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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 |
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#2
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My Around the Bay in a Day ride
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 |
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Around the Bay photo's
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 |
#4
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Around the Bay photo's
"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 |
#5
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Around the Bay photo's
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 |
#6
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My Around the Bay in a Day ride
GPLama Wrote: Not sure where to go from here.GPLama Join AUDAX www.audax.org.au and do some real distance rides Pet -- Poiter |
#7
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Around the Bay photo's
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 |
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Around the Bay photo's
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 |
#9
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My Around the Bay in a Day ride
"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 |
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My Around the Bay in a Day ride
"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 |
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