Apple Crumble #5

Hopefully by now, the Apple Crumble Gravel Crit needs no introduction. Since September 2025, the Brunswick Cycling Club has been serving up something truly unique in the form of a gravel crit held inside Petty's Orchard, a working organic farm with some of the best tasty treats and coffee. The venue is a comfortable one hour ride from the inner north of Melbourne along the Yarra River trails. If you are feeling a little more adventurous, you can test yourself on the many single tracks that divert off the main trail.

The course itself is 820m, which includes a hill to rival Melbourne's other famous crit track, the "Teardrop" and has now been named "Col du monsieur rose" in honour of Brunswick CC's very own Mr Pink and is adorned with a pink marquee.
B grade heading up Col du Monsieur rose 23-05-26


There are three left hand corners each with their own nuances. The first, Knog Bend a descending left hander, which has been known to get a little squishy in damp conditions, but perfect in the dry. The next thing you know you are whooshing under giant pine trees and hopefully not disturbing the mob of local roos. The second, Kangaroo Corner, has a bumpy entrance into an off camber corner with some curves that will have you wrestling the bike to stay upright at speed before you hit peak power heading up Scrumpy Sprint. Corner three, Apple Apex is the fastest of them all, slightly down hill and followed by a blast through the sheds and Pedla Pit Corner before heading back up the hill to do it all again. Honours for the KoM and QoM, are currently shared by Brunswick members Ben Holmes, Oscar Moore and Elise Giles.

Course profile



Race footage from Apple Crumble #1 on instagram

Let's hear from Ben Holmes, our rolling reporter and current KoM holder inside A grade.

A grade was a rapid affair, with an average speed of over 30 Km/h for the main bunch of 3 riders in the 40 minute race. The race started out with the 4 riders sizing each other up, and as we got to grips with one another's tactics the real racing began. As the racing progressed there were several attacks, which whittled the group down to 3.

Racing continued in this way, with attacks every few laps leading to increased fatigue in all the riders. A couple of front wheel slips on the notoriously tricky back corner of the course were a cause and result of my personal fatigue, and after debut gravel racer Wes Quin put the power down with around 5 laps to go. I could hold on no longer. Wes maintained this lead all the way to the finish, and took out his first win on the gravel.

Meanwhile in B Grade 18 riders signed on for 40 minutes plus a lap of pulsating action. The course was in its best shape which allowed for fast cornering. This race was on from the beginning, with over half the field lined up in a giant snaking pace line for the first ten minutes of racing. A few surges led to some small break aways but nothing stuck. After about 30min of racing, John Griffiths, Elliot Birney and myself managed to get away from the bunch. Unfortunately for Elliot he tired and was just pipped on the line for third place.

Another highlight was the junior race with 12 riders taking on a shortened 20min race plus a lap. There was no shortage of parent help to get those who were undergeared up that mini mountain and all riders were rewarded with a piece of Apple and Rhubarb Crumble.

Thanks to everyone who came out to watch, race and volunteer. Hope to see you at the next one on Sunday 28th June. If you are "gravel curious" to try out this course, all bikes are welcome provided they are fitted with wide tyres and brakes are in good working order. Next race there will be a Women's C Grade/Open category to cater for newcomers.

Future dates
Sunday 28th June - special Roobaix "Rumble to the Crumble" ride out to Petty's
Saturday 25th July
Saturday 29th August
Friday 25th September

Enter via Entryboss

Thanks to our sponsors The Pedla and Knog for their support of this series.

Follow www.brunswickcyclingclub.com and their socials
https://www.facebook.com/brunswickcc
https://www.instagram.com/brunswick_cc
#applecrumblegravelcrit
#brunswickcyclingclub
#thepedla
#knog

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Almost Free Cycling Gains

Image
What if you could become a stronger cyclist for less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day, would you do it? 365 days and $5 per cup comes out at $1825, which might buy you a nice set of wheels or some more aero gear, which makes you go faster, but power or watts per kilogram is the name of the game in cycling. Over the past year, I've introduced a range of different interventions into my training and diet, most of which are either free or cost less than a cup of coffee a day. During the next five weeks I'm going to cover off what they are, explain why I did them and what the results were. Have you event considered yourself a human experiment? I guess each of us in our strange way is an experiment of n=1. Over the past year, I've been listening, learning and applying different training interventions, curious to see what can make a difference to my cycling performance and overall health. As my favourite science communicator Dr Karl from Triple J radio always says, the ...
Read more

Brunswick Cycling Club - Club Championships 2025

Image
Hands down the hardest road race I’ve ever done. The BCC club champs attracted riders from the youngsters, the up and comers, the newbies, defending title holder che d and the old’uns. Just think of a field of 27 riders between the ages of 9-69 and from A to E grade. Before the main event got underway the juniors raced a shorter 12km loop chaperoned by the main peloton and  few parents. In fairness to the older riders, they were given a choice of one or two laps of the Granite Rd course. My request for 4 laps was declined by Mr Pink and very welcomed in hindsight. Right from the start the posse of u19s like a herd of young bulls, were keen to assert their dominance over their older rivals, but we weren’t about to rollover and let them take an early break.  Stewart Hay, Phil Naidoo, Andrew Gannon and myself got into an early break and worked well together, until Stewart’s intensity shredded the attempt. I soon paid for it by falling out the back of the bunch scrambling to sta...
Read more

N=1 Series Part 5 Polarised Training and Masters Training Plan

Image
Introduction This is part 5 of 10 of the N=1 series of becoming a stronger cyclist for less than a cup of coffee a day. In this series I am going to take you through my journey from my local Masters C to Masters A in the space of 18 months, at the age of 57. If you are reading this series for the first time, you can go back and read the  Introduction Part 1, where I start with a daily smoothie and Creatine. Part 2, where I incorporated sprint training into a weekly Zone 2 ride Part 3, where I introduced strength training Part 4, where I started taking sodium bicarbonate before races and strong group rides Following the Tour of Bright in early December 2024, I decided that I needed to put the fun back into cycling and take a break from structured training. In fact from the beginning of December until the end of March, I only did 5 indoor rides on the trainer. I just rode my bike wherever and whenever I liked. Road, gravel and even some track. I wasn't working at the time, so I would...
Read more