Enduro28 - Port to Port 2014

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ENDURO 28

Words aNDY BLAIR | photos by Giro phot0

Going along to the first edition of a mountain bike race is a bit of a lottery as not many race promoters manage to concoct the right formula for a successful event in the first year and there are often teething problems. However, when the inaugural Port to Port event was announced for 2014 I didn’t hesitate to sign up straight away. As a sister event to the wildly popular and Cape to Cape, there was a general assumption that the Port to Port would be as slick as the Cape to Cape and that it would attract a strong field. Add to that the allure of a beautiful location that I had never ridden before and I was sold.

T

he race would follow the same four stage format as the Cape to Cape, with the race starting at Nelson Bay, followed by two stages in the Hunter Valley wine region and finishing with a return to the coast in Newcastle. The average stage distance was a fast and achievable 50km, and with a combination of sand dunes, singletrack, hills and fire roads there was sure to be something for everyone.

Over 300 riders assembled on the start line for the first stage of the inaugural event, and there was a certain air of smugness (in a good way) that those gathered were involved in the beginning of something cool…like when you got see your favourite band live before they become popular. With a huge contingent present from the big Aussie mountain bike teams like Torq Nutrition and Trek Racing, as well as riders from 4Shaw, Focus and Swell-Specialized, the stage was set for some tough racing in the elite categories.

Stage 1: 39km Nelson Bay to Nelson Bay Perfect weather greeted us for stage 1 and as we departed Nelson Bay and headed through town toward Shoal Bay, the young and keen Torq boys had the race lined out. As we approached the end of the road and the start of a section of sandy walking tracks, things started to get animated as everyone tried to position themselves. Being a bit lumpy, a few splits formed in the group but when we got back onto the tar it soon regrouped.

After making our way through Fingal Bay we then hit Tomaree National Park and the sandy undulating fire roads soon split the group again but this time for good. Chris ‘Hamo’ Hamilton (Torq) and I were together off the front and my teammate Shaun Lewis was close behind with Brendan ‘Trekky’ Johnson (Trek) and Ben Forbes (Torq). Having just returned from a huge ride in the NRS at the Tour of Toowoomba, I knew Hamo was moving well would be hard to get rid of.

We rode together until the 12km mark when we hit the infamous “vertical beach”. When I saw it coming I went to the front and led into the soft wall of sand. Soon enough we were off and running and I put my head down with only one look over my shoulder at the very top to assess if my effort had been enough to dislodge the youngster. I had a small gap but he was still close, so I worked really hard for a few kilometres to try and build an advantage.

The gap didn’t seem to be growing and being still quite early in the stage I was a bit wary of blowing up so I was reluctant to commit 100%. I decided to give it one more big effort and I managed to get (mostly) out of sight.

Having gone into the red I needed to recover slightly so I tried to ride the middle section of the stage smoothly, efficiently and to try and enjoy the challenge of riding the sandy sections with the minimum effort. Crossing back over Nelson Bay Road I knew the end was getting closer, but things started to get hard. The pedals weren’t going round as easily as they

once were and I just hoped that I would have enough to hold on.

There were a couple of really tough gravel climbs in the last 7km and I set myself the goal of pushing to the top of each one. Eventually I was spat out into the back of town and into what felt like a block head wind. The final kilometre of singletrack through Fly Point Park couldn’t come soon enough, after which I kept pushing the along the short stretch of bike path to a very welcome finish line at the Nelson Bay marina. Phew! Hamo came in 2:51 later with a group of Trekky, Ben Forbes and Shaun Lewis a further two minutes back.

Stage 2: 55km Lindemans Winery to Lindemans Winery Where stage 1 promised sand and ocean views, stage 2 promised hills. And, thanks to some heavy overnight rain, mud….lots of mud. With Chris Hamilton sitting 2nd on GC we expected fireworks from the Torq team and it was Tasman Nankervis that dealt the first blow when he attacked on the lower slopes of the first main climb, shortly after the departure from Lindemans Winery. With a 15km road section later in the stage the tactic seemed pretty clear: send Tas down the road early to work for Hamo who would bridge to him later in the stage.

