The Two Donnas

The last two weekends, I have been doing my “long hilly” rides up Donna Buang. Melbourne weather has been shit crazy (nothing out of the ordinary) and the last 2 rides is a testament on the contrast. 

On the 12^th Dec, I arrived in Warburton around 6:30am…I was yawning like crazy on my drive there and could barely muster strength to keep my eye lids open. I had a quick 10min nap in the car which helped immensely. I started my ride around 7am and headed towards the summit. This day was forecasted with a bit of showers around Melbourne but Warburton/Donna Buang was dry and cool. I started the ride off with arm warmers and had the gilet in my back pocket. It didn’t take long for me to sweat buckets and I took my arm warmers off at the mid-way point of the climb (where the Forest Gallery was). I felt stronger on this climb (my 2^nd ever attempt from Warburton) and I paid attention to my stroke efficiency and cadence. I didn’t feel the climb was as horrific as the first attempt on Melbourne Cup day.

Once the arm warmers were removed, I felt much cooler and it was hovering around 8 degrees according to the Garmin. The climb up to the summit was good and I felt much better than the first and second attempt – Melbourne Cup day and part of the Giro della Donna respectively. I knew I was on track to break my own PB as I looked down at my Garmin and I finished the climb within 2 hours (1:50 on Strava as my PB). It was very foggy along the 2^nd half of the climb. At some points, it was hard to see where I was pedaling until I actually reach that point. It was like I was riding through cotton wool. Once I got to the top, I knew it would be a freezing descent as I was starting to feel the chill as I was climbing which was rare.

I didn’t stop for long (more like couldn’t), I put on the gilet and arm warmers straight away before I froze to death. There was a bit of snow/frost coverage at the summit which meant that it was freezing. This was supported by my Garmin telling me it was -1^oC. Luckily I had a pair of long finger gloves in the car and brought them with me along the climb as they were a gold on the way down. It was so cold, my jaw was chattering and my arms were shaking because it was that cold. At one point, I had an “ice cream headache” and I had a little cry because I just wanted to get out of there. Once I had about 5km to go on the descent, I could finally feel my body and felt more relieved. The plan was to do 2 repeats of the climb but decided against it as I didn’t want to put myself through that descent again.

On 19^th Dec, it was forecasted to be 41oC. Once again, the drive into Warburton early in the morning really made me sleepy even with a coffee along the way. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as last week and I didn’t need a nap before the ride. I decided to not bring along arm warmers or gilet as it was already 30 degrees at Warburton.

The ride up was not comfortable and I felt dehydrated. I usually finish a bidon within 2 hours but I found myself finishing nearly two bottles before I reached the top of the climb. 

I logged into a webinar about cycling strength and preparation for 3 Peaks on Wednesday night and one of the things which they spoke about was training for strength and riding on one of two gears harder than what you would on race day. So this meant that my cadence would be slower. I also did a few strokes standing up and training myself to be able to do that more often so I could get myself over steep pinches and maybe Mt Baw Baw.

Due to the heat and the strong winds, it was hard to pedal at some points of the climb as the wind felt like it was a warm blanket holding me back. Even with my sunglasses on, the wind brought debris into my eyes and I did spend a few moments trying to blink it out. There were twigs and branches everywhere along the climb. I think I heard about a dozen or so branches cracking from the tree trunks and cascading down the slope. I was actually afraid that a large branch would fall on or around me during the ride.

There was a bit of coverage from the trees along the route so the temperature along the climb was about 10 degrees less than Warburton apart from the top of the summit as it was exposed (temps around 35oC)

I decided to have a bit of explore to find the natural spring to fill up my water bottles. It wasn’t hard to find as another cyclist was there filling up his bottle too. Luckily it was there as I had ran out of water pretty much when I finished the first climb.

I forgot to unpause my Garmin from the natural spring down to about 1km from the mid-way point – bugger. I decided that instead of doing 2 repeats, I would do a 0.5 repeat from the mid-way point. The second attempt up the 2^nd half of the climb was much harder than the first that I couldn’t ride on a harder gear without going down to 30rpm (too low!) The winds didn’t die down on the 2^nd attempt either and more debris came onto the roads, which was annoying. I didn’t fill up my bottles again on the way down as I had about half a bottle left and it was only a descent down to Warburton.

My quickest ride down to Warburton is approx. 25min but this time around, it took me nearly 33min due to maneuvering myself around twigs, branches and even a wallaby that decided to stand in the middle of the road. The temperature also increased dramatically the closer I got to Warburton.

I decided against a coffee or a visit to the bakery as I wanted a nap before I had to finish off a musette before I headed to the Austral Track Champs on Saturday night so it was a quick pack of the bike in the car and fuel top up and off I went back to Cheltenham.

As you can see from the photo below – the contrast between the two conditions. Top photo was the 19th Dec - around 35 degrees (although it felt like it was 40) and the bottom was the 12th Dec and -1 degrees. 

7 Peaks - Dinner Plain (6/7)

First off, I am a pretty stubborn person. Once I have a plan of attack or a current obsession, I don’t let it go easily or change my plans until it is done/task done to death/item purchased.

The latest plan I had was to finish off 6 out of the 7 Peaks challenge before the end of the year, leaving Mt Baw Baw to do in February once I get some training in my legs and mentally prepare myself for the task ahead. My Baw Baw is pretty frightening and I will dwell on this later.

So I had ticked off 5 of the 7 Peaks already last week. The weekend just gone, we had originally planned on staying at Hotham and riding both sides of the climb – Mt Hotham climb whilst the Tour of Bright (ToB) rode the Gap loop on Saturday and on Sunday ride Dinner Plain-Omeo and back whilst the ToB rode the Hotham climb for Stage 3. There was a slight change of plans due to life-commitments so other plans came into play to accommodate.

As I had already done Mt Hotham climb, I decided to just do one big ride for the weekend and to just tick off the Dinner Plain climb (solo) ride of the 7 Peaks . Instead of staying at Hotham, I decided to stay at Omeo. It’s a small town but provided all the amenities such as caravan park which is where I stayed and a bakery for my lunch post ride.

