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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
This is a ride report written by my riding partner for the day, Anthony.
I've been meaning to post this for a while but have just finally got around to it. I hope you enjoy the read, it was quite an unexpected day to say the least. ---------------------------- The story, We took off at 8am in decent weather for a ride to Healesville on our MTB's. We were to climb Don Rd to the dirt section, then continue on past the road closed barriers and make our way to Mt Donna Buang. We would then descend 16km down to Warburton, eat and ride the 45kms of warby trail home. WHAT HAPPENED We rode to Healesville in really windy conditions, it started to rain around Healesville and as we started to climb Don Rd. On the climb we pedalled really low gears and just spun our way up the mountain, it was really cold, maybe 3-4 degrees but as we were climbing it just felt nice and fresh. We stumbled upon a road closed barrier and ducked under it and kept riding, figuring that this was a good sign because on the twisty, narrow roads, their would be no traffic to avoid! When we hit the dirt section it said 16kms to Mt Donna Buang. I was expected some undulating roads to Mt Donna B, but instead it was lots of steady climbing. We were now getting rained upon quite heavily but I couldn't feel it as we were climbing at decent speeds and working quite hard. I was quite astonished at just how high we had climbed as the top of the bitumen at Don Rd is over 700hundred metres above sea level and we had been steadily climbing ever since (another 40 minutes approx). As we neared the end of the climbing section Rhubarb motioned to me that we were both covered in ice from the sleet that had been falling on us. I thought that this was really cool and just enjoyed the sensation of the cool stuff landing on me! We continued to ride for another 20 odd minutes when we noticed big patches of snow and ice on the side of the road, before too long, and we were now climbing again, the whole road surface was completely covered in snow. I then noticed that we were back on bitumen again as I could just see the white line of the road under the snow. I asked Rhubarb how much further and he replied maybe another 2-3 kms, we rode another 2-3 kms in the snow, getting thicker too i might add, and i asked him again how much further to the summit of Mt DB but by this stage we were freezing cold, concerned about our energy levels, fluid levels (i didn't want to drink cold water when i was so cold and wet) and because it was a closed road, we knew that we would have to get ourselves out of there. Our dilemma was we had now been climbing for approximately 2 hours and we knew that shortest way to safety was to keep going, we also knew that the weather was getting far worse the further we went, but at the same time we are both the sort of guys that hate quitting things. Rhubarb stopped to get a powerbar and tried to open the wrapper and couldn't, I couldn't either as my fingers (cut off gloves) were frozen pretty much solid. He ripped it open with his mouth to find the bar inside was frozen pretty much solid. We continued on for another ten or so minutes when the snow became too thick to ride in, I was starting to doubt what kind of 16km descent would be ahead of us down to Warby (all snow etc.) and whether it was now better to turn back. We turned around, and that's when we really found ourselves in the sh*t! After only a few minutes i saw a H (Healesville sign) 30kms! **** that's like a 25km mountain descent, with snow ice and below freezing temps. Snow and ice was all over our bikes, our brakes were basically useless, you had to clamp them on 3 or 4 times further back than you would usually do so, we couldn't detect puddles, pot holes that had ice over them, rocks under the surface of snow etc, and now I was F**KIING FREEZING. Rhubarb looked pretty good at this point but he was clearly concerned about our safety. I had a constant slight panic going as we were heavily in the ****, my fingers were useless, my face mostly numb, my ankles numb, feet wet and numb and my bike was starting to play up. Trying to keep up with Rhubarb going downhill was not easy as we both had our moments on corners and riding over sticks and small branches, to make matters worse all of a sudden i could not pedal. My cranks would rotate but no drive would go through to the back wheel, as we were coasting I wasn't immediately concerned but it wasn't all down hill, and i needed to pedal to keep warm! We stopped and i got off my bike, the rear gear cluster was full of ice and frozen solid, the chain could not sit amongst the teeth of the gears, it happened instantaneously I was pedalling and all of a sudden it was frozen, i only had my granny rear gear left and decided that we didn't have to time to spare so we took off again. We were shivering, grunting, not talking, seriously in the sh*t, I was thinking of riding home still at this point, thinking that all i needed was some serious effort and i would warm myself up...Rhubarb on the other hand kept saying we needed to stop at the nearest house, 10km out of Healesville. To cut a long story short, well shorter, a woman opened her front door, we both kind of walked forward towards the heat, grunting, shivering, in real trouble, and walked into her family room where she had a fire going, we got clothes from her, soup and stood there defrosting. My hands were bloody killing me, i couldn't put them in front of the fire to start with, aching, throbbing etc. When i took my helmet off, a layer of ice that was lying directly against my scalp fell onto her floor. SH*T, we were in the sh*t! As I type this (Monday morning) I still cant feel my pinky's, ring finger, middle finger tips! (makes typing hard) NO SH*T, WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT OUR LIVES UP THERE!!! My face was burnt by the snow, ice etc. All red and stuff, my fingers are stuffed, and i was cold all weekend, but it was a good experience to walk away from. Thanks for reading...learn from my mistakes...I make them often ------------- Thanks for reading. |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
"Rhubarb's friend Anthony wrote...
