My Around the Bay in a Day ride

Thought I'd post my 'Around the Bay in a Day' experiences for the Google
cache and future generations to find My first ATB, so it was all much of
an unknown. My background/training is; just turned 26, I ride 450-600kms a
month to and from work and weekend rides (both road and mtb). Longest
training rides are 106kms with average of 30km/h. To and from work is
almost hilly (Kew to East Doncaster), I don't call myself a hill climber.

Arranged to ride with a mate, with the agreement that we wouldn't go out of
our way to stick together.

Rode to the start from home (Kew), start went as normal, lots of delay in
getting into the pedals... nobody knew where the direction split was for the
first km, we come to the split and headed off towards Sorrento. Looking for
a pack sitting on 30km/h was hard, so tagged into a bunch doing 33-37,
before we knew it we were in Mordialloc.. decided to take it easy into
Frankston so found a bunch doing spot on 30km/h and worked with them.

The hills just outside Frankston was the #1 filter for the people who must
have started early or from further down the track than the official start,
climbed up and past the rest point still going strong. Not much bunch
riding through the undulations into Dromana, just kept spinning with 'gotta
hold back for the ride home' thoughts in my head. Passed the photo spot at
8:13am (still waiting for the company to stick the photos online). Noticed
a large number of people fixing flats from Dromana to Rosebud, with one guy
yelling "someone has put down tacks".. we all kept our eyes open for these
nasties someone left for us. Some guy stacked into the curb as a bunch had
compressed to get by some cars, he went to merge in and bounced off the
group. Made it to the ferry around 9 without much fuss.

Got our lunch which was a salad roll/wrap, a banana, bag of lollies, a drink
and a powerbar. Munched down in the sunlight waiting for the next large
ferry to arrive. We had heard nightmare stories from years past about good
bikes getting dinged up so we gaffer taped up our forks and tubes ready for
the worst. We put our bikes down below and spent the next 30-40mins up on
deck in the sun. Watching the smaller ferries with all the bikes stacked up
like shopping trollies, the gaf would have come in REAL handy!

Off the boat and back onto the bike, I was worried about the first hour
after the ferry as have read about people not staying warm and having
trouble. Lots of stretching on the boat and we warmed back into the
spinning before we hit a few hills. Loving the hills at this stage, did
everyone else only train for the flat? Started to notice the wind
direction, looked to be our lucky day! Though Geelong, short drink refill
and onto the home leg.

Started off riding with the Colac Veterans club in their yellow tops,
keeping a great pace had a chat to one of the guys. Kept with them till
they were stopped by a member getting a flat, went out alone from around
Lara to Little River then into Werribee. Moved from group to group, this
was the most boring part of the ride, hard to explain the boredom, very much
a mental challenge to keep motivated. Found a group of guys on OCR's so we
had an OCR bunch going for a few Kms, remind me to get a respray for next
year! Awesome tailwind along the freeway, don't listen to anybody else,
Sorrento first is the ONLY way to fly!

Into Werribee where I took my last rest, some local kids were in the park
swearing more than I could imagine. Hmm, if only these kids knew how hard
life will be when they grew up they'd be home reading the damn dictionary!
(*enter a comment here about hating smartarse kids or that being a bad
area*). Looking for a bunch to take off or go past to join, no luck so I
head out alone catching up to the group stuck at the first set of lights.

Zig zagging all the way back into the city, didn't feel like we would ever
get there. Got stuck waiting for 2(!) trains as we rolled onto the Westgate
Fwy. I was amazed there was no lane closure or markings on this road,
cars/trucks/etc flying past everyone at 100Km/h+. Memories of the Great
Melb Bike Ride and the last few Kms into Lygon St where there were
kids/oldies/everyone mixing with peak hr traffic. We even had some 'older
lady' (nicest words I can describe her at the moment) pull into the
emergency lane we were all riding in, wind down her window and give us all a
mouthful. OK, WHAT THE F**K is with that? Did BV not have signage up on
this road? She could have been really hurt by a random flying water bottle,
or worse yet, hit in the head by a few Allen's Lollies!! Very disappointed
in BV not marking this section of the road better. I would happily pay a
few extra $'s to have improved safety for everyone. Hmm.. Millers Rd exit
(or there abouts) had one nasty road resurface edge that the marshals were
pointing out, and while leading the bunch I pointed out, someone didn't take
note and stacked.

Last climb, the Westgate bridge! Finally, a section marked off for
cyclists. Had one last spurt and left the group behind. I had one last dig
and caught up to the Colac bunch again! (They must have gone past when I was
stopped in Werribie). Final sprint to the line, well, I stepped up a few
gears and suck my head down if that counted, over the line with an avge for
the day of 30km/h If the course was 210km as they said, my math works out
as 7hrs flat. If anyone has a more accurate Km'age of the course let me
know.

Over the line, didn't stop for the showbag as I still had to ride home!
Through the city and up Studley Park Rd was HELL! Fell into home, into a
bath, and into bed, that was the day over!

