Today's Ride
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After a day of rain, man flu and builders......... take me away from it all.
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Got away today. Chiseldon along the Ridgeway past Barbury Castle earthworks (top right). Note clean bikes!
A few kites were enjoying the stiff breeze....
Down to Avebury for lunch at the Red Lion. The only pub inside a Neolithic stone circle. Note bikes!
Can you see the Hitchcock style face looking away to the right?
Onward to West Kennet, Marlborough and mildenhall across the downs before heading home.
A few kites were enjoying the stiff breeze....
Down to Avebury for lunch at the Red Lion. The only pub inside a Neolithic stone circle. Note bikes!
Can you see the Hitchcock style face looking away to the right?
Onward to West Kennet, Marlborough and mildenhall across the downs before heading home.
FairfaxPat
Senior Retro Guru
Re:
Definitely Hitchcock, and nice splatter paint jobs on the bikes
-Today-Wednesday-Spring seems here already, with cherry trees going off and wild daisies and other flowers springing up-about 68 F. and sunny. We rode up to the West of town about 1000' today...
Definitely Hitchcock, and nice splatter paint jobs on the bikes
-Today-Wednesday-Spring seems here already, with cherry trees going off and wild daisies and other flowers springing up-about 68 F. and sunny. We rode up to the West of town about 1000' today...Attachments
FairfaxPat
Senior Retro Guru
FairfaxPat
Senior Retro Guru
Re:
Today-Friday-We rode up Iron Springs road to the Scout Camp-beautiful day, about 72 F. and sunny-So we're sitting in the sun on this nice grassy knoll by the trail at the top, when up out of the woods from below us comes a squad of soldiers with blue plastic practice M16's. They set up on the grass just above us and spread out in defensive positions! I had a chat with the officer in charge, and they were ROTC Cadets from a college in San Francisco, out on maneuvers...
Today-Friday-We rode up Iron Springs road to the Scout Camp-beautiful day, about 72 F. and sunny-So we're sitting in the sun on this nice grassy knoll by the trail at the top, when up out of the woods from below us comes a squad of soldiers with blue plastic practice M16's. They set up on the grass just above us and spread out in defensive positions! I had a chat with the officer in charge, and they were ROTC Cadets from a college in San Francisco, out on maneuvers...
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Re:
Last year, just before my annual visit to Australia, I discovered a website about mountains in Victoria - http://theclimbingcyclist.com/, there was also a link about the 7 Peaks Challenge, but as we did not have enough time, we went out to Bright to have a look at a few of them. We rode two, Mount Hotham and Mount Buffalo, and three months before this years trip, I looked into doing all 7
Now we only had 5 days to ride 7 mountains, perfectly doable but there was to be a huge amount of driving, 295ks to get to the start of climb 1, Mount Baw Baw
It is written, ranked among the hardest road climbs in Australia, the ascent of Mt. Baw Baw presents a challenge for cyclists of all abilities. The first half of the climb is friendly enough but at an average gradient of over 10%, the second half of this climb is not for the faint of heart.
I turned my Garmin on at the start, and it was dead, so I tried my phone instead !!! At the Gantry, the final 6.5ks averages 11%, and it just ramped up. There was no respite, thankfully, it was 12 degrees with mist so we couldn't see what was coming, and to get to the end, my legs were happy
https://www.strava.com/activities/255569812
127ks later, we were in Marysville, and this time my Garmin did work as we hit the base of Lake Mountain, but it died within a K or 2 !!! As for this climb, the temp was 31, and 21.3ks, this was going to be a little bit tough after Baw Baw, however once over the initial 4.4ks with an average of over 8%, it was plain sailing, and it wasn't long before we had arrived at the finish
109ks later, we stopped in Mansfield where steak was on the menu
https://www.strava.com/activities/255643772
Up early, we drove down to the start of Mount Buller, eager to get the 3rd climb out of the way. Only 16.8ks long with an average of 5.9%, the lower parts were very mild, but with 4ks to go, it ramped up towards 15%, and you could feel it in your legs as we ground out the remainder of the climb. Maybe a bit sadistic, we also took the optional K ride just for the views !!!
