The Tour is in its final stages and it has been one of the most exciting and evenly matched Tours in a while. With Schleck and Contador battling it out tonight on the Col du Tourmalet, a hilltop finish that soars to 2, 115m. It is a backdrop to a rivalry, atavistic of Lemond and Fignon or Armstrong and Ulrich. Will it come down to the final time-trial like tours past? And what about the dark horses; Sammy Sanchez and Dennis Menchov?

Our Tour sale is also in its final days extending to this weekend, the Avanti Cadent 1.0 a steal at $1,999 and the Avanti Quantum 1.0 at $2,199. Every Avanti bike is is reduced and a great deal of the Specialized Bikes as well. If you have not come in to the store to check our full selection of bikes then don’t leave it too late, as the Sale ends soon.

Quantum 1.0

Cadent 1.0 TDF special

On the first weekend of December each year the international Festival of Cycling is held in Christchurch. This is a major New Zealand event featuring the cream of New Zealand cycling. This year our own Laura Luxford was an invited guest for the two day event. 

The first day is the 80km Long Bays Classic which has been held over many years. This is a tough ride with about 150 riders male and female going toe to toe around the Port Hills of Christchurch. The field broke up on the first hill which came after about 5km and Laura was left with NZ champion Cath Cheatley and a couple of others to chase the elite men. It meant a hard slog out to the main hills which came after 40km. Cath Cheatley was able to use her experience to attack Laura and was able to break away assisted by some of the elite male riders. Despite being left on her own Laura was able to contain the losses to less than 3min despite riding solo against a large bunch. This gave her 2nd place for the day which was great remembering that Cheatley is a professional and finished in 9th place in last years World Championships.

The race on Sunday was a criterium around the streets of Christchurch in front of a large crowd. As Laura is relatively inexperienced in this type of racing she was not expected to feature against the classy riders that were chasing the title. However after some solid attacks to soften the field Laura used her head and waited for an opening in the final straight to surprise her opponents and rocket home ahead of Cath Cheatley for a well deserved victory! This weekend shows a great future lies ahead of Laura if she can continue to improve the way she has over the past year.

Check this out for the whole story of the Festival of Cycling

Sunday June 14 saw the 5th edition of the annual 80km Avanti Classic handicap race held on an undulating circuit based at Lowood and and travelling around Lake Wivenhoe. The front markers had 33min start on the red hot scratch bunch but would have needed every minute if they were to get the $2000 that was on offer for first across the line. They did get the money for first through the first lap but like the rest of the field the extreme speed of the scratch riders was too much.

Jonathan Cantwell, Lifecycle club rider, led them home with ease and a new race record to boot. It was a great effort considering he had only returned from the USA on Friday having just ridden the Philly International finishing a creditable 14th after being help up in a crash in the final sprint.

Junior world record holder Michael Hepburn ran second followed by evergreen Cameron Hughes. 

Click here to download the results.

Benny Boy, one of Lifecycle's junior riders and staff members has just competed in the U/19 QLD State Championship Time Trial. The 25km TT was held at Glamorgan Vale and Benny place 6th which was a fantastic performance since it was his first ever TT.  Benny's said `my strong performance was due to my powerful legs, shaved arms, Lifecycle skinsuit & booties and my Specialized Transition bike.  I'm looking forward to the TT next year to improve my performance and to ride past black snake creek again. Man those snakes were big!'

Stay posted as Benny will compete in the U/19 Road Race, over a tough 125km, 3 lap course with a strong field of 35.

A big thanks goes to Jill Duncan, Benny's soigneur, manager and race marshal.

Several Lifecycle riders competed in the BikeKing Tour de Sunshine Coast over the Queen's Birthday long weekend.  The 5 stage, 4 day Tour is considered by many to be the highlight of the Queensland road racing calendar and again in 2008 this proved to be the case.

The event kicked off with a night time Prologue at Maroochydore.  Around 370 riders started 20 seconds apart and all blasted through the 2.2km course in around 3 minutes.  Racing for the first time in the Elite C category, Joe Millican clocked a fast time which saw him finish 2nd by 3.1 seconds.  Perhaps next time Joe will go one place better knowing where the finish line is.  Racing in the tour for the 3rd time, David Stanton had thought he'd set a blistering time in Masters B having caught his '20 second man'.  It turned out that rider wasn't Fabian Cancellara and David's time saw him placed mid-field, as expected. 

The following day saw the riders tackle a tough hilly course at Kenilworth with most grades to race 2 laps of the 32km circuit.  Having reconnoitered the course with a successful race there a few weeks earlier (David 1st, Simone 2nd), the Lifecycle team were confident.  Liam McCarthy attacked the Elite B peloton upon clearing the neutral zone.  He was shortly joined by another rider and they quickly opened a substantial gap ahead of the bunch and disappeared from view over the hills.  This allowed Jeremy Moore a free ride back in the peloton with him disrupting the chase a little.  

