Audax Alpine Classic - Over For Another Year! (longish)

Whoops, forgot the stats for those interested in this kind of thing:

- Total elapsed time (7:00am - 1:52pm): 6:52 @ 18.9km/h avg (including two food/drink stops and a
handful of clothing/stretching/weeing/mysterious-noise-from-front-wheel stops)

- Time spent riding: 5:51 @ 22.2km/h

- Max speed: 68km/h

- Energy expended (according to my HRM): 2322 kcal = 9715 kj = 19 K-time bars!

&roo

Andrew Swan said:

Whoops, forgot the stats for those interested in this kind of thing:

Quoted message said:

- Total elapsed time (7:00am - 1:52pm): 6:52 @ 18.9km/h avg (including two food/drink stops and a
handful of clothing/stretching/weeing/mysterious-noise-from-front-wheel stops)

Quoted message said:

- Time spent riding: 5:51 @ 22.2km/h

Quoted message said:

- Max speed: 68km/h

Quoted message said:

- Energy expended (according to my HRM): 2322 kcal = 9715 kj = 19 K-time bars!

Quoted message said:

&roo

Andrew, Does your HRM tell you max and average?

Well done, I did the 100km a few years ago and that took me about 5.5 hours. The climb up Buffalo
was certainly a challenge.

--
Nick

"Andrew Swan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Whoops, forgot the stats for those interested in this kind of thing:

- Total elapsed time (7:00am - 1:52pm): 6:52 @ 18.9km/h avg (including two food/drink stops and a
handful of clothing/stretching/weeing/mysterious-noise-from-front-wheel stops)

- Time spent riding: 5:51 @ 22.2km/h

- Max speed: 68km/h

- Energy expended (according to my HRM): 2322 kcal = 9715 kj = 19 K-time bars!

&roo

Congratulations,

All the rides are a challenge up that way. I did the 200km and rode 20kms of the Buffalo climb with
legs cramping. I had to stop at the water stop
2/3 the way up to give the legs a break and dowse myself with water.

I recovered on the descent and was able to finish by 3pm. It was particularly difficult without much
tree cover on the climb up Buffalo. Also the lack of ground cover grasses and lichen exposed a lot
of rock that reflected heat and light.

I hear a rider hit a wallaby on the Falls descent while travelling at ~50kmph Ouch! A couple also
took a detour on the return to Bright down the Tawonga Gap. I was flagged down by a young guy who
had run off the road, flatted and had no pump! He was shaking so much from coming off that he could
not change the tyre.

It was a great weekend with bicycles everywhere you looked.

I will be back next year.

Kevin

NickZX6R said:

Andrew, Does your HRM tell you max and average?

Nope, but from staring at the thing all day, I'd guess a max of 180 and an avg in the low 150s...
(out of an HR max of 190-odd, who knows these things?)

&roo

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Andrew Swan
Trekked down to Bright again this year for the AAC (see www.audax.org.au/alpine for ride profiles etc).
<snip>
Major thanks and hats off to the many Audax volunteers who did a sterling and in many cases thankless job, always with a smile.

Maybe in 2005 I'll have a crack at the dreaded 200...

&roo

I also made the annual pilgrimage to Bright for the AAC. Did the new 100 km route, harder IMO than the old 100. Also first time on my road bike and much faster. I was wary of not having a triple set & accompanying low gears but climbed quite well without them. The road bike climbs at twice the speed of my MTB & I finished in 4:52, more than an hour quicker than my last attempt.
Hmmm.. the 200 next year? maybe the 130.

I echo the thanks to the many AUDAX club volunteers for their work on the event.

Hmmm, is Skillsy still out there....?

______________________________________________
Enter your vote today! A new poll has been created for the
pub_bug group:

Its the Alpine Classic this weekend and I intend to be Lantern Rouge (last place) for the epic 200km.

I tend to start singing aloud but which songs... The decision is yours - other tunes considered
Skillsy

o Radio Birdman - Alone in the End Zone
o Saints - I'm Stranded
o Screaming Tribesman - Ice
o SunnyBoys - This is real
o God - My Pal
o Hoodoo Gurus - A thousand Miles away
o Jo Jo Zep - Shape Im in
o X - Suck!

