Wildside January 2008

by Phil Duggan

We arrived at Cradle Mountain in central Tasmania just in time to go to lunch at the Cradle Mountain chalet. Beautiful food with a great view. I had met up with previous DORC member Jamie Burton and his wife Nicole in Hobart the day before and picked up a camper and food supplies for the week. After setting up camp and registering for the race we had time to go out and ride the first stage trying to get a small advantage of those less prepared. We found where the wombats like to cross the track, with Jamie taking an excursion over the bars after one ran into him on a short downhill.

The start the next morning was a sight to see, 450 riders gathering around in the drizzle, and not quite as warm as I was use to at this time of year. Start positions would be determined by today’s two competitive stages, with Jamie chasing at top 50 finish he was in for a tough day, I was more concerned with not falling off, after breaking my hand and wrist less than a month before the start of the race, I was prepared to take it a bit slower. This was evident when Jamie flew past me after about 8km, even though he started 2 min behind me.

That water looks cold.Competition stages are linked with cruising stages which are usually on the road, with the hills around Tassie the go from gruelling climbs to scary downhills with speeds in excess of 80km/h. Lunch is provided every day and all I can say is these were spectacular.

Camping around Tassie involves plenty of wildlife with Wallabies that let you pat them to baby Tassie devils sitting right next to you looking for scraps. Day two saw us climbing with about 10km of the first 14km stage all up hill. This ended up being a good warm up for the 18km climb to Montezuma falls in the afternoon. Even though this is a race you have to take some time to admire the scenery. The end of this day saw some people being taken off the course with hypothermia; I know that by the time I reached the end in the small town of Zeehan I could no longer feel my feet or fingers after the last creek crossing.

The third day was by far my favourite. It starts with a time trial event which is just over 6km. Mostly single track and a few interesting downhills. We even had one rider complete the stage in a Mankini. This was followed by a cruise to lunch and then my favourite stage of the whole event. It involved riding along a rocky 4wd track that followed the coast, plenty of ups and downs with technical climbs. Jamie didn’t have to chance to enjoy this as he broke his pedal and had to coast or run the final 14km. He still posted a pretty impressive time, but dropped down the GC about 50 places.

Racing down Ocean Beach.The final day was one for the really powerful riders in the field, with almost 10km on the hard pack sand along the beach, with the fastest guys averaging over 40km/h along here. Amazing views were to be had before cutting back into the bush then into the town of Strahan for the finish.




I was ready for a sausage at lunch but was pleasantly surprised to receive salmon steaks and beers instead.

We did see a few other familiar faces around the start line, Mel Curry and Rod Johnson are two previous Darwin riders I saw, hopefully in 2010 we can get a group to head down, it is well worth the trip and was one of the best rides I have ever done.