Join us for an overnight ride.

August 4 2007. 

 
We will depart Lifecycle and head out to Samford via Ferny Hills. The first major climb of the day will be the Samford range at approximately 1.5klm long. We will pass through Samford and head to Dayboro about 20klm of rolling hills past North Pine dam. Once we hit Dayboro will be ascending Mt. Mee the major climb of the day. Mt Mee climb is approximately 6klm of steady climbing followed by 15klm of undulating dairy country. A very steep and fast(80klm/hr) descent follows which will put us 8klm from Woodford where we will stop for morning tea at the Woodford bakehouse.

After re-fueling we leave Woodford and head up the Beerwah/Kilcoy road towards Peachester. This road passes the site of the folk festival and is really beautiful flat valley riding, that changes after about 20klm when we begin the ascent to Maleny. This climb begins with a steady 2klm climb after which we turn left onto Stanley River road. This bad boy is probably the hardest of the day with quite steep sections and varying grades throughout. Dont despair, this is the homeward stretch and leads us to a left hand turn into Mountain View road where will be staying for the night. The total for this ride will be around 125klm, these roads are some of the most beautiful riding you will find however please make sure you have enough fitness to complete this ride.

 
We will be riding back to Brisbane Sunday morning and should be back mid to late afternoon.

Sundays ride will be about the same distance but considerably easier. We will descend the Blackall range into Peachester,  then ride back to Brisbane behind the Glasshouse mountains and through Morayfield back to the shop.  

Includes:

2nd place Avanti Classic finisher Adrian Booth (above in green) has been kind enough to submit this race report:

A fantastic day greeted over 200 hundred riders from South East Queensland for the 2007 edition of the Avanti Classic. An 80km handicap held in and around Wivenhoe Dam, this event takes in some beautiful scenery and is fiercely contested by all who participate. Hosted by the Lifecycle club, Blair Stockwell has made this race an institution on the CQ racing calendar since Chris Locke won the inaugural event in 2002.

18 groups took to the start line, blessed by a beautiful South East Queensland day. A light breeze was blowing and questions were raised as to whether Tony Mann’s race record of 1:48:23 would be broken. A total of $4500 was in the prize pool with a $250 offer to the fastest rider. A further $100 bonus was on offer if this time was to eclipse the current record of Mann. The winner would pocket $1000.

The race was held over 2 laps of a 40km course with riders heading out in groups of 10-15 at intervals determined through a handicapping system. Starting just outside the Lowood town centre, riders headed along an undulating first 5km. High speed would then follow with a slight downhill toward the second turn that took riders to the Wivenhoe Dam wall. Approaching the Dam, a short climb disrupted the rhythm of the groups who were working hard to stay away from the scratch riders starting some 31 minutes in arrears. Over the Dam wall, which is slightly uphill, the groups then began a long slow drag up to the top of the catchments’ lines. This was quite difficult at speed and whilst it only starts at 3% it gradually makes its way to 8% by the top. From this point it was full gas down hill until the third turn which put riders back on the 7km to the finish line, a stretch made harder by some sharp rises and a dose of cross winds.

With the many volunteer motorcyclists and Chief Commissaire Greg Vincent, policing all the groups on the open course the racing was fantastic. After a lap the small starting bunches had come together with the formation of 3 main groups. 60 had settled in the front 2 groups but hot on their heals were the gun scratch riders who now had a pack of 10 working to catch the early starters.

Climbing over the Dam wall for the second time the scratch bunch caught the first group of 60 or so riders. Scratch riders at this point were Grant Irwin, Darcy Rosenlund, Chris Pryor, Jack Anderson, Stuart Cowin, Gilbert Gutowski, David Betts, Adrian Booth, Mark Ledgerwood and Steven George. The scratch bunch maintained its high rhythm with riders from the forward bunch joining in the pace line. The rises out of the dam did dispense of about 20 riders however the job at hand was to reel in the last group on the road who held 1:30 gap.

The last bunch was soon reeled in, and at 7km from the finish it was everyone together. Immediately Jack Anderson (Ord Minnett) launched an attack with Adrian Booth (Merida) on his wheel.  Another rider bridged across and the trio maintained their lead for a couple of k’s. It was all or nothing now with riders looking for the $1000 cash prize for 1st place as well as the fastest time at an extra $250. Looking at the clock and with only 5km to go, the time read 1 hour: 38 minutes. The race record would surely be going today. The pace was kept high and the group was splintering with stronger cross winds and the $100 cash bonus for the record making it for riders to hnag on.

Ord Minnett did their best to launch riders as often as possible, with their team having 12 riders in the group, but it was Flight Centre, Merida and Velo who kept them honest and the bunch was together coming into the last 2km. The finish was a tricky affair with a slight down hill that had an off camber left hand jag 300m from the end. As expected, Ord Minnett lined up for the last kilometer with Darcy Rosenlund pulling 60km/h on the approach assisted by Gutowski- both of which were hoping to launch their sprinter in Grant Irwin. Behind them Adrian Booth (Merida), Steven George (Velo), Mark Ledgerwood (2XU) were all looking to steal the day and the money.