For this reason I was very attentive to Hamo’s movements and sure enough, he attacked half way up the ascent. Wow, this boy can climb! Fortunately for me there were a few flatter sections to break up the climb so I got some respite from the tempo he was setting and I was able to stay in contact. We caught Tasman over the top and soon headed into the singletrack. It was pretty raw motor-bike-rut singletrack and the rain made it really greasy and it was super fun.

From the most fun bit of track we then got onto the least fun. I’m sure the forest fire road that followed would normally be great, but the combination of rain and the recent logging activity made it a nightmare!

It was really fluffy mud that fluctuated from difficult to impossible to ride. We had to jump off and run several times and each time the bike felt heavier and heavier as it became caked in mud. At this point I was very thankful for my new inverted Rock Shox RS-1 fork that has so much mud clearance that it doesn’t clog with mud (I know this is a plug, but it’s true!).

By this point Hamo’s pace had dislodged Tasman, and I was under pressure. It wasn’t long before Hamo rode away. Thankfully, I eventually made it out of the bog and reached the “Rabbit Hole”, the seemingly endless flat-out fire road descent. While still trying to enjoy the roller coaster ride to the bottom, I chased hard and managed to re-join Hamo before we were spat out onto the valley roads.

From there it was 15km of bitumen before the final big climb. Having weathered the storm earlier I was reluctant to contribute to the pace making, so Hamo set the tempo. Despite having only ridden 40km, the deep mud, ferocious pace and cold temperatures had taken their toll and the final climb felt quite tough.

Hamo and I arrived at the top together for the fun ride along the Great North Walk before the fast descent down Polkolbins Mountain Road at speeds approaching 85kph. In the final uphill sprint to the finish in Lindamans Winery Hamo got the better of me for a very well-deserved stage win. Forbesy was next in but Trekky was right behind him and was able to hang on to 3rd place overall.

Stage 3: 52km Briar Ridge Vineyard to Richmond Vale Railway Museum After a tough previous day and mud still lingering on sections of the course, the course director took pity on us and shortened stage 3 slightly to avoid the worst of the mud. The race still featured the brutal climb up to Mt View Lookout straight off the bat, which

With Chris Hamilton sitting 2nd on GC we expected fireworks from the Torq team and it was Tasman Nankervis that dealt the first blow when he attacked on the lower slopes of the first main climb shortly after the departure from Lindemans Winery. disaster stuck. I had a mechanical that I wasn’t sure how to fix, so being so close to the finish, I decided to run. As I passed the 1km to go sign I started to do some calculations in my head and realised that this was going to be close!

Up ahead Hamo took his second stage in a row with Forbesy and Tasman completing a Torq triple. I limped home in 7th with a deficit that reduced my overall lead to a meagre 28 seconds with one stage to go. guaranteed that no one would get an easy run to the finish.

Anticipating the certainty of the attacks from Torq, my teamie Shaun went hard straight from the gun. This tactic worked wonders as the orange army (the Torq team) seemed a bit sedated after that and the tempo to the top was fairly steady. A fast descent brought us back down towards the town of Millfield and a group formed which contained Hamo, Forbesy, Tasman, Jason Loundes (Torq), Chris Aitken (Focus), Tom Goddard (4shaw), Dylan Cooper (Trek) and myself.

The remainder of the stage was relatively flat and fast with fun motorbike singletrack sections alternating with raw fire trails and the Torq pair of Tasman and Jason setting a solid pace.

After a few unsuccessful attacks in the final five kilometres I had accepted that the stage would come down to a sprint. As we approached the railway museum with just over 1 km to go,

Stage 4: 45km Cam’s Wharf to Nobby’s Beach After losing my little buffer on the previous day, the race was wide open again for the final stage from Cam’s Wharf on Lake Macquarie to Nobby’s Beach in the heart of Newcastle. With just 28 seconds now separating Hamo and I on the general classification, the Port to Port was coming down to the wire and there were a few features of the stage that would provide a challenge, including what would be a brutal 1.5km slog along Blacksmith Beach, a 6km section in Glenrock State Forest and a potentially tight run-in to the finish along the busy Newcastle esplanade.

