Tour of East Java
Stage 2 Road Race 185km’s.
The par course for today’s stage was much more undulating with a similar wind pattern to yesterday’s stage. The intermediate sprints were located within the first half of the race with these being significant as they offered time bonuses. There was a high possibility that the race could come down to another bunch sprint, so Plan B’s objective was to try and force a break so that the time could be accumulated by our own riders.
Within the first kilometer of the race a small group had almost rode clear of the field. This was a disturbing pattern of behavior and indicated to me that the peloton was very tired from the previous day’s efforts. Logan counter attacked the group and rode up the road solo, I immediately hit out into a sweeping corner and bridged to Logan with one other rider in tow.
I was hoping that several of the bigger name teams would also present themselves to the move however we quickly rode out to a large gap that eventually sat at over 12minutes! We settled into a tempo pace of around 40-42km/hr pulling one minute turns on the front of the three man group.
Having two of our stronger riders in the front move of only 3 is a big gamble. Here we would have to use a considerable amount of energy whilst the other riders sat within the confines of the peloton using around 30% less energy than us. Still we had an objective in claiming the intermediate points.
Logan had the undesirable job of hitting our compatriot rider with around 1km to go and forcing him to give chase where I would sit on his wheel and hit out over the top of him in the final 100-200meters and claim the points. Logan almost cracked the rider on several occasions however he was strong enough to bridge across to Logan where I had to kick hard to the line. On both occasions I took the maximum number of points and time bonus’s which placed me at 3 rd on general classification in ‘real-time’.
Specific to this instance, my power output is greater than Logan’s over a short period of time, so we had to use Logan’s aerobic strength to soften our adversary whilst I utilized my strength in generating a high amount of short term power to take the points. This is the collective utilizing each other’s strengths to create a positive outcome that is equally dependent on both parties involved. Whilst I took the bonus’s they were really the accumulation of ‘our’ efforts.
After we had claimed both bonus’s we had a time check of 8minutes to the peloton with 90kilometers remaining. We pushed on and on and on. Eventually we met our match in the form of angry headwind content to blow us back to the pelotons grasp. Here with around 30kms remaining I had observed my average HR was still the same as the beginning of our break away campaign some 90kilometers prior, however my power output had dropped by around 10-15% for the same given HR.
This is an example of how endurance miles and longer ‘threshold’ efforts can build a bike rider more resistant to fatigue. All too often cyclists can tend to focus on ‘speed’ training in an attempt to build a quality rider. Speed can assist you in winning bike races, but it will not get you to the end of a bike race.
Endurance miles and threshold efforts will create a beast worth taming.

Anyway, we had been caught some 25km’s from the finish after being away for over 150kms. Our little party had come to an end as within a minute of being consumed by the field a counter attack had resumed the pelotons pace.
Sam immediately made the split into the front group as several other riders bridged to form an 8 man lead group. With Sam placed 5 th on General Classification he was well poised for a podium spot. Tabriz had meanwhile slipped two riders into this move as had Hong Kong, thus the peloton was content to ride at an easy pace before the final climbs of the day some 8km’s from the uphill sprint finish.
Toward the climb a steady crosswind blew as I forewarned our riders of the high chance of a Tabriz counter attack over the climb. As the pace lifted in the cross wind I rode up to Carlos wheel as he sat some 500mm from the gutter to ensure I had a place out of the wind. As we approached the first ramp of the 1kilomter climb the great Ghader Mizbani of Tabriz hit out and drove up the climb.
Many of the following riders cracked as I indicated to Carlo to bridge to Ghader, Carlo threw himself up the road in a huge minute effort that left most of the field in our wake. Toward the crest the climb I kicked up the final ramp of some 15%+ as I finally bridged to Ghader solo. Several other riders came across as the field began to break up.
Not many were helping Tabriz here as the field gradually came back together. As we turned onto the final ascent to the finish we could see Sam’s group a short distance up the climb as our group began to push up the hill. I managed to follow wheels and find an escape route down the left hand side of the peloton and kicked to the line in an effort to consolidate our position on team’s classification.
Meanwhile Sam had been covering the attacks and counter attacks of the Tabriz and Hong Kong riders in the front group until finally each team had a rider in the two-man escape. Sam had missed the move through being exploited as a rider without a team mate in the front. However, Sam had reconed the finish and new exactly when to hit out in an effort to podium on the stage and move into 3 rd overall on general classification.
Over the crest of the hill and with only 500m remaining Sam smashed down the gutter of the remaining
5man group as he held them off until 25meters remaining, where an ex-world champion track rider in
Hong Kong’s Kam Po Wong flicked him for 3 rd . Sam came in 6 th but had given everything to sample the podiums glory. As is so often the case in bike riding you have to give everything in order to succeed and should you fail you are often left without a result that reflects your efforts.
Sam had ridden exceptionally as had Logan through the days 185km haul. All of our attempts to secure a result here were reflective of the hard work the boys have put in through sickness and in health. Our team has been reduced to a roaster of around 5-6core riders from our initial population of 13 toward the beginning of the year. This small pool to select from puts incredible pressure on the remaining riders and showcase’s their resilience and determination to push on regardless of limiting factors such as illness and lack of recovery between events.

Considering our lead into this race we are happy with how we rode and are now focusing on the tour of
Tasmania in just over a week’s time. I for one am immensely proud of how Logan, Sam, Carlo and
Nathan have found it within themselves to come here and compete with some of Asia’s finest teams considering a less than ideal preparation and set of circumstances. It is through hard work and hard work only that this team has achieved it results and has consistently displayed it resilience in the face of adversity.
A great cause for reflection this event has been, whilst also offering a platform that we can build our form for the coming NRS races through October. Thanks again for reading, Brad.