I had a pretty big week in terms of training: weights on Monday and Wednesday, Wattbikes + Altitude on Tuesday, Wattbikes at Art of Cycling (first class) on Thursday 5:30am class and a swim on Friday afternoon. I decided to take Saturday off in terms of training as the drive to Omeo would be a big day.

I left the house at 11:30am on Saturday after packing 80% of my things the night before. I just had a few things to sort out such as my homemade nutrition (RMS, maple syrup, lemon juice, salt) and something new which was dates soaked overnight and blended in the Thermomix. Packed the bike in the car and then it was off I go along Princes Hwy towards Omeo.

I stopped 3 times during my 5 hour drive – for lunch, iced coffee and then just a juice and a stretch of the legs. I got into the Omeo Caravan Park at about 5pm. The basic cabin I had booked was cosy – everything I needed for an overnight stay (needed to bring my own towels and linen) and it had a community shower block which I really didn’t mind. I had a late check out so I only had to pay for one night’s accommodation.

I brought dinner with me as I didn’t feel like heading to the pub by myself, ate it around 8pm and then it was packing my kit ready for my morning ride.

kitgrid

The initial plan was to ride at 6am as the forecasted temp was over 30 for the day but the temperature of Omeo (especially at the caravan park) dropped below 10 overnight and I was freezing. Luckily I not only brought my sleeping bag but I also brought an extra blanket too. I ended up sleeping in a bit as headed out for my ride at 7am instead of 6am.

There was a climb out of the caravan park which warmed up my legs quick. I rode through the main street of the town and then passed the Bakery which is the official start of the 7 Peaks Climb. I was going along pretty good and then I realised that I forgot my heart rate monitor (no big deal), and then I stopped to turn on my rear light for safety as I was on the road by myself. I stopped again during the first climb out of Omeo as I needed to get rid of my arm warmers (so warm!). I struggled to keep my cadence > 45…I knew the gradient was significant, I didn’t want to push so hard so early in the ride especially when it was only 5km in and lastly, my legs were just dead.

The temperature hovered above 20 at this point and I was sweating buckets. I had about a hundred flies as passengers as I climbed and I had to do a bushman’s hanky blow several times to push these flies out of my nose. After the first climb passed Mt. Kosciuszko, there was a soft descent and I knew that I would have to climb this on the return leg. There was a pretty steep descent after another climb and I also dreaded for the return.

Once I had done the first steep climb, the rest of the ride was pretty good. Rolling hills which sapped the energy out of the legs. More flies…

There was another climb you could see from a mile away through the rolling hills. Luckily I could ride at a comfortable pace and cadence. There were a few people descending, I am guessing they rode from Dinner Plain, heading towards Omeo.

There were a few false flats before the final “climb” into Dinner Plain. I was comfortable and even saw a few familiar faces near Hotham Airport. Once I got to the top of the climb, I was relieved. The climb from the caravan park to Dinner Plain took nearly 3:20 which I was pretty happy with (aimed to be below 3:30). I bought a drink and got my 6^th stamp at the café, sat down for a little break, then it was a toilet stop and refill of hydration before I headed back down to Omeo.

The official 7 Peaks strava segment - fastest female was around 2 hours. 

I have been pretty consistent with hydration ever since I set my alarm for 15min intervals to remind me to drink at least every 15min and eat every 30min. I tend to go through a bottle of hydration every 2 hours so finishing the climb with only a third of the second bottle meant that I was a bit thirsty than usual.

The temperature hit 34 (as max) on my descent down to Omeo. The country roads are rough so there was plenty of friction that I felt comfortable about speeds > 50km/hr on the descents – they were also pretty straight descents which I could do. There were some gravel parts which shook me at some points but I recovered from them quick.

I hated the steep climbs back towards Omeo – my legs were fatigued at this point and I just kept my focus on heading back to the caravan park. I actually slowed down when I reached Omeo as I wanted to take in the scenery of this small town. Once I got down to the caravan park, I uploaded my garmin data, posted a photo of the ride on Instagram and Facebook (also to let people know that I arrived safely). I then took a shower, checked out of the caravan park and then it was lunch at the Omeo Bakery before I headed back to Melbourne.

I stopped twice on my drive back to Melbourne – once at Rosedale for a toilet break and to check up on my friends’ progress at Busselton (Ironman) and the next at the main servo stop for fuel and early dinner. I also bought 2kg of cherries from the side of the road. I have a weakness of cherries – I could eat cherries until I have a stomach ache.

Now having done 6 out of the 7 Peaks challenge rides, my personal ranking for the rides are as follows:

1) Mt Hotham

2) Falls Creek

3) Mt Buller

4) Lake Mountain

5) Mt Buffalo

6) Dinner Plain

I found Dinner Plain to be more like a long ride on country roads rather than a “climbing challenge”. There were some challenging parts but generally, it was very manageable. Just a long day. I would recommend that others carry 2 full size bidons and not those small ones and there is nothing in between Omeo and Dinner Plain for a top up and it can get hot and sweaty.

I have been pretty lucky in terms of weather for all of my climbs – nothing crazy has been handed to me so far (knock on wood) and I have been staying away from cycling outdoors when the weather has been stupid. 

Cycling Update

I haven't done a general update of my "activities" in a while (since September). However, I have been doing regular updates on the significant rides (and milestones). I do like to write about them as much as I could - it gives me a chance to reflect on the event, ride, day and how I went and what I can do to improve and more importantly, allows me to be thankful for being able to achieve those milestones. It also gives me a chance to read them and then reflect on changes in my life, especially on days when I am feeling a bit low on performance.

Since I changed my "sport" from triathlon to just cycling, my training schedule has been manageable and I have been able to tick off more of my key sessions well compared to juggling the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. With the addition of strength sessions since May 2015, it was just too much to balance training with work and life in general.