The finish was extremely hard fought with a group of about 50 coming into the final straight hungry for some money. Around the left hand jag and pointed straight at the finish line, Irwin, Booth and George all took off for the line. At 100m to go it was a dual between Booth (Merida) and Irwin (Ord Minnett) as George (Velo) had caught too much wind and faded slightly. The approach to the line was a close affair as Irwin, checking over his right shoulder failed to realize Booth on his left was fast coming at him. Only able to approach his front wheel, Booth’s hopes were dashed as Irwin switched the gas back on to take line honors in a closely fought affair. Steven George would fill 3rd position. The race record was smashed by over 3 minutes with a time of 1 Hour: 45 minutes.

A fantastic day was had by all and riders happily swapped stories of the day over a drink and post presentation. Special thanks to Blair Stockwell of Lifecycle, CQ commissaries and the volunteers of the SES, without them the race would never have come to be. Thanks also to all competitors for ensuring a great and safe cycle race.

By Adrian Booth

Avanti Classic 80km

1st    Grant Irwin (Ord Minnett)        1:45
2nd    Adrian Booth (Merida)        s.t
3rd    Steven George (Velo)            s.t
4th    Mark Ledgerwood (2XU)        s.t

Wow, another Avanti Classic wrapped up and what a great event it was. It was fantastic to see Grant Irwin (Ord Minnett) take out the event on an Avanti Team Corsa in a closely fought finish. Adrian Booth (Merida), Steven George (Velo) and Mark Ledgerwood (2XU) rounding out the top 4 in the battle for the line.

You can view the full length photo finish here.

Grant Irwin also took home the cash bonus for smashing the race record by a almost 3 minutes. The action wasn't confined to the top 4 however with 166 riders finshing the event proving road racing is going strong at all levels right now.

Everyone at Lifecycle and Avanti appreciates the great turn up and support we received for this event and look forward to seeing you all there next year.

We will have more photos online soon but in the meantime you can download the race results here.

This Sunday sees the Lifecycle Club's major promotion for 2007 when the 6th edition of the Avanti Classic will take place at Lowood. It is the largest field for a race in recent history with a record 223 hopeful riders have paid their nomination for a crack at the $5000 in cash and prizes on offer. The major drawcard will be the $1000 for the first rider across the line, however the next 19 riders will also be in the money (see below). There are big cash prizes for fastest time placings, and separate prize categories for women and masters. Also for the early starters there are cash prizes for the first 3 through on the first lap.

The race is run over two  laps of a 40km circuit starting and finishing in Lindemans Rd, Lowood. The circuit goes down to Fernvale and on to the Brisbane Valley highway crossing the Wivenhoe Dam. Then left towards Coominya and left again to the finish in Lowood.The race starts at 11.30am and will finish around 1pm. We have employed a specialist timing company to provide photo finish technology to help separate the finishers as the sprint for the line.

The amazing thing about this race is the opportunity for riders of all ages and abilities to race together on equal footing. The scratch riders, headed by former european pro rider David Betts, will be chasing the lead riders who will have left 31min earlier. On their way they will hope to gather up all the riders in between which did happen last year. The handicappers have made it harder this year with an additional 8min being given to the first riders. Included in the field are some of Australia's best female riders including Australian time trial champion, Carla Ryan, who is heading to Canada to join the Australian national team in a World Cup round in Montreal.

With the field so large it is hard to get everyone in the perfect group in the handicaps however the bunches are large enough to even things out. The handicaps are final and cannot be chamged on the day due to the race timing constraints. There are heaps of great spot prizes anyway including a pair of wheels from Velocity, dinner at Sonomas in Sandgate, Keywin pedals, BBB sunglasses as worn by the Quickstep team, Basta lights and Lin socks. So riders make sure you hang around as these will be randomly drawn at prizegiving.

We are lucky to have the support of the Lowood sports club who are opening their clubrooms to us with showers and toilet facilities available. Also they will have a full canteen for refreshments including a bar for a few post race drinks! We also have the support of the local SES guys and first aid personel. Registration will be open from 10am to allow for the processing of all the competitors. The weather promises to be fine and warm so bring plenty of water. The local scenery will be as awesome as ever so hope everyone has a great day. Come out and take a look!

Avanti Classic Prize Money

I guess when I started cycling I never knew where it would all end up. It was a simple case of training a day at a time for the next competition and things snowballing quickly from there.  I can't really blame Blair for not warning me that rodeo riding would be a damned good pre requisite to cycling, but in hindsight it would have been good! Not until arriving in Holland did I regret not having a few more rides of those mechanical bulls at parties or the Ekka, just to get me a little more used to being thrown around like a rag doll. Something would have been better than nothing!  But I guess no one tells you everything and some things you just have to figure things out for yourself.

