Beloka Hill : 1  – Fluoro Dave : 0

The legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Bum Philips once said “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity”. These were the words that were ringing in my ears as I studied the course profile for the Snowy Classic 110 km course. Noting the hideous climb known as Beloka Hill, which started at kilometre 86 into the ride and involved a 300 m climb in 3 km, I managed to find this course on my trainer courtesy of Rouvy and despite a lack of actual cycling due to wet weather, I managed to do this climb a dozen times as part of my trainer regime.

Beloka – The Opportunity

Armed with this preparation I was feeling chipper and was quietly confident of a podium finish for two reasons. Firstly, I always take my own podium to these events and, secondly, the king of the mountain prize for this event involved a $200 cash prize to both the fastest and slowest riders up the hill, both male and female. With hindsight the only problem with my cunning plan was that I should have done an 86 km ride first and then jumped on my trainer to do the hill.

As you can see from the photograph below, there was quite a bit of pedestrian traffic on the 16% pinch that ground me to a cramp-induced standstill about 1.2 kms into the climb. At least I had the opportunity to get my feet clear of the cleats before my legs became inoperable. Several riders in front of me weren’t so lucky and their cramp-induced emergency dismounts left them flapping about on the tarmac like an exhausted fish that has just been dragged onto a wharf.

From my observation, only about 10% of riders around me completed the climb (mostly women) and congratulations to Gra for conquering this. Speaking to other riders afterwards their average speed at this section was 5.5-6.0 km/hour where I was able to average a brisk 4.7 km/hour pushing my bike uphill. I now better understand one of the rider’s comments approaching the hill, that the climb was designed purely to assist in the sales of new sets of bike cleats.

Despite this hill being a significant challenge, it should not deter anyone from entering what is a beautiful and well organised ride. Worst case scenario is you just walk up the steep bits. The upside is the other 107 km of open rolling Snowy Mountains landscape with absolutely no traffic. The road closures were really well managed and it allowed the use of both sides of the road, although I must admit I tended to stay to the left-hand side in case some of the locals hadn’t got the memo.

The vibe of the ride was awesome and even though I was riding with my nephew, the ride was extraordinarily social with a number of little Pelotons and riding groups forming and much good conversation was had while taking in the scenery. For many parts of the ride you had 10km to 15km views of the valleys around.

Views at about km 85. Glorious!

Proof of life at end

Having done the Bowral Classic (85 km) I reckon the Snowy Classic shows the same level of professionalism and careful organisation with the big attraction for me being the entirely closed roads and lack of motor cars.  It also appears that the timing and size of the event appeals to the locals, many of whom were camped at their farm gates with kids and dogs to cheer the procession of riders on. I certainly got the impression that this was an event that was welcomed and assume this has something to do with the timing of the event between peak winter and summer activities to bolster accommodation and alcohol turnover in what otherwise might have been a quieter time.

In addition, coming from a regulatory management and compliance background myself, I can only imagine the red tape required to be negotiated to allow the event to go ahead, in particular road closures and occupation of the main street by the start and finish and event village for the best part of a day. This would involve development applications to Council and engagement with police and insurance companies, as well as the engagement of large numbers of volunteers and professional traffic management services which managed the traffic exclusions on the ride.

The finish and the event village were located in a sort of natural amphitheatre which allowed you to watch the incoming riders with your beer overlooking the lake and the mountains. Pretty impressive to see riders that had started 10mins in front of you complete the 170km course (an extra 60km) at about the same time…A good day all round.

The course information was excellent and, as with the rider information packs for Bowral, everyone was provided with stickers to place on their handlebars/bike frames showing the kilometres and site elevations, as well as the location of the rest stops and cut-off times.

I suspect a few people may have been deterred by some of the cut-off times which should not be the case.  Two cut-off times were imposed at kilometre 54 and kilometre 72 which equated to a requirement to achieve a minimum average speed of 18 km/hour.  As I ride at the genteel speed of 22.5 km/hour and experienced two punctures and a faulty second spare tube during the Bowral ride, it wasn’t inconceivable that with a bit of bad luck, one may have the SAG wagon breathing down your neck. I needn’t have worried as riding at a very measured pace to save myself for the friggin’ hill, I arrived at the kilometre 72 cut-off point about one hour ahead of the cut-off time, averaging just over 26 km/hour.

Overall, a fine outing which I would encourage other SICOs to have a lash at… I will be back as I have unfinished business…

Kind Regards – Fluoro Dave