We also found that my phone was nearly doubling the Garmin ion altitude so my climbing stats were looking impressive !!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/255982727
177ks later, we were in Bright
It was raining when we awoke so we decided to climb Mount Hotham. This is most probably the hardest as there are millions of flies, and the way the last third ramps up. Basically, it is a climb with three sections. The first section just goes up until the Meg where it hits over 10%, the next 10ks, you are in a false flat and you can pedal along at a nice pace, whilst the last 10ks have sections of over 11%. There are also 2 very fast downhill sections, but as the road was slippery, my GF took these very easily. We also hit many crosswinds as we made our way along the ridge, and with the temp only at 10, the windchill made it feel colder
https://www.strava.com/activities/256436845
Up early the next morning, we drove back on up to Hotham, onwards to Dinner Plain. Now the start of this one was another 43ks to Omeo, but we decided to ride there instead of riding back to the car. It was a very undulating ride and we could see what we would be in for. We passed a few guys going up and they looked like they were struggling !!!
After a quick toasted cheese, tomato and ham sandwich, we hit the climb. 43ks with and average of 2.2%, the first 8ks sit on around 8% and today we could feel it. The road never stopped going up/down and we also had a headwind so I took my place at the front and dragged my GF along. The plan was to break 3 hours, but she got home in 2:29 !!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/256882950
Mentally, this was tough, but we were now home and hosed, so we we hit Bright Brewery
We had 2 mountains left, a long one at 29.5ks and another at 24ks
Falls Creek is another mountain that is split into thirds. The first section has only 4.5ks of climbing at 5% and once over that, the road undulates for 12ks and after this section, you are only 27 metres higher !!! The last 13.5ks just goes up and didn't drop below 6%. As we reached the end, we knew we were now so close to the finish, that we could smell it
https://www.strava.com/activities/257268749
After a quick lunch, we drove to the base of Mount Buffalo. After 6 mountains, we could both feel it in our legs, it was also getting hot, the temp was now at 32, so we took off, not wanting to break any PBs, just survive till the finish !!!
Halfway up the climb, the temp had reached 35, but as we got higher, the temp started to drop. The road went on and on until we crested the last rise and found the turn off to Dingo Dell where a cafe was waiting. It was great to finish !!!
After a quick coke, we rode back down and spoke to some other cyclists telling then there were snakes on the road so to watch out !!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/257336210
It had been an epic 5 days, one that I can recommend if you ever are in the Alpine part of Victoria.
Last year, just before my annual visit to Australia, I discovered a website about mountains in Victoria - http://theclimbingcyclist.com/, there was also a link about the 7 Peaks Challenge, but as we did not have enough time, we went out to Bright to have a look at a few of them. We rode two, Mount Hotham and Mount Buffalo, and three months before this years trip, I looked into doing all 7
Now we only had 5 days to ride 7 mountains, perfectly doable but there was to be a huge amount of driving, 295ks to get to the start of climb 1, Mount Baw Baw
It is written, ranked among the hardest road climbs in Australia, the ascent of Mt. Baw Baw presents a challenge for cyclists of all abilities. The first half of the climb is friendly enough but at an average gradient of over 10%, the second half of this climb is not for the faint of heart.
I turned my Garmin on at the start, and it was dead, so I tried my phone instead !!! At the Gantry, the final 6.5ks averages 11%, and it just ramped up. There was no respite, thankfully, it was 12 degrees with mist so we couldn't see what was coming, and to get to the end, my legs were happy
https://www.strava.com/activities/255569812
127ks later, we were in Marysville, and this time my Garmin did work as we hit the base of Lake Mountain, but it died within a K or 2 !!! As for this climb, the temp was 31, and 21.3ks, this was going to be a little bit tough after Baw Baw, however once over the initial 4.4ks with an average of over 8%, it was plain sailing, and it wasn't long before we had arrived at the finish
109ks later, we stopped in Mansfield where steak was on the menu
https://www.strava.com/activities/255643772
Up early, we drove down to the start of Mount Buller, eager to get the 3rd climb out of the way. Only 16.8ks long with an average of 5.9%, the lower parts were very mild, but with 4ks to go, it ramped up towards 15%, and you could feel it in your legs as we ground out the remainder of the climb. Maybe a bit sadistic, we also took the optional K ride just for the views !!!