With regards to ticking off my 7 Peaks Challenge - I have done 5 so far! I have Omeo-Dinner Plain scheduled for this weekend and then Mt Baw Baw in February. I am actually scared about this ride and I will talk about it in a separate post. Since the challenge started in October, I had ticked off the following:

1) Mt Hotham - 25th Oct during the Bayside Tri Club Bright Camp
2) Falls Creek - 7th Nov
3) Mt Buffalo - 8th Nov (both Falls Creek and Mt Buffalo was done during a weekend away at Porepunkah with my friend Dale)
4) Lake Mountain - 15th Nov with the Domestique/Hells500 crew (and the Canadian and Dale too)
5) Mt Buller - 29th Nov (rode from Mansfield) with Dale

I have also done a few cycling events since I came back from my holidays in Japan:

- Amy's Gran Fondo
- Dirty Gran Fondo
- Around the Bay
- Giro della Donna

I have one more cycling event in 2016 (Audax Alpine Classic) before the big one in March. I need a few more 8-10 hour rides with 3500+ of elevation climbs under my belt before I am comfortable about tackling this event and making it within the 13 hour cut off. I have never had a fear of making the cut off time for Ironman but this is different - this event is actually a challenge and they warn you that if you can't make certain training goals and climbing segments comfortably, you have no hope of finishing within 13 hours (not as blunt and crude as that but it's close enough).

My weekly training schedule is pretty much as below:

Monday - Rest/Strength - depending if I had done a big event on Sunday the week before.
Tuesday - Spin on Wattbikes + Altitude with CF Racing
Wednesday - Strength
Thursday - Spin on Wattbikes, spin bikes at GESAC or road ride.
Friday - Rest/Recovery ride
Saturday and Sunday is different each week - it ranges from big rides on both Saturday and Sunday, big ride on a Saturday and then recovery on Sunday through to only doing one big ride due to the 4-5 hours of driving required to get to the big mountains for training.

With the long rides I have been doing over the last few months, I have been a bit obsessed with audio books (through Audible) - I have been able to get through 5 books since 25th Oct - pretty much one book per week (for every return trip out of Melbourne). It really beats listening to music which can be annoying when the reception gets sketchy outside of Melbourne and listening to one of the three CDs I have in the car - Chet Faker, Lorde or City and Colour.

I am still reporting to Chris at Excite on a weekly basis and this makes me accountable for my training - both on the bike and strength. We are currently on week 32.

My weight has not gone down the right direction but I know that my muscles in my legs have developed more than ever. My guts however have not shifted - I am putting this down to the lack of running and swimming and the fact that I am either sitting on the chair at my workstation, sitting on the saddle whilst cycling or on a chair at the sewing machine (sewing cycling caps). I am going to have to introduce some other cardio form of training such as elliptical trainer before my strength sessions to assist with that. I am still hovering around 65-66kg. I don't think the fat around my stomach weighs enough that if I get rid of that that I am able to get down < 60kg....

My bike strength has been improving and that is something which is the main priority and not necessarily the numbers of the scales. Mental strength on the bike has also been improving but I am putting that down to the naivety of exploring new climbs and training for new goals. I can climb for 3 hours comfortably (Mt Hotham) but I struggle to ride more than 2 hours on Beach Rd....

Nutrition wise, both The Canadian and I have gone pretty much vegetarian in our house. We still consume meat but its more like thin slivers of salami or prosciutto on our homemade pizzas and we still consume seafood and animal products such as diary, eggs and honey. We sometimes make vegan meals for dinner but this is not on purpose. The reason for this is to increase our intake of fruits and vegetables in our diet and not rely on meat for nutrition 3 times a day, 7 days a week.

Anyways, apart from not looking like a typical lean cyclist, I am looking and feeling stronger in my legs. My fitness on the bike is always improving especially with the Wattbikes (and added bonus of Altitude chamber) on Tuesday nights.

I am looking forward to my work holidays - you will see me riding more mountains, exploring new boundaries and napping.

Coffee, Donuts and Cycling Thighs

Looking Ahead - January 2016

This is my final Looking Forward post for 2015 and also the first for 2016. January will be a busy month for training as I have work holidays from the 24th Dec through to the 10th Jan 2016 (back to work on the 11th). I am going to be heading up to the mountains again to do more training ahead of the Audax ride. I haven’t booked anything yet but there is a 90% chance that I will be spending a few days there, climbing and climbing.

16^th – 17^th Jan: I have a wedding to attend on the 17^th so the 16^th will be repeats of a climb of some sort. Most likely be Donna Buang or Lake Mountain (something substantial) or I will ride the Crucifix in the Dandenongs. Between 5 - 6 hours. 

23rd – 24^th Jan: The Audax Alpine Classic is on the 24^th and I will be riding the “poor man’s 3 Peaks” – Bright – Tawonga Gap – Falls – Tawonga Gap – Bright (130km). Most likely arrive at the accommodation on the Saturday 23^rd rather than arriving there on the Friday night.

No plans so far for the 30^th - 31^st weekend but the training will be local (less than 2 hours drive from home). 

7 Peaks - Mt Buller (5/7)

Yesterday, I finished my 5^th of the 7 Peaks Challenge – Mt Buller.

As this ride is located relatively close to Melbourne (not around the Alpine Region), we thought we could tackle this over a weekend. As I had done the Giro della Donna the previous weekend, my legs were in a bit of a noodle-like state and I didn’t want to go as tough for the weekend. I did a few strength session throughout the week too which hindered my legs to fully recover as I was walking about like I just just done a marathon.

So I had booked some accommodation at Mansfield as we decided to make the ride there count and would start from Mansfield and ride up to Mt Buller and back (around 95km) instead of just ticking off the 7 Peaks ride which is only 32km (return).

I had a pretty busy week at work and a late Friday night. I had accompanied my parents from Richmond station to Rod Laver arena so they could watch the Hugh Jackman (mum pronounces it as “Huge Jackman”) and the Canadian and I spend a few hours in the city as we hardly do anymore since moving in together in the suburbs. We didn’t get home until 11:30pm (woah, so late!!)

I had a bit of a sleep in on the Saturday and stayed in bed watching iView on the iPad until about 10am. I got out of bed to pack my bags and bike for Mansfield. I left the house around 2pm with a pit stop at the rest point along the Eastlink freeway for fuel, coffee and a toilet stop.