The breakaway duo worked together for the next 15km before Liam's breakaway companion rode away from him.  Liam pushed on solo for another 15km but had the peloton breathing down his neck on the long climb over Brooloo Pass. 

Staying just in front, Liam was able to avoid a crash in the peloton behind as they descended in the wet towards Kenilworth.  Nearing completion of the first of two laps, the peloton wound things up for the intermediate sprint and Liam was absorbed back into the bunch, as was his earlier breakaway companion.  Meanwhile Jeremy was following in the 2nd bunch having dropped a chain on one of the earlier climbs.  Suffering from the early 30km breakaway, Liam couldn't stay with the front bunch as they tackled the climb over Brooloo Pass a second time, now in driving rain.  Finishing over 3 minutes behind the front of the field, Liam's chances for the general classification (GC) looked slim. 

Looking good after his 2nd place the night before, Joe was ready to tackle the course in Elite C together with Jason Billsborough.  Jason was in good form having won the Metropolitan Championship Criterium and also 3rd in the "Metros" Road Race one week earlier.  However, the hills took their toll early with Jason dropping from the bunch in the first set of hills in the rain.  The ride still held some excitement though as Jason narrowly avoided a crash with a rider who had just collided with a car near the top of the main climb 5km from home. The rider was okay but threw his bike back on to the road in disgust as Jason topped the climb.  Early years on the BMX kept Jason on the bike and he managed to regroup at the bottom, working with 3 other guys to ride home for 9th. 

In the Masters B race, David was in a break of three the 2nd time up the final climb and just dropped off at the top. They stayed away to take 1st/2nd leaving David to battle it out with another 10 guys for the minor placings and he came in 8th. 

Simone Grounds was one of the favourites in the Elite A Women competition but was up against fast climbing Sunshine Coast local Shara Gillow and Queensland State Road and XC MTB Champion Jodie Willett.  Simone had raced well on the Kenilworth course a few weeks earlier, coming 2nd in a sprint against fellow Lifecycle rider David Stanton.  The two strong girls of the peloton, Simone & Jodie, drove the bunch hard over the hilly course but Shara was able to follow.  Eventually these three put a gap on the bunch and broke away over the top of the hill.  They were joined by another Sunshine Coast rider, Tahlia Paskin, 2kms into the 2nd lap and stayed away until 15km into the second lap.  After a brief recovery, the same trio attacked in the back hills again and were away until the bottom of “the hill round 2” in – by this stage – pouring rain.   In a repeat of lap 1, Shara, Jodie and Simone left the bunch behind.  Jodie got a flat just before the hill top, leaving Simone to chase Shara for a few kilometres until joined by Tahlia Paskin.  Simone and Tahlia time-trialled it towards home, aiming to catch Shara who had established a handy lead.  Into the finishing straight Tahlia started sprinting 200m from the line but with a “GO GING!!!” from Julie Uebel on the side-line, Simone flicked the ON switch, hopped on Tahlia’s wheel and popped out just before the line at the top of the hill to beat her and take 2nd.

That night the team enjoyed a meal together at their Maroochydore base before a good rub down by the magic hands of Julie Uebel. 

An early start the next day had the riders gather for the "Queen" stage of the Tour – the hill climb to Montville.  This stage has seen some lightning fast climbs over the years with Lifecycle riders such as David Betts and Carla Ryan taking wins and the GC yellow jerseys.  David also holds the record for the climb. 

Jeremy was tasked with looking after Liam and getting him to the front of the peloton before the road headed skywards, and if possible establishing a gap of any size off the front.  Once underway, Jeremy got boxed in on one side of the large field but Liam was able to move to the front down the other side.  The Victor Broncos TriplePlay team were rocketing the peloton along the 2km flat to the base of the 6km long climb.  They set up a leadout train for their leader & top climber David Crosswell, burning through 2 or 3 of their riders before the climb even started. Liam slotted in on David's wheel, marking the number one threat for the climb.  Upon reaching the climb the pace dropped markedly.  Seizing the moment, Liam shifted up a couple of gears & shot off up the climb.  Jeremy was now able to sit back in the bunch and take it easy on the climb, saving himself for the stages yet to come, "quietly confident" that Liam had this stage in the bag.  The chasing peloton progressively crumbled away to nothing leaving Crosswell to attempt to bridge the gap solo.  He chased hard and closed the gap down to only a few bike lengths behind Liam.  With only a couple of hundred metres to go the taste of victory was on Liam's lips.  With encouragement being yelled by the spectators lining the course, including team helpers Julie and Lisa, Liam got out of the saddle and accelerated away from Crosswell finishing 5 seconds clear.  Lifecycle had taken victory at Montville yet again. 

