To remind people what is involved in this ride, I've attached the profile link below. 4 separate climbs totalling 65km during a 195km ride! This is one brutal event and I had to dig pretty deep last Sunday to push to the top of the last climb of Mt Buffalo in 35 degrees. http://www.cyclingprofiles.com.au/HTM/Audax/REC_ADXAAC200.htm
I arrived at Bright last sunday morning well fed and feeling pumped with no rumbling tummy for a change. I must have stupidly thought that my 100km hard training rides and herald sun modelling had put me in good form for this event. My goal was to ave 25km/hr which equated to 8hrs of riding time. I was riding with my brother in law Rik and both being a first timers, didn't realise that there would be 1,000+ riders already lined up at the start line which means we missed out on the fast drafting for the first 20km. The weather was cracker in the morning however it was forecast to get to 35 degrees in the afternoon.
We went pretty solid for the first 15km flat and then hit the first climb tawonga gap which is similar to the devil's elbow in pain. I cruised up at around 15km/hr passing a lot of riders who were already struggling and looking forward to falls creek. Falls Creek was the longest climb for 30km at 4%, ie: four 1/20s. I also felt great up this climb but underprepared whilst chatting to a swiss guy telling me that his favourite training ride is Mt Ventoux. Arrived at the top of falls after 3 hrs and still pretty confident for the rest of the day.
We flew down the 30 km descent which was great fun on the Ridley and soon after turned up Tawonga gap again. How things turn quickly, only 3 hrs earlier I was cruising up the other side of this climb and now I started to feel the pinch. Back and arse were aching up this climb of 7.5km at 6.4% which was in full sun and the temperature now over 30 degrees. This climb hurt and is just a steady gradient with no flat spots. I also got the distance wrong and copped the mental agony of thinking there was only 2km to go when suddenly looked at the road and saw 4km to go in paint.
Arrived at Bright and spent 20 mins fuelling up for last slog up buffalo. Getting back on the bike after 130km was no fun as my arse was really hurting. The Buffalo climb at the end was really tough. 19km at 5.5%, flat for 3 km then another 2.5km at 6.0% to Dingo Dell. It was in full sun at 35 degrees and included a 5km section of relaid road which was terrible with loose stones and melting tar to dodge. Copped a cramp in the hammy with 1km to go but pushed through and never enjoyed a frosty fruit so much at the top.
The Buffalo descent was great fun for 20km then attempted to sprint the last 10km on the flat just to get off the @#$%ing bike. I put everything into it and averaged an impressive 31km/hr while 2 lazy guys just wheel sucked, one even had the nerve to try to sprint past me in the last 50m.
Overall the Audax organisation is top notch and the volunteers are unbelievably good with plenty of drink and food stops, water sprayers, even sunglass cleaners.
Riding time was 8.5 hrs with over an hour of breaks for re-fueling and waiting for Rik who did it tougher than me. I drank about 8 water bottles during the ride but could have done with some more gels. I used the 25 gear on most of the climbs and probably could have done with one more up buffalo. As I was driving back to falls creek after ride, I felt sorry for the backmarkers on the 250km extreme ride, who had been going for up to 13 hrs with the Tawonga gap climb to come.
At the finish line Rik and me both swore that we would never @##$ing do this again. Now 3 days later I'm actually feeling like having another crack next year. Anyone keen?
To remind people what is involved in this ride, I've attached the profile
ReplyDeletelink below. 4 separate climbs totalling 65km during a 195km ride! This is
one brutal event and I had to dig pretty deep last Sunday to push to the top
of the last climb of Mt Buffalo in 35 degrees.
http://www.cyclingprofiles.com.au/HTM/Audax/REC_ADXAAC200.htm
I arrived at Bright last sunday morning well fed and feeling pumped with no
rumbling tummy for a change. I must have stupidly thought that my 100km hard
training rides and herald sun modelling had put me in good form for this
event. My goal was to ave 25km/hr which equated to 8hrs of riding time. I
was riding with my brother in law Rik and both being a first timers, didn't
realise that there would be 1,000+ riders already lined up at the start line
which means we missed out on the fast drafting for the first 20km. The
weather was cracker in the morning however it was forecast to get to 35
degrees in the afternoon.
We went pretty solid for the first 15km flat and then hit the first climb
tawonga gap which is similar to the devil's elbow in pain. I cruised up at
around 15km/hr passing a lot of riders who were already struggling and
looking forward to falls creek. Falls Creek was the longest climb for 30km
at 4%, ie: four 1/20s. I also felt great up this climb but underprepared
whilst chatting to a swiss guy telling me that his favourite training ride
is Mt Ventoux. Arrived at the top of falls after 3 hrs and still pretty
confident for the rest of the day.
We flew down the 30 km descent which was great fun on the Ridley and soon
after turned up Tawonga gap again. How things turn quickly, only 3 hrs
earlier I was cruising up the other side of this climb and now I started to
feel the pinch. Back and arse were aching up this climb of 7.5km at 6.4%
which was in full sun and the temperature now over 30 degrees. This climb
hurt and is just a steady gradient with no flat spots. I also got the
distance wrong and copped the mental agony of thinking there was only 2km to
go when suddenly looked at the road and saw 4km to go in paint.
Arrived at Bright and spent 20 mins fuelling up for last slog up buffalo.
Getting back on the bike after 130km was no fun as my arse was really
hurting. The Buffalo climb at the end was really tough. 19km at 5.5%, flat
for 3 km then another 2.5km at 6.0% to Dingo Dell. It was in full sun at 35
degrees and included a 5km section of relaid road which was terrible with
loose stones and melting tar to dodge. Copped a cramp in the hammy with 1km
to go but pushed through and never enjoyed a frosty fruit so much at the
top.
The Buffalo descent was great fun for 20km then attempted to sprint the last
10km on the flat just to get off the @#$%ing bike. I put everything into it
and averaged an impressive 31km/hr while 2 lazy guys just wheel sucked, one
even had the nerve to try to sprint past me in the last 50m.
Overall the Audax organisation is top notch and the volunteers are
unbelievably good with plenty of drink and food stops, water sprayers, even
sunglass cleaners.
Riding time was 8.5 hrs with over an hour of breaks for re-fueling and
waiting for Rik who did it tougher than me. I drank about 8 water bottles
during the ride but could have done with some more gels. I used the 25 gear
on most of the climbs and probably could have done with one more up buffalo.
As I was driving back to falls creek after ride, I felt sorry for the
backmarkers on the 250km extreme ride, who had been going for up to 13 hrs
with the Tawonga gap climb to come.
At the finish line Rik and me both swore that we would never @##$ing do this
again. Now 3 days later I'm actually feeling like having another crack next
year. Anyone keen?