I got into Mansfield around 5pm. Dale had already arrived (she got in around 2pm) and we went to the local pub for dinner. We discussed the plan for the next day – start the ride at 7am from Mansfield to Mt Buller and it would be a 4.5 – 5 hour day on the saddle. A bit of Sound of Music on local TV and a read of the route description and we were off to our respective rooms by 10pm. My room didn’t have a fan and also faced the main caravan park area so I had to close the window to reduce noise. I couldn’t sleep until about 12:30am and woke up a few times from thirst. The alarm went off at 6:15am and we were pretty much out the door by 6:50am.

I am still trying to sort out what my “kit” will be for 3 Peaks. I bought the Spoxe kit a few weeks ago and tried it out for this ride. I won’t go into too much detail about the kit as the intention for this blog post is for the ride and not a kit review but I can confirm that I won’t be riding with the knicks for 3 peaks – the chamois is too small (didn’t cover my butt area on the saddle - why?!) and the size was too generous (even when I bought a S in ladies). The jersey I had gone for a Medium in ladies but I think I could have gone for a S as it is not a race cut and therefore, it was flapping around a bit. Can confirm that I didn’t get the stomach look as it was generous in size.

I felt the ride from Mansfield to the start of the Buller climb was pretty tough. The country roads meant that the ride was pretty slow for a relatively flat terrain (I later found out from my Strava that it is s slight incline on the way out of Mansfield). I didn’t get on the large chain ring apart from the sections where it was downhill-ish and just spun my legs out at 80rpm+. I didn’t want to wreck my legs for the climb. I was also trying out a new nutrition strategy – eating a date for every 2^nd 30min nutrition timing. I think I will need to do some prepping – even start by removing the pit ahead of time. I might look into soaking and blending the dates into a gel-paste like consistency for the next ride too. More about my nutrition on a separate post…

Once we reached the toll gates, I set my sights on keeping my cadence > 65rpm as much as possible. This was good for the first 2-3km but it slowly decreased to 55-60rpm for the next 10km. I really enjoyed the climb. The scenery was amazing and the tree coverage made for a cool climb. You could feel the drop in temperature along the way, this I have noticed for most of the climbs I have been doing over the last few months.

There were distance markers along the side of the road which helped with knowing how far we had to go to the summit but it was also disheartening when you think you have made significant progress but the distance covered had only been 1km or so.

The last 3km or so of Mt Buller had plenty of hair-pin turns. So crazy and steep! I had to get out of the saddle for most of them and rode towards the middle of the road. The last 1.5km was even more crazy steep but I knew that it was close to the end as I could see the ski lodges.

When we finally rode through the entrance to Mt Buller, I was so relieved. The ride was not my best performance – could be due to the change in nutrition strategy, could be because I was so uncomfortable on the saddle (knicks), it could be because my legs were still fatigued. Even though I found the ride pretty tough, it was manageable and I am glad I ticked that one off.

Pointing to my signature on the wall

My 5th Stamp!!!

We had a break at Foodworks, grabbed our stamp and signed the board. I told Dale that I would be behind her as I am going to take my time heading back as I wanted to stop to take some photos along the way. The descent was a bit tricky due to the sharp turns and I took my time along them. Where I could see the road, I let go of the brakes but I was still hesitant as the surface of the road was patchy in some areas. In my mind, if they are patchy and I ride over them fast, there is a chance that I will fly off the cliff.

BAAT - Bike Against A Totem

The ride back towards Mansfield from Merrijig was painful….It was only 20km but it just went on forever. I was tired and bored. There were plenty of 4WD passing but luckily there was plenty of side lane to keep me at a distance. I had music to keep me company but there was just nothing interesting about the ride back. I just couldn’t wait to get back to the caravan park.

The total ride took me just over 5 hours to do – could have been quicker if I didn’t stop to take photos along the way or let my motivation wonder on the ride back towards Mansfield. I didn’t really mind as the main aim for the day was to tick off Mt Buller on the 7 Peaks challenge.

Ranking the climbs on my own personal scale:

1) Mt Hotham
2) Falls Creek
3) Mt Buller (I thought it was overall more difficult than Lake Mountain and Buffalo)
4) Lake Mountain
5) Mt Buffalo

Some Strava stats

 My Mt Buller Strava Segment info - need to work on the cadence!!

Inaugural Giro della Donna Gran Fondo

So yesterday, I participated in the inaugural Giro della Donna event hosted by Cyclingtips. This is a Gran Fondo starting in the town of Warburton doing a loop through Marysville and then finishing at the Donna Buang summit.

I entered this event as part of my (fatigue and stress) training for 3 Peaks. I wanted to put my body through as many stresses as possible before the 3 Peaks event. I didn’t think too much about the event so I wouldn’t have an anxiety attack about it but I kept it in my the back of my mind that I will have a 120km ride on the 22^nd Nov with about 2700m of climbing to do…

On Saturday, instead of sleeping in, I decided to try something new. I joined Cycles Galleria for their womens only ride around Williamstown. I arrived at 6:30am with pouring rain and hesitated about riding for a few minutes as I didn’t have wet weather gear with me. I recognised a few faces on the ride and I actually joined to faster group for a trot around the area. With 3km left of the ride, I dropped my light around the speed humps and spent a few minutes searching for it. I didn’t want to lose it as they are not cheap to buy (the good ones) and I needed it for my ride the next day.

The alarm went off at 4am on the Sunday morning and I left the house at 4:30am as the plan was to arrive in Warburton by 6am. The morning went off without a hitch as I prepared my bike and bags the night before.

When I arrived at 6am, we were directed to park at the oval next to the event village. Some wore their arm warmers and gilet at the start but I decided against the gilet as I am one who warms up very quick. I hung around at the back of the group start as I knew that many would be jostling for the front positions during the ride (they would race it).

0 – 20km

From the get-go, I rode at my own pace. Although I did get into a bunch ride (two abreast) for about 5km of the ride before the rolling hills started to be prominent. There was a bit of a hustle when unpredictable behaviours started and people’s rhythms were thrown into disarray. At this point, the groups started to spread and once again, I found myself riding at my own pace with only ACDC, Tay Tay and RATM as company.

20 – 40km

All I remember around this point was how I had to stop to take off my arm warmers! The Reefton climb was long and because I was not familiar with this climb (not reading about it anywhere), I just made sure that my cadence was above 70rpm. It was generally manageable and I actually rode passed a handful of people along the way.

