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The Green train!!!
In this issue… Cunningham Classic: Owned. Merida perform at the State Time Trial Champs and Deon moves on to greater things….
Charles Coin Wheels of Fire Road Race…
The first long road race of the season, the 130km Charles Coin race is held on a 13km lap course in Laidley. Run by the University of Qld Cycling Club, the event is a regular on the calendar and has a reputation of being an attrition.
Usually, in races of this distance, the pace is quite easy at the start, as riders prefer to save energy until the end. However, Deon was not going to have any of this and attacked in the opening kilometres, quickly establishing a break with a BikeKing rider.
With Deon up the road, the rest of the Merida boys sat in the bunch and conserved their energy. The laps ticked over, until the inevitable happened. Deon and his accomplice appeared in the distance, hungry, thirsty and destroyed from their efforts. After 110km off the front, the group caught them, passed them and left them behind. A gutsy effort but sadly, all to no avail.
On the next lap, after passing through the feed zone, Chris Pryor, Cam Hughs and Michael Jackson attacked. Many riders were caught off guard after taking on food and drinks and the trio got a large gap on the bunch. Without Deon in the break, much of the work fell on the shoulders of the remaining Merida riders and the worked hard to chase them down. Unfortunately, Chris suffered a puncture and was left to chase back on.
Chris made it back to the bunch with just over a lap remaining but the gap to the leaders was almost insurmountable. Chris, Matt and Steve chased hard, only to cross the line minutes behind the winners Cam Hughs and Chris Pryor. A tough day at the office, but good preparation for the long road races ahead.
State Time Trial Championships…
Reminiscent of his days as a triathlete, Deon revelled in the idea of competing in the 40km State TT Champs and even convinced Matt and Chris to have a go as well! The course was new for 2008 and was a tough one as far as TT’s go, with several short sharp climbs and windy conditions.
Deon set out first, in the U23 category, being the young wiper-snapper that he is. In full lycra suit and tear drop helmet glory, Deon blitzed the course in a time of 52min59sec, 50sec faster than his nearest rival!
With Deon setting the bar high, Matt and Chris were up next. Matt started 4mins ahead of Chris and simply wanted to be a carrot for him to chase. Matt surprised himself by crossing the line in 5th place in a time of 54min57sec. Chris never even caught a glimpse of Matt, only making up 2mins on him to finish with the 2nd fastest time of 52min45sec, 1min behind eventual winner, Darren Rolfe.
 With a gold and silver medal, team Merida were pleasantly surprised with their performance!
Cunningham Classic…
Two weeks after Charles Coin, it was time for the infamous Cunningham Classic. Renowned for its massive headwinds, rolling hills and 175km of dead roads, it is a race that many dread.
In usual fashion, Chris and Deon went out on an early attack, establishing a break with 4 other riders. It was tough going in the strong winds and set up for a VERY long day in the saddle. The break stayed away for the KOM and Chris lead the group up the climb, setting Deon up to take the honours.
Back in the bunch, the wind was taking its toll with riders were dropping like flies but those that remained worked well to bring the break back a few km’s after the KOM. There were several small attempts to break away with no success until the ever-strong Steven George rode off the front alone, with around 90km to go. Sure that no man could stay away unassisted, the bunch let him get a gap. However, Deon had other ideas. He attacked in hot pursuit, only to be caught 20km later. Michael Jackson then took a turn at jumping away solo and not to be outdone, Deon attacked again. Everyone in the bunch simply thought they was crazy.
Updates from the race vehicle proved us wrong, as Deon rode alone and caught Michael Jackson with Steven George in his sights. Meanwhile, back in the bunch, Stephen Handreck attacked with young Yellow Jersey rider, James Hepburn, with Chris following suit to join the pair. The trio rode hard into the wind and with no one in the bunch left to organise a chase, they rode away.
Chris, Stephen & James soon caught Michael Jackson, who was left in the wake of Deon’s insane solo efforts and the four chased hard as Steven George was a mere 1min30sec up the road. Then the most bizarre thing happened…
Sitting on the side of the road, with 10km to go, was an absolutely exhausted Steven George, unable to continue the race. The task of 90km alone proved to be too big of an ask. Realising that Deon was alone in 1st place, Chris and Stephen gave up the chase and left the work to James and Michael.
Coming into the finish, Chris attacked, only to be chased down. Stephen counter attacked with Michael Jackson on his wheel. James had little left in the tank and couldn’t match the change of speed.