To vote, please visit the following web page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pub_bug/surveys?id=1247102

I did the 100km on the MTB in 4 hours...8th to the top..not that its a race though

I did the 85k - it was a hard slog with plenty of extra weight (trimming down EVEN MORE for
next year)

Mt Buffalo doesnt let up! Ouch! And doing this while recovering from a viral infection isnt a good
idea either....

I completed it in 6 hours 10mins (total time on the bike was 5 hours 9mins) so about an half an hour
resting, then more time stopping on the climb to offload snot, cough up lurgies, and
stretch....averaged about 18k/ph

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Jess
I did the 85k - it was a hard slog with plenty of extra weight (trimming down EVEN MORE for
next year)

Mt Buffalo doesnt let up! Ouch! And doing this while recovering from a viral infection isnt a good
idea either....

I completed it in 6 hours 10mins (total time on the bike was 5 hours 9mins) so about an half an hour
resting, then more time stopping on the climb to offload snot, cough up lurgies, and
stretch....averaged about 18k/ph

I did the 100 in 6 hrs 5 mins with lots of waiting for my wife:-) (she doesn't read this group so it's safe to say that here). Hope to do the 100 next year in 5 hours if I can lose 5-7 kg from the 'engine'. Buffalo is not as tough as Donna Buang but easier IMHO than Falls Creek.

I was nearly cleaned up by some ****wit in a white Disco who overtook some riders on the wrong (my side) of the road around a blind corner whilst I was descending. It missed me by about a metre. I stopped at the bottom and 3 out of 4 others who stopped had a similar experience with the same idiot.

The guy who hit the wallaby was descending Buffalo. When an ambulance raced up the mountain I thought the Disco had finally collected somebody.

I was spurred on when I saw a friend of mine close to the summit just as I was starting my descent - he was nearly at the top of Buffalo but he was doing the 200! Not bad for 41 (he was 5th or 6th to finish the 200 I think). Buggered if I was going to finish behind him:-)

Was a great day for it!
My first attempt and did the 130km also.
5 hours and 1 minute with 4 hrs 52 mins on the bike.
Av speed 26.7 km/hr.
Av HR 151 and max HR 172.
Was very happy to get to Bright.

I saw the guy who hit the wallaby, he did not look well.

Definition of a hardcore AAC masochist:

Sunday 2:30pm - "I swear I'll never put myself through this much (#*&ing pain again ...."

Monday 2:30pm - Rebooks accomodation for next year and starts thinking about a better training programme ....

Did the 200 for the ~6th time. Elapsed time of 9:52, same as 2 years ago. The new turnaround point at Buffalo adds about 15mins ride time (+additional mental anguish) so I guess this was an improvement, but it felt a lot harder than previous efforts. Riding time was 8:58, av HR 152, most of climbing in the 160-165 range. Was trying to ride to a 9:00 (elapsed) schedule but blew out over 30mins on Buffalo which was mostly a painful 10-11 kph crawl in 39/25. With fresh legs I would normally do Buff at about 14-15kph. Have never seen so many riders stopped or walking up the top sections of Buffalo as I descended.

patch70 said:

Was a great day for it! My first attempt and did the 130km also. 5 hours and 1 minute with 4
hrs 52 mins on the bike. Av speed 26.7 km/hr. Av HR 151 and max HR 172. Was very happy to get
to Bright.

I saw the guy who hit the wallaby, he did not look well.

Was it one of the forwards or one of the backs?

&roo

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Andrew Swan
Whoops, forgot the stats for those interested in this kind of thing:

- Total elapsed time (7:00am - 1:52pm): 6:52 @ 18.9km/h avg (including two food/drink stops and a
handful of clothing/stretching/weeing/mysterious-noise-from-front-wheel stops)

- Time spent riding: 5:51 @ 22.2km/h

- Max speed: 68km/h

- Energy expended (according to my HRM): 2322 kcal = 9715 kj = 19 K-time bars!

&roo

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Andrew Swan
Trekked down to Bright again this year for the AAC (see www.audax.org.au/alpine for ride profiles
etc). Had a go at the 130km this year after doing the 100km in 2002 (2003 was burnt out by
bushfires).

The day started chilly (arm warmers were the go) but soon warmed up to beautiful cycling weather,
although it did get quite hot around midday.

Saw people on all kinds of bikes - road/tri, MTB (knobbly and slick), hybrid, tandem, recumbent (OK,
there weren't any BMXs, penny farthings, or unis).

