TDU Be active ride 154km observations

[Visitant]

What a basta*d of a ride.

Passed a few locals along the way, offering encouragement to plodders like
me, but complaining about the 42 degree heat as they sipped their ice cold
water while standing in the shade ;-)

It was so hot that the tar on some parts of the road had melted and was
sticking to the tyres and making that horrible squelching sound. The heat
was unrelenting and oppressive, with the wind offering no relief - like
being blasted in the face with a heat gun I guess!

The last refreshment stop at Delamere resembled a war zone. There were some
people on drips being looked after by the ambos, and in the few kms just
before and after the stop, a lot of people had ditched their bikes and were
lying on the side of the road looking completely hammered.
A mate who passed through Delamere not long after me reported (through bouts
of vomiting) that a couple of people had been helicoptered to hospital. He
said he had tried to get help there because of heat stroke, but was told
that there was no sweep vehicle, so he had to keep going or join the
roadside casualties. I guess they had to wait for friends/family to come and
get them.

Can anyone confirm that there wasn't a sweep? It seems like a major
oversight by the organisers.
It's possible that my friend, in his delirious state, got his story a bit
confused, so I don't mean to cast blame when it's not deserved.

All in all, a hard but rewarding day. It certainly helps you to appreciate
just how hard the pros work, and how good cold beer really tastes!

 

[Euan]

"Visitant" <[email protected]> writes:

> What a basta*d of a ride.
>
> Passed a few locals along the way, offering encouragement to plodders like
> me, but complaining about the 42 degree heat as they sipped their ice cold
> water while standing in the shade ;-)

Surprised the in-laws today rocking up to their house on the bikes.
Nothing like the heat you experienced but still pretty warm at 36 or so.

> It was so hot that the tar on some parts of the road had melted and was
> sticking to the tyres and making that horrible squelching sound. The heat
> was unrelenting and oppressive, with the wind offering no relief - like
> being blasted in the face with a heat gun I guess!

Nice.

> The last refreshment stop at Delamere resembled a war zone. There were some
> people on drips being looked after by the ambos, and in the few kms just
> before and after the stop, a lot of people had ditched their bikes and were
> lying on the side of the road looking completely hammered.
> A mate who passed through Delamere not long after me reported (through bouts
> of vomiting) that a couple of people had been helicoptered to hospital. He
> said he had tried to get help there because of heat stroke, but was told
> that there was no sweep vehicle, so he had to keep going or join the
> roadside casualties. I guess they had to wait for friends/family to come and
> get them.
>
> Can anyone confirm that there wasn't a sweep? It seems like a major
> oversight by the organisers.

If true that's a very bad business. Heatstroke is a killer, literally.
To not have a sweep vehicle on a ride like that borders on the
criminal.

> All in all, a hard but rewarding day. It certainly helps you to appreciate
> just how hard the pros work, and how good cold beer really tastes!

Mmmm, Beer. Only had light in the house though :-/

Glad you came through it OK, sounds like a ride you'll not forget.
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)

 

[zasa]

Visitant wrote:
> What a basta*d of a ride.
>
> Passed a few locals along the way, offering encouragement to plodders like
> me, but complaining about the 42 degree heat as they sipped their ice cold
> water while standing in the shade ;-)
>
> It was so hot that the tar on some parts of the road had melted and was
> sticking to the tyres and making that horrible squelching sound. The heat
> was unrelenting and oppressive, with the wind offering no relief - like
> being blasted in the face with a heat gun I guess!
>
> The last refreshment stop at Delamere resembled a war zone. There were some
> people on drips being looked after by the ambos, and in the few kms just
> before and after the stop, a lot of people had ditched their bikes and were
> lying on the side of the road looking completely hammered.
> A mate who passed through Delamere not long after me reported (through bouts
> of vomiting) that a couple of people had been helicoptered to hospital. He
> said he had tried to get help there because of heat stroke, but was told
> that there was no sweep vehicle, so he had to keep going or join the
> roadside casualties. I guess they had to wait for friends/family to come and
> get them.
>
> Can anyone confirm that there wasn't a sweep? It seems like a major
> oversight by the organisers.
> It's possible that my friend, in his delirious state, got his story a bit
> confused, so I don't mean to cast blame when it's not deserved.
>
> All in all, a hard but rewarding day. It certainly helps you to appreciate
> just how hard the pros work, and how good cold beer really tastes!
>
>
>
>
That is nuts!! Especially the bit about the tar on tyres

 

[blah]

I was at the end - rode in the morning when it was only about 30
degrees (and raining for a while) and then drove down the coast,
catching the pro riders at three points, and watched the finish. What a
******* of a day, weather-wise. Agree with all you said about the
weather and only have admiration/pity for all of you guys who rode.
Good stuff. Just standing at the finish line was very uncomfortable -
bugger all shade in the entire town - and that sun! Ouch; could feel my
skin cooking after just a few minutes in it. Saw lots of melted tar,
too. Well done to all of you who rode the course.