Further below Joe was racing hard in Elite C.  He and one other rider had ridden away from the bunch.  Joe took to the front dragging the other rider to the line.  As they came to the finish the other rider sprinted around Joe but Joe threw his bike forwards and both bikes hit the line together.  The timing system showed Joe had lost by 0.2 seconds!  Oh so close. 

The climb started out slow for the Elite A women.  At the start of the climb Jodie Willett applied the pressure and before long the bunch had split.  Jodie, Simone and Shara worked up the hill, with Shara making a break at the halfway mark.  Simone tried to stay on her tail but the previous day’s climbing left her legs wanting and Jodie with bit more in the tank was able to work to stay on Shara’s wheel.  Simone came in 16sec behind Shara and 9 secs behind Jodie, which would contribute to the difference come the end of the tour. 

That afternoon saw the riders race again, this time over the North Arm 10km course, just outside Yandina.  With most grades racing 3 laps, speeds were expected to be high even with strong winds, a hairpin corner and a climb.  Sprint points were up for grabs every lap too.  Some confusion over start times saw Simone nearly miss her race!  After some delay after the first round of races, race officials announced it would be 15 minutes before the next round of races started, with Elite C men off first then Elite A women, so Simone continued her warm up.  About 5 minutes later it was left up to Jason to frantically track her down.  Obviously the 15min had been shortened and the race line-up altered so that Elite A women were off first.  She joined on the bunch just as it was rounding the first corner.  Phew!  The rest of the race saw a few attacks, but the bunch stayed mostly together.  Simone accumulated some valuable sprint points during the 3 laps (1st & 3rd) and was just pipped on the finish line for 3rd.  So no change to the Elite Women general classification.  However Simone was now on top of the ladder for the green sprinters jersey.   

After Joe’s cruel defeat on the Palmwoods-Montville climb that morning, the Lifecycle team in Elite C (Jason and Joe) were keen to make amends.  After a limited warm up because he was trying to find Simone for her race, Jason sat up the back of the pack to get a feel for the course and hatch a few cunning plans.  Once the second lap started he was ready to strike and moved up to the front to set a snappy pace and stretch the bunch in order to help Joe make a break in the 3rd lap. 
After doing a solid 3km turn up the front through the hilly section of the course, Jason led the pack into the start/finish and crossed the line in 4th for the intermediate sprint.  Halfway into the 3rd lap, Joe and another rider slipped off the front, where Jason went to work at the front of the bunch as “super-domestique” to slow the bunch down.  Once the bunch wised-up to the “team” tactics, the breakaways were chased down. Jason once again moved up to the front to stretch the bunch before turning into the start/finish run.  Unfortunately, everyone wanted a piece of the glory and Jason was thwarted in his attempt to be Nick Gates to Joe’s Robbie McEwen, leaving Joe to his own devices to finish 4th across the line with Jason finishing a respectable 6th.
 

Overnight the Lifecycle team reviewed the points situation to determine what Simone had to do to claim the Green jersey at the Tour's end.  Come morning, scattered showers were falling all around the Sunshine Coast.  The final stage at Eumundi was over a 20km circuit which featured 4 short sharp climbs and a lengthy windy descent.  Simply finishing this final stage became the primary objective of all riders as the descent was quite slippery in the wet.  It didn't matter if you were at the top of the points leader board – if you didn't finish then no green jersey for you! 

The 60km Eumundi race for Elite C saw similar circumstances to the previous day’s racing.  In the intermediate sprints, Jason clocked a 3rd and narrowly missed another on the line to get 4th. The worsening weather saw the bunch split in the fickle back hills, where narrow, wet roads, big bunches and the odd land slip were making for “exciting” racing.  The front group stayed away to the finish with some jostling through the roundabout making it hard to get a clean run to the line for the sprint finish.  Joe claimed 4th and Jason 7th to round out a solid weekend of racing.

At the beginning of the Elite A women’s 80km road race, Simone was 1 point in the lead on sprint points.  The up-shot of this was if she wanted the pretty green jersey then a bit of time in the hurt box was necessary as her nearest rival was the yellow jersey wearer, Shara Gillows.  The race started strong but waned as the laps went on and the weekend was starting to take it’s toll. Jodie Willett kept the pace snappy with Simone, Tahlia Paskin and Josie McCall (NZ) also taking solid turns at the front.  Simone attacked briefly in second lap in an effort to stretch the group and Zoe Appel (QAS) made a strong solo break on the 3rd lap and stayed away for a good 5km. 
Simone, Shara, Jodie and Tahlia made a gap on the bunch on “The Pinch” – the shortest and nastiest of the hills – and broke away for a short time with Sunshine Coast rider Jodie Harris, before being caught by the bunch.  In the meantime, Simone was steadily clocking up sprint points with a 3rd, 1st & 3rd in the intermediate sprints. 
On the 4th and final lap Simone, Jodie and Shara managed to break again on “The Pinch” and stayed away to push home.  Jodie was keen to push the small breakaway group to make up 30sec in GC points to beat Tahlia Paskin into overall 3rd and Simone was keen to shake Shara in the hope of making up her own GC gap of 58sec (all that sprinting was starting to make her delirious with optimism).  Coming into Eumundi the girls were slowed by the A-grade men’s express and spent a frustrating minute (which seemed like 5) in “neutral” while waiting to wind it up for the home straight.  Jodie led into the final stretch into Eumundi, with Shara on her wheel and Simone tailing, saving some energy for the sprint.  Coming into the home straight over the rise, Simone powered home past Shara and Jodie for the Stage win, a celebratory fist-pump and a green jersey. 