The first climb up Tawonga Gap after about 20km was in the cool of the morning, and with a steady
and not too steep gradient, it was just a case of getting into a rhythm and spinning up it (I have a
triple on my road bike).

The climb up Falls Creek was nothing like Mt Buffalo in the 100km ride. Falls goes up and down like
a yo-yo, whereas (IIRC) Buffalo is a steady
1:20 for 20km. If anything, the occasional descents on the ascent of Falls made it harder, as the
legs would go idle and then have to get back to work again later. My friend and I climbed Falls in
the way we did Tawonga One, well within ourselves at a pretty cruisey 70-odd % of max HR (not that
I know what mine actually is - I identify with hippy's thread on this).

Had a relaxed food/drink/loo/sunscreen break at Falls top station, slipped the arm warmers back on
for the descent (welcome but not absolutely necessary at 11am). Got plenty of descending/cornering
practice on those lovely Victorian road surfaces (seriously, they [censored] on most NSW roads I ride on).

The last climb back over Tawonga had filled us with some pre-ride trepidation (both of us having
driven but never ridden it), but it wasn't as bad as we had dreaded, either because it wasn't
actually that bad, or we had dreaded it too much, or simply because we went so easy on the first two
climbs and had plenty left (even for a testosterone-fuelled KOM sprint at the end!).

A few quick whoops of joy and we were plummeting back down the other side to pedal the last 10 or so
clicks back to Bright and the "salad roll/fruitcake/quartered-orange" combo that seems de rigeur on
mass organised rides.

All in all a very enjoyable outing (although our two friends who did the 200km didn't enjoy
themselves quite so much!). Major thanks and hats off to the many Audax volunteers who did a
sterling and in many cases thankless job, always with a smile.

Maybe in 2005 I'll have a crack at the dreaded 200...

&roo

Hey Swanny...those sure are some impressive numbers your HRm is quoting at you. 2300 calories for 6 hrs cycling???....Either you have a super heart under load....or you're dead!...lets hope its the former.!. i did the 200 & it was 'suffer city' this year....never again! (but that what i said last year too!) Cheers

"Unregistered" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Definition of a hardcore AAC masochist:

Sunday 2:30pm - "I swear I'll never put myself through this much (#*&ing pain again ...."

Monday 2:30pm - Rebooks accomodation for next year and starts thinking about a better training
programme ....

Did the 200 for the ~6th time. Elapsed time of 9:52, same as 2 years ago. The new turnaround point
at Buffalo adds about 15mins ride time (+additional mental anguish) so I guess this was an
improvement, but it felt a lot harder than previous efforts. Riding time was 8:58, av HR 152, most
of climbing in the 160-165 range. Was trying to ride to a 9:00 (elapsed) schedule but blew out
over 30mins on Buffalo which was mostly a painful 10-11 kph crawl in 39/25. With fresh legs I
would normally do Buff at about 14-15kph. Have never seen so many riders stopped or walking up the
top sections of Buffalo as I descended.

--

Sounds just like me! It was tough, I rebooked and I am reviewing the training programme for next
year! Hell, how did you know?

I did it 2 years back and the course was identical except for the extra distance on Buffalo. It
certainly adds time/difficulty to the course.

I reckon the water stop near the top of Buffalo was manned by an "Audax Angel" the face/neck and leg
spray was a real hit. I was really struggling with cramp until I revived on the water truck.

Great Ride.

Kevin

If you really wanted to get ready for next year's Alpine Challenge you could take part in one of the many other long distance rides that AUDAX organises all over Australia.
You can find details of the rides and membership of AUDAX here
http://www.audax.org.au
AUDAX members get discounts on entry fees and early entry options for the Alpine.
Pete
Canberra

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Andrew Swan
Was it one of the forwards or one of the backs?

From the look of the guy and his concussion, I'd say it must've been a 2nd row-er.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by K&C Russell
The new turnaround point

Quoted message said:

at Buffalo adds about 15mins ride time (+additional mental anguish) so I guess this was an
improvement, but it felt a lot harder than previous efforts.

IKevin [/B]

boy, your legs were fresh if the extra kms on the plateau only took you 15 mins return!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by ProfTournesol
boy, your legs were fresh if the extra kms on the plateau only took you 15 mins return!

No, it took a bit longer than that, but 15 minutes is the extra time relative to riding from The Gap up to the Chalet and back, which was the previous route on the plateau.

Believe me there was nothing fresh about this rider by this point in the day!