Despite his seemingly suicidal tactics, Deon crossed the line a clear victor, minutes ahead of his closest rival. Stephen and Michael Jackson came in next with Michael winning the sprint for 2nd and Stephen taking 3rd. Just behind was Chris who crossed in 4th, ahead of James Hepburn in 5th. A few minutes later, Matt Ryan claimed the bunch sprint to take 6th, giving Merida the fantastic result of 1st, 3rd, 4th & 6th!!!
Deon moves on to greater things…
After his brilliant performance at the Cunningham Classic, State TT and several other great rides, Deon’s potential was noted by UCI Continental team, FRF-Panasonic. He was asked to join the team and sadly, the State Road Race was to be Deon’s last race for Team Merida.
With the opportunity to ride in races in Europe, China and USA against professional level riders, it was an obvious choice to take the offer and move on to bigger and greater things. Keep an eye out for Deon in the bigger races of the future as he has unlimited potential to be a great rider.
Who will fill Deon’s big shoes???
With Deon leading the way for most of the season, finding other riders was going to be a big ask. In fact, many would say that it would take two riders to make up for one Deon… So that is what we did!
Joining the team is Matthew Murray, who has many years of experience and quality racing and the young Deon protégé, James Hepburn who has some fantastic results as a junior and is riding very well in the senior grades. Look out for rider profiles in future newsletters…
State Road Race Championships…
Being the third long road race in four weeks, after an already long season, many riders were beginning to tire. However, in Deon’s last race for the Merida, the team was keen to get him another gold medal.
The 176km course was a tough one, with 5 laps each consisting of the steep climb, aptly named ‘The Wall’. Not to be outdone by Deon’s breakaway at the Charles Coin race, Chris found himself in a break with Cameron Hughs and David Melville in the first few km’s. Chris only hoped that Deon took advantage of the situation and enjoyed an easy ride in the bunch.
After 90km, off the front, Chris came through the feed zone expecting to see team mascot, Ben Woodman, holding his feed bag. Unfortunately, a momentary lapse in concentration saw Ben forget the feed bag and left Chris to do the next 30km with no food or water. The picture below says it all…
Over the next 20km, the bunch slowly clawed their way back and caught the break. Knowing that his day was as good as done after so long without water, Chris threw a few hail Mary’s off the front and called it a day at the start of the next lap. Needless to say, Ben came begging for mercy.
Deon looked comfortable in the bunch and followed his main rival in the U23 category, Malcolm ‘Calves’ Rudolph to the line. Being a well trained sprinter, Deon had little chance against Rudolph in the sprint but still gave his all. Deon crossed the line in 2nd place, adding a silver medal to his collection in his last race for Team Merida.
Tour of the Scenic Rim…
Just days before the new Tour of the Scenic Rim was to start, it was reported that the temperatures at Boonah, where the race was being held, reached ZERO and riders were in for some extremely cold conditions. And in Stage 1, they were right. Rugged up in full winter gear and frozen fingers, team Merida prepared for the opening 80km road race.
 The course was hilly, with a very steep climb up to the KOM and with the overall standings determined by points, everyone was keen to get a piece of the action. The first 30km was relatively uneventful, with a few frivolous attacks. But with around 50km to go, Chris and Malcolm ‘Calves’ Rudolph attacked. They worked well together and although Chris struggled through the hills (he later realised that his rear braked rubbed on the rim when he was out of the saddle), the pair established a lead of over 2mins. Chris let Malcolm take full points, feeling a little guilty for doing little work on the climbs.
Coming into the finishing straight, Chris knew he had very little chance of out-sprinting Malcolm, so he attacked early only to be caught and easily rolled on the line.
So after stage 1, it was Malcolm Rudolph 20pts, Chris Williams 17pts and Kyle Bateson 15pts.
Stage 2 was a delicious 12km time trial, slightly downhill with a strong tail wind from Mt Alford to Boonah. Team Merida looked on nervously from their standard road bikes as many other riders prepared their dedicated time trial machines.
Kyle Bateson took line honours with an average speed of 49.06kph and a time of 14:40:50. Michael Jackson came in 3sec later and Griff Moore from Team Virgin a further 3sec back. 13 sec behind the winner was Chris, happy to have beaten Matt Ryan in 5th place by 10 sec, or he’d never hear the end of it!
So after stage 2, the standings were Kyle Bateson 35pts, Chris & Michael Jackson tied on 30pts and Malcolm Rudolph on 29pts.
Stage 3 was a Kermesse on a very hazardous course. Each of the eight 7km laps consisted of a tight, pot-holed corner on a downhill and a 90° turn in gravel 2km before the finish line.
In the first lap, Chris found out just how slow you had to take the gravel corner, coming unstuck and suffering some gravel rash. He was quickly back up on his bike and continued on with a little less skin and dignity. Three laps later, he suffered a puncture but Matt Ryan was there to hand his wheel over and wait for the follow vehicle.