A good day all up, kept out of trouble and managed a good time for my first
attempt. In hindsight I should have done a few 5-6hr stints on the bike as
better preparation. Not sure where to go from here, this was my main goal
for the last 6 months, might join a club now and meet up for bunch rides, or
check out the crits they hold right near home here in Kew.

This is the kind of post I'd love to have read before taking on the ATB to
know more about it, so I hope this might help someone who wants to do the
ATB in the following years!

Comments and questions welcome.

cheers all,
GPLama

GPLama Wrote:
Thought I'd post my 'Around the Bay in a Day' experiences for the Googl
cache and future generations to find My first ATB, so it was al
much o
an unknown. My background/training is; just turned 26, I rid
450-600kms
month to and from work and weekend rides (both road and mtb). Longes
training rides are 106kms with average of 30km/h. To and from work i
almost hilly (Kew to East Doncaster), I don't call myself a hil
climber

Arranged to ride with a mate, with the agreement that we wouldn't g
out o
our way to stick together

Rode to the start from home (Kew), start went as normal, lots of dela
i
getting into the pedals... nobody knew where the direction split wa
for th
first km, we come to the split and headed off towards Sorrento.
Looking fo
a pack sitting on 30km/h was hard, so tagged into a bunch doing 33-37
before we knew it we were in Mordialloc.. decided to take it easy int
Frankston so found a bunch doing spot on 30km/h and worked with them

The hills just outside Frankston was the #1 filter for the people wh
mus
have started early or from further down the track than the officia
start
climbed up and past the rest point still going strong. Not much bunc
riding through the undulations into Dromana, just kept spinning wit
'gott
hold back for the ride home' thoughts in my head. Passed the phot
spot a
8:13am (still waiting for the company to stick the photos online).
Notice
a large number of people fixing flats from Dromana to Rosebud, with on
gu
yelling "someone has put down tacks".. we all kept our eyes open fo
thes
nasties someone left for us. Some guy stacked into the curb as a bunc
ha
compressed to get by some cars, he went to merge in and bounced off th
group. Made it to the ferry around 9 without much fuss

Got our lunch which was a salad roll/wrap, a banana, bag of lollies,
drin
and a powerbar. Munched down in the sunlight waiting for the nex
larg
ferry to arrive. We had heard nightmare stories from years past abou
goo
bikes getting dinged up so we gaffer taped up our forks and tubes read
fo
the worst. We put our bikes down below and spent the next 30-40mins u
o
deck in the sun. Watching the smaller ferries with all the bike
stacked u
like shopping trollies, the gaf would have come in REAL handy

Off the boat and back onto the bike, I was worried about the first hou
after the ferry as have read about people not staying warm and havin
trouble. Lots of stretching on the boat and we warmed back into th
spinning before we hit a few hills. Loving the hills at this stage
di
everyone else only train for the flat? Started to notice the win
direction, looked to be our lucky day! Though Geelong, short drin
refil
and onto the home leg

Started off riding with the Colac Veterans club in their yellow tops
keeping a great pace had a chat to one of the guys. Kept with the
til
they were stopped by a member getting a flat, went out alone fro
aroun
Lara to Little River then into Werribee. Moved from group to group
thi
was the most boring part of the ride, hard to explain the boredom, ver
muc
a mental challenge to keep motivated. Found a group of guys on OCR'
so w
had an OCR bunch going for a few Kms, remind me to get a respray fo
nex
year! Awesome tailwind along the freeway, don't listen to anybod
else
Sorrento first is the ONLY way to fly

Into Werribee where I took my last rest, some local kids were in th
par
swearing more than I could imagine. Hmm, if only these kids knew ho
har
life will be when they grew up they'd be home reading the dam
dictionary
(*enter a comment here about hating smartarse kids or that being a ba
area*). Looking for a bunch to take off or go past to join, no luck s

head out alone catching up to the group stuck at the first set o
lights

Zig zagging all the way back into the city, didn't feel like we woul
ever
get there. Got stuck waiting for 2(!) trains as we rolled onto the
Westgate
Fwy. I was amazed there was no lane closure or markings on this road,
cars/trucks/etc flying past everyone at 100Km/h+. Memories of the
Great
Melb Bike Ride and the last few Kms into Lygon St where there were
kids/oldies/everyone mixing with peak hr traffic. We even had some
'older
lady' (nicest words I can describe her at the moment) pull into the
emergency lane we were all riding in, wind down her window and give us
all a
mouthful. OK, WHAT THE F**K is with that? Did BV not have signage up
on
this road? She could have been really hurt by a random flying water
bottle,
or worse yet, hit in the head by a few Allen's Lollies!! Very
disappointed
in BV not marking this section of the road better. I would happily pay
a
few extra $'s to have improved safety for everyone. Hmm.. Millers Rd
exit
(or there abouts) had one nasty road resurface edge that the marshals
were
pointing out, and while leading the bunch I pointed out, someone didn't
take
note and stacked.

Last climb, the Westgate bridge! Finally, a section marked off for
cyclists. Had one last spurt and left the group behind. I had one
last dig
and caught up to the Colac bunch again! (They must have gone past when
I was
stopped in Werribie). Final sprint to the line, well, I stepped up a
few
gears and suck my head down if that counted, over the line with an avge
for
the day of 30km/h If the course was 210km as they said, my math works
out
as 7hrs flat. If anyone has a more accurate Km'age of the course let
me
know.

