SIMON’S TOUR DE FORCE
SIMON HUBBARD HAS STAMPED HIS NAME ON ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S TOUGHEST ROAD CYCLING EVENTS
IT is the longest one-day cycling classic in Australia, but the 262km Melbourne to Warrnambool is not for the faint of heart.
The annual cycling classic, held In February, attracts the best cyclists in the country.
One Far North cyclist, Simon Hubbard, made it his mission to conquer the epic road race, but how do you prepare for a race that will test the physical and mental limits of any athlete?
Months of hard work, Hubbard said.
“I went straight from nationals, didn’t have a break over Christmas, and did four months of solid training before Melbourne to Warrnambool,” he said.
Hubbard is no stranger to hard work. As a former junior Australian representative inline speed skater, he took up cycling for fitness.
“I saw cycling as something to do again to get fit but I got the bug again and couldn’t get off the bike,” Hubbard said.
“I did inline speed skating from when I was five to 21. There used to be a skating rink here when I was a young fella and it’s gone over to the recreation centre near the AFL club.
“It was just one of those things. Skating and cycling is a perfect mix for each other and training ... if you weren’t skating you were riding. I reached top five in the junior worlds, but didn’t get a chance to go to the senior worlds.
“I miss skating but where I’ve dropped one thing I’ve picked up another, and cycling is probably my favourite sport.”
Hubbard had long planned to ride at the 262km epic, and to do so meant dedicating hours to making sure his body could handle the load.
He put hundreds of kilometres into his legs, on roads, climbing hills and on the turbo trainer.
“The last month was the most difficult with the weather, having to always train on the turbo trainer,” Hubbard said.
“Just a lot of climbing to get your body prepared for the onslaught of the hills to keep (up) with the main guys.
“The most common areas you’ll probably find me are Copperlode, the Gillies, and I head up to Port Douglas sometimes but I try to stay local in Cairns. Copperlode is where a lot of my training is done.”
The 34-year-old was not the only Cairns rider in the field. Gary Haydon and Damien In- gram rode in the C-grade division, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.
Hubbard, riding in A-grade for the first time, hoped to finish in the top 10. He finished third in one of the most physically and mentally taxing cycling races he’s ever done.
“There was a lot more climbing this year so training varied a little bit for the courses as one of my goals was to give this a crack,” Hubbard said.
“There’s not really too much time to look at the scenery. We were going very quick – in that first hour we covered 50km, the second hour we covered 97km, and we averaged about 41km/h over the six and a half hours.
“The average speed is pretty consistent to what I’m used to, it’s just the calibre of riders that you’re riding with and the metres you climb is probably a big variant to what we normally ride.”
His next target is the Tour of the Tropics, the Far North classic recently awarded National Road Series status.