Just spent the weekend at Bright and participated in the Audax Alpine
Delight which I completed. I've yet to ride the Alpine Classic but will be
attempting it in January. The Delight ride starts at Bright and takes the
Alpine Rd over Hotham and continues to Omeo and then returns the same way
but ending at Harrietville. Then you have to ride the last 25 easy k's back
to Bright although a few had lifts waiting for them at this point. The ride
has 3900 meters of climbing as opposed to 3600 in the Classic where as many
would know climbs Tawonga Gap both sides, Falls Creek and Mt Buffalo. It
doesn't matter however you look at it, they're both serious 200k rides
that's tough for any rider whatever their level. The Delight was tough and
found the 8 to 10K climb out of Omeo tedious as I didn't know of that
steepish and long climb out of Omeo. It was also my first time ever up
Hotham and quite happy that it was on a bike. This only way to enjoy a
mountain I think!

I'd like to hear opinions on which would be the harder ride? I know that the
weather in Jan can be a lot hotter and that alone could make a 100k ride
harder but leaving weather out for this discussion, which would be harder
given the same weather conditions?

JoeD wrote:
> Just spent the weekend at Bright and participated in the Audax Alpine
> Delight which I completed. I've yet to ride the Alpine Classic but will be
> attempting it in January. The Delight ride starts at Bright and takes the
> Alpine Rd over Hotham and continues to Omeo and then returns the same way
> but ending at Harrietville. Then you have to ride the last 25 easy k's back
> to Bright although a few had lifts waiting for them at this point. The ride
> has 3900 meters of climbing as opposed to 3600 in the Classic where as many
> would know climbs Tawonga Gap both sides, Falls Creek and Mt Buffalo. It
> doesn't matter however you look at it, they're both serious 200k rides
> that's tough for any rider whatever their level. The Delight was tough and
> found the 8 to 10K climb out of Omeo tedious as I didn't know of that
> steepish and long climb out of Omeo. It was also my first time ever up
> Hotham and quite happy that it was on a bike. This only way to enjoy a
> mountain I think!
>
> I'd like to hear opinions on which would be the harder ride? I know that the
> weather in Jan can be a lot hotter and that alone could make a 100k ride
> harder but leaving weather out for this discussion, which would be harder
> given the same weather conditions?

Hotham from Harrietville is a harder climb than Falls Ck or Buffalo,
I'd say (having ridden both sides of Hotham some 6 or more times, and
Falls Ck twice, and Tawonga gap from both sides a few times, inc the
'06 Alpine) that Hotham is the harder ride.

But the descent into Omeo from Hotham has to be one of the most fun
descents I've ever ridden, I'm looking forward to doing it again this
Sunday The grovel back out of Omeo back to Hotham is a grind though!

The weather is definitely a factor in January, but as you say...both killer rides. I'll be at the Alpine this year...for anyone also going...I'll be one yelling "Go go gadget legs!".

Definitely! Bikesoiler did the 200km in 40C+ temperatures.
http://www.cyclingforums.com/showpos...7&postcount=13

Congrats on doing the Delight - a 200k alpine ride is tough, regardless of the conditions.

I've done both rides a couple of times (was there on Saturday too) ... for me, the AAC is the harder ride from a sheer psychological and gradient perspective - ie, you've just done the tough stretch back over Tawonga, and then - hello! - there's a 1000m vertical ascent remaining to be climbed, coming ever closer. But then again, others might say that a more moderate, almost-constant 30k or 40k ascent is the more daunting ride; it comes down to personal preferences.

And as the others say, the weather might be the overriding factor. I did the AAC earlier this year, and the Buffalo ascent was fairly horrific late in the afternoon. Most riders tend to drop to below 10k/h for it.

Hotham sh!ts all over the AAC. The Delight is harder.

WTF?!!? you mean there are HILLs on this weekend's camp????

If your up for it in Jan there is the Bright Boot Camp 2007

Australia day Weekend included and you can do the Audax Alpine Classic at the same time...

Wed 25th to Sun 28th.

www.brightbootcamp.com

Ive booked, just have to get the head around connecting to the legs and forgetting about the weight, oh and maybe trot out the 13-29

so what is the deal with nominating for the alpine classic?

i had a quick look at their website and there seems to be a waiting list?

Any other way of getting a spot in it?

only through Audax...BBC say this
"(if you take the option of the AAC you need to book with them (Audax)and pay separately)"
so it is additional to the Boot Camp, but can be incorporated if you have an entry, and you ride that instead of their activity at that time.

Otherwise give the AAC the boot and ride the boot camp ride up Mt Hotham that day(27th), same Alps, same weather, and you dont have to go home afterwards, and you have the other three days to enjoy ( )too...

I reckon AC is harder, as the last big climb is later in the ride. In the
Alpine delight, by the time you've got to the top of Mountain Maid on the
way back from Omeo, that's pretty much it for the hard climbing, and that's
at about the 120km mark. In the AC you hit the foot of Mt Buffalo at about
the 140km mark and have an 18km climb to follow.

Mt Hotham is definitely the biggest climb in either ride, but it's broken up
by the long almost flat section in the middle and several shorter flat
sections higher up.

Nick

"JoeD" <gdelosa@bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:jR88h.68708$rP1.58446@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> Just spent the weekend at Bright and participated in the Audax Alpine
> Delight which I completed. I've yet to ride the Alpine Classic but will be
> attempting it in January. The Delight ride starts at Bright and takes the
> Alpine Rd over Hotham and continues to Omeo and then returns the same way
> but ending at Harrietville. Then you have to ride the last 25 easy k's
> back to Bright although a few had lifts waiting for them at this point.
> The ride has 3900 meters of climbing as opposed to 3600 in the Classic
> where as many would know climbs Tawonga Gap both sides, Falls Creek and Mt
> Buffalo. It doesn't matter however you look at it, they're both serious
> 200k rides that's tough for any rider whatever their level. The Delight
> was tough and found the 8 to 10K climb out of Omeo tedious as I didn't
> know of that steepish and long climb out of Omeo. It was also my first
> time ever up Hotham and quite happy that it was on a bike. This only way
> to enjoy a mountain I think!
>
> I'd like to hear opinions on which would be the harder ride? I know that
> the weather in Jan can be a lot hotter and that alone could make a 100k
> ride harder but leaving weather out for this discussion, which would be
> harder given the same weather conditions?

But is this ride harder than either of those: http://www.rapidascent.com.au/OtwayOdyssey/

It's "only" 100km, but check out the elevation profile: about 4000 metres of climbing!

It's the week after the Classic. If anyone can do both ... wow!

Haven't done the Classic, yet, but I'm thinking about the Otway ride.

They wait til December 1 to see who submits their application, then re-open entries if there are spaces. Once you enter, they send you an application every year, so you don't have to reapply.

I'd love to try this ride, but I'm curious as to the calculations of total ascent. If Bright (300m) to Hotham (1821m) = 1521m climbing...and Omeo (700m) to Hotham (1821m) = 1121m climbing...how can the total ascent be as high as 3900? Sorry, but Audax doesn't have much info on it. Which part am I missing?

Walrus wrote:
> JoeD Wrote:
> > 3900 meters of climbing I'd love to try this ride, but I'm curious as to the calculations of
> total ascent. If Bright (300m) to Hotham (1821m) = 1521m
> climbing...and Omeo (700m) to Hotham (1821m) = 1121m climbing...how can
> the total ascent be as high as 3900? Sorry, but Audax doesn't have much
> info on it. Which part am I missing?
>
>
> --
> Walrus

The pictures make sense of it http://www.audax.org.au/alpine-course.htm
You get to do down, then up again, repeat....