Amgen tour of California 2012

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12 hours of fun

By:
Dean Clark and Ray Lacis
Published:
December 21, 2009, 16:16,
Updated:
December 23, 2009, 16:23

Three teammates pedal to victory in bushfire-ravaged area

Luke Fetch helps his team toward victory in the Gravity 12 Hour race.

Luke Fetch helps his team toward victory in the Gravity 12 Hour race.

  • Luke Fetch helps his team toward victory in the Gravity 12 Hour race.
  • The Torq team set-up at the Gravity 12 Hours
  • The effect of gravity was felt by all.

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The Gravity 12 Hour can only be described as one of those events that every mountain bikers loves. Why, you might ask? Well let me enlighten you. From discussing this over and over again with the team and other riders, it has become apparent that mountain bikers love the atmosphere that good events capture.

It obviously helps if the venue is wicked for camping, the scenery is awesome and the tracks are as sweet as can be. This is how most people would describe the Gravity 12 Hour. Everyone who makes the road trip tends to make a whole weekend of it.

The race is located in a picturesque part of the Victorian Alpine district (Rosewhite) near Mytleford. It is in an area that was ravaged by the bush fires earlier this year and is slowly getting back to its former glory.

We had entered a three-man team, and we all made our way up to Rosewhite dragging the very large and heavy Torq Jayco base station which is Home Sweet Home when we are away. It's got all the comforts including music, TV, oven, microwave, shower, toilet and BBQ. The only down side is that there is no room for a Jacuzzi.

We were up against two four-man teams from Felt and Merida, so the pressure was on before we even got going. Racing for the Torq team on this fun weekend of racing and socialising were Dan McConnell (aka DMac), Luke Fetch (aka Fetchy or names that can't be mentioned here) and Steele Von Hoff (aka Steele - who would need a nickname with a name like that?).

With a running start, the pace was fast and furious from the gun. It wasn't long before our guys took the lead and put the other teams under pressure. As the laps went on throughout the day, the lead increased. It was super hot and dusty, so we made sure we consumed a lot of food and drink. The energy bar of choice of the day was, surprise, surprise & yes you guessed it ... Torq bars - as many as we could eat (along with lots of other nibbles like popcorn & lollies.... and a well deserved BBQ late in the day).

The drink of choice whilst racing was Torq pink grapefruit with all the much needed electrolytes and loads of carbs to keep the engine firing. Oh, and we topped up with the odd can of cold Coke whilst resting between laps, mmmm.

The lead kept building, and we lapped the Merida team and nearly caught the Felt team, so the guys decided to race each other's lap times which got quite scary. Toward the end of the day with night descending, Steele was doing his utmost to do a sub-30 minute lap and nearly killed himself in the process. Luckily he did it, to the rest of the team's delight otherwise he would have kept us all awake talking about "if only".

The gravity is one of those must do events. It encompasses everything about mountain biking we all love. To Iain and Clayton and the rest of the team at Finish line events... well done!

Of course it helps when you win. For me, I was supporting the guys with my newborn (baby Jarvis) and wife helping. For the third year running, it was a blast!

Cheers,
Dean Clark

Author
Team TORQ

The only UCI-registered mountain bike team in Australia, the TORQ Performance Nutrition team features some of Australia's top racers and future stars, including current national and Oceania Champion Dan McConnell

For 2011-2012, TORQ racers are targeting the Australian Mountain Bike National Series, National Championships and Oceania Continental Championships. The team's top priority is racing Olympic distance cross country events, but it is also mixing things up with some short track, marathon and endurance events - and maybe even some road races.

Some members will head abroad for the World Cups - an important part of Australian national team selection process for the 2011 World Championships. In the past two years, the team has grown to include some new faces with some great results to back them up.

McConnell, who represented Australia at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, is perhaps the team's most well-known member. Mark Fenner, Brenton Jones, Mark Tupalski, Luke Fetch, Robbie Hucker, Jenni King, Katherine O'Shea, Joanna Wall and Becky Mates are also on the roster. Members take turns writing diary entries.

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