Queenslander Lorian Graham, 27, outrode a class field to claim the elite women's road race title at the Australian Open Road Championships today in Echunga at the foot of the Adelaide Hills.

The women completed eight laps of the 13km course with Graham winning in a time of 2:53:47, 31 seconds clear of Athens Olympic road race champion and fellow Queenslander Sara Carrigan, who led home the main bunch while yet another Queensland rider, Bridget Evans was third to give the state a clean sweep of the podium.

Lorian Graham wins
the Australian road championships
in January 20 / 05
 

The Legend of Lance: an Armstrong retrospective
 

Roadie Translations:

"I'm out of shape"

Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven't missed a day since
the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than
you wash your shorts. My bodyfat percentage is lower than your
mortgage rate.

"I'm not into competition"

Translation: I will attack until you collapse in the gutter,
babbling and whimpering as if you've been watching Celebrity Poker. I will win the town-line sprint if I have to hook you into an oncoming traffic. I will crest this hill first if I have to grab your seatpost, spray energy drink in your eyes and ask you how to program
my DVD player.

"I'm on my beater bike"

Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using titanium
blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared.
It weighs less than a popcorn fart and costs more than a divorce.

"It's not that hilly"

Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign.
Be careful on the steep sections or you'll fall over -- backward. You
have a 39x23 low gear? Here's the name of my knee surgeon.

"You're doing great, honey"

Translation: Yo, lard-o, I'd like to get home before midnight. This
is what you get for spending the winter watching football and gobbling
Sausages. I shoulda married that cute Cat 1 when I had the chance.

"This is a no-drop ride"

Translation: I'll need an article of your clothing. It's for the
search-and-rescue dogs.

"It's not that far"

Translation: Yes, it is.
 

44th Grafton to Inverell - NE

Australia, September 18, 2004

Course Profile

2004
I gotta have rock in my head for doing this race without training or preparing for it.
Chass & Sevin trained hard and did themselves proud.
It is a hard race and mentally tough, I will be better prepared next year
2005   22/8/05
Well I've trained a lot harder this year, Had a few obstacles in the lead up, but I'm gonna give it a go. I've tried doing 350 to 400 ks a week, had a lot of niggling injuries Like dropping my weights on my toe at Christmas, that took 6 months . My toe nail took ages to come off,then the new on was ingrown, I had to cut the skin back, bled every time I went riding. Crashed in a race on Australia day Dislocated my shoulder and my thumb Broke a rib, gravel rash everywhere. Took a couple of weeks to get over that. The usual back and knee problems But apart from that I'm fit as a fiddle. Hearing that Steve Ikin wanted to go and watch the Grafton race has given me inspiration to do this race. My little problems are nothing compared to his , I'm  just glad I can do it. I am very lucky. Oh well see how I go , I'm twice an fit this year , hope I go twice as fast.
(The picture of my toe was for Yvonne , Just incase she didn't see it)

The Grafton to Inverell Cycling Classic was first staged in 1961 following the opening of the new portion of the Gwydir Highway between Grafton and Glen Innes. This first race attracted 35 riders who had to tackle 110km of gravel during the 228km race distance. Victorian Alan Grindal was the winner of the inaugural race, leading home 17 finishers of a race some were saying no one would finish.

The 1961 event attracted unprecedented media coverage through northern NSW. Local radio station 2NZ covered the race live and have continued to broadcast live commentary of every one of the 43 races held. 2NZ’s live broadcast of the Grafton to Inverell has, on several occasions, won the radio industry award (RAWARD) for the best coverage of a sporting event in rural areas of Australia. This is the only cycle race in Australia with live radio coverage from start to finish.

The race was held under a handicap system until 1978 when race organisers adopted the European style massed start format for the 1979 event. It was under this format that the race was run as an UCI international event in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989. All these races included at least eight international teams from various countries including Italy, USA, New Zealand and Switzerland.

The early years of the race saw the cream of Australian cyclist take on the gruelling 228km race, which includes an 18km climb up the Gibraltar Range. These riders included Mexico Olympians, Don Wilson from Victoria who claimed first and fastest from the scratch mark in 1967 and Tasmanian Kevin Morgan who took line honours in 1968. Morgan won in a record time of 6hr23m21s, this record stood until 1985.

Three times Olympian Remo Sansonetti Vic claimed first and fastest in 1976. Garry Sutton who is regarded as Australia’s best ever cyclist took fastest time honours in 1977.

When the race changed to the massed start format in 1979 an influx of international riders made their mark on the race over the next decade. The New Zealand Commonwealth Games team scored an impressive trifecta in the 1982 race, which they used for training for the Brisbane Games.