In Holland I competed in three races each of around 130 k over four days and I learnt pretty quickly that not having a bull riding past would be a definite disadvantage. The race maps indicated we would be cycling over several, 2-3 kms of cobbles but I don't think I'd really call these cobbles.  I'd call it something a little more like MTB tracks, grass, rocks, dirt, dust.everything you would find in what would generally be termed as an off road trail.  We traversed these paths with our dura ace race wheels and others had all sorts of carbon deep rimmed wheels probably costing around $3000 a pair.  It was craziness and what was even more crazy was the number of flats riders suffered during these off road sections. Every cobbled section was littered with riders just standing and waiting to get spares from their team vehicle.The three races ended up being pretty cool and once you washed the dirt off your face, blew the mud from your nose, rinsed and spat a few times and picked the soil from your eyes things looked even better. It's amazing how time heals all wounds!  They were all tough days in the saddle for any experienced cowgirl. Tough winds meant we were all single file in the gutter and having to jump over tiring riders all day.

Another great thing about Holland was the hotel our team scored during the racing period, or more to the point the breakfast the hotel supplied for us during the racing period. It was amazing!!!  There was everything you could possibly want and more but the best thing about the breakfast was the bread we re-named `golden bread.  And golden it was as this bread was some sort of sugary, cinnamon like delight. Once toasted with lashing of butter on top was the best thing EVER!!  Needless to say this bread was devoured quickly and the hotel caught on quick smart that they needed to supply a whole basket of this golden bread as the normal half a basket just wasn't cutting it.

Since the racing in Holland is over and I am now back in Belgium there is no more golden bread. Psychologically this is completely devastating but I don't think my body agrees. Too much more of the old golden bread and three weeks later on my return to Oz I'd be smuggling a spare tyre or two through customs!  Not a nice look for a cyclist! The other thing is that in the pursuit of toasting the perfect golden bread, things were getting a little dangerous and looked to be heading down the road to my self destruction.  On my last morning of golden bread gluttony I found an especially juicy looking piece and jammed it in the toaster while I stood waiting in anticipation of just how good this one was going to be.  Unfortunately, once the toaster popped up my piece of toast did not as it was stuck deep in the clutches of the toaster.   I had to crawl under the table, unplug the toaster and set to work on it with a knife, levering my sweet golden bread out.  Luckily, after much persistence, and somehow not getting myself electrocuted in the process, my sweet golden bread came out but was in all sorts of bits and pieces. To the golden bread's credit he tasted just as good as ever and I lived to see another day in the saddle ridin' the bulls.

Last week the "world's best bicycle company" hosted the latest course at the training 'University' it has set up at it's U.S. headquarters at Morgan Hill in California, and I was privileged to be one of 3 Australian participants. Morgan Hill is located in a beautiful area about 30km south of San Jose. The location is a cyclists dream, quiet roads with a mixture of flat and hills, amidst some of the nicest scenery around. For the mountain biker there are awesome trails, again with a great variety of single track and fire road, with some glorious views up towards San Francisco from the mountain tops.

That was the fun part of the experience, the rest of the time was spent in classes and laboratories learning in depth the processes of manufacture and function behind the Specialized product. We learned how they have a frame testing machine which simulates 15 years of continuous 'sprinting', which is the standard test for all their frames. We also learned that they test to destruction 1500 frames a year, which is more than some companies produce!

The biggest emphasis was reserved for the BG (Body Geometry) line of products ,which are anything that the body has contact with on the bicycle. They are committed to making riding on a performance bike a comfortable, healthy experience which so often it isn't. Specialized have introduced a line of products  that are scientifically developed and medically tested to give performance and most importantly comfort benefits. They have employed outside medical professionals to test and advise. The shoes and footbeds are my favourite products but the gloves and saddles are close behind.

The best part of the week however was doing the BG FIT course which was the last 3 days of the course. This was run by Andy Pruitt from the Boulder Centre for Sports Medicine. Andy is a world expert in bike fitting and bicycle related injuries. Although I had a high level of experience in bike fitting he was able to train us in the science of bike fit . We were trained to be able to eliminate pain, to generate more wattage and the power to allow cyclists to ride longer and faster. Shortly we will be adding professional bike fitting to our services here at Lifecycle. A full assessment and bike fit will take in the order of 2 hours so appointments will be necessary, however the benefits will be worth it.

All in all a great experience and even though I have been around more years than I care to mention I was able to learn so much. The biggest impression however was the vision of the Specialized company. They are a company still like a family business determined to be the 'best' bike company in the world. not necessarily the biggest. They are always the leaders in innovation and introduction of useful new product. Everyday there is a lunchtime ride and company founder Mike Sinyard is often a participant (see below).

It is a good thing Lifecycle is a part of the Specialized story.