Grafton to Inverell Road Classic

Unfortunately, my Grafton to Inverell plans for this year did not go according to plan. My hopes were to stay with the C grade bunch until the Gibraltar Ranges then climb at my own pace and hope to form a group after that. My objective was to beat my previous time of 8 hours and 32mins. The reality was something completely different. The bunch was split very early on the rolling hills towards the ranges. I was in the second bunch which eventually caught up to the leaders then faded into nothing as I found myself chasing in no-mans land. When I got to the ranges I began the solo climb 5 mins behind but I was feeling really good picking up many riders along the way. Unfortunately it was then that my troubles started. Half way up the climb my left foot cramped up and every turn of the pedal was sending sharp pains through my foot. I slowed down and started to fall behind. The next 160kms were slow and painful with more cramps, more climbs and a hot north easterly wind making less than ideal conditions. I pushed on, meeting up with several Dulwich Hill riders on the way. In the end I was lucky just to finish the race before the 5pm cut off time. I'll have to try again next year.