Postby AlexD » 01 Nov 2011, 18:41
Hey guys, I've been meaning to post a post-ride report, here's my chance...
The 200km version of Fitz's was a proper old-style challenge. I don't know what possessed Adrian to do the Extreme 250km, but I guess you have to keep raising the bar!
There were 130 takers for the 200km, and 60 for the 250km, all leaving together at 6am. I was hoping to ride with Adrian so I'd have someone to chat to, but the first 50kms were all up-and-down-hill in fog and mist. I couldn't find him, so instead played it out with the 10 or so guys in the front bunch. The mist made my glasses fog up, so I had to drop them right down on my nose (like a librarian) so I could see where we were going on the 60+km/h descents. I was scared, but it was fun.
Having never done a serious road ride or race the bunch thing was all new to me, but it was quite well spirited, though more competitive than I expected. There was one other singlespeed guy in the group, Phil from Canberra, who kept leading charges off the front. He was keeping the roadies busy on the climbs. He was running 43x17, or 68", a good gear for climbing. Plus he was a super fit animal. I stuck with him and the roadies up until Fitz's hill, at about 60km in. Fitz's was a bit steeper than I expected! I thought I was going OK, but I couldn't manage the gradient. It's pretty steep! My cadence slowed right down, and that was it; for the first time ever I had to walk up a hill. I had an OK time laughing at myself, and the roadies going past were all very friendly (probably also laughing at the stupid singlespeeder) but I felt pretty hopeless. All I wanted was a lower ratio, or even a derailleur! Riding with 74" was very silly decision for a hill like that.
After Fitz's hill, I made it to the Rendezvous Creek turnaround for a good rest and some food. Going back over the course was OK, but going down Fitz's hill was the most terrifying descent I've ever done. A long, steep, straight hill with a few funny corners that you couldn't quite predict. Since I don't have a road bike, and normally ride fixed, I'm not used to riding faster than 55km/h, so having roadies going past doing 90 was pretty eye-opening. I did what I could to leave plenty of space for them!
The next big climb was up to Honeysuckle Creek, on a side route from the main course. This one was longer than Fitz's, but not as constant - there were a couple of breaks in the gradient. I did what I could to ride up it, but was reduced to walking at the steepest point, so by the time I reached the checkpoint at the top I was partly exhausted and partly just embarrassed for "cheating". The bananas and fruit cake were good though.
After that the next stop was Tharwa, where Haidee (my girlfriend and non-DHBC person) was waiting, part way through her own 100km course. She was doing it on her vintage Geoff Scott road bike - a serious effort! We had a nice lunch then set off together into a pretty tough headwind, parting ways again at the turnoff to Corin Dam.
The longest climb of the day was up to Corin Forest (The 250km bunch went past here and on to Corin Dam). It's a really long climb, but with a few undulating sections part way up that make it much more enjoyable than the others. I thought I could make it the whole way up without getting off my bike, but alas, I hit one point where I couldn't turn the pedals any more, and again was reduced to walking. Terrible! The frustrating part was that on the less-steep gradients, I was going fine, charging right ahead, it was just the steep parts that I couldn't handle. Gears might be a good thing!
The descent from the Corin Forest was amazing, just down and down and down, with lots of dips and turns to make it interesting. Maybe the best part of the ride. Two guys on a tandem breezed past me when I was doing 65 - they must have been doing 75 I think. Pretty quick for a steep hill - I wondered if their brakes were working...
The remainder of the ride was rolling hills, all very scenic and nice, punctuated by more fruit cake and banana and hot cross buns from the food stands. It was all very well organised.
I made it back after exactly 10 hours, which was 8hrs 15min of riding and 1hr 45min of stops. I was pretty tired, but like the Fixie Century, I actually felt better and better as the day went on. I think I'm going to do more of these Audax things. It was much harder than I expected, but more fun at the same time.
I didn't realise until after the ride how many DHBC members were there - quite a turnout! Well done guys on a great hillclimbing effort.