There was some sort of “Sufferfest Section” along this point. As there was no one around me apart from a handful of gents who stopped to pee along the way, I just rode at my pace and finished the climb through great scenery.

(These are the photos I have saved to be purchased)

Looking OK. 

40km – 60km

The ride towards Marysville had a few steep climbs after the Sufferfest section. I remember the cadence dropping at some points but I felt that the legs still had something left to be able to maintain a comfortable pace. The road met the intersection where I turned off towards Lake Mountain last week so I knew where I was along the route. I had a 6km or so descend down towards Marysville and I am pretty sure that my speed was a bit better than last week due to increased confidence and knowing a bit more about the roads.

As I had refilled one of my bidons at the last aid station and having 1.75 bottles of hydration with me, I decided against stopping at Marysville for a rest and just kept going.

60km – 68km

Leaving Marysville was cruel – there was a steep section as you leave the small town which I thought was quite unpleasant. The rest of the route was along a pretty major road with cars but they all seemed to be travelling along knowing that there is an event on. I found the rolling hills a bit challenging as it was quite exposed and the heat from the roads was getting warm.

68km – 83km

This was one of my favourite parts of the ride. It was through the paved section of Acheron Way. The road was narrow but covered by the trees. It was cool, a contrast from the exposed roads of the previous section. I didn’t push too hard along this section, stayed in the small chain ring and just kept at a good 80-90rpm and just enjoyed the relatively flat ride. If I was aiming for a good (strava) time, I would actually be pushing hard along this section, maybe next year.

Riding thorugh Acheron Way

83km – 96km

I have to be honest, I was actually a bit worried about this section of the Gran Fondo. It was 13km of gravel roads and I was worried about getting flat or skidding off to the side of the mountain but I surprised myself and actually loved this section! It reminded me of much of the #dirtygranfondo events which I have done for the last 3 years. The road was bumpy and lumpy at some points but it is a matter of choosing a good line. I had so much fun!

96km – 107km

The gravel road ended at the end of the carpark at the hairpin section along the Donna Buang route. The rest of the 10km was the climb up to the summit. At this stage, my legs were a bit tired…

Having done 96km already with plenty of climbing, coupled with being shock absorbers throughout the gravel section, I found myself okay for the first 5km of the climb and being able to maintain 60rpm through to feeling absolutely smashed and not being able to maintain 40rpm along the last 5km. I kept reminding myself that I am nearly finished and only had a few km to go but I really had nothing left in the legs.

When I could see the end, I was so glad! I felt more of a relief having completed this ride more than I did during Amy’s Gran Fondo. I collected my momento (see photo below - its a plaque/keyring), put on my arm warmers and gilet and started on the descent. I found out that when I reached the top of the summit, the sag wagon was about 4km away. I actually saw the last riders with the sag wagon during the middle of my descent back down to Warburton and I was just glad that I had made the cut off (by about 20min or so).

The temperature along the descent was just as I remembered it on Melbourne Cup day, shivering cold. I would like to think that my descending speed was a bit better than the last time I rode down. As always, I had plenty of people passing me.

When I arrived back at the event village, I had a large coffee to relax before riding back to the car to undress into something more comfortable and prepared for the drive back home.

My Giro della Donna time was 6:37. Average moving speed of 16km/hr, max 57km/hr. 2594m of climbing.

Including the descent back down to Warburton and back down to the village, my total time was 7:09.

Final Thoughts:

• Were there toilets along the route (apart from Marysville)? I don't know but I would suggest that a few be placed along the way. I saw about 30 guys who stopped along the way for a pee. As a female, I would like to relieve myself in a toilet and not in the open. 
• Nutrition was good. Although I prefer to stick to my homemade ones rather than the Gu I had in a flask....I am thinking of adding some form of caffeine with my nutrition but not in the form of store bought gels. 
• I really need to work on my cadence (on tired legs). All part of the training. 
• Need to work on the core - my guts seemed too relaxed in all my photos.  
• Felt more comfortable on the descents although I did hesitate for a few. Luckily I was pretty much by myself at most points along the course.
• Finally, would I do this event again - Yes!!! 

7 Peaks - Lake Mountain (4/7)

On the 15^th November 2015, I joined the Domestique: The Climbing Cyclist/Hells500 ride from Marysville to Lake Mountain. We were not too sure on how the parking situation will be at Marysville and combined with the first 4km of the 21km climb bring the hardest with gradients around 10%, we decided to park at Buxton and do a 12km warm up ride into Marysville.

The Canadian and I were meeting Dale at Buxton at 8am. When we arrived into Buxton, the carpark was full so we decided to park at the Buxton hotel. I was busting for a bathroom (having had a coffee from Maccas along Eastlink) and I was desperate. There were a few motel patrons who were having a smoke outside their rooms and I just asked them if I could use their bathroom!

We left for Marysville around 8:30 and got to the start just at 9am but due to briefing and the wave starts, we didn’t leave until around 9:30am. I had some gravel stuck in my cleats and I wasn’t able to pedal efficiently. It felt like my cleats were loosening up. The Canadian rode passed me and we stopped to check. Luckily he was there so he was able to push me along as there was no way I was able to get back onto the bike – that was my worry and why I didn’t stop before he arrived. This happened around the 500m mark.

The rest of the ride was not the most comfortable. I wasn’t able to keep my cadence > 50rpm. I was actually hovering between 35-45 for most of the first 4km. This is something which I wasn’t happy about and must work on my strength and cadence to overcome this.

I recognised a few familiar faces along the ride – from friends through to people I have connected with over the years through twitter and Instagram.

After the first 4km of the ride – we come to a section which had a great view of the mountains. I don’t know what it is called but apparently, it has a name. I saw a few people who stopped for happy snaps and a rest.

The rest of the climb was manageable. I got into a comfortable rhythm and I could hold my cadence > 65rpm (90% > 70rpm).

Once I got to the top, I felt good. I got my 4^th stamp in my passport and found the Canadian (he finished about 30min before me as he had plenty of time to have a salad roll and a coffee) and then I waited for Dale. She arrived about 10min or so after me.

