Rapid Ascent have a premier event in ‘The Odyssey’. Every year, the field is impressive, and the racing is top quality. With a hard course from Apollo Bay, into the Otway Ranges and then racing around the single track networks of Forrest – they were onto a good thing. The course ran this way with minor changes from 2007 until 2012. Wet years were terrible, andy dry years were also difficult.
So it was a big change to make the race start and finish in Forrest, as the 50km course did. Being a classic point to point previously, this changed the feeling of the race in my mind. A big point to point is a journey, and the previous Odyssey course really took you to some interesting places mentally and physically.
With an early start, the masses of cars, cyclists and people around showed that clearly no one was put off by a course change. It actually makes the logistics of the race far easier – so it may well have had slightly higher attendance.
The women’s race started well in advance of the men, to avoid stronger male partners towing someone to victory. With great prize money on offer, it is worthwhile to make it a level playing field. The Men’s race started at 7:30am, and it’s great to see such deep fields consistently lining up at Marathon MTB races in Australia. The start was an open back road of Forrest, but it was never going to be as decisive as the climb out of Apollo Bay. So the bunch was big, with weekend warriors making mad dashes up the sides to improve their bunch position, with little regard to oncoming traffic.
Once we were on the dirt, we were soon then onto sand. And now the selection came. While it did not do too much to the front of the mens race, sub-elite riders were all over the place. Riders were left, right, or lying in the sand. Those with enough experience made it through pretty comfortably. It was a similar experience in the women’s race, with the stronger and more experience racers powering on and creating a lead.
And then we climbed. This is where Jongewaard made his gap, with other key protagonists chasing. I was in all sorts, dealing with the continuous climbs and descents, wondering about when it may give in. Cresting the climb I had Subaru-MarathonMTB.com team mate Graeme Arnott for company and we did our best to push hard towards the start of the single track. Some handling snafu’s form both of us lost positions. This trail took us into the Sledgehammer, and the single track was bar width until the bottom of the infamous climb. It was not overly difficult with 60kms less in the legs at that point compared to previous years.
Coming into Forrest with Croc Trophy veteran Ash Hayat, we made short work of bottle refills. At this point at the front of the race, Jongewaard already had about 3 minutes on the chasing riders. The next section is jam packed with single track, and it’s easy to switch off and lose time, or get overly flustered and make mistakes. By this time we were passing the Elite women’s field, and Naomi Hansen was in a great position, sitting 4th.
The Forrest trails are awesome, but it’s slow going compared to chewing up some kilometres on fire road. The 50-60km seemed to take far longer than it should!
The last loop held more climbing than expected – to the point that the timed descent had two lots of climbing! The finishing trails were on the great trail networks right near Forrest. A lot of the trails really double back on each other, so you can see the riders ahead and behind you, with the mild anxiety that comes with it.
Crossing the line, it was for one of my lowest positions ever at the Odyssey – in part condition, but mostly just how well everyone is riding and racing. Although Jongewaard had a great win, Adrian Jackson was closing in on him. Paul van der Ploeg took a great 3rd place. Shaun Lewis managed to drop Ben Mather just outside of Forrest so they placed 4th and 5th. Renata Bucher took a tightly contested win ahead of Peta Mullens. Rebecca Locke came third and Subaru-MarathonMTB’s Naomi Hansen placed a brilliant 4th.
“I’m absolutely exhausted!” Jongewaard said.
“It was just a tough day out there; with the new course, it’s a bit different to previous years where there was a monster climb to begin with. But by the 2nd climb today, you already had 60-70km in the legs so it really tightens the screws.
“I might have gone a bit too early being 3 minutes ahead at the first checkpoint, but my race plan was to kept it consistent and I was keen to take a bit more risk on the downhills going hard.
“I saw AJ (Jackson) coming towards the end and he looked fresh; I thought I was in trouble, but I just kept it consistent and I managed to hold on. It’s a super sport! What more could you want!” Jongewaard said.
Jackson and van der Ploeg battled it out for second and third for most of the day, before Jackson gave it a crack to pull in Jongewaard.
“Paul and I spent the day together, and for most of it I was just sitting in his dust! I was feeling fresh on the hills, so I gave it to Paul at the end to try and bridge the gap up to Chris,” Jackson said.
“AJ (Jackson) was just drilling it! I was doing it tough up the hills and we were both cramping in the legs, but he just drilled it at the top (King of Mountain) and I had nothing left towards the end,” van der Ploeg said.
In the women’s elite field, Bucher came here to Australia looking for the perfect race, and finished in 5 hours 13 minutes and 35 seconds to take line honours just ahead of back to back 2011 and 2012 Kona Odyssey 100km winner, Peta Mullens who crossed in 5 hours 14 minutes and 34 seconds. A hard finishing Rebecca Locke claimed third in 5 hours 32 minutes and 57 seconds.
“Today was such a good day! My plan was not to come here and smash something. I was nervous because I didn’t know the course as well as some of the others; but I’m lucky Jess (Douglas) took me out here the other day to give me a little bit of an idea of the tracks.” Bucher said.
“Peta and I spent a lot of time together on the tracks until about the 80km mark. We worked so well together, swapping and changing the lead a number of times.
“I had to keep working hard and I felt good; everything was going well so I had to go!” continued Bucher.
Mullens was nothing but praise for the new course and winner Bucher.
“I’m just so happy. Even though I won the last two years, I’m happier with this performance today.” Mullens said.
Renata Bucher, victorious in Victoria at the 2013 Kona Odyssey. Photo: SuperSport Images
“Renata was so strong out there; but I wouldn’t get off her wheel. It was only at the start of the 70km mark that I started to suffer, probably due to a lack of endurance, so had to ease back to make it to finish line.
“The new course is just great. That last loop is going to hurt people with all the little pinches that really grab the legs. But congratulations to everyone that finished today,” continued Mullens.
Full results are listed on the Multisport Australia website
