And so it begins! The first day of the 2024 Sydney Chain Reaction Challenge has arrived! The anticipation is finally over for the riders who dedicated months to early morning training sessions and weekend rides away from loved ones, to ensure they reached the starting line intact, fully prepared for the upcoming seven days!
We were about to embark on a picturesque loop around the northeast of Melbourne, with the highlight summitting Kinglake. It wouldn’t be Melbourne if we didn’t endure four seasons in one day, as we set off in the drizzling rain and finished with bright blue skies and everything in between across the day. The peloton navigated tram lines and Saturday morning’s city traffic, in large thanks to the Chain Reaction support team.
The highlight of the day was winding our way along the rolling hills from Eltham, through Kangaroo Ground and St Andrews, before we had the first categorized climb of the tour. Kinglake is a pleasant 7km long climb at an average of 5% gradient, with no sharp pinches. The sag wagon was left vacant for the climb which indicates riders have turned up in good shape ready.
Lunch was had at the pub, before we rolled (some quicker than others) back down through Nutfield, Diamond Creek, on route to the Docklands.
The peloton completed nearly 130km, tackling over 2000 meters of climbing elevation, and all riders remained in good health. While nerves may have calmed slightly with day one under our belts, the realisation of the task ahead—six more days and approximately 850km to cover—kept celebrations subdued. On day 2 we say goodbye to Melbourne and start our journey west!
