Did the 2013 version of the 'Hell of the West' really live up to its name? in short, no.
Arriving at the Balliang town hall at nine o'clock on Saturday morning, the weather was certainly going to play a huge factor in the race. The wind was blowing a gale, a 3km gravel section and a 20% climb there were plenty of cards to play. Shannon Johnson was the overwhelming favourite to win the race with his blistering sprint but only if he could get up the climb with the front bunch.
As the race started we were sent straight into a headwind before turning left and lining the whole peleton out into a single file. Up Granite hill the climbing legs were tested with a small attack but nothing bunch breaking, a slippery corner later and we were driving along the gravel and people were everywhere. Taking inspiration from a lot of Adelaide Tour recon on the gravel and drove the front of the peleton where we formed a group of 8 and pushed on through the crosswind almost to the base of the days big climb where we were joined by another group of 8 totalling 16 for the days climb. The pace was certainly very easy until we hit the 20% gradient where I put in a small dig to try and get a smaller group together and away to the finish, unfortunately the effort was in vein but we did get a group of 8 away and thats how it stayed to the finish. With a tailwind finish it was always going to be fast. One Giant rider attacked with about a kilometer to go and Shannon was straight onto the move putting himself in seond wheel and myself into fourth wheel behind Peter Smith of Giant Satalyst who I just hoped could kick at close to the speed of Shannon. I was wrong, the sprint started when Shannon kicked with around 250 metres to go, Shannon got a two bike length gap and started to take off when Target Trek's Dean Sanfilippo jumped down the other side of the road and then it was my turn to kick.
Lock your core, grip the bars tight, finger at the ready and give the cranks all you've got. 1,336 watts later I was moving around Peter then Dean and coming at Shannon quickly only to be meters too late missing out on the win by a wheel. All in all the days racing was good fun.
A big thank you to the Northern Combine and all the volunteers for making the days racing possible. I would also like to thank my father for taking me out to the race today as well as Lightsview, Corsa Cycle Center, CIC Australia and Cervelo Australia for the ongoing support without I wouldn't be racing.
For today's race data click the link below:
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