The words from Tristan at Bikeminded still ring in my ears. After purchasing my road bike, all he said was - be careful - it's addictive! "Yeah yeah" I said. Fully certain I wouldn't turn into a road weenie.
It started simple enough - try and ride up the local hill without the benefit of my MTB granny gear. Yep - you sure run out of gears quickly on a roadie. Time to stand up and up and up for the next 6 months as it turned out!
Well, after the preliminary safe rides - with no big hills - I took on the Tour de Blueys - a 160 km loop of the Blue Mountains - after 8 hrs of suffering I wobbled home thoroughly crushed. But hooked.
Next was a little jaunt know as Fitz's Challenge - in my normal style - I opted for the big one - 210km of mountains around Canberra known as the Fitz Epic.
Start of the Fitz's Epic - David with original Five Ten member Ed |
The brochure described it as a hill grinding odyssey - and it was - 12 hrs and 4000m of climbing later I had made a qualifying time for the Alpine Classic.
Ahhh - The Devil in Fitz Epic.... |
Ed and David half way over the Geehi |
Climbing Leatherbarrell |
1 km and called it a day. Day four saw us back in Canberra for a quick 140km of climbing little hills in the Brindabellas.
So now I was primed for the ACE 250! Australia Day weekend in Bright Victoria was the rendezvous for almost 2000 riders. With a range of rides on offer by Audax Australia from a 70 km to the Alpine Classic Extreme - ACE 250 for short; riders of all capabilities were catered for!
Start of the Mt Buffalo x 3 extravaganza |
Unfortunately, out of control fires closed Mt Hotham and the race had to be changed. So, after three months of grinding hills - I was somewhat disappointed not to be tackling the Grand Alpine Circuit! The race organisers came up with an equivalent form of suffering - 240km and 4500m of climbing could be had - if we made three ascents of Mt Buffalo! Each loop was 80 km and 1500m up! YIPPEEEEEE was the general consensus from the peleton! Well, not really - so with a large measure of stoicism - 400 riders lined up at 4 am in the main street of Bright to begin what was to be a VERY hard day out in the saddle.
Mt Buffalo x 3 |
From Mt Buffalo looking down the climb |
Perhaps the greatest plus about three ascents of Buffalo were the descents - pure joy - high speed cornering on lovely s bends for 20 km!
I rolled over the finish line 14 hrs and 20 mins after starting - 240 km, 4500m of climbing and 3 kgs lighter. It was an awesome day out.
But - I had the Grand Alpine Circuit bug! I needed to finish what I started out to do - ride across the Vic Alps twice. So I promptly signed up for the 3 Peaks Classic another version of the ACE 250 - it starts in Falls Creek - goes to Mt Beauty, Tawonga Gap, Mt Hotham, Omeo, Mitta Mitta Rv and back up to Falls Creek for the finish. Another 240 km of suffering.
So after the Buffalo experience I decided I needed to train harder on the big mountains. With 4 weeks between ACE and 3 Peaks - I had to cram. So off to Jenolan Caves and Oberon the hard way - a long day out! I followed up three days later with my second go at the Tour de Blueys. This time I thought I was tougher - so I would ride it the hard way - up Bellbird Hill at Kurrajong! Fortunately I was a lot stronger than the first time and finished the 160km in good form. Well, good form for me is anything other than crushed!
And to finish off my prep - one last biggy! Thredbo to Khancoban and back in a day - 170 km and 4500km of the steepest steeps. The last 2 km of Leatherbarrell crushed me - I threw up at the car.
I was now ready for the 3 Peaks.
Dawn start of the 3 Peaks |
Except the fires still raged and the roads were still closed. So NO grand circuit for this lad in 2013. Instead, another make do sufferfest to take it's place. At 7 am on a cool Sunday morning, 1500 riders rolled out of Falls Creek for the 20km descent to Mt Beauty. Without doubt, this high speed descent was the highlight of my road riding career and the best thing in the whole day of riding - by far! Next came a short sharp climb of Tawonga - a bunch ride to the base of Mt Buffalo - fortunately for one ascent only and by the 120 km mark I was 1 hr inside my pace time to complete the 235km in 13 hrs. Things were looking too rosy - I should have known something was up!
By 1 pm the temp began to nudge 38 degs and a long slow climb up Happy Valley became anything but happy! My race unravelled and the hour I had up my sleeve turned into a 1 hr deficit in just 50 km. What ensued was a miserably tough nauseous ride in the heat to hang on for as long as I could. There was a cutoff at Mt Beauty, which I didn't make - so at 200km down on a stinking hot day - my race was over.
A dead 3 Peaks leg. |
For the first time in 30 years of competing I had to take the sag wagon to the finish. Climbing up the last 20 km to Falls Creek was easy in the bus - littering the road were hundreds of broken riders who didn't have the good luck to miss the cutoff - they had to drag their destroyed bodies up a 1300m climb to the finish. A true summit finish to a ridiculously hard day out.
And so ends my road riding career for 2013 - it achieved it's purpose - a very strong endurance base for Geo and XPD - I hope it pays off. Now to running, walking, mtbing and paddling.
And oh - I have a date with the Grand Alpine Circuit in 2014!