I put on my gilet and my arm warmers and psyched myself ready for the descent down. So many people flew passed me. Some were even pedalling down the switch backs – something I am not able to do. The Canadian’s top speed was over 80km/hr, mine was only 53km/hr. I felt more comfortable with the descend as I could see ahead.

My climbing time was 1:40 and my descent was 30min.

Overall, I found this climb of the 7 Peaks Challenge to be manageable (after the 4km). This climb had several breaks in between – with rolling hills and false flats.

The time below includes my ride from Buxton to Marysville, the stop at the start and the 30min break before we climbed.

Ranking the climbs in order of hardest to easiest (my own scale):

1) Mt Hotham

2) Falls Creek

3) Lake Mountain

4) Mt Buffalo

After the climb, we had a small rest at the Patisserie and then rode back to Buxton. The ride back was good and I could do a few surges. I even had a high speed of 51km/h on the ride.

7 Peaks - Mt Buffalo (3/7)

Following on from my 7 Peaks Falls Creek ride on the Saturday, Dale and I did the Mt Buffalo climb the on Sunday 8th November.

I read during Saturday night that many found Mount Buffalo to be an enjoyable climb (some even quoted it as their favourite go-to climb within the Alpine area). I was looking forward to this climb and getting my 3rd stamp on my 7 Peaks Passport.

We decided that we would leave Dave's house at 7am. For some reason, I didn't pay too much attention to the distance of the climb or maybe because I have been doing too much reading on all these climbs that I muddled up my distances. For some reason I thought the climb was 17km but it ended up being around 26km from the house.

The aim for this climb (and from reading other people's write up) is that you should be able to maintain a steady cadence as the gradient is pretty manageable. I wanted to work on my cadence and I actually paid attention to my pedal strokes. Happy to report that I was able to maintain it > 60rpm for 90% of the climb.

I found the scenery of the climb amazing. The waterfalls and the frequent flow of water along the side of the road made the experience much more enjoyable - something which I wouldn't have taken in if I had only driven the car. There were a few switch backs which I knew that I would have to take it easy on the way down but I didn't have any anxiety around it.

It took me just over 2 hours to ride up to the Rangers Office from the house in Porepunkah and under 30min to ride down and back to the house.

One of the places where we could get our 7 peaks stamps

Some stats

The ride down was not as manageable as Falls Creek. I held on to the brakes more for this as the roads were pretty rough and I couldn't comfortably see ahead of me to adjust my body position quick enough. I still managed it fine but the level of confidence on descending didn't get better during this event.

Ranking the 3 climbs of the 7 Peaks from hardest to easiest....

1) Mt Hotham
2) Falls Creek
3) Mt Buffalo

Lake Mountain is next on the cards - 15th November with the Domestique crew. Stay tuned for the write up!

7 Peaks - Falls Creek (2/7)

Over the weekend of 7 - 8th November, my friend Dale and I decided that it would be a great time to head to the hills and do some training/tick off some of the 7 Peaks Challenge climbs.

I had already done Harrietville - Hotham as the first of the 7 Peaks during the Bright Training camp with Bayside Tri Club about 3 weeks ago.

So we drove into Porepunkah on the Friday night and stayed at one of Dale's family friends house. On the first night, I realised that I also know Dave as he trained under Tri Alliance at one point and we both did the 2013 Melbourne Ironman.

The plan for the first day was to tackle either side of Falls Creek - 3 Peaks side or the 7 Peaks side, back or front respectively. During the Alpine Classic weekend, I will be doing the Falls Creek route which is Bright - Towonga Gap - Falls Creek return (130km with 3 climbs). We decided that this route (inc the ride from Porepunkah would be too much for us to handle at this stage of training so we decided to start at Mount Beauty and ride up to Falls (7 Peaks Stamp) and back. This ride would be approx 60km and I estimated that it would take me sometime between 4 - 5 hours to complete based on my 3 hour climb up Mt Hotham time.

We left the house at 7am and was ready for the ride at 8am at Mount Beauty. I started without a gilet or arm warmers as I knew that I would warm up quick. The ride along passed Bogong was quite manageable and I was able to keep my cadence 60-70rpm. There were a few rolling hills and so it gave me some time to recover the legs. Then the last 6km of the climb was a steady which I did feel harder and my cadence dropped to < 50rpm at some points. I felt the climbs were still not as hard as Hotham or Donna Buang.

It took me close to 2:40 to climb Falls Creek which was a surprise for me as I thought it would take closer to 3. The stamp was actually within Foodworks and I also bought an apple juice (instead of a coke). I took a few photos and then it was down I go.

Stamp #2

Valerie (the bike) at the finish point 

Wearing my Warsaw cycling kit

I will never say that I am 100% confident about the descent but I am getting more comfortable the more I do it including left and right hand turns. Luckily there were no crazy cross winds which helped. The descent took me about an hour.

My heart rate analysis - very high!

The whole ride took me under 4 hours to complete which was less than the 5-6 hours of training I had planned for the day but I guess we did plan on doing more climbing the next day and from what I was told, Buffalo is also a harder climb overall compared to the Falls Creek climb.

As this was my 2nd of the 7 Peaks climb, I would rate it as easier than Mt Hotham so my current rank of the 7 peaks climb looks something like this (hardest to easiest):

1) Mt Hotham
2) Falls Creek

Mt Donna Buang

As part of my training leading up to 3 Peaks (Falls Creek) in March, I have also signed up for the 7 Peaks Challenge. I ticked off one out of 7 of these climbs during my Bright training camp on 25^th October (Mount Hotham). There is a domestique ride to tick off one of these challenges on the 15^th November out at Lake Mountain. Reading up on this ride, they advised that participants should be able to ride up Mt Donna Buang “with little trouble”. I am a pretty slow cyclist and was nervous about this as I didn’t want to be dead last and so I decided to test myself over the Melbourne long weekend.

The original plan was to do the 100km loop of the Giro della Donna (minus the climb) and then come back on another day to do the climb. The weather on Saturday of the long weekend was terrible and I wasn’t comfortable about descending in the wet so that day became back to back spin classes instead.

The Canadian (my partner) and I decided that we would take a trip to Donna Buang on Tuesday. The day was perfect for a bike ride. The roads were quiet (due to public holiday) and the weather was just perfect.

