Thursday, October 20, 2011

All in a days Audax

Flowerdale Jaunt last Sunday was not without its moments. A small group consisting of Steve Xerri, Hamish Moffat, Ian George and myself were moving very nicely at around 35kph along Donnybrook Road when as described by Hamish a "kamikaze" kangaroo slid along the tarmac just a few metres in front of us. Then his desperate efforts to U turn and get to his feet it threatened to take us out on the return as well.
Steve pretty much set the pace for a lot of the ride after the first stop at Whittlesea where we separated from Ian and Hamish. I did a lot of following and admiring of Steve's smooth riding style in the hills around Kinglake and Flowerdale on his new stealthy looking Specialized.
The wind was absolutely howling in from the west when we returned along a now busy Donnybrook Road where our rapid heartbeats were briefly elevated even higher by a real yob in an oncoming car who thought he would overtake towards us on the relatively narrow shoulderless road . Ignorant bas......!

Finishing with Steve

The day proved to be a very solid workout and I think everyone would have had some lingering effects for a few days following.
Thanks to my wife Carol for assisting with organising the ride and to Hamish, Ian and Steve for doing the 200. Thanks to Heather for doing the 100k solo in the very  difficult conditions.

Hamish and Ian finish

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Two more of the permanent kind


Well I did the Moorabool Mayhem 200k permanent last Sunday. This is one of the permanents I currently offer and it starts not far out of Geelong at Teesdale. The ride essentially is in and out and up and down the Moorabool Valley. As river valleys go the Moorabool is a fairly deep cut river with some steep sides.

The day begins as an undulating ride from Teesdale to Bannockburn. Once you cross the Midland Highway on Clyde Road you have a fast downhill to Russell’s Bridge where you cross the river for the first time before climbing past the Eagles Rise vineyard. It soon flattens out as you proceed onto Maude before turning into Thompson Road at Maude for another rapid descent, river crossing and a slightly harder short climb at 16%. After a few more k’s you drop down again and head toward the Geelong Ballan Road. Soon you are at the first checkpoint at the Anakie General Store at around 42km. A u-turn and a quick right into De Motts Road and the next climb arrives and the GPS again shows around 15% for a short while. You now find yourself in forested area that was hit by bushfires in January 2006. The road then dives down before recovering some elevation on the way to a high point just beyond Steiglitz cemetery before dropping into Steiglitz. The climb up and out of Steiglitz is not too hard before a fast sweeping drop down to the Moorabool for a one lane bridge crossing. Again you briefly hit around a 15% grade on the way out but it soon eases back and before you know it the road opens up just before the township Meredith. From Meredith you take the Ballan Road briefly before turning eatwards past the cemetery and along Slate Quarry Road that then dives down to the Moorabool yet again before a challenging climb out that exceeds 15% for a few hundred metres. Once you have conquered this section it is a pleasant ride to the Geelong Ballan Road at Durdiwarrah and a gradual climb to Mt Wallace.   Then its across to Ballark before a steep descent again into the valley but this time the climb out is more gradual as you set your sights for the half way stop at Mt Egerton.

Before a steep descent

Unfortunately the General Store in the town has closed so I had to rely on carried food to refuel.


The General Store is now closed

We might have to supply a little support for riders here on the audax ride next May. The last kilometre into the town is also a bit of a shock to the legs.  There are a few undulations along the road to Yendon but the road to Lal Lal is nice and flat. It’s a nice road to Clarendon where you ride down the Midland Highway for about a kilometre before turning onto Blue Bridge Road and follow back roads to Elaine. There is a general store at Elaine so I took the opportunity to get some real food as I was feeling a little flat. More back roads from Elaine to Morrisons and another dive in and out of the valley and onto Meredith.

Morrisons

 You now follow the same road back to Steiglitz that you had ridden in the morning but this time you head onto Maude. The climbs and descents do not seem as bad on the way back as overall you are losing altitude. At Maude you turn onto Pedrisat Road for the best descent and climb of the ride. I always seem to do this climb at the end of my rides when my legs are near dead and consequently I find myself walking some of the steepest section.

Best descent and climb

The reward after that is you don’t have to enter the Moorabool Valley again and have a basically flat to undulating ride of less than 20k through the canola fields of the Lethbridge area to Teesdale.

Through the canola fields


Overall the Garmin shows a little over 1900 metres of ascent making this a good ride to tune up your climbing legs. If you are interested in doing the ride as a permanent please get in touch with me.

Saturday 8th of October and I headed out early to do another 200k permanent. I chose Eureka Dales this time with fewer steep grades than the previous weekend. I left at 7am and got around it in eight and a half hours. The ride was quite uneventful, cars were courteous, the weather held out and the only shock was the magpie careering into my helmet on a busy street in the middle of Ballarat. I must say daylight saving really helps to leave time to do a few things around home after a long ride before the evening.