Time to hand in my AAC homework

The objective of this adventure was to see how my AAC 'home work' has
been going & to see what it's like to just stop down for liquid & maybe
one short stop for real food. I was also going to leave the clock
running, though pause it if I was stuck at traffic lights. Basically a
dress rehearsal for the AAC you might say, as I've never done one.

'_This_was_the_route_' (http://tinyurl.com/dvrhb), with a double Don rd
to pump up the Alt.

1st real climb was Kinglake with something that was close if not a PB
for me (21:30) Cycle2max is busted @ the moment and it's not showing
'Personal Ranking' so I can't be sure. Water stop @ Kinglake Bakery.

More water, Sports drink & some cookies @ Healesville with a 5min stop
down then out to'__Don_rd_' (http://tinyurl.com/89ycl). The road was
soggy up 1/2 the climb due to the heat, so I rode in the shaded
sections or on the white lines. I really wasn't looking forward to
doing it again, but once I had descended I felt better and turned it
round for another. Another 'splash & go' before leaving Healesville.

Myers creek rd was shaded but still warm & I was now feeling it. I
seemed to get back on top of things on the climb between Melba Hwy &
Kinglake. By Kinglake I was approaching hr 7. I wanted to be back
within 1hr 40 so that the Polar didn't run out of memory More water &
sports drink before leaving Kinglake. I felt the temp rise again on the
descent from Kinglake and it stayed in the mid 30's all the way back to
Clifton Hill.

The numbers: 223km in 8hrs 32mins with 3835m gained.

Now it's taper time me thinks.

See all you AAC riders up there : )


--
JayWoo

JayWoo Wrote:
The objective of this adventure was to see how my AAC 'home work' has
been going & to see what it's like to just stop down for liquid & maybe
one short stop for real food. I was also going to leave the clock
running, though pause it if I was stuck at traffic lights. Basically a
dress rehearsal for the AAC you might say, as I've never done one.

'_This_was_the_route_' (http://tinyurl.com/dvrhb), with a double Don rd
to pump up the Alt.

1st real climb was Kinglake with something that was close if not a PB
for me (21:30) Cycle2max is busted @ the moment and it's not showing
'Personal Ranking' so I can't be sure. Water stop @ Kinglake Bakery.

More water, Sports drink & some cookies @ Healesville with a 5min stop
down then out to'__Don_rd_' (http://tinyurl.com/89ycl). The road was
soggy up 1/2 the climb due to the heat, so I rode in the shaded
sections or on the white lines. I really wasn't looking forward to
doing it again, but once I had descended I felt better and turned it
round for another. Another 'splash & go' before leaving Healesville.

Myers creek rd was shaded but still warm & I was now feeling it. I
seemed to get back on top of things on the climb between Melba Hwy &
Kinglake. By Kinglake I was approaching hr 7. I wanted to be back
within 1hr 40 so that the Polar didn't run out of memory More water &
sports drink before leaving Kinglake. I felt the temp rise again on the
descent from Kinglake and it stayed in the mid 30's all the way back to
Clifton Hill.

The numbers: 223km in 8hrs 32mins with 3835m gained.

Now it's taper time me thinks.

See all you AAC riders up there : )

As far as homework goes, you've gone beyond the call of duty. You're
not leaving yourself much room to better your time next year .

Sounds like you simulated the hot conditions that can exists
particularly when climbing Mt Buffalo.

In my opinion, you get a golden star for your homework.

All the best for the ride.


--
jazmo

Checklist.
Waterstops (where necessary)
Mt Beauty
Falls Creek Gatehouse (@ corner on left - toilets)
or plenty of creekage on way up
Falls Creek Village
Mt Beauty
Spring 2km from top of Tawonga Gap (i hate this hill!)
Mandatory jump into Ovens River at Bright
(and wonder why you cant breathe from the chill)
Spring 2/3s(ish) up Buffalo and they 'usually' have a watertanker at
(SOmething) Elbow(?) 3/4 of the way up.
Fly home.
Repeat Ovens River

Enjoy. Hopefully it wont be too hot


--
flyingdutch

Very few AAC riders would break 8 hours on their first attempt JayWoo,
but you should do that fairly easily if you can maintain this sort of
form on Sunday week.

If that's your aim, just keep your stop times to an absolute minimum -
that's the key to recording a good time, and it's amazing how many
minutes can evaporate in what seems like a brief rest and refuel at a
checkpoint.

A very impressive piece of homework indeed. Enjoy the event and best
of luck.


--
Unregistered

That's a nice training ride. I'm aiming for sub 9 hours this year. I
did the 130km route in November in under 6 hours with some unnecessary
stops, and felt pretty good...so that bodes well.

