The Crocodile Trophy instills fear into many people when asked if they will compete. Others see it as a challenge, adventure, and some haven’t heard of it. This year was the 19th running of “The Croc”, a 9 day MTB stage race over 900km from Cairns to Cooktown in North Queensland, Australia. In the past it was known as a roadie smash fest; in recent years it has been transformed into a shorter, more technical race, where it is near impossible for a roadie to win. The field this year was 80 riders ranging from MTB and road pros through to average Dad’s like myself. I decided to take on the Croc after turning 40 as I needed to find something more challenging than the 1 day European races such as the Etape du Tour and touring races such as the 5 day Raid Pyreneen I had done in the past. I had known about the Croc for many years and with a MTB and BMX background from my youth, I thought it would be a challenge worthy of my “Flat Out Forty” ethos.
I flew into Cairns 5 days before the race and met my Dad there, my essential support crewman. My Dad has been taking me to bike races since I was 4 years old and I thought this would be a great way for us to spend some time together away from the rest of the family. After picking up all the necessary supplies like spare tubes, CO2, nutrition and some camping luxuries we attended the pre-event photo shoot downtown Cairns. This was a great opportunity to meet other riders, organisers and get a general feel for the mood of the peloton. Later that day we had the race briefing and our body statistics taken. We were weighed and our fat percentages taken, the process would then be repeated at the end of the race and you would be told your initial assessment. The race is fully supported making you feel like a pro for the week. There were full time mechanics, massage therapists, catering crew, tent crew, luggage transport, film crew, photographers, and media liaison. In total there were 61 support crew for the 80 riders, a well run organisation. Each day the tent crew would take down the tents, kitchen and mess area and set it all up again at the next stage finish. The photographers and film crew would work late into the night uploading photos, editing video and sending it off to the various broadcasters. The kitchen worked from 5am to 9pm preparing all the meals, a great all round logistical feat.
There were two other Kiwi’s in the race besides myself, Bevan Spratt and Hamish Morrin. I hadn’t met either of them before but we got on like a house on fire. Bevan brought his lovely wife along, Ester, a mountain biker herself, and she shared a support 4WD with my Dad. Whilst we were out racing all day they would be off searching the outback for cafes, taking photos of us, cheering us on and setting up camp for us each night. Between the 3 Kiwis, having 2 support crew and a 4WD for our little Team New Zealand made things a lot easier. Out on the track we helped each other out where we could. One stage I had to pull Bevan for 2 hours when he was bonking, only for him to recover and then leave me behind as he chased the other GC riders! He did admit to “feeling stink” later in the day that he had dropped me.
The Croc is recognised as one of the toughest MTB races in the world. My personal experience was that it was tough, but never did I think I wouldn’t be able to finish it. I was interviewed by Mike Tomalaris from Cycling Central, a program on the Australian SBS channel, around my thoughts on this. My comment to him was that it was a “piece of cake”. The look on his face was one of disbelief when I said that. I wasn’t being facetious, just honest. Yes it was hard, especially Stage 5 which was 163km, 3500m of altitude gain and at times in 45 degree heat. It took me 9-1/2 hours to complete that stage but I learnt a lot about my body and how soft I had ridden that stage. Before the start of the stage I was a little anxious about the heat forecast so I hung back and rode with a group of 5 others. I didn’t push my body that day at the end of the stage I was very annoyed at myself. Sure I had made some good friends and seen some spectacular scenery that day, but it was a lost opportunity to really see what I was capable of. Every stage after that I absolutely rode as hard as I could, I wasn’t going to leave anything in the tank.
