lost the wheel, and was toast. This year also made it to the KOM, actually passed a number of riders, got into the groupetto, and made it stick. We had 5 strong riders and mopped up another 5 that dropped off the lead group. I was hoping to get a good pace line going but these guys wanted to race, so I spent the next 20mi getting annoyed with people skipping pulls. I worked on my cornering, and successfully spun my legs through some quad cramps, and finished 19th/30. Set a PR for the course and best 50km.
Next up this Sunday, Race the Lake! 88mi race around Lake Winnebago that literally goes right past my street. I’m hoping to win the “beer prime” (a prize I made up) for the 2nd straight year and be the 1st rider to stop at the “free beer” house at mile 71 and chug a beer.
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love the report @WRad and especially the beer prime!
I’ll try to keep this thread alive, I want to read other people’s race recaps!
RACE THE LAKE 2025
Distance: 88mi
Finish: 240/469, 24/43 AG
Strava: Race the Lake 2025 | Strava
Really more of a timed fondo for those of us not starting in the first 2 waves. Early start, rolling out about 0615. Conditions were perfect - mostly cloudy, 72deg, and 12mph NE winds to give us a little tailwind on the back half. The group was timid at the start, so I was able to get right at the front for the starting gun and led us out the first 3mi. The race starts at the southern tip of a large lake and loops it clockwise, and the first half is 45mi of pancake flat. Everyone stayed together until the run-in to the first climb at High Cliff State Park, which strings out the entire group. I hit the top then pulled off to pee, and found myself solo for the next 10mi. Picked up some stragglers who refused to pull through, and later dropped them on the long false-flat past the wind farm - my least favorite segment every year. Struggled with cramps but did my best to spin through it. Turned south again and rode the tailwind with good solo speed. Then HORRAY at mile 71 the roadside house with the FREE BEER sign. Stopped for a cold light beer, tried to stretch but locked up my left leg in the process. I didn’t win the “beer prime” (which I made up in my head) they said I was the 2nd person to stop for a beer. Paced things well for my goal time of sub-4:30, but hit a wall with 5mi to go. Limped it home after some fast descents and finished at 4:27.
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OK here comes a report on Amys Gran Fondo in Lorne, Australia, aka the “world champs”. (this year Amys was the World Gran Fondo Champs)
I entered the 50-54 yrs age group category after qualifying at Tour of Brisbane. I moved to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, which was convenient but also interrupted my training.
After eating my body weight in carbs on Saturday under the nutritional guidance of teammate and housemate for the weekend Weapon X, I was ready to tackle the 130km course with 204-odd fellow MAMILs. The weather was perfect - a northerly had blown warm winds down to what is often a frigid coastline facing Bass Strait. The roads were dry, if littered with rough sections the organisers / council had done an admirable job of patching and spray painting for us.
The course starts in Lorne, a coastal Victorian holiday town along the Great Ocean Road, but turns immediately uphill and inland towards Benwerrin, the first of two climbs. It’s not a steep climb, hovering around 4 or 5%, which suits me as a bigger rider. Due to being a bit late to the start line I queued up at the rear of 200 riders - not ideal. I had to dig deep to overtake stragglers, pushing myself above threshold up the climb which I knew would determine the day’s selections. I figure that I overtook maybe 70-100 riders, so happy with that.
After 20 minutes of full gas effort, we crested the summit. We had a big group, the main bunch for our category - it must have been more than 50. This had gone well for me but ideally I’d have started further forward to have a shot at making a better selection. We rolled for the next 50km in a bunch with minimal fuss - pretty flat and no one got excited. There were riders from numerous countries - New Zealand, Italy, France, Spain, Malaysia, Japan, Switzerland, Poland, Canada.
Then came climb #2 of 2 for the day, which didn’t go as well for me. My stats show it was at about threshold power, which I’m happy with given it was after the first effort. But I started to feel the subtle onset of cramps if I changed position on the bike. I was suffering. It was a climb in stages - it would ascent for a few 100m, flatten our or descent, then hit another ramp. I’d not ridden it before so wasn’t sure how many of these hits were to come. This was worrying me as after each one I’d feel a bit more vulnerable - struggling to hold the bunch.
It turns out the qualifiers for this event were - by my standard anyway - pretty decent riders. At 192cm about 83kg, I know if it ramps above 7% I start to feel a marked disadvantage to more compact riders. This was OK - mostly being about 5% with a few pinches, but I was on the limit and having that argument with myself about how much I wanted this. Luckily I won and only detached slightly - easily got back on by the last summit.
From there I knew my position was safe - I’m not going to get dropped once the uphill ramps end. But he had the long and winding descent down to the Great Ocean Road - in what were very high and gusty winds on the day. There were a few moments on exposed sections where gusts would take the bike away from you - but it was mostly in protected tree cover.
The descent was arguably the most interesting part of the race. I like descending and am - maybe better than average, maybe just more happy to take risks. I set about advancing my position past more cautious competitors. The riding standard was generally high - experienced road racers. I did have one shot of high adrenaline as someone bottled out on a corner and drifted across the road into the gutter as I attempted to overtake him. I pulled the bike up enough to avoid going off the side and I’m a little ashamed to say that in the heat of the moment I may have yelled some advice. Other than that people were good - I’ve ridden enough general / open / recreational gran fondos to know you have to be super careful about not assuming others have much idea about racing etiquette, but these guys were competent. Sorry mate but I did get a fright there. Arguably I was being a bit ambitious.
Anyway, onto the Great Ocean Road for the final 40km or so. Stunning views over the ocean, beaches and rock faces along the coastline. But not much time to admire them - riding in what was still a big bunch, we’d combined with others from earlier-starting categories - along winding roads at about 50 km/h with a tailwind called for absolute focus. Again, everyone was good - high riding standard. As an over-50, I’m acutely aware that crashing at that speed almost certainly means multiple broken bones, but the others did too so it was very controlled.
In the end what I thought would be a mass sprint was more a controlled acceleration and there was no room for anyone other than the bunch leaders to sprint - which was a relief for me, to be honest. No crashes and everyone home safely. 78th position for me - our bunch took about 50th to 100th place of 204.
Looking at some of the names ahead of me, it would have been a struggle to keep up with them - so it played out about as well as possible for me I suspect. What a great day and event - near-perfect weather (wind aside), good riding, outstanding organisation, brilliant course. Highly recommended. The only thing I’d change is maybe get to the pen earlier for a better starting position.
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Sounds like an awesome experience!
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