Alpine Classic 2012 Audax ride

Road cycling & upcoming rides
Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 23 Jul 2011, 11:31

Inspired by TdF and fancy your style on the mountain stages?

Entries for the Audax Alpine Classic 2012 open on 1 August. For those new to Audax, it's not a race, but an endurance challenge that includes mountains and distance ... all in one big