 

[leestevens]

What a basta*d of a ride.

Passed a few locals along the way, offering encouragement to plodders like
me, but complaining about the 42 degree heat as they sipped their ice cold
water while standing in the shade ;-)

It was so hot that the tar on some parts of the road had melted and was
sticking to the tyres and making that horrible squelching sound. The heat
was unrelenting and oppressive, with the wind offering no relief - like
being blasted in the face with a heat gun I guess!

The last refreshment stop at Delamere resembled a war zone. There were some
people on drips being looked after by the ambos, and in the few kms just
before and after the stop, a lot of people had ditched their bikes and were
lying on the side of the road looking completely hammered.
A mate who passed through Delamere not long after me reported (through bouts
of vomiting) that a couple of people had been helicoptered to hospital. He
said he had tried to get help there because of heat stroke, but was told
that there was no sweep vehicle, so he had to keep going or join the
roadside casualties. I guess they had to wait for friends/family to come and
get them.

Can anyone confirm that there wasn't a sweep? It seems like a major
oversight by the organisers.
It's possible that my friend, in his delirious state, got his story a bit
confused, so I don't mean to cast blame when it's not deserved.

All in all, a hard but rewarding day. It certainly helps you to appreciate
just how hard the pros work, and how good cold beer really tastes!

Yes well i rode most of the course. Just about fell off my bike with 16 km to go. Found some shade, had a spew and waited for the wife to come and pick me up. The stretch between Newlands hill and Delemare was ridiculous, 45km with no pit stop. People where pulling into farm houses asking for water, others were crashed out on the side of the road. I made it to Delemere and was feeling pretty bad there but thought i'd press on. The official statistics for the day according to the advertiser were 25 treated by St Johns and five taken to hospital. I think the actual figures where much higher. To top it all of i got stung by a bee on my arm which has now swollen right up and need to see the doctor tomorrow. Good ride.

 

[TimC]

On 2006-01-21, leestevens (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Yes well i rode most of the course. Just about fell off my bike with 16
> km to go. Found some shade, had a spew and waited for the wife to come
> and pick me up.

One of the guys in the breakaway was riding along at 80km/h, and then
just lost concentration (Phil speculated dehydration) and bounced
along (upright at the time) the side of the road. Phil estimated he
hit the ground at 70km/h.

--
TimC
"I often hear people claim they perform skills better slightly drunk if
they learned that skill drunk. I wonder if that applies to Perl. Get good
and liquored up, dash off a few scripts, see how you like it." -Rob Chanter

 

[zasa]

TimC wrote:
> On 2006-01-21, leestevens (aka Bruce)
> was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>> Yes well i rode most of the course. Just about fell off my bike with 16
>> km to go. Found some shade, had a spew and waited for the wife to come
>> and pick me up.
>
> One of the guys in the breakaway was riding along at 80km/h, and then
> just lost concentration (Phil speculated dehydration) and bounced
> along (upright at the time) the side of the road. Phil estimated he
> hit the ground at 70km/h.
>
OMG!!

Any serious injuries?

 

[Peter McCallum]

zasa <[email protected]> wrote:

> TimC wrote:
> > On 2006-01-21, leestevens (aka Bruce)
> > was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> >> Yes well i rode most of the course. Just about fell off my bike with 16
> >> km to go. Found some shade, had a spew and waited for the wife to come
> >> and pick me up.
> >
> > One of the guys in the breakaway was riding along at 80km/h, and then
> > just lost concentration (Phil speculated dehydration) and bounced
> > along (upright at the time) the side of the road. Phil estimated he
> > hit the ground at 70km/h.
> >
> OMG!!
>
> Any serious injuries?

no, the road cushioned his fall.

--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA

 

[mogulhead]

The guy who crashed was Mathew Lloyd. Looked like he just passed out on the bike, ran off the road and crashed. He was kept in hospital overnight but had no significant injuries. He landed on his back so that probably stopped him from getting a busted collar bone. The Age article which mentions the incident briefly is here.

 

[jcjordan]

What a basta*d of a ride.

It was so hot that the tar on some parts of the road had melted and was
sticking to the tyres and making that horrible squelching sound. The heat
was unrelenting and oppressive, with the wind offering no relief - like
being blasted in the face with a heat gun I guess!

The last refreshment stop at Delamere resembled a war zone. There were some
people on drips being looked after by the ambos, and in the few kms just
before and after the stop, a lot of people had ditched their bikes and were
lying on the side of the road looking completely hammered.
A mate who passed through Delamere not long after me reported (through bouts
of vomiting) that a couple of people had been helicoptered to hospital. He
said he had tried to get help there because of heat stroke, but was told
that there was no sweep vehicle, so he had to keep going or join the
roadside casualties. I guess they had to wait for friends/family to come and
get them.