With half the race over, a small break established but with no contenders for the overall lead, it was allowed to go. Stephen and new rider Matt Murray did a fantastic job of riding tempo on the front of the race and kept other attempts to bridge across in check.
Chris had a tough task ahead of him to win overall, having to finish two places ahead of Kyle Bateson and in front of Rudolph and Jackson. With team mates around him to help, Bateson was not going to let this happen. In the final lap, Chris attacked on the gravel corner, using the slow turn to his advantage. Michael Jackson was caught out at the back, but Rudolph and Bateson caught Chris on the line, nudging passed him.
The final points tally: 1st Kyle Bateson 44pts, 2nd Malcolm Rudolph 40pts and 3rd Chris Williams 37pts. If the race was based on time, the results would have been reversed but that’s racing!
Murwillumbah Banana Festival Criterium…
Always a great event, the Banana Festival Crit is held in downtown Murwillumbah along the main streets in the shopping district. With limited entrants, A & B grade were combined to boost the field and make for a good race.
As a result, Chris planned to go hard from the start, just to keep the B-graders honest. Right from the whistle he took off, with only Michael Jackson jumping onto his wheel. Chris took the 1st of 9 primes as the pair established a good lead. The pair worked together, picking up the odd prime here and there and could eventually see the back of the main bunch as they came around to lap the field. With about 30min to go, they made contact and were one lap up on the bunch.
There was some confusion over what was the protocol at this point with rules stating that the entire field was eligible again for the primes. However, Chris was not going to stop there and took off again only this time alone.
He quickly established another half a lap on the field as many pondered the last occurrence of the ‘double lapping’ of the field. Chris pushed on hard, determined to catch the bunch again only to fall around 10sec short with 3 laps to go.
The main field had their sprint for minor places and Chris was left to finish the last laps alone out front. Collecting six of nine primes, most aggressive rider and the overall win, it was an impressive ride by Chris!
Product Review: Shimano R300 Custom Fit Shoes.
Shimano shoes have always been comfortable. In fact, I didn’t think they could get any more comfortable. They are well vented (which can be a downside in winter), have three well positioned straps, an easy to use buckle to tighten the shoe and a stiff and light carbon sole. But I was wrong.
The new R300 shoes is part of Shimano’s custom fit system, allowing you to heat mould the shoe to your foot’s exact size and shape. After ‘cooking’ the inner sole and shoe itself, the materials become pliable and the shoe is vacuum sealed to your foot and perfectly moulded.
The result is a shoe that goes to the exact same position every time you put it on. It limits the chances of the dreaded ‘new shoe blisters’ and ensures that you have no foot movement when you ride, even when pulling heavily in the upstroke.
A few other features make the R300 a very practical shoe as well. For starters, they come in a wide version for the full footed person and are also anti-bacterial treated to avoid that funky sports shoe smell associated with cycling shoes (especially those dirty no sock wearing triathletes). The ultra stiff carbon sole has rubber pads to make walking in them slightly easier. And the best part, the buckle strap and inner sole are fully replaceable and the shoe itself can be heat moulded up to three times, so your shoes can always have that new look and feel.
For those on a more restrictive budget, you can still reap the benefits of the custom fit system with the more economical R220 and R160 models. And they also come in women’s specific designs as well!
Rider Profile: Matthew Murray
 Matthew has been riding for a long time and his massive collection of bikes in his home are testament to his passion for cycling.
Name: Matthew Murray
Nickname: Muzza (we say its because he has won so many races there)
Cycling since: Cycling since I was 5 but had an extended break. After following the 2001 Tour de France I was inspired to get back on the bike.
Why cycling? I ride because it’s better than running or swimming and racing is always so much fun. I like racing mostly because of the tactics and the fact that its not always the strongest rider that wins.
Favourite Event? Favourite race is the Cunningham Classic because its a true classic road race with plenty of tradition and history. Favourite Pro race is the Ronde van Vlaanderen and all other spring classics.
Other interests? Other interests include music of all kinds (except country and western), beer appreciation (especially a good strong belgian ale) and travel when ever the time and money permits. .
Training tips: don't over do it - as Greg Lemond says, its better to train hard, than train long.
What’s Ahead???
The season is finally drawing to an end with only a few Criteriums remaining. However, Team Merida is having one last hoorah by ‘racing’ the 228km Grafton to Inverell road race. Touted as the Ironman of the cycling world, headwinds and a 17km climb mid way through the race make for a hard day in the office. If you don’t get a newsletter next month, you’ll know we didn’t make it.
Til next time… stay out front,
Team Merida.
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