So Lifecycle had a successful tour and all riders look forward to racing again next year.  Thank you to the Sunshine Coast Cycling Club for running a fantastic event.  Hopefully a few more Lifecycle riders will be back in racing condition for the 2009 tour. 

Full results available at http://www.tourdesunshinecoast.com.au/ 

Special thanks to Kevin Coppalotti and Daniel White for their fantastic photos. 

More of Kevin's photography can be viewed at http://maxhr.zenfolio.com/

Recently we were emailed this photo of Tim Harris winning the Elite B category of the Grafton to Coffs Harbour in a solo breakaway. This was a great effort by Tim and one of those rare occasions where the breakaway keeps away from the pack.

We always love seeing photos of you riding and racing in the Lifecycle kit. So if you, like Tim, have won a race or achieved a personal milestone in Lifecycle kit why not drop us an email with a photo so we can post it in the Lifecycle gallery.

In the gallery you will also find heaps of great photos from shop rides, the Winter Warmer and events like the Avanti classic. Check it out now.

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

The last Saturday in March may mean different things to a lot of people but for the 15 Lifecyle riders lining up in the famous blue & white strip it can mean only one thing……a trip to Christchurch, NZ for Le Race!

This is one hard event this year drawing 1400 starters to do battle with two sections of giant hills separated by 35km of flat, with a thrilling 5km downhill run to the finish in the pretty little harbour town of Akaroa as the reward for 3hrs + of hard toil. A look at the profile frightened a few off but our crew had done the training we hoped would beat the locals into submission.

This year our team was spearheaded by Bradley Nightingale and Carla Ryan. Both we thought would be hot contenders for the $2000 each for the KOM and QOM which was up for grabs. 

The balmy morning was a pleasant surprise as we gathered outside the hotel for last minute photos and encouragement from supporters.

We had made sure of a good spot at the front of the grid as the  start was guaranteed to be fast and furious as the first 6km hillclimb is just 3km into the event.

We had good representation in the lead group as Brad and Carla took off on the hill followed closely by Liam and a couple of Kiwi Lifecycle riders Jonny and Mags. Simon and Blair fought valiantly to hold position but soon realised that there was a long way to go and a lot of riders had there ambitions and abilities mixed up! Back a little Schabbo and big Tim were powering away with Jeremy,Jason and Gordon Moore not too far back.

Brad and Carla took the points for the first KOM and then it was the downhill to the flat with a few cattle grids to negotiate which proved to be less trouble than anticipated. A bad fall saw Paul, a cuzzie from NZ, take a bad fall ending his hopes for the day. A few big bunches got together with the smarter ones resting before the big climbs to come. Brad had a bit more of a struggle with the Hilltop KOM but narrowly had enough in hand to secure the points and more importantly the money. Back a few places Carla showed why she is Australian time trial champion showing a clean pair of heels to the best female riders and also to a lot of topline male riders.

The most scenic part of the ride is also the hardest so most riders probably did not notice how nice the view was but the photos give a great idea of the terrain. The temperature was climbing as well and while it wasn't too bad for the Aussies the locals were cooking as the mercury approached 30deg. Finally the last downhill arrived and as usual the highlight for everyone as they savour the fast 5km drop into town…everyone that is apart from Blair who took a wrong turning 1km from the finish and disappeared into a caravan park and lost 5min getting out losing his coveted top 20 position. Oh well, never mind. There is always next year. So one by one our riders rolled. Everone had a smile a mile wide as they acheived the goal. Everyone finished strong and vowed to come back next year to improve their time or just to do it again. It was a day to remember as the riders relaxed in the sun or under the trees with stories that got better and better as the day went on.

For those who want a challenge check it out with any of the guys who went or check www.lerace.co.nz We will be back next year so get in early and we will get an even bigger group to take on the Kiwis. They are out for revenge! 

(From left) Carla Ryan (Lifecycle): Coffee Culture Queen of the Mountain and Fastest Woman; Edwin Crossling (Lower Hutt) Fastest Man; Bradley Nightingale (Lifecycle) Coffee Culture King of the Mountain.