Around the Bay



Dave80

New Member
May 5, 2006
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How did people go?

I just read Hitchy's (he posts here a fair bit) post on BV website (good post true, funny and sad all in one) and thought I would start a thread here (hey, I'm studying and running out of ways to procastinate).

We (girlfriend, mate from work and I) had a great time doing Sorrento to Melbourne. We started at ten to eight and avoided much of the traffic that was forming at Sorrento - I think this was the best 'd' of the day as it meant we had little bike traffic to contend with until the last few kms. Saw two prangs (both occured in areas where it was raining).

Weather was good - a bit of rain but nothing to bad (as long as you noticed it was raining and allowed for it). The hills weren't a problem, all that riding around templestowe must be paying off.

We finished in four hours and my mate and I felt good to do another 50km. With a moderate increase in training we should be good for 210km next year (the upcoming replacement of the Shogun flat bar with a Scott CR1 Team should also help).

Hats off to the three guys on unicycles that we saw. We passed them about 5-10km out of Sorrento and saw one of them finishing 3 hours after we finished (stuck around to have fish and chips at docklands). The guy was spinning so quickly and going so slowly - i've got no idea how they went up or down the hills. Super effort! Also was impressed by a couple of guys we saw 'hand pedalling' looked like bloody hard work!

Only negative was a feeling that we didn't really get much value for the $ it cost to enter: lunch turn off wasn't signposted and we missed it, at one point the absence of signs/volunter meant we enjoyed a few extra kms and the jersey problem.

How did others fair?
 
pretty smooth sailing for us. hardly any cues. we did queenscliffe, sorreto, melbourne.

everyone rode really well as far as i saw. last year i saw lots of idiots.

it was freezing but i wore a jacket to keep warm.

well done to bv for a well organised event.
 
Did sorrento->melb as well, I hung around at the marshall area until 8. Finished bang on 12pm, ride time would have been < 3:30. The lunch was a bit ordinary, but overall it was a great ride. First time i've done beach rd - and i'll definitely be back. Kudos to the 2 guys that pulled me through to st kilda though. With more training, i should be ready for the 210 next year.
 
Did the M-S-Q-M loop.
Strange that towards the end, going through the back blocks of Altona, legs hurting, on the edge of cramping, sore back, sore bum, questioning as to why I’m doing this, questioning my very existence. Then less than an hour after we finished, we’re planning next years event.
Anyway, great event, had a wonderful day.
Hats off to the volunteers. At some points it was quite cold and miserable, and yet the volunteers were there, jumping up and down on the spot to stay warm, shouting encouragement as we went past. Great effort.
Highlights for me:
- Completing the 216km in 7:28 (25 minutes slower than last year, but we spent much less time in packs this year).
- Getting to the top of the Westgate really felt like an achievement after just over 7 hours in the saddle. Best view in Melbourne.
- Even though we were on the slowest, smallest ferry (only 30 people on board), it was good to have a break, the driver was quite entertaining and we saw dolphins.
- The run from Geelong to Werribee was brilliant with the tail wind. All that work into the wind on the way down was returned in spades. We sat on 32 – 50 km/h all the way.
- Getting home and looking at the GPS output. Seeing that little circle when looking at the entire planet in Google Earth does give a sense of achievement (attached is my .GPX file)

Bring on next year...