We also found that my phone was nearly doubling the Garmin ion altitude so my climbing stats were looking impressive !!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/255982727
177ks later, we were in Bright
It was raining when we awoke so we decided to climb Mount Hotham. This is most probably the hardest as there are millions of flies, and the way the last third ramps up. Basically, it is a climb with three sections. The first section just goes up until the Meg where it hits over 10%, the next 10ks, you are in a false flat and you can pedal along at a nice pace, whilst the last 10ks have sections of over 11%. There are also 2 very fast downhill sections, but as the road was slippery, my GF took these very easily. We also hit many crosswinds as we made our way along the ridge, and with the temp only at 10, the windchill made it feel colder
https://www.strava.com/activities/256436845
Up early the next morning, we drove back on up to Hotham, onwards to Dinner Plain. Now the start of this one was another 43ks to Omeo, but we decided to ride there instead of riding back to the car. It was a very undulating ride and we could see what we would be in for. We passed a few guys going up and they looked like they were struggling !!!
After a quick toasted cheese, tomato and ham sandwich, we hit the climb. 43ks with and average of 2.2%, the first 8ks sit on around 8% and today we could feel it. The road never stopped going up/down and we also had a headwind so I took my place at the front and dragged my GF along. The plan was to break 3 hours, but she got home in 2:29 !!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/256882950
Mentally, this was tough, but we were now home and hosed, so we we hit Bright Brewery
We had 2 mountains left, a long one at 29.5ks and another at 24ks
Falls Creek is another mountain that is split into thirds. The first section has only 4.5ks of climbing at 5% and once over that, the road undulates for 12ks and after this section, you are only 27 metres higher !!! The last 13.5ks just goes up and didn't drop below 6%. As we reached the end, we knew we were now so close to the finish, that we could smell it
https://www.strava.com/activities/257268749
After a quick lunch, we drove to the base of Mount Buffalo. After 6 mountains, we could both feel it in our legs, it was also getting hot, the temp was now at 32, so we took off, not wanting to break any PBs, just survive till the finish !!!
Halfway up the climb, the temp had reached 35, but as we got higher, the temp started to drop. The road went on and on until we crested the last rise and found the turn off to Dingo Dell where a cafe was waiting. It was great to finish !!!
After a quick coke, we rode back down and spoke to some other cyclists telling then there were snakes on the road so to watch out !!!
https://www.strava.com/activities/257336210
It had been an epic 5 days, one that I can recommend if you ever are in the Alpine part of Victoria.
integerspin
Senior Retro Guru
Re:
Now I want to go to Australia, I shouldn't look at this thread.
I went on my usual ride to Leith Hill today.
When I was going across Brockham green there were three land rovers, I
am guessing there was a wedding in the church; maybe I should have said 2 and a 1/4.
I have never looked at toylander before, they are really neat.
And as I got to the bottom of the hill I got this baby in my rear tyre.
Fixed it and then it started to piss down.
Now I want to go to Australia, I shouldn't look at this thread.
I went on my usual ride to Leith Hill today.
When I was going across Brockham green there were three land rovers, I
am guessing there was a wedding in the church; maybe I should have said 2 and a 1/4.
I have never looked at toylander before, they are really neat.
And as I got to the bottom of the hill I got this baby in my rear tyre.
Fixed it and then it started to piss down.
Attachments
integerspin
Senior Retro Guru
davroos":2eukbozv said:
I live a few miles from Gatwick.
I didn't see any snow, as I got to the top it started to hit me with the hard white rain;-)
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