Rob Monk Memorial Handicap - Race Report

Every now and then, an event screams, enter me and bring a few mates along with you. And so it was, that a group of five of us from Brunswick and Northern Cycling Clubs made our way to Darnum, east of Warragul for the Rob Monk Memorial Handicap on Saturday 28^th October. While none of us knew Rob personally, I found myself in the same Kinglake cycles bunch as Rob's son Cyrus a few years ago when he was riding with Drapac-EF and still have the PRs thanks to Cyrus' tenacity to drive things from the front. This led to me tuning into his podcast appearances on the Semi-Pro Cycling pod and following him on Strava. I'd go so far as to say, heading out to this race was my mark of respect to Cyrus, his family and the Warragul cycling community, who were remembering a man who meant so much, to so many, in the best way possible.

Rob & Cyrus Monk

Arriving with plenty of time to ride the 8km course beforehand, Andrew Gannon, Steve Saunders and myself headed out on our recon, but none of us with the GPX file loaded on our head units. Twenty minutes later, we find ourselves in neighbouring Nilma and completely off course and no mobile phone between us.. Thanks to the map on my Garmin, we reestablish our bearings, back track and find ourselves rolling into Darnum just as the peloton is rolling out of town toward the start line. I say to Steve, it could have been worse. How is that he enquires.  Well, if Tom McDonough was with us, we would never have heard the end of it. We arrive back at the car, grab our drink bottles and head off to join the rest of the riders on the start line outside the local milk factory a couple of km out the road.

It's with some surprise that the handicapper has placed the five of us including Fergus Fitzwater and Tom McDonough (C & D grade riders in open age racing and all over 50) in the same limit group with some other local riders to make a group of 12, no doubt testament to the quality of the field and not our collective abilities to put one over the handicapper.

The course is an 8km loop around the lush green hills of Darnum. As you can see from the map and profile, more of a Kermesse course.  While the race was advertised as a 100km handicap, the length of the course dictated that grades would be separated by the number of laps they had to ride: A Grade - 12: B Grade - 11: C Grade 10: D Grade - 9. Each group was released with a 90 second gap to allow each an opportunity to get away. A grade had to pass us twice and B grade once to be on the same lap. C grade gave us a head start of a lap less 90 seconds, or about 12 minutes. Coloured armbands indicate the different grades, so we know who's with which bunch.

As the limit group, we rolled out at 1:12pm, a bunch consisting of half locals including Levi Schmidt (Warragul CC) riding his first handicap race and out of towners,, Simon Anderson (Bairnsdale CC) riding his first race in years, Roham Symons (Hawthorn CC) on his single speed, my Brunswick team mates Fergus "did I tell you I once beat Cadel Evans up Tawonga Gap" Fitzwater, Andrew Gannon, father of Jayco-Alula's own Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Northern team mates Tommy "sandbagger" McDonough and Steve Saunders.

The locals set the pace early with a lap of 13:30, just under 37km/h. Lap by lap we lost one or two. The bunch was riding well and had the hallmark of a well drilled Team Time Trial machine. 

A Grade catch us as we start lap 5. Fergus and Steve were in good position to jump on the back, compelling everyone else to do the same. Of course, the last thing the A graders want is a bunch of limit riders spoiling their party, so they try their best to smash us out of the fast left hand corner creating just enough gap to make us work well beyond our abilities to stay on.  In the end, that was the difference and we let them go. Meanwhile we regroup with the remaining 5 or Fergus, Andrew, Tom, Rohan and myself.

A Grade passing

The longer the race went on, the more the 5 of us believed we could stay away. Meanwhile the open roads threw up the unexpected, and there was no shortage of agricultural traffic out on course such a grader and a passing baler.

       

Country Traffic

Coming into the last lap rounding the corner towards the local football ground, Fergus has a dig and finds separation between himself and the bunch. I chase him down and say ask "are you trying to get a break?" A sheepish "yes" is the reply. Ferg's is the wheel to follow, but we cannot be certain that we won't get caught. If B & C grade have merged, they could still be a threat to our chances. We continue to work cohesively until just short of the last corner, when Fergus unleashed an almighty attack from which there would be no answer.

Last two minutes of the race

They say that history is written by the victorious, so let’s hear from Fergus on how the race was won. Having attempted to latch onto A grade as they passed us as we started lap 5, I had some idea of the willingness of our bunch. It seemed 5 of us had the will to be at the pointy end. It was also becoming obvious at that point that our group would, most likely, produce the winner.

There was one scenario we needed to consider: what if the C group caught the B group who then caught our D group? In that case, we would be racing with the C group for places.

So, at the start of the last lap I began checking behind for any groups that might be catching us. With about 2km to go, I reckon, I could see a group bearing down on us. I then began to calculate the odds of being able to contest a sprint within our group. I had some doubts as I didn't know everyone's sprinting capabilities, apart from perhaps Tom, with his bucket of sand and a donut weighing him down.

I decided I'd leap early and take a risk of being caught on the run in to the line. I figured we'd have a tailwind on the finish leg, so if I got a good gap before we reached the last corner, I'd have a chance. With a burst of 1300W I jumped away and then settled in to push as hard as I could to the last corner. Then I went hard until the road dropped away, where I eased a bit to get some breath back for the final push up the hill.

At the foot of the hill I still had a decent gap in whoever was chasing (I can't really see that far behind me). So, I just gave it all I had left to get to the line, only backing off when I was sure I'd clinched it. I was pleased that the risk of jumping early actually paid off this time.

I could not help but be moved during the presentations when Jayman Prestidge paid respect to his mate Rob, when he talked about the handicapping duties "you only had one job to do and you f'ed it up" had us all in raptures. Jayman knew Rob pretty well.....he single handedly 'made everything happen at our club' when it came to racing. He mentored racers and sledged them relentlessly, but all on the guise of wanting them to perform to their best.

Rob’s legacy with regard to cycling is left with son Cyrus Monk (Team Q36.5) who is quite simply the most resilient and intelligent young person I know.  I used to see Rob 6 days a week, 4 days riding, 2 days planning our clubs next race or talking about organising our TDU or Nationals trip. He died on our morning ride doing what he loved but you don't know what you miss until it's gone....he was my unofficial mentor....yep - I miss him like a bro!

You can read Rob’s obituary or watch the movie Mamils on Stan for a few cameo appearances and legendary sledges.

Events like this are a humble reminder that so many of the good things we take for granted in life and racing are the result of a few determined individuals like Rob Monk who went above and beyond what is required of them, to create vibrant cycling communities like the Warragul Cycling Club.  The challenge is for the rest of us to take inspiration from Rob's life and help to grow the sport of cycling.

 The Brunswick and Northern boys are keen to return next year and hope to bring a few more with us. I am doubtful the handicapper will treat us well next time round.

The Podium
From left: Megan Armitage: Pat Drapac: Michael Kanizay: Fergus Fitzwater: Andrew Gannon: Rohan Symons: Shaun Donaldson. Absent: Tom McDonough

Results

1^st Fergus Fitzwater – Brunswick CC

2^nd Michael Kanizay – Brunswick-Northern CC

3^rd Andrew Gannon – Brunswick CC

4^th Rohan Symons – Hawthorn CC

5^th Tom MdDonough – Coburg-Northern CCs

Fastest Time – Pat Drapac – Brunswick CC

Fastest Woman – Meagan Armitage – Ireland/EF

Limit Group

A Grade

Tom McDonough 5th

Limit group - heads down