Fortunately for me I was staying with the parents of my Swell-Specialized team mate Cam Ivory, Mark and Louise, who were more than happy to go for a drive the afternoon before to recon as much of the stage as possible and it definitely helped with our plans to defend the

GC and to go for the stage.

The mood on the start line was quite jovial as everyone knew the hard work was nearly done and it wouldn’t be long before we finished our journey. Local rider Chris Aitken was clearly motivated and set the pace early as we made our way through Swansea, but on the approach to Blacksmith Beach Shaun and I tried to take control and drove the group onto the sand.

Sometimes the best form of defence is attack, so Shaun and I gave it everything along the beach to try and drop or isolate Hamo. Shaun rode the beach amazingly well and managed to drop everyone except Hamo and I, then as we exited the beach I was a bit off the back and Shaun sat up to wait for me and bring me back up to the front. Knowing that we had isolated Hamo and were now faced with 15km of essentially flat bike track and fire road, Shaun and I started a bit of the old one-two in a final attempt to drop Hamo. Had it been close to the

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ENDURO 28

The Women’s Race Having just come out of a block in an altitude chamber and using the Port to Port as a “form-finder” before her biggest goals of the season (European and World XCM Champs), Jenny Fay went into the race as the overwhelming favourite. She had some solid competition in the form of the up-and-coming pinner Em Parkes and Imogen Smith who was coming off a recent 2nd in the ICME stage race at Alice Springs, but true to form Jenny took every stage and the overall in a time that would have placed her 18th in the Elite men’s field. Em Parkes had a great ride to finish 2nd overall with a standout stage being the horrendously muddy stage 2 where things came unstuck for even many of the more older and experienced riders. Imogen was possibly still a bit tired from the quick turnaround from the ICME, but she rode consistently over the four stages to round out the podium.

finish we would have kept going, but obviously I needed to keep some powder dry to protect my jersey later so we sat up and let the orange army gradually re-join the group.

Soon Ben Forbes was back, then Tas, Chris Aitkin and Liam Jefferies. Not long after that we arrived at Glenrock and the final opportunity to gain, or lose, time. Shaun rode a solid tempo on the front to discourage any attacks from Torq, but after a while Hamo made his way to the front and lifted the pace. This was probably one of the most fun sections of the whole race: the pace was on, the trails were awesome and after racing hard for four days it was nice to smash through the bush with a good bunch of lads.

Once out of Glenrock I breathed a sigh of relief and really started to think about the stage. Shaun and I positioned ourselves at the front for all the potential crux sections (that I had identified on my recon the day prior) and tried several times to get away, but the others weren’t having a bar of it. In the end it came down to a sprint and it was Chris Aitken that was first to open up. I knew that the final corner was critical so I positioned myself with Shaun on my wheel, we surged to the front as we approached the right hand turn into the finishing straight, and we managed to go one-two on the stage with Hamo and the others close behind.

It’s easy to get caught up in your own race in a four-day event like this but the relief that you get at the finish knowing that you don’t have the pressure of having to go again tomorrow suddenly opens your eyes to everyone else’s private battles. I caught up with a few friends and it was nice to hear about the event from their perspective. Everyone had some tough times but it was also pretty unanimous that they’d had fun. It was particularly inspiring to chat to Michael Milton who had completed the race with only one leg, but nothing surprises me with this guy; if you can ski at 214kph (as he has!) you can pretty much do anything!

So all told, the first Port to Port was a great success. True to the successful formula of its Western Australian predecessor, the riders that stepped up for the first edition were treated to four days of fun and achievable courses and some tough competition for the elites. With many stage races already well-established like Wildside, ICME and Cape to Cape there is obviously a fair bit of competition in this space.

The accessibility by car to those on the East coast and the format that requires only two days off work, makes Port to Port logistically easy and good value for money and annual leave. On top of that, the location is one that has people saying “geee, next year we’ll have to stay for a few days after the race”. Time will tell if the Port to Port will succeed following in the footsteps of the Cape to Cape in becoming a true classic. My guess is that it will, and I look forward to going back next year to be part of that journey. - ENDuromag

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