We parked the car at Warbuton and got ready for the ride. I decided against wearing arm warmers and gilet and just carried them due to my body heating up quickly on climbs. The climb along Donna Buang Road was immediate. I tried from this point onwards to spin my legs quicker than usual. I kept it around 60-70rpm but I noticed that cyclist who rode passed me were going much faster – need to get there one day.

The gradient of the climbs was not steep enough that I needed to get out of the saddle until just before Cement Creek and the hair pin turn past the Rainforest Gallery. After this point, I found the gradient manageable but due to fatigue, I found it hard to keep my cadence > 70. The cadence noticeably dropped to around 40rpm the closer I came to the final few kms especially the last 1km.

For the first time on this ride, I found that my glutes were burning – either something is tight (hamstrings) or I am using my glutes to climb which is supposed to be right….

I could barely get off my bike once I reached the top and needed to sit down to stretch out the glutes. Once at the top, we took a few happy snaps and had a small break. Whilst I had some nutrition every 30min as per my plan, the Canadian only ate a bar once we reached the top of the climb! He climbed it in around 1:30 where as I took close to 2 hours to reach the top.

Once we decided to descend, I put on my gilet and arm warmers as I knew it would be pretty cold by the looks of the other cyclist as they rode downwards as I was ascending.

As soon as I left the summit, I could feel the drop in temperature. I was actually getting pretty cold and my jaw was chattering. My speed going down was comfortably below 50km/hr for the first half but I found myself applying on more brakes during the second half of the ride down due to the turns and sharper gradients. Once we reached the bottom, I was tired – both physical and mental.

The original plan was to do repeats but I will save this for a long ride day when I can’t go to the mountains – maybe on the weekends when I have plans on the Sunday or during the Melbourne Madison weekend. The descent took me nearly 30min so in total for one repeat including a short break at the top took close to 2:45. So for a long ride day, if I was to do repeats – it would be a 6 – 9 hour day in the saddle which I am comfortable doing. 

Mt Donna Buang, I will be back!

Looking Ahead - December

This year has really flown by so quick and I have one more month to look ahead to. So many things have changed for me for 2015:

•          Change of job in Jan 2015.
•          Change of triathlon club early in 2015.
•          Change of focus sport from triathlon to cycling
•           Finally took strength/core seriously

With one more month left for 2015, I have the following events/plans to look forward to:

5 – 6^th Dec – Back to the Mountains to ride Omeo-Dinner Plain (7 Peaks) and climb Mt Hotham again. I am no longer heading to Busselton due to leave not being approved.

12-13^th Dec – Due to supercrits on the 13^th Dec (spectating) – I will do repeats of Donna Buang/Lake Mountain on the 12^th.

19 – 20^th Dec – Bought tickets to the Melbourne Madison so will do hill repeats on the 19^th.

My work holidays start on the 24^th December so I will be heading back to the Alpine region to climb more mountains. I would like to tackle most of my 7 Peaks challenge rides by 2015 leaving Mt Baw Baw for February once I get enough training, strength in my legs and maybe less 10kgs. 

Looking Ahead - November

Holy Crap! It is nearly the end of November and I totally forgot to do my Looking Forward for the month of November! Better late than never I suppose, so here goes…

The first weekend of November is Melbourne Cup long weekend. I am planning on riding Donna Buang on the Saturday and do a few repeats (like maybe 2?). Then I am going to ride the 100km Warbuton – Marysville Loop on the Monday before Cup day.

I have plans on heading back to Bright area to tackle at least 1 of my 3 options of the next stage of my training plans: ride Buffalo (Peaks Challenge), from Mt Beauty to Falls Creek (Peaks Challenge) or ride from Omeo to Falls Creek (3^rd Peak of the 3 Peaks Challenge). I will do this during the 6-8^th November weekend.

15^th November is the Lake Mountain climb as part of the 7 Peaks Challenge. Most likely be just doing a spin on Beach Rd the day before.

22^nd November is the Giro della Donna – 110km ride which combines the 100km Warburton – Marysville loop combined with the Donna climb. I will most likely not be doing much the day before so I can rest the legs.

28^th – 29^th November – I will head to Mansfield to ride to Mt Buller (one of the 7 Peaks). Rather than do just the climb, I will either ride from Mansfield – Buller return (100km) or a shorter distance and do ride repeats.  

Bright Camp - My Climbing Adventures

So over the weekend, I joined a training camp with Bayside Tri Club out at Bright. Not being a “snow person”, I have never been to the Alpine Region since I moved to Melbourne in 1997. I have always been a summer/beach person and the thought of the ice and snow just never appealed to me. I know that the Alpine Region is also great for mountain biking too but my skills need to improve significantly before I get any benefit out of travelling all the way to Bright for some riding.

Because I couldn’t take any leave off work on the Friday, I couldn’t join the club when they rode up to Mt Buffalo on the Friday afternoon. Mt Buffalo was one of the 7 Peak climbs and only a few km from Bright. I left work at 3pm thinking that I could beat the traffic out of Melbourne but I was sorely wrong. It took me nearly 2 hours to get through the Monash Freeway and then the Tullamarine Freeway before I could get onto the Hume which was where I could finally drive over 100km/hr. The rest of the journey took 3.5 hours and I finally arrived at the accommodation at 8:30pm.

I had missed out of the briefing for Saturday but I had a few choices in what I was going to do:

1)  Do a short loop with the group when then head back and climb Mt Buffalo

2)  Do the entire loop with the group and climb Towonga Gap.

I decided late on Friday night that I was to go with option 2 as Towonga Gap was the first peak for 3 Peaks Challenge. I prepared my nutrition ready for the 6:45am departure from Bright. Due to the unfamiliarity of this being my 2^nd ride with the Bayside crew, my anxiety played up and I stressed out about how I would keep up as I was one of the slowest people at camp. A pretty restless night's sleep was had with 3 bathroom breaks during the middle of the night due to nervousness.

