Peter Kirkham's Mt Baw Baw Classic 2008 Race Report
- By Peter Kirkham
- Published 20-Apr-08
Had a really good read of the race right camp… and the site has been very logically laid out and sounds really good. The quality of people you have going there to hold the seminars etc sound fantastic.
That 27% sounds scary… I did a 20% at the Mt Baw Baw race on the weekend and was stuffed…
The race to the top of Mt Baw Baw was ridiculous… I saw a guy throwing up, another guy unclip and collapse, another guy break his rear derailleur, and plenty walking their bikes up the final climb… I finished the race in 25th position out of 37 riders in C Grade. It was by far the toughest race I’ve done to date.
It was certainly an experience, I think next year I might need a compact crank and a 27 cog rear cassette though… I think my cadence on the final climb was like 2rpm…(I used a 39-53 front and a 12-26 rear) and was still zig-zagging across the road to get up in some parts… my computer recorded a peak incline of 20%... I don’t know where – I wasn’t really feeling too good in the last 6km and more concentrating on not letting my stomach cramps take hold so much as that I couldn’t finish…
What’s harder is they mark the kms along the last incline as you get towards the top… 6km to go is marked at (what felt like 1km up the climb) and you’re ready to die at the 4km to go mark….
Some of those old guys are full mountain goats… I flew past one of the masters on the flatter sections only to be overtaken 40 minutes later half way up the hell climb… and only he spoke – “we meet again”… I was suitably embarrassed.
In saying all that – I still raced on Sunday… my back was sore and my neck too but my legs surprisingly felt fine. B grade crits are definitely more my scene, although I’m keen to get better at road racing.
Managed to finish the race in B… then I marshalled for C grade just to completely stuff myself because I figured next week I should have fire coming off my wheel around Glenvale if I could last that long…