The bunch of riders was an interesting mix. At the pointy end were the MTB and road professionals, followed by the semi professionals. Behind them were the fit MTB and road amateurs followed by a group of what I would term “Other Elites”. The Other Elites consisted of a former world champion kayaker, an adventure racer, an Olympic rower, and a 1000cc superbike racer. Following them were the “Survivors”, riders whose goal it was to finish, and maybe be the Lanterne Rouge. One memorable day riding at the pointy end of the peloton on a relatively flat stage the experience levels of the peloton really came to light. Once we had shaken off the Other Elites and Survivors it got really interesting. At the first aid station everyone stopped – except for one guy (a fit amateur), he kept riding at the same pace. Once people realised what had happened, they thought he had attacked, there was a mass panic and nearly everyone regrouped and began the chase. About 10 riders out of the 30 managed to get water onboard, the rest of us didn’t. Once we caught him we looked around and couldn’t see Mark Frendo or Cory Wallace, the guys number first and second on GC. It took Cory and Mark about 10km to catch the peloton. One guy who they towed back wasn’t happy and made it clear that it wasn’t to happen again “attacking the peloton at the aid station is amateur stuff”. At the next aid station he put his bike across the road so nobody could take off or attack!
There aren’t many races in the world where you can mix it with professional riders – and even beat them on occasions. The atmosphere at the Croc was awesome. With only 80 riders it gave everyone the opportunity to meet and socialise. A lot of friendships were formed and I’m sure I will see many of the riders at other races around the world in future. Next year might see the race given UCI status so it will be interesting to see if this happens and if more professionals decide to make the trek downunder. If it all happens, it will be an even better reason to go – there will be more professionals to beat!
Summary of the stages:
Stage 1, 35km. A fast 2 hour single track that tested fitness, technical skills and was a great early yardstick of who to watch out for over the next 8 stages.
Stage 2, 89km. This was at the time only my second MTB race over 5 hours this year. Three big climbs and scary high speed descents through rainforest with a stage finish at Lake Tinaroo.
Stage 3, 80km. The stage started with 18km of neutralized road section before hitting 30km of single track trails at Atherton, some 25km of difficult fire trail and 25km of gravel road to the finish in Irvinebank. A great stage that unfortunately saw Wolfgang Krenn withdraw through injury and Sander Cordeel from Lotto Belisol crash and get helicoptered out with a dislocated shoulder (he did come back to the race the next day and help around the camp – what a champ!)
Stage 4, 118km. A fast ride through some extremely rough roads that saw a lot of the road pros getting multiple punctures as they learnt how not to ride fast through stream beds with sharp rocks. A beautiful finish at Mt Mulligan Station where we camped by a lake shared with wallabies (small kangaroos).
Stage 5, 163km was the longest and hottest day. A 60km section along dirt road before heading high up into the hills. Long hot endless climbs with brief downhills to cool the body. The last 50km was the hardest dirt road section for many with 3 steep climbs and downhills per kilometer for the rest of the ride to the finish.
Stage 6, 116km. A great stage with a lot of technical trail that finished with a 30km flat ride into a headwind. I got my only puncture along this last stretch of road with only 16km to go.
Stage 7, 38km time trial that was relatively flat across corrugated roads, long grass (watch out for the snakes) and sand. This was the stage for the big guys and time trial specialists, and the podium reflected this. Most people welcomed the short sharp stage and treated it as a recovery day.
Stage 8; 113km. This was pretty much a road race on a combination of asphalt and dirt road with a few hills in there to mix it up. Not too many people liked it. The best part was the swimming pool at the end in Hope Vale and the SBS television crew to make yourself a larrikin in front of.
Stage 9, 50km. The final stage was a doozy. There were more crashes than any other stage and multiple punctures. One poor guy even broke his arm with only 25km from the end of the race! Nearly every rider that had fallen off in a stage previously fell off again. At 25km it was carnage and people crashed in the sand, got punctures in the river beds and bikes began to fall apart. The final climb up Grassy Hill was a challenge for some – requiring some zig zagging.
All in all the Crocodile Trophy was a great experience and one I will never forget. It has given me back the racing bug and I'm keen to do more marathon stage races like this. As always the training is the hard part trying to juggle family and work commitments with enough training to warrant turning up. Fingers crossed I can find a balance that satisfies all three. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cervo Rosso for their support before and during the race. I had many comments from the peloton about the kit I was sporting and of course I was able to tell them all about the quality and how comfortable it is. Interestingly I don't need to wear chamois creme with Cervo Rosso kit like I do with most other brands.
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