Englishman Paul Curran scorched the 228km course in 1985 setting a new record time. His time of 6hr00m49s was set on a day that produced a favourable tail wind and has to this day not been threatened. Curran went on to win the Commonwealth Games road race in 1986.

Victorian Jamie Drew is the only rider in the 42-year history to win the Grafton to Inverell twice. Drew won the 1997 race and was back in 1999 with Victorian Institute of Sport squad (VIS). VIS manager Dave Sanders regards the Grafton to Inverell as the unofficial Australian championships. Drew and VIS team mate David McKenzie blasted their opponents away on the wire gully climb just 20km from the finish. The wire gully climb has proven to be a crucial part of the race with many winners making their move there. Drew went on to out sprint McKenzie to go into the races history books.

McKenzie was back in 2001 after a successful year in Europe where he won a stage of the Tour of Italy. McKenzie again made a winning move on the wire gully climb but this time no one could deny him victory. He beat home his break companions to take one of his biggest wins for the year.

Last years race was covered for the first time on the Internet. Cyclingnews.com posted live updates and photo’s of the race live. This live coverage received 2000 hits on the day of the race and a further 10,000 hits on the race report and results in the week following the race. This net coverage has the ability to carry sponsors banners on the live coverage page.

Plans are under way to have the Grafton to Inverell listed as an UCI category race. Organisers are hopeful this will attract international riders to the race.

Last years event received record 180 entries. Riders compete in five different categories including A grade, B grade, C grade, Women’s and over 45’s. A grade will also contest King of the Mountains and Sprint King titles as well. With the changes to the races format and great support from Cycling NSW, organisers are confident of equalling or bettering last years entry numbers.

Founding committee member Jack Griffin described the weather at the start in Grafton as being perfect - around 20 degrees, sunny and still. The only disappointment the lack of a crowd to wave the riders off. Despite all efforts of the race organizers and a local events group in providing a live band, a barbecue and coffee stall, only a handful of cycling enthusiasts have made the effort this morning.

First off the line at 7.20am was the C grade bunch, then the elite women's field set off in the inaugural World Heritage Way Ladies Challenge from Grafton to Glen Innes (see report). Next to start is the B grade bunch, and then it's time for the A grade men's field, comprised for the first time of teams-only (in previous editions, the A grade field could be made up of any combination of riders from Australian and overseas clubs or teams).

Jack, now 72, shares a couple of his own memories of the race before sending them on their way. They leave the riverside Crown Hotel then head over the uniquely shaped Clarence River bridge before turning onto the Gwydir Highway, where the neutral zone ends and the race begins. And begin it does.

Chass's Story

Victors E-mail         Aerodynamics and Cycling

Cycling Quotes

"What makes a great endurance athlete is the ability to absorb potenial embarrassment, and to suffer without complaint. I was discovering that if it was a matter of gritting my teeth, not caring how it looked, and outlasting everybody else, I won. It didn't seem to matter what sport it was--in a straight-ahead, long-distant race, I could beat anybody. If it was a suffer-fest, I was good at it."
- Lance Armstrong, My Journey back to Life

"But to say that the race is the metaphor for the life is to miss the point. The race is everything. It obliterates whatever isn't racing. Life is the metaphor for the race."
Donald Antrim

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft... As for me, give me a fixed gear!"
Henri Desgrange

"Eat before you are hungry.
Drink before you are thirsty.
Rest before you are tired.
Cover up before you are cold.
Peel off before you are hot.
Don't drink or smoke on tour.
Never ride just to prove yourself."
Paul de Vivie, aka Velocio

"Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time."
Greg LeMond

"It never gets easier, you just go faster."
Greg LeMond

"I don't have any more bad days. I have good days and I have great days. Cancer no longer consumes my life, my thoughts, or my behavior. If I have a tough week, all I have to do is sit back and reflect on what I went through, and look at my son, and things don't bother me anymore. I'm not only alive, but I'm responsible for another life, the life of my child. When you almost lose your life to cancer, and then win the Tour de France, and then become a father, it grows you up fast. I'm more thoughtful, and I resist saying the first thing that comes out of my mouth. Before, all of my questions were directed toward the "me," as in "Why me?" or, "What are my chances?" But now I've started looking at other people."
Lance Armstrong

"My career is going to be played out year by year. Will I be here in 2004? I don't know. The record won't keep me here. Happiness will."
Lance Armstrong

"The supporters...It is true that they are dangerous when they run close to the riders. From there to throwing a punch. That is a step...."
Gilberto Simoni commenting on Wladimir Belli punching a heckler (Simoni's nephew) on the last climb of the 84th Giro d'Italia. Belli was expelled from the race.

