While the rest of Australia seems to be wildly oscillating between fire and flood, in the post-COVID environment FNQ is removed enough from all the palaver that the 2022 Reef to Reef was set to go ahead. This is no mean feat in the same year as entire stage race series have been cancelled, as well as the sister race to R2R, Port to Port being cancelled due to poor weather.

It seems that the whole year it has been a struggle just getting anything off the ground. My Grit Coaching list of events for the year was as long as my arm, yet a large portion of them had been cancelled or postponed.

So I wasn’t sure if Reef to Reef was even going to be a thing until a couple of weeks out, when I looked at the quick turnaround between XCM Nats and the FNQ stage race, and kind of pre-planned a little meltdown I knew would likely occur afterwards as I struggled with work.

Anyway, I could write an entire post about XCM Nats but suffice to say: I worked really hard and it was not my day. I was unsure if I was overdone, because I was certainly not underdone, but was also dealing with a pretty atrocious back injury I had just kind of optimistically ignored since the Noosa Enduro (and by back injury I mean I managed a 14hr shift at work without sitting down. Have you guys ever tried to drive a truck standing up? It’s quite difficult, it turns out).

Anyway, after that episode I was keen for a big mental dump in FNQ, but I knew it would be a tough one because my awesome women’s team partner, Karen Hill, had crushed XCM Nats with a very steezy second (I ended up limping home in 5th).

And so it was, we were absolutely pampered by local rider Alex Hall who we are so grateful for hosting us in her house, who was on the comeback from some health issues and was racing the TripleR.

Stage One was really ‘welcome to the Jungle, it’s 30 degrees and dusty’. The old Smithfield trails never disappoint as we whooped and hollered around 18km of some of it’s gems as a team time trial, Pipeline and Black snake, figuring out how to ride as a team (AB: good at starts and descents, feeling like melting on the climb Kaz: good at the climb and the bit where I’m melting). We did a good time and had a good time, which is equally as important, and found ourselves in the lead.

The joy of trails at Smithfield, pic via Flow Mountain Bike

Stage Two was he Davies Creek stage, 40km of dry dusty orange shale, it’s totally different from the coastal rainforest of Day one. This is the stage that historically my Fox and Raccoon partner Briony really had some clangers at! From melting in the FNQ sun to literally losing a pedal in this stage in 2019, it wasn’t a great one for us historically. This year it was a little shorter, cutting out some powerlines tracks while maintaining most of the elevation and singletrack. We had a great start with leading pairs team Em Viotto and Karl MB, and gradually found our pace in the mix. I struggled with the open heat and intensity today as my legs were still a bit offline, but once again we worked our strengths and found the leading Master’s mens team to ride with. This was a mad highlight! We retained the jersey and extended our lead, as we decided maybe we look at pretending we were a mixed pair and seeing what we could do there.

I did very little time on the front on this stage at Day 2 so it’s incidental that photographer TBS found us at a time when I was leading….

Stage three is touted as the Queen Stage of the event at Mount Molloy, once again up on the range. This year it was shortened around 10km to 60km and despite being advertised as 600m vertical, we all scratched our heads with 900m on the computer at the end. It was a neutral rollout into a bunch start, and I wasn’t sure but maybe my legs had come back online. Riding felt easy again today as we headed off into the undulating multi-lined cow paddock with mixed team Peta Mullens and Jared Moroni in our vision for half the race. We were going fast and it was a nice feeling to not be on the back foot.

Once again we found ourselves with the Masters, they were great to ride with and had reliable line choices, as well as third in the open men Bailey. He was a driver so it was a great place to be. We dropped the Masters at the final main climb in the rainforest, and halfway up the climb the terrain came out into the sun, I started going backwards and mixed team Holly Harris and Mitch Docker came past. I was almost instantaneously melting on the inside, but could hold on with Karen and we were just dangling 50m off the team ahead.

Then Karen did the most amazing thing of the week. She bloody closed the gap to Holly and Mitch (you know, that pro roadie guy…) as I had officially imploded in the baking sun and was probably whimpering and grunting. A creek crossing stifled our ability to stick with them, and we limped home along the fireroad solo. I was so fried after the race that I had completely blocked out the fact that Karen caught them again…

We had a great stage considering and it was SO NICE to feel great, but the last 10km was full detonation. I got hosed in the bike wash and lay on the ground panting for half an hour while people bought me drinks. Regardless, it was nice to have great legs for most of the race, and reassuring that maybe I just needed time to come good. After all, I was flying at Noosa not that long ago.

Day four, and while we had a massive lead on all the women’s teams, you still have to make it to the end. Nothing is to be taken for granted for stage racing, and you have to keep two riders mechanically ok, and physically uninjured. Another mass start, we navigated the bunch well but it was Karen’s time to feel a little flat. We found ourselves in a group or two behind where we had been racing the rest of the week, but I was stoked to feel really good and have the day feel easy. This stage once again starts at Mt Molloy, but finishes down on the beach at Port Douglas.

It’s probably the best finish to a bike race anywhere in the world. The early parts of the course were bumpy paddocks and fence line climbs, but soon enough we were headed to the famous bump track as we did an effort to get ahead of the group and around some road riders for the descent. Plunging through the rainforest there was 10km of threading the needle through backstreets and under crocodile drains to cross the motorway into Port Douglas. Then the beach! The sun and a tailwind makes all the exertion worth it.

Stage racing is about taking turns being the hammer and the nail. Pic Flow Mountain Bike.

While I have raced women’s pairs before with ride bestie Briony, this was a totally different experience due to differing strengths and weaknesses comparatively. While Karen was objectively stronger on the first couple of days, we engaged in some role reversal at the end and were each able to shine at different times. Also, we kept it close and tidy and communicated well throughout the stages: super key to riding well as a pair.

Overall we placed 12th out of all mens, mixed and women’s teams.

Kudos to Grit Athletes:

Michael Cook for a 60th in open men, riding a retro bike down the Bump Track (and not dying!), Bruce Snell for a speedy time and 52nd overall that would see him top step of his pairs category for his 2023 Grand Masters Campaign.

Team Two Dads Racing finally got to ride together, and overcame physical and mechanical obstacles to finish in tenth in Masters Men.

Alex Hall on the comeback with a second overall on the Triple R (Day 4 stage!)

Until next year….but up next is Cape to Cape!