Cape to Cape MTB 2009

The Cape to Cape takes an all-encompassing approach to running a four day stage event. While the riders are treated to well marked and generously marshalled courses, the racing is only a small part being involved in the Cape to Cape.

Upon finsihing a stage of the event you’re pampered with a recovery area including Ascend energy drinks and bars, a selection of iced water (sparkling or standard), a massage tent, a mobile bar with beer and wine, and a lunch tent. But that’s not all: roll your bike to your accommodation, have a shower and then catch the pre-organised bus to the evening’s festive location with all the food, beer, wine and socialising you could ever want. So as you can imagine, it was a challenging four days. Race organiser Chris Heverin did warn us during the welcome dinner though. “We want the days to be a challenge and the nights to be even more of a challenge!”

Racing got underway on day one at the Augusta Lighthouse – still the most impressive stage start I’ve ever seen at a mountain bike race with views across the ocean and along the rugged coastline.

The start may have been picturesque and relaxing but it also lulled me into a false sense of calm because the race on day one was certainly the toughest of the four day event. It featured a long, steep, technical climb early into the race and plenty of short, steep climbs afterward, punctuated by a ride along the soft, soggy and leg-sapping beach. While scenically spectacular, this section was physical torture.

I was swapping the lead with Rohin Adams at this point but for whatever reason (probably skill), he rode away from me in the sand while I had to get off and push my bike. It was demoralising, hard work and as I watched Rohin ride off in the distance I decided to save my energy as best I could over the rest of the stage in the hope of coming back stronger later in the week.

So I finished that stage at Hamelin Bay a few minutes down on Rohin in 2nd place and washed my bike – thanks to the complimentary bike wash – peeled of my cycling clothes and went for a swim in the fresh Indian Ocean which was only about 50 metres from our accommodation. If that doesn’t sounds idyllic enough, after drying off in the sun I headed back to the mobile bar for an ice cold beer and a chat to the other guys who, I quickly discovered, were unanimous in their painful memories of the beach section. We traded our stories of suffering and laughed at what we’d put ourselves through, bring on day two!

But first we headed into Augusta for the second challenge: the post-stage dinner. Some entertaining stories were shared from the day and we feasted on lasagne and salad.

The next stage was longer but less challenging. The beach section of day one was replaced with a green paddocks and a winery, and fast flowing trails replaced steep, technical climbs. We rode in a group for much of the day and it flew by.

We raced three abreast up the last major climb, no one giving an inch, until we hit the last sandy 5km where I managed to get past Rohin and Joel Read and held a gap of about a minute to the finish in Prevally Park. Where Hamelin Bay was quiet and tranquil, Prevally Park offered the full, wild ocean experience with massive waves crashing against the beach and Kombi vans covered in surf boards.

That night was a step up in presentation and ambience with a lavish outside dinner at the local Colonial Brewery. The beers were tasty and the dinner was even better. We chatted about the day – it’s amazing how much riders can talk about riding – and ate and drank like we’d earned it, which judging by the weary faces and fresh, red tan lines all around, we had.

Day three was the premier stage of the race – the Margaret River Special Stage. While the other days had been predominantly open and on fire road, this stage had some long sections of singletrack and plenty of challenging terrain. The singletrack was a welcome addition and certainly set the stage aside from others.

After about an hour there were just the three of us at the front – Joel, Rohin and myself. Joel was happy setting an awesome pace on the front so I sat on his wheel and tried to work out where the best spot would be to try to break away from the two team mates. If I tried to break away too early I knew they’d work together to bring me back which would end up costing me a lot more than them.

So as the end neared Rohin threw plenty of attacks at me but I was feeling strong and was able to match each of them. I managed to get into the last singletrack ahead of him and I built a lead to the two chasing riders. With about one or two kilometres to go though I took a wrong turn because some locals had changed the direction of a few of the course arrows! So I finally realised my mistake and got back just in time to see Rohin passing the same point. I got in front of him again but didn’t manage to re-catch Joel.

So I finished 2nd on that stage and while I was disappointed coming over the finish line, if anyone deserved a stage win it was Joel as he’d basically set the pace for the whole day, it was impressive. So I can’t say I was all smiles at the finish but once I’d quenched my exhaustion thanks to the post-stage luxuries, I was happy to have had a challenging and damn fun day on the bike. The only problem with this event was it was going so fast!

Based on the course arrow confusion, the organisers decided to zero the time difference for the final day between Rohin and I. For the last day we’d be starting dead even on time, as we had on day one, the stage was set for a final stage showdown!

No to get too caught up with the racing though, that night we hit up the local Augusta – Margaret River football club and were entertained with Johnny Waddell’s speech regarding his action-packed history on (and off) the bike. The local owner of the club also chipped in with his own unique motivation to get out on the bike – “I’ve recently been forced onto my bike by the local constabulary.”

While the local club struggled with the demand and ran out of food – I overheard one of the older female employees complaining: “we had enough food for 250 people but they were all loading their plates sky high!” – it was another festive night. Along with riding our hearts out, laughter was continuing as a very strong theme for the week.

Day four was certainly the most cruisy of the four stages. The four of us – Joel, Rohin, Johnny and I – were working well together on the flat roads until Johnny locked bars with Rohin and smashed into the ground, ripping chunks of his arm in the process and smearing himself in cow patties. It was almost funny and after a few minutes I think even Johnny could see the funny side. We all pulled up and called First Aid.

Once Johnny was safely off to the hospital we continued on our way. It was flat and fast and there was really no chance for us to break up until the final last climb. I laid it all on the line on that final climb and managed to get a gap on Joel and Rohin which I held until the final descent and the finish line.

So in the end I managed to take the win over the four days but as I hinted at earlier, the racing is only really a small amount of the Cape to Cape experience. In summing up the Cape to Cape I have to steal a quote from my racing buddy Joel Read: “I’m all about doing things for the story and the Cape to Cape did it for me.” The amount of cool people we met, stories we heard and shared and experiences we had was incredible. The fact that it was all crammed into a meagre four days makes it all the more impressive; almost magical, in fact. And I haven’t even started on the scenery…Thanks Cape to Cape!

Thanks also Giant bikes for yet another great few days on the bike. Also a big thanks to my other major sponsors: Adidas Eyewear, Ritchey, Crank Brothers, JetBlack Products and PowerBar. The WA crew: Jason Dover and Lee Walker did an awesome job during the race and they also deserve special thanks. Thanks also to Travis Deane for the pics.