Can anyone confirm that there wasn't a sweep? It seems like a major
oversight by the organisers.
It's possible that my friend, in his delirious state, got his story a bit
confused, so I don't mean to cast blame when it's not deserved.

I did the 154km route and know what you mean about the tar melting on the road, still trying to get it all off the bike and tires.

there was a sweep vehicle, but i think it was overwhelmed by the number of riders who went down with heat exhaustion/stroke. I can not believe that they put the two refreshment stops so far apart, especially since there was still about 20km of reasonable climbs after the Newland Hill stop. I know that within the group I ride with every one of us has, or will be soon, sending BikeSA a nasty gram over that screw up. Normally they are far better organised then this. Lets face it your average roady can only carry enough water for 2hrs of riding max in normal temps, let along anything over 35 degrees or in this case over 40 degrees.

I know for a fact that I helped at least 5 people at the end of the ride as they were going down with heat stroke. The problem was that when people started feeling unwell during the long stretch they would have a drink at delamer and feel better and they were still dehydrated and ran out of water again in the last 20km.

 

[Bleve]

jcjordan wrote:


>
> I did the 154km route and know what you mean about the tar melting on
> the road, still trying to get it all off the bike and tires.
>
> there was a sweep vehicle, but i think it was overwhelmed by the number
> of riders who went down with heat exhaustion/stroke. I can not believe
> that they put the two refreshment stops so far apart, especially since
> there was still about 20km of reasonable climbs after the Newland Hill
> stop. I know that within the group I ride with every one of us has, or
> will be soon, sending BikeSA a nasty gram over that screw up. Normally
> they are far better organised then this. Lets face it your average
> roady can only carry enough water for 2hrs of riding max in normal
> temps, let along anything over 35 degrees or in this case over 40
> degrees.
>
> I know for a fact that I helped at least 5 people at the end of the
> ride as they were going down with heat stroke. The problem was that
> when people started feeling unwell during the long stretch they would
> have a drink at delamer and feel better and they were still dehydrated
> and ran out of water again in the last 20km.

I did a bad thing to my bike for the Alpine, I put a trihardalete
biddon carrier on the back of my roady to give me 3l instead of 1.5l of
capacity. It's off now, and there are no photos

On a hot, long ride, it's wise to be prepared to look after yourself.

 

[jcjordan]

jcjordan wrote:



I did a bad thing to my bike for the Alpine, I put a trihardalete
biddon carrier on the back of my roady to give me 3l instead of 1.5l of
capacity. It's off now, and there are no photos

On a hot, long ride, it's wise to be prepared to look after yourself.

Agreed, I would never have planned any of our group training rides with that little access to water. If we really want to go in a particular direction we can, and there is little access to water, we can normally organise a car in support

 

[Poiter]

I did the 154km route and know what you mean about the tar melting on the road, still trying to get it all off the bike and tires.

Try Kerosine to get it off.
Pete

 

[jcjordan]

Try Kerosine to get it off.
Pete

thanks, just gave that a try after going out for my moring ride; riped the tar right off

 

[cfsmtb]

What a basta*d of a ride.

Passed a few locals along the way, offering encouragement to plodders like
me, but complaining about the 42 degree heat as they sipped their ice cold
water while standing in the shade ;-)

It was so hot that the tar on some parts of the road had melted and was
sticking to the tyres and making that horrible squelching sound. The heat
was unrelenting and oppressive, with the wind offering no relief - like
being blasted in the face with a heat gun I guess!

Heard bad reports from a South Australian cyclist staying at our motel in Bright. (NB: whilst we were sitting the pool). The approx figure of heat affected cyclists was closer to 100, apparently cyclists were hanging over fences, lying on road shoulders etc. Also *apparently* there was a 50km stretch with no water stops. Victor Harbour in the middle of a SA summer? *grinds teeth*

IMHO, the moto crew that Audax organised for AAC support possibly saved lives.

 

[deejbah]

A couple of weeks ago I was thinking of going on the ride but decided not to because it would have been totally non-specific to the sport I'm training for now. I'm glad I didn't go on it now, it was hot enough training on and near the beach later that night! A lot of sport got cancelled on the weekend here because of the heat.

 

[Tamyka Bell]

deejbah wrote:
>
> A couple of weeks ago I was thinking of going on the ride but decided
> not to because it would have been totally non-specific to the sport I'm
> training for now. I'm glad I didn't go on it now, it was hot enough
> training on and near the beach later that night! A lot of sport got
> cancelled on the weekend here because of the heat.

The sport you're training for being...?

Tam*curious*

 

[deejbah]

The sport you're training for being...?

Tam*curious*

Touch. So you can see how non-specific riding 154 ks would be! We're only six weeks away from our national competition.

 

[Tamyka Bell]

deejbah wrote:
>
> Tamyka Bell Wrote:
> >
> > The sport you're training for being...?
> >
> > Tam*curious*Touch. So you can see how non-specific riding 154 ks would be! We're
> only six weeks away from our national competition.
>
> --
> deejbah

Very good call then