snip to cut a long story short, well shorter, a woman opened her front door, we both kind of walked forward towards the heat, grunting, shivering, in real trouble, and walked into her family room where she had a fire going, we got clothes from her, soup and stood there defrosting. My hands were bloody killing me, i couldn't put them in front of the fire to start with, aching, throbbing etc. A cautionary tale indeed. Good to see there are still some good people in the world Parbs |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
Good to read you made it safely to warmth and comfort and I hope you don't have any lingering effects. Thanks for posting this, it was a good read, even if it was scary. -- SuzieB |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
"Parbs" wrote in message ... "Rhubarb's friend Anthony wrote... snip to cut a long story short, well shorter, a woman opened her front door, we both kind of walked forward towards the heat, grunting, shivering, in real trouble, and walked into her family room where she had a fire going, we got clothes from her, soup and stood there defrosting. My hands were bloody killing me, i couldn't put them in front of the fire to start with, aching, throbbing etc. A cautionary tale indeed. Good to see there are still some good people in the world Parbs Yes very much so. We couldn't of knocked on a better front door. They were lovely! It took us a good 2 hours of being in front of their fire in warm clothes and hot soup and tea to stop shivering. We were very close to hypothermia - we were shivering so badly that we couldn't talk. To shower them at a later date with flowers, chocolates and bottles of wine was the least we could do to repay our thanks. |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
I've seen that road (I believe it enters the climb about 1/2 way up). Wouyld it be doable on a road bike, what kind of quality surface was the non paved stuff? -- PiledHigher |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
"PiledHigher" wrote in
message ... I've seen that road (I believe it enters the climb about 1/2 way up). Wouyld it be doable on a road bike, what kind of quality surface was the non paved stuff? Yes that's right it turns to gravel a bit before halfway. The surface is quite good for a fair bit of it. It's kind of like packed stone I guess. I rode up there on Monday and since they have reopened the road after the snow season they must of done a bit of road maintenance because it really is in quite good nick for an unsealed road. That said there are still a few areas that are a little rougher with a few pot holes, bigger stones/rocks in the road and the like. And you can get a bit of debris on the road from the surrounding trees. You 'could' do it on a road bike (I ride it on a hybrid) and I don't think you would have to many problems if you don't mind taking your road bike over an uneven unsealed surface. I wouldn't personally as I like to keep my road bike on sealed surfaces. All that said I'm not sure I would feel comfortable recommending anyone to do it on their road bike. But that's different from saying it can't be done, if you get where I'm coming from. |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
"Rhubarb" wrote in message ... This is a ride report written by my riding partner for the day, Anthony. I've been meaning to post this for a while but have just finally got around to it. I hope you enjoy the read, it was quite an unexpected day to say the least. ---------------------------- The story, We took off at 8am in decent weather for a ride to Healesville on our MTB's. We were to climb Don Rd to the dirt section, then continue on past the road closed barriers and make our way to Mt Donna Buang. We would then descend 16km down to Warburton, eat and ride the 45kms of warby trail home. snippage My face was burnt by the snow, ice etc. All red and stuff, my fingers are stuffed, and i was cold all weekend, but it was a good experience to walk away from. Thanks for reading...learn from my mistakes...I make them often ------------- Thanks for reading. If you still can't feel your fingers, see your GP immediately. It's probably late now, given that it's Thursday, but lack of sensation is bad. Fingers are things you're definitely better off NOT losing. |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
"Resound" wrote in message
... "Rhubarb" wrote in message ... If you still can't feel your fingers, see your GP immediately. It's probably late now, given that it's Thursday, but lack of sensation is bad. Fingers are things you're definitely better off NOT losing. Oh this is actually from a couple of months ago. They weren't my fingers and my advice at the time was exactly the same as yours. He didn't seek medical attention but full feeling did eventually return. |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
On 2005-12-01, Rhubarb (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea: "PiledHigher" wrote in message ... I've seen that road (I believe it enters the climb about 1/2 way up). Wouyld it be doable on a road bike, what kind of quality surface was the non paved stuff? Yes that's right it turns to gravel a bit before halfway. The surface is quite good for a fair bit of it. It's kind of like packed stone I guess. I rode up there on Monday and since they have reopened the road after the snow season they must of done a bit of road maintenance because it really is in quite good nick for an unsealed road. If it's the road I'm thinking about (Peter Sig?), it was in really great nick in July, when we went up for a full day's tour. We were theorising they had graded it to be paved in the near-future. http://adsl-130-26.swiftdsl.com.au/~...imagelist.html -- TimC It typically takes 25-30 gallons of petrol/diesel to fully-consume an average-sized body under ideal conditions. That I am conversant with this level of detail should serve as an indication of why the wise man does not ask me questions about MS-Windows. --Tanuki on ASR |
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RR - From the 17th of September, 2005 - The Snow
"TimC" wrote in message
... On 2005-12-01, Rhubarb (aka Bruce) was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea: "PiledHigher" wrote in message ... I've seen that road (I believe it enters the climb about 1/2 way up). Wouyld it be doable on a road bike, what kind of quality surface was the non paved stuff? Yes that's right it turns to gravel a bit before halfway. The surface is quite good for a fair bit of it. It's kind of like packed stone I guess. I rode up there on Monday and since they have reopened the road after the snow season they must of done a bit of road maintenance because it really is in quite good nick for an unsealed road. If it's the road I'm thinking about (Peter Sig?), it was in really great nick in July, when we went up for a full day's tour. We were theorising they had graded it to be paved in the near-future. http://adsl-130-26.swiftdsl.com.au/~...-07/Mt_Donna_B uang/imagelist.html Yep that definitely looks like the road in question! |
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