2006 Macedon Ranges Teams Classic

20 teams of 7 = 140 riders entered. 138 riders took to the start line. 2 riders from each team were nominated to start in the front group of 40 riders on the start line. The BBN team captain (Guy G.) nominated Wayne E. and Steve M. to start at the front. The other 5 riders from each team had to fight it out at the back off the start line in a group of 98 riders. It turned out that VB and GG found themselves positioned well in the front group of 40 so Wayne and Steve suggested they stay there and chose to fight it out amongst the masses.

The race started very nervously with a lot of close calls (near crashes) and stop-starting, with most riders very eager to make their way to the front. Accelerate, brake, accelerate, brake for the first couple minutes then BANG, the pace was on. The first KOM was at the 8km mark and this is where Rob R. lost contact with the main bunch. Many riders were dropped before him, at the same time as him, and just after him. He formed a chase group which either picked up or flew past riders being dropped left, right, and centre. Their chase was futile, as the peleton covered the first 18kms at an average speed of over 47km/h (with over 100km still to travel). I never saw Andrew Rolland during the race but assume he was dropped within the first 18km and continued chasing with a group.

Guy, Steve, Wayne, VB, and Jamie all completed the first 2 laps (60km without incident) in the peleton, avoiding the odd crash here and there, and averaging over 44km/h to this point. A few kms into the 3rd lap (of 4) there was a sudden urgency at the front of the peleton and the field of around 65 riders was strung out, single file, into a crosswind, doing around 50km/h. Guy (being both strong and wise) was towards the front, while VB, Jamie, Wevans, and Stevie were unfortunately too far back (somewhere between the middle and two-thirds of the way back) when the pace went crazy. Gaps started opening up and we attempted to jump across and bridge but the pace up front was relentless. We formed a chase group of around 15 riders and picked up riders as they continued to be shed from the peleton. At the end of lap 3 most of this group pulled out of the race but Wevans and Stevie continued for the final 30km lap. Joined by a few other riders, the group of 5 or 6 finished only 10 minutes behind the peleton, with Stevie and Wevans finishing in 48th and 49th place (7 seconds in front of their small group due to a well timed attack on the last rise approx. 1km from the finish). Average speed for these 2 boys was over 38.5km/h.

Of the 20 Teams entered, only 14 teams finished with 3 riders, with BBN finishing 12th overall (based on first 3 riders from each team). BBN also finished 4th out of the 7 Club Teams entered.