It's true that time can just evaporate when you stop. Last year was my
first attempt and I ended up having 2 hours worth of stops! Probably 20
mins of this was waiting for a friend of mine, the rest was just being
lazy and feeling sorry for myself.

This year I will focus on using the descents to recover, instead of
sitting on my ass!


--
Walrus

jazmo Wrote:
You're not leaving yourself much room to better your time next year .

At my age, it's all down hill


--
JayWoo

Unregistered Wrote:
Very few AAC riders would break 8 hours on their first attempt JayWoo,
but you should do that fairly easily if you can maintain this sort of
form on Sunday week.

If that's your aim, just keep your stop times to an absolute minimum -
that's the key to recording a good time, and it's amazing how many
minutes can evaporate in what seems like a brief rest and refuel at a
checkpoint.
Spose the 1st objective is to finish I don't race bikes, but
love to cane myself in the hills. Which is pretty much what this event
is all about. Go out, give it ya best shot & enjoy!
2nd objective is to try and squeeze in under 8hrs but really not that
important. More like icing on the cake.
With the big rides I've been doing this summer, it's shown me that it's
a juggle between;

Measuring your effort over the ride
Keeping up the fluid & food
When & how long to rest for (only really an issue if you want to get
back before dark)

Get the mix right & you have a fun, fast, & relatively comfortable
(where's the fun if ya not hurting!) day's adventure on the bike.


--
JayWoo

JayWoo Wrote:

Get the mix right & you have a fun, fast, & relatively comfortable
(where's the fun if ya not hurting!) day's adventure on the bike.

The fun is on the 'downy' bits

I aint no climber but i am better than some (at least i was. 'head' is
starting to come back round to the idea of pushing it again
)

Going Down Tawonga is darned fun cos the cambers are all noice, and you
can mostly take racing lines (dont try this at home folks ) due to
being able to see far(ish) ahead.
Falls decent is mainly loooong, curves with a few smooth corners, but
sometimes not friendly cambers.
Buffalo decent is (IMHO) the one to be wary of (top half, anyway..)
Bumpy in sections, cambers goin the wrong ways and open on the wrong
sides.
You can make up heaps o time on Falls decent, and just have plain darn
fun goin down Tawonga (Mt Beauty side). Bright Side is straight/fast
for 99%


--
flyingdutch

flyingdutch Wrote:
The fun is on the 'downy' bits

I aint no climber but i am better than some (at least i was. 'head' is
starting to come back round to the idea of pushing it again
)

Going Down Tawonga is darned fun cos the cambers are all noice, and you
can mostly take racing lines (dont try this at home folks ) due to
being able to see far(ish) ahead.
Falls decent is mainly loooong, curves with a few smooth corners, but
sometimes not friendly cambers.
Buffalo decent is (IMHO) the one to be wary of (top half, anyway..)
Bumpy in sections, cambers goin the wrong ways and open on the wrong
sides.
You can make up heaps o time on Falls decent, and just have plain darn
fun goin down Tawonga (Mt Beauty side). Bright Side is straight/fast
for 99%
Yeah, Tawonga Mt Beaut side is my fav outa the descents I think. Though
it's all over too soon, like most I spose It can be hard to
consentrate coz you've not only got a wicked rd, but great views as
well.
Last time I did Falls (ANZAC wkend this yr) the rd surface was really
****ty. Lots of loose screenings with top layers gone in sections . I
had to back right off. Didn't like it at all.
Buffalo reminds me of Buller tight sections @ the top then fast left
rights on the lower 1/2.
I'm going to be up there this weekend & will ride Bright Falls & back
Saturday. Then Bright Buffalo & back Sunday. This will give me a good
clean go at all the descents hopfully


--
JayWoo

JayWoo Wrote:
With the big rides I've been doing this summer, it's shown me that it's
a juggle between;

Measuring your effort over the ride
Agree 100% - the easiest way to have a totally miserable day at the AAC
is to get carried away on an early morning adrenalin rush going up
Tawonga or bottom half of Falls too hard (in my case anything over
about 80-85% of max)
Keeping up the fluid & food
Agree 100% again. Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're
thirsty
When & how long to rest for (only really an issue if you want to get
back before dark)
My main learning in a decade of AACs is that resting at checkpoints (or
anywhere else) doesn't make the next section any physically easier at
all and can even make it harder (engine starts to shut down and
protests about starting up again). Different issue if you just want to
have a chat with friends and enjoy soaking in the atmosphere, but in
pure riding terms you're best turning around quickly and
recovering/eating/drinking on the descents & flat sections.
Get the mix right & you have a fun, fast, & relatively comfortable
(where's the fun if ya not hurting!) day's adventure on the bike.
No chance of it NOT hurting up Buffalo at least, however you tackle
things on the day!


--
Unregistered