Otway Odyssey

On the 20th February the crew headed to the Apollo Bay area to compete in the Otway Odyssey. Tony, Steve and I were doing the 50km and Brett was doing the 100km as part of his training for the Terra Australis in March.

Well the 50km event is called the Otway Shorty but that doesn’t really do justice to how tough a ride it is. The website warned that the hill climb would “suck the thunder from your thighs” but I never expected that it would be from walking rather than riding. As well as training for the Otway Odyssey I have also been training for the Oxfam Trailwalker in April (100kms in 48hrs) and although I didn’t know it at the time my walking training was going to come in very handy.
We stayed in Skenes Creek which is on the coast and about 30kms from Forrest. We set our alarms for 5.30am to make sure that we were ready to leave at 6.30am giving us plenty of time to make the 8.00am start. The hour getting ready was spent trying to eat some food (not easy so early in the day), numerous nervous trips to the bathroom (sorry to the partners trying to sleep in the room next to the toilet) and double checking that all the gear was packed and especially our electronic timing bracelet.

It was a very pleasant 22 degrees on the coast but there was a very warm northerly blowing down the hill which wasn’t good news for Brett who was attempting the 100km event which started in Apollo Bay and climbed all the way to Forrest. By the time we got to Forrest the temperature had dropped to 18 and there was a layer of mist sitting in the valley which made Tony and I wonder if we made the right decision to leave our jackets at the house. But Metallica’s Black album had pumped us up during the drive and we were set to go as we pulled into the car park at the Forrest Footy ground. After time for another nervous pee we heeded the call to form up on the starting grid. We chose a spot half way along the “middle ring” group and checked out the guys around us. It was about this time that Tony decided he should check his tyre pressures which he discovered were a bit low. A quick top up for each tyre had him right to go in a few minutes (nothing like leaving it till the last minute).

As we waited nervously for the start an official was walking through the riders asking if everyone had their first aid kit (failure to have one would result in a 20 minute time penalty). Well some people are too honest for their own good because one guy answered no to the question even though there was no physical checking taking place. Tony and I had purchased our kits and we wanted to be asked so we could show that we had the right stuff. It was a bit like wanting to be pulled over for a breath test because you haven’t been drinking.

Anyhow the starting siren sounded and we slowly rolled through the start gate and off into the unknown. Our plan was to take it easy on the hilly first half and not get sucked in by the crowd and ride faster than we wanted which would leave us with nothing left for the second half. The first few kms were pretty uneventful, taking care not to touch wheels with anyone on the crowded fire trail and wondering when the climbing would start. Our hearts went out to the poor guys who suffered mechanicals early on and had to watch everyone ride past them. There was one surreal moment where the track went down hill and because of the dust being created by 500 bikes the riders ahead just all disappeared.

Well the picnic atmosphere didn’t last long as the track started to become a little steeper. The sign on the tree that said “Corporate Ladder” didn’t give us much confidence either as the track went up and up. Then all of a sudden there were people walking as the steep track and number of riders made pushing the granny gear futile and it was easier to join the masses on foot.
Well this was the pattern that the race followed for a good 10kms with a steep walk followed by a quick down hill before having another walk. By now the temperature had risen a few degrees and pushing your bike up hill at 3kms an hour is not easy.

Well some people can walk their bike fast, some can climb well and others go down hill quickly so there was a fair bit of passing and being passed by the same people. So for the rest of the climbing I seemed to be in a familiar group of riders which was like having your own little club amongst all these strangers. There was one final long climb to reach the high point and we were released onto the big downhill run. This climb went on and on but I hooked on to the back of a guy whose pace I liked and stuck with him to the top (thanks Mr Rapido on the black Ellsworth). This climb was almost enjoyable as I had a nice tempo going and my escort and I were passing a few people which gave me encouragement to keep going. The other thing I noticed was the view of the track ahead as you looked up you saw a snaking trail of colourful bike riders and you could easily tell where the track was headed.

After all the climbing it was a relief to hit the down hill section. But this still required concentration and effort. It was a fast piece of fire trail with a well worn left hand side and a right hand side covered in grass clippings having been recently mowed to widen the area. Now having two lanes gave you an option if you got stuck behind some one going slower than you would like but it was a little nerve wracking swapping from side to side at pace. There were a few casualties caused by this lane changing and it was safer to observe the Burnley tunnel etiquette of picking a lane and staying put. This downhill section was also tiring as it was mostly spent off the seat and with a lot of breaking evidenced by the smell of burning disc pads wafting through the bush. It was on this section when I heard a familiar voice yell out g’day Dave as Tony sped past me. I’d pulled a small break on Tony and Steve up the hills with my power walking but it hadn’t taken Tony long to catch me and we were sure that Steve wouldn’t be far behind.

Tony and I stayed together for the remainder of the first 25km loop and both got a nasty shock when we came face to face with the Sledgehammer near the end of this section. I thought we must have already done it because I thought the footy ground couldn’t be far away but alas I was wrong. This was another walking section for me but Tony made a valiant but ultimately vain attempt to ride it before also joining the walking brigade.

After the effort on the Sledgehammer the rest of the ride back to the Footy ground was relatively relaxing and highlighted by a group of young cheerleaders doing their routines in the middle of the bush. Now at this point I was in front of Tony and as I approached the cheerleaders they were just positioning themselves for a special routine and I knew Tony was going to arrive just in time for the full show. The routine involved four girls lifting one girl above their heads as she did the splits. Now I’m sure that as I went past they were all appropriately dressed, but Tony swears that the girl doing the splits was channelling Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct (no knickers) but I’m putting this down to a lack of water on Tony’s behalf.

After the excitement of the cheer leaders it wasn’t long before we rolled into the footy ground and stopped at our team tent set up along the track and grabbed some water and gel packs, checked our times (just on 2 hours for the first half) which we were pretty happy with and headed off expecting Steve to catch us somewhere along the free flowing second half.
To be continued…………..