Saturday we left at 7am instead of the planned 6:45am which gave me some time to calm the nerves before we headed out. The ride out to Ovens was good and I could keep up with the group as they rode at a steady and manageable pace. Once we turned off at Ovens towards Rosewhite, I dropped off due to the incline. I am still getting used to my new bike and the additional cassette teeth. I am still grinding up hills and I am not sure how to increase my cadence without tiring out my legs. The climb up to Rosewhite was slightly challenging and I was riding amongst two athletes all the way to the top. This was where I started to feel warm and unzipped my gilet on the way up. We rested for a few minutes before the descent and I forgot about unpausing my Garmin for about 3km of the ride.

Down the bottom of the descent, it was a good ride into Tawonga. We stopped here for refreshments and I bought a small can of coke to get me through the climb of Tawonga Gap. The climb started at about 80km into the ride and there was no preparation for the % increase. It was just straight up from the T intersection.

I found the 8km climb quite taxing. I was fatigued and my legs just didn’t want to move. Negative thoughts started to creep in and I was uncertain on how I was to manage the 3 Peaks challenge as this was the shortest climb of the day and I was already disliking it. Luckily Rob (one of the coaches) came down and accompanied me and my mood changed as I didn’t want to appear like I was about to burst into tears. When I got to the top, I was so relieved. Looking back, the climb was hard but manageable. I was more frustrated that I was the last person on the climb and I didn’t want people to be waiting for me at the top.

After a photo or two, I rode by myself down to Bright. The descent was manageable but I was still uncomfortable about not applying the brakes. I had missed the accommodation when I rode into Bright and had to get the phone out to find my way home.

I was exhausted by the time I finished and I could barely muster enough energy to decide on what to eat for lunch. I drank my protein shake and then made myself a banana and peanut butter wrap (and a carrot). A shower later, I felt human again and went for a nap before getting up for dinner at the local pub.

We had planned on a 7am start (on the bike) at Harrietville so we decided to leave Bright at 6:30am in our cars. I forgot about my water bottles which I stored in the fridge the night before but luckily I had enough drink bottles in my car that I had a 750ml and a 500ml hydration with me. The climb towards Mt Hotham started pretty immediately so I lost the crowd pretty much straight away. I knew this would happen so I listened to my iPod on the ride from the start.

From what I had read and from the advice of people who have ridden up Mt Hotham before the ride was split into 3 sections so I will provide my report as such:

Part 1 – I found this part to be hard as I felt I was already 1km or 2 behind everyone else. My climbing needs work as I couldn’t increase my cadence to anything recommended. I was warned about The Meg but I didn’t find it too hard to manage and I rode out of the saddle for about 10 or so strokes. I noticed that I got warm pretty much straight away from this section and stopped to take off my gilet and arm warmers when I was comfortable enough that I would be able to get back onto the bike. The scenery was amazing and I noticed a few butterflies flying back and forth in front of me which distracted me from the pain. My speed along this section varied from 4km/hr – 8km/hr

Part 2 – This was the false flat section and I took advantage of it by riding > 25km/hr where I could in the large chain ring at a management cadence. The only thing about this stage of the climb was the height I was at and the distance of the trees and road up ahead. I got slightly scared due to my issues with height and anxiety that I decided that I would ride in the middle of the left lane until I could hear the cars coming up behind me and I would move to the side to let them through. Luckily, the cars along those roads were really friendly and I didn’t have any issues at all.

Part 3 – After the gate, the gradient of the climb went up significantly. The steep pinches followed by descents and then the long climbs across the side of the mountain proved to be a bit overwhelming at some points. I was nervous about the height and how exposed I was to the cross winds. There was some points where the road was so close to the edge that I couldn’t look left at all. There were points along this route where I would look across to the other mountain a noticed the road ahead and had to prepare myself that I would be riding along that soon.

At Mt Hotham, I stopped to take a photo of my bike next to the Peaks Finish sign and then rode down to the General Store to buy some refreshment and to get my first stamp in my passport. I noticed the temperature at Hotham being significantly cooler especially as my body was covered in sweat. I bought a Gatorade to fill up my bottle along with a small bottle of pineapple juice as I wanted something different (not coke). A toilet visit later also at the General Store (and pub), I was back on the bike and on my way down.

There were a few climbs along the way before steep descents and I tried to maintain some speed. I kept my descending speed somewhere between 25 – 40km/hr depending on the road ahead and the angle of the corners. If I could see what was ahead, I was comfortable about being faster. I was actually singing for most of the ride down.

When I got to the car, I was feel good and drove back to Bright pretty much straight away. It was a vast difference compared to the day before. The climb was longer and steeper but because I had my music on, I didn’t feel defeated and enjoyed the tunes streaming into my left ear. The music also helped with several anxiety triggers – height, cornering on the bike and descents.

After lunch, I showered and had a small rest in bed for a while until I noticed there was no noise around and everyone had pretty much packed and left. I quickly packed the car and said thanks to the head coach Clint and headed back to Melbourne.

I was actually starving on the drive home and stopped twice for food and coffee. Once at Milawa where I stopped at the bakery and the Olive shop and the second time along the Hume Highway where bus loads of school kids ruined the entire establishment by food mess and leaving their rubbish on the tables! It was just disgusting!

I got home around 6:30pm and unpacked my bags. Compared to previous camps, I didn’t have too much to do as I only cycled twice and didn’t do any runs or swims. I had all my dirty clothes already in a bag so it was a quick unpack before dinner and then bed.

I am thinking about coming back to the Alpine Region again in about 2 weeks as I wanted to do the following pretty soon:

•         Climb Mt Buffalo
•         Climb up to Falls Creek from Mt Beauty
•         Climb up the back of Falls Creek (the 3^rd Climb of the 3 Peaks event)

I have been told that Mt Hotham is harder to climb compared to both sides of Falls Creek but due to the distance in the event it is, it could make or break a person. I would like to do the last climb before the event as I want to understand what is coming up ahead. The two other climbs are related to 2 of the 7 peak climbs. There is one more within that area which is the Omeo-Dinner Plain climb. The other climbs are not within the Alpine Region – Mt Baw Baw (shortest yet hardest due to gradient), Mt Buller and Lake Mountain. I will be climbing up Lake Mountain on the 15^th November.

Things I need to work on over the next few months:

• My cadence!!!!
• I should introduce something solid in my nutritional fuel – I have been having my homemade solution since May.
• My glute (bum) strength and core.