Over the line, didn't stop for the showbag as I still had to ride home!
Through the city and up Studley Park Rd was HELL! Fell into home, into
a
bath, and into bed, that was the day over!

A good day all up, kept out of trouble and managed a good time for my
first
attempt. In hindsight I should have done a few 5-6hr stints on the
bike as
better preparation. Not sure where to go from here, this was my main
goal
for the last 6 months, might join a club now and meet up for bunch
rides, or
check out the crits they hold right near home here in Kew.

This is the kind of post I'd love to have read before taking on the ATB
to
know more about it, so I hope this might help someone who wants to do
the
ATB in the following years!

Comments and questions welcome.

cheers all,
GPLama
well done!
now onto 'BR' rides for you!!


--
flyingdutch

Pics include Start, Mordi, Sorrento, Red Hill (thereabouts),
Frankston, Beaconsfield Pde, Finish

See Gallery 6 at bottom of page
http://www.birdcagesoft.com.au/mast/gallery

Rgds
Dave
--
Remote Vision
Birds Eye view Photography
http://birdcagesoft.com.au/mast

"RV" wrote in message
...
Pics include Start, Mordi, Sorrento, Red Hill (thereabouts),
Frankston, Beaconsfield Pde, Finish

See Gallery 6 at bottom of page
http://www.birdcagesoft.com.au/mast/gallery

Rgds
Dave

And look at the rest of the galleries too - stunning!


--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge

RV wrote:
Pics include Start, Mordi, Sorrento, Red Hill (thereabouts),
Frankston, Beaconsfield Pde, Finish

See Gallery 6 at bottom of page
http://www.birdcagesoft.com.au/mast/gallery

Rgds
Dave

Awesome pictures, absolutely horrendous pricing! ok, after looking at the
site I guess that must be the going rate for professional pics of property
and the like... nice work tho.


GPL

GPLama Wrote:
Not sure where to go from here.GPLama

Join AUDAX www.audax.org.au and do some real distance rides

Pet

--
Poiter

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 07:04:58 +1000, "GPLama"
wrote:

RV wrote:
Pics include Start, Mordi, Sorrento, Red Hill (thereabouts),
Frankston, Beaconsfield Pde, Finish

See Gallery 6 at bottom of page
http://www.birdcagesoft.com.au/mast/gallery

Rgds
Dave

Awesome pictures,

Thanks.

absolutely horrendous pricing!

See page
"Commercial use"
Horrendously cheap.

I note BV had some photo setup organised so Im sure youll find shots
there for free.

pics of property
and the like...

I dont do properties for estate agents at all, they do their own and
if they do pay its $45 a location if your lucky, including interior
and exterior. Canvased them all across town, I wont be doing that
again.

Look in the news papers,
Pics I call "drive by shootings"
Easy to see nearly all property pics are taken by the receptionist or
the agent whilst driving past the property, without stopping the car
from the look of some ;-)

Rgds
Dave

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 16:04:40 GMT, "Alan Erskine"
wrote:

"RV" wrote in message
.. .
Pics include Start, Mordi, Sorrento, Red Hill (thereabouts),
Frankston, Beaconsfield Pde, Finish

See Gallery 6 at bottom of page
http://www.birdcagesoft.com.au/mast/gallery

Rgds
Dave

And look at the rest of the galleries too - stunning!

Thank's for the compliment.

Glad to see the turnout for the event..

Rgds
Dave

"GPLama" wrote in message
...
...
Comments and questions welcome.


I also went on my first ATBIAD on Sunday - back in the saddle again today
for the ride to work was a little stiff, sore and chafed ;-)

I went the same way as you, and would have been only a little behind you
(arrived in Sorrento 9:15) - managed to keep with a pack headed by some guys
in Linfox tops on road bikes until the final hill from Mt Martha. So the
first half went well, got onto the boat easily when my friends caught up
(for the 10am ferry) - one of the group got a tack in his tyre going through
Rye I think.

At little river (about 150km in) my body crashed however - I could no longer
keep up pace because my legs were starting to scream. We struggle with the
last 60km of the ride, and were certainly glad to finish.

So, my advice for people thinking of doing this in the future is:

1. Make sure you get some good training in. I did only two half decent
training rides (one of 80km and one of 70km) and did about 20km total in the
last three weeks leading up to the event.
2. Road bikes would probably make a difference in the ride due to the better
gear ratios, no shocks, lighter tyres and less tyre contacting the road.
3. Make sure you are comfortable in your saddle - you will be working on
there for a long time!

All the best,

Tim

"GPLama" wrote in message
...

snip cool report

This is the kind of post I'd love to have read before taking on the ATB to
know more about it, so I hope this might help someone who wants to do the
ATB in the following years!

You didn't search google groups did you? :-P

It's funny how many people do 60k rides in
preparation for a 210k event.. and knobby
tyres... sheesh! :-)

I never thought about bike damage on the
ferries - has anyone had issues with this?

hippy