"...the disqualification is unjust, I understand his reaction. You must understand the riders at certain moments (like climbing an 18% hill) they are stressed and they can react rashly."
Gilberto Simoni's 18 year old nephew's comments after Belli punched him and was disqualified from the Giro d'Italia.

"We know that the rider was provoked, but we are forced to apply the regulations. That involves a fine and the immediate exclusion from the race. The gesture is inexcusable."
Giro d'Italia's Race Jury President about the decision to expel Wladimir Belli.

"There are too many factors you have to take into account that you have no control over...The most important factor you can keep in your own hands is yourself. I always placed the greatest emphasis on that."
Eddy Merckx, Belgian, who won Tour de France five times.

"If you were a spectator on one of the mountain passes today, the super-light bikes would be little different in appearance from the machines of years ago, pedaled by earlier heroes, Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, Roche. They would look like the bikes our dads rode when we were kids. But the Tour is a commercial race, and innovation must be given its place on the catwalk, or in this case the vélodrome...."
James Waddington, Bad to the Bone

"The riders come out, knights for the tournament, neck to thigh in slippery lycra with the sheen of deep space condoms, faired helmets on their heads like the glans from another galaxy and neoprene pixyboots to slide the air around their feet, mounted on gaudily caparisoned donkeys — the carbon fibre monocoque monoblade."
James Waddington, Bad to the Bone

"The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community."
Ann Strong, Minneapolis Tribune, 1895

"What was supposed to be a summer of fun on the bike turned into a year, then two years. It certainly wasn't a calculated plan to have a career as a cyclist."
Derek Bouchard-Hall

"There's a lot more pressure when you're a medal favorite. Now, nobody has any expectations for me. Nobody knows what I can do, so I'm riding with nothing to lose."
Chris Witty, speedskater-turned-cyclist of Park City, Utah, on competing in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Her 1998 Winter Olympics performances garnered a silver at 1,000 meters and bronze at 1,500 meters.

"There were something like 50 good, arduous climbs around Nice, solid inclines of ten miles or more. The trick was not to climb every once in awhile, but to climb repeatedly. I would do three different climbs in one day, over the course of a six- or seven-hour ride. A 12 mile climb took about an hour, so that tells you what my days were like."
Lance Armstrong, from "It's Not About the Bike"

"We sped on, across the plains, toward Metz. I hung back, saving myself. It is called the Race of Truth. The early stages separate the strong riders from the weak. Now the weak would be eliminated altogether."
Lance Armstrong, from "It's Not About the Bike"

"Pain is a big fat creature riding on your back. The farther you pedal, the heavier he feels. The harder you push, the tighter he squeezes your chest. The steeper the climb, the deeper he digs his jagged, sharp claws into your muscles."
Scott Martin

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."
Scott Martin

"The Ventoux is a god of Evil, to which sacrifices must be made. It never forgives weakness and extracts an unfair tribute of suffering."
Roland Barthes, French philosopher, pioneer of semiotics, sometimes windbag and full-time bicycle racing fan, describes Mont Ventoux, a 13-mile clilmb above the treeline into a desolation of strewn rock, in the Tour de France.

"Physically, the Ventoux is dreadful. Bald, it's the spirit of Dry: Its climate (it is much more an essence of climate than a geographic place) makes it a damned terrain, a testing place for heroes, something like a higher hell."
Roland Barthes, French philosopher and bicycle racing fan, author of Mythologies, describes Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France.
 

"Nineteen hundred meters up there is completely different from1,900 any place else. There's no air, there's no oxygen. There's no vegetation, there's no life. There's no life. Rocks. Any other climb there's vegetation, grass and trees. Not there on the Ventoux. It's more like the moon than a mountain."
Lance Armstrong, American cycling king, wearing Tour de France yellow jersey on the Ventoux Stage, 2000.

Quotes from Phil Liggett

Why Bikes Are Better Than Women

Top Ten Reasons Why Computers and Bicycling Don't Mix

1. Finding a blender that size would be almost impossible.
2. Whaddya mean, megabyte? I can't even chew this disgusting PowerBar as it is.
3. The Information Superhighway sounds like an accident waiting to happen.
4. Computer programming? No problem. What's your wheel size?
5. Who needs more RAM? Once a year is more than enough.
6. I don't know what's worse, staring at a screen all day or at my front tire.
7. Hard drive? Shoot, wait'll the race.
8. Carpal Tunnel makes me claustrophobic.
9. I don't want a better monitor. I'm barely passing my urinalysis as it is.
10. If I have to restart every time I crash, I quit.
    Back to Home Page

This Is Road Racing!

