My day started early, with a quick breakfast, loading of the first aid kits and any updates from our team leader. I then headed to the start area at 06:15 to await the 06:45 start. My first job was to leave between the first two waves of cyclists as they headed down the hill towards Mt Beauty.
Moments from the start
I gave the first wave about 2 minutes before I headed off. On the second corner I found a head light flashing away in the middle of the road, a quick u turn to grab it before someone found it at 60km/h. I continued down the hill making it another 3 corners before I found the first crash of the day. He didn’t want any help, and was busy fixing the cause of his crash, a puncture. As I hopped on to the bike to continue down I saw the flashing lights of the second wave coming.
Being chased down the hill by a few hundred cyclists all exceeding 60km/h and in some spots 70km/h was a different experience. Ride FASTER!!
Nearing the bottom of the mountain the fastest riders of the second wave were catching the slower riders of the first wave. Being caught between them I decided to be less of a hazard and pull over until a suitable gap appeared to allow me to continue.
I continued to make my way along the route with the riders. Being early in the day everyone is fresh and still eager.
I stopped at the Harrietville rest stop to catch up with a couple of other marshals and have a decent coffee. My first patient of the day soon appeared, he’d come off and had a few grazes. I cleaned them up and dressed them and he was happy to head off. Another cyclist walked past asking if we carried any bicycle tools. I said no, I only had chain lube for my motorbike. One minute later he was back asking if I could squirt some into his rear hub as it didn’t seem to be coasting properly. I happily gave him some lube and he continued on. Hopefully it helped.
Another marshal had someone asking if we had an ECG machine as he thought his heart might be wonky, he actually used medical terminology, but they don’t teach cardiac lingo in first aid. He offered to call him an ambulance, but the rider was only interested if they had an ECG on board. Not being able to answer that he decided he didn’t want an ambulance and headed off with his mates.
My day continued to be uneventful as I headed towards Omeo with the riders. I was scheduled to spend from 1-2pm at the Omeo providing first aid as required. Luckily for me there was an ambulance stationed there as well, so they did most of the work. It was quite warm by this time, so a few riders were suffering in the heat. There was little shade other than the temporary shelters for the volunteers. Quite a few got something to eat then headed to the shady park just down the road.
I headed onward just after 2pm towards the Blue Duck at Anglers Rest, which was the next rest stop for the riders. I found a fellow parkruner here helping out. We had a quick chat before crossing the dangerous bridge. This is one of the areas that has little to no mobile reception. Hopefully that won’t be an issue as it’s reasonably flat but a quite twisty section.
This turned out to be wishful thinking. About 6km past the Blue Duck I found a rider sitting in the middle of the road bleeding from most limbs and his nose. There were a couple of other cyclists there but they took off as soon as I stopped. The bridge of his nose had been cut by the helmet hitting his sunglasses which his nose assisted in breaking in half. I got him off the road and sitting on the embankment. He couldn’t remember the accident and kept asking me what happened, where his bike was, why was he bleeding. Ah concussion. I started cleaning and patching him up and asking a few of the passing cyclists if they could call 000 if they got reception in the near future. Once all the bleeding was stopped and the injuries covered I walked back up the road a little to see if I could get through on 112. Nothing. I couldn’t leave the rider but he needed to be transported. It had been about 15 minutes since I found him when the ambulance commander came around the corner. He assisted the rider and called for an Ambulance to transport him using his 2-way radio which had perfect reception…
While the ambulance commander was getting details from the first rider another ride came off in front of me. He hit a small bump in the road which threw his balance off and he couldn’t recover. This is probably exactly what happened to the first rider. The second rider had much deeper cuts and abrasions but thankfully didn’t hit his head. Having almost emptied my first aid kit treating the first rider I raided the commanders kit to start patching up the second rider. He was keen to continue, even with numerous cuts that were at least 5mm deep, until it was pointed out the rear of his knicks was torn open. He then decided discretion was the better part of valor and he would be transported in the just arrived ambulance along with the first rider. Probably a good choice. A SAG (support and gear) van showed up and loaded their bicycles and we all headed off.
My next stop was at the aptly named WTF corner. This is a sharp left hand corner off the Omeo Hwy and on to Bogong High Plains Rd. I’d heard about it the night before but seeing it confirmed the name. It is very steep and a short way up there is a tight climbing corner. It then continues up, for another 8-9km.
I assisted a rider about 5km up who was exhausted. Numb hands and feet and couldn’t stop panting (SOB). Whilst talking to him the ambulance commander came past and stopped. He arranged transport for the rider and a passing SAG van loaded his bike.
My next stop was the last rest/food/water stop for the cyclists. I bumped into my team leader there and we quickly caught up on the events of the day. He asked me to head up to Raspberry Hill camp ground, then back down to WTF corner before heading towards Falls Creek for the last time. Not being familiar with the area I didn’t see the campsite and continued up the hill. I got to 5km before the finish before turning around and heading back down. Luckily I didn’t know where the campsite was as 2km after turning around I found a rider slumped over his bike. I parked my motorbike behind him so other riders would hopefully see us. He was barely responsive at first, after getting him off the bike, before he tumbled off, I wrapped him in a space blanket as he was cold and shivering. Lots of sweat plus a cool breeze and exhaustion had finished him off. I had just dialed 112 when an ambulance drove past. Talk about timing! I waved them down. They loaded him on a gurney and wrapped a blanket around him and they headed to the finish. He was so close, after 200+km he didn’t get to finish. But he had made it to the highest part of Falls Creek.
I headed back down to the last rest stop where I checked how many more riders there were. Only a few more to come. They passed by soon after and we waited for them to get a head start on us. A few calls were made to route control to establish if they’d be able to finish or not. The Lantern Rouge riders had passed so any remaining riders wouldn’t get an official time if they continued. We initially got told they could finish but a short time after leaving the rest area I received a call saying any remaining riders either had to get in the SAG van or if they continued it would be without support.
Other volunteers packed up the rest stop while we figured out our next move.
Once the rest stop was packed up most of the remaining vehicles headed towards Falls Creek.
The last SAG van and two marshals started slowly towards finish shortly afterwards.
By now it was dark and there were patches of fog, we were looking for what we now knew was the last cyclist. He had apparently refused to get on a SAG earlier, but when we found him he was more than happy to call it quits.
Finally, just before 8pm we parked back at the lodge. The great people at Bicycle Network and a hot meal waiting for all the late finishers.
What a day, 14 hours from start to finish, everyone survived.
Until the next one.
