Jamberoo Classic

Sunday 4th January 2009 saw the 6th Annual running of the Johnny Warren Jamberoo Classic ride, a charity ride for the Sydney Cancer Foundation. Starting at Sutherland, the ride is broken into 3 stages:
Stage 1: Sutherland to Otford
Stage 2: Otford to Wollongong
Stage 3: Wollongong to Jamberoo
Click for a larger image

Stage 1 (28.9km, 59:53 secs, Ave Speed 29.0km/hr)
Fair going. A bit of cyclist traffic to navigate along to Waterfall and into the Park until clear air meant some faster turns, particularly on the climb out of the Royal National Park. Was the first time I've been involved in a paceline on a climb - interesting experience. Regrouping at Otford Cafe was a good chance to refuel and take on extra fluids.


Stage 2 (30.3km, 55:58 secs, Ave Speed 32.5km/hr)
Taking the drop from Otford was great as always - quick, and very few riders around to slow us down. I got away with two other Randwick Botany riders and I held the front pretty much all the way to Wollongong (yes, I was on the front and driving - unusual but true). I actually eased up a little at one point to stop dropping riders from our small select group of about 12 riders. Stopping at Wollongong to regroup, the sun was now out in full force, and a tailwind was starting to pick up.
Willy recovers in the shade ready for the final stage
You can tell I'm having a good day - I'm smiling!



Stage 3 (37.2km, 1:06:09 secs, Ave Speed 33.7km/hr)
This was awesome! I got away with the front bunch just behind the safety car. In amongst these guys were some A Grade riders who really drove the pace. The course was fairly flat, but unfortunately, there were lots of traffic lights heading south, but the general speed was between 40-45km/hr when we were rolling. And I even got to do a turn on the front. This was tops, and the bunch kept getting smaller and smaller. From Albion Park, the course turned inland via "Swamp Road". Unfortunately, the safety car led my bunch the wrong way and we missed the turn-off. As we backtracked about 200m, I lost the stronger riders and had to make my own way, stranded between the lead bunch and the next group - no-mans-land. I expected this to be a shocker, but instead I was powering along this gently undulating valley road picking up riders that had dropped off the lead bunch. The tailwind had really kicked in by now and sitting on 40km/hr was comfortable all the way into Jamberoo.
Finish Line - the Jamberoo Pub - no ananas here unfortunately.

The only unfortunate part of the whole day was BTi having to pull out on the morning of the ride due to ongoing issues after his crash. The intention was always to get the train back to Sutherland. This was a bit of shambles, and I ended up getting a courtesy bus back to Albion Park Rail and having to wait for about 90 minutes for a train, and then stand for 2 hours with my bike due to the train being full.

All in all, this was a great ride. Sometimes it was a bit hard to find directions, but the weather and tailwind certainly made for a good day on the bike. I'll do it again, but I'll make sure I have definite arrangements at the finish.

Smarty