2004 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic

Victoria, Australia, January 7-11, 2004

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Mikkeli Godfree Diary

Cyclingnews contributor and rider in the MGZT team, Mikkeli Godfree, spends much of his year racing abroad. Like many Australian riders, he is back home at this time of year and racing in the Bay series in Victoria. He's also writing a diary while on the road, staying connected with assistance from local ISP Big Blue Internet.

Race 1 - Wednesday, January 7 - Hastings

Surviving the skidpan and dodging the fallen

Handshakes all round
Photo ©: Shane Goss

With the wind belting through Hastings and the rain coming down in sheets it was always going to be a sketchy race. As if the weather wasn't enough, the course was a killer with one particular corner claiming most of the victims. It was so sketchy that when one rider went down a heap would freak out and go down, just to fit in. In the women's race, only one of the four breakaway riders came around the corner on one of the laps - the rest fell!

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Race 2 - Thursday, January 8 - PortArlington

Bring back the rain

We awoke to unstable weather: showers and a blisteringly strong wind. Many riders cared less about the weather than their sore limbs as the breakfast room was filled with bandaged and puss-weeping lads and lasses. That said, the room was filled with a few riders who were keen to make amends to a rained-out day at Hastings the day before.

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Race 3 - Friday, January 9 - Geelong Ritchie Boulevard

A Day in the Hurt Box

I have to say that I was glad to be back on a course that was pancake flat again. The Ritchie Boulevard course really is a gem with a big grassy bank which serves as a great viewing gallery, helping all the fans to see the race the whole way around.

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Race 4 - Saturday, January 10 - Geelong Botanic Gardens

Saving it for Sunday

Karl Menzies
Photo ©: MGZT (Moss/Carr/Godfree)

Well, obviously Iffy hasn't been reading my diaries (or he doesn't care) because we headed into the Geelong Botanical Gardens and to a circuit with a little lump in it which would sting the legs for sure - And never mind the hill, the bottom of the circuit had more bumps and potholes in it than anything I have raced on in my whole life, it was a real shocker, a big contrast to the smooth drag-race loop of the day before.

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Race 5 - Sunday, January 11 - The Docklands

Finishing in style

After a not so teary farewell to Geelong we headed back to sunny Melbourne for the final criterium of the series. Always a good one to take out, there would be no parading around the hot-dog circuit this Sunday. The final crit in Melbourne always brings a big crowd and there is no huge prize for guessing that the relative underachievers this year, Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown, would be hungry for the win.

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