The open road, a smell of hot tarmac, an expectant crowd, the hum of tyres and the whirring of gears - this is road racing! One for the Road! Road Racing’s territory is the open road. Events range from short Junior races of an hour or less, through one day classics of over 250km like Paris-Roubaix, to the Tour de France which hurtles round 3,500km of the flatlands and mountains of France for three weeks every summer. In the shorter races the first rider over the line is the winner, but in multi-stage “Tours” there are prizes for each stage winner, for the best sprinter in the race, the best climber (aka King of the Mountains), the leading team and, of course, the overall winner.

Racing Qualities - Endurance, Sprinting, Climbing
Top Road racers need to be able to stay in the saddle for hours at a time (endurance), to accelerate to speeds of up to 50mph (sprint) and climb mountain passes up to almost 10,000 feet.

How to get involved
As with all sports, Road Racing beginners can find their feet in easier events. Under sixteens ride on what are called closed road circuits – they are courses off the public roads where they can race safely and learn the many tactical skills which make Road Racing so exciting. British cycling run events of this kind all round the country during the summer months.

Road Facts

So that’s road Racing - there’s no better feeling than skimming over the tarmac, whether it’s an evening club ride with your mates, or in the cut and thrust of a race.

Lance Armstrong
Biography:
LearnOutLoud.com
* Endurance Sports News (free)
* Tour de France Times (free)
* How To Run & Enjoy The Marathon
* The Tour Within The Tour de France
Some other clubs on this site
http://www.qld.cycling.org.au/road.htm    Race results
Results
Gold Coast Cats         Murarrie Race Results

Murwillumbah Cycle Club Results

Broncos Cycling Calendar

Cycling Events Calendars
Bicycle Queensland http://www.biq.org.au
Bicycle Federation of Australia http://www.bfa.asn.au
Australian Bicycle Council http://www.dotrs.gov.au/abc/
(hosted by the Department of Transport and Regional Services http://www.dotrs.gov.au)
Cairns Bicycle User Group http://www.cairnsbug.org
Brisbane Bicycle Touring Association http://www.bbta-au.org
Mountain Bike Australia (MBTA) Inc. http://www.mtba.asn.au
Bicycle Industry Australia http://www.bikeoz.com
Cycling Promotion Fund http://www.cyclingpromotion.com
WOMBATS http://www.wombats.org
Bicycle Institute of South Australia http://www.bisa.asn.au
Bicycle Victoria http://www.bv.com.au
Bicycle New South Wales http://www.bicyclensw.org.au
Pedal Power http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/community/pedalpower
Cycling Australia http://www.cycling.org.au
Audax Australia http://www.audax.org.au
International Bicycle Fund http://www.ibike.org
Yellow Bike Coalition http://www.yellowbike.org
Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition http://gvcc.bc.ca
Scottish Cycling Development Project http://www.scottishcycling.co.uk
The Bicycle Source http://www.bicyclesource.com
Chicago Bicycle Federation http://chibikefed.org
TransCycle http://www.transcycle.org
City of Toronto's Cycling Committee http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/cycling/index.htm
Cycling News - Latest News and Results (worlwide)                                 
 www.cyclingnews.com
All you ever wanted to know about Cycling (US Site)
www.bikindex.com
Cycling NSW
Andrew VonBerky's Brisbane and area Events Diary                http://members.optusnet.com.au/vonberky/
Cycling in other States
Victoria http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au click on Traffic Management and then bicycles.
Australian Capital Territory http://www.act.gov.au/services/sport/bicycle
Tasmania http://www.transport.tas.gov.au/bicycle/index.html
Western Australia http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/metro/bikewest/index.htm
South Australia http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/cycling.cgi

Safe cycling
Share the road
Share the paths
Personal security
Road rules
www.transport.qld.gov.au/cycling
Bikeplan Source (USA) http://www.bikeplan.com
European Cycling Federation http://www.ecf.com
Sustrans (UK) http://www.sustrans.org.uk
Self-Propelled City (USA) http://www.selfpropelledcity.com
Re-Cycle (UK) http://www.re-cycle.org
Better Environmentally Sound Transport http://www.best.bc.ca
The Living Room http://www.living-room.org
Bicycle Transportation Systems Inc. http://www.biketrans.com
Carfree.com http://www.carfree.com
Detour Publications http://www.detourpublications.com
Cities for Cyclists http://www.cities-for-cyclists.org
Collection of Cycle Concepts http://www.cities-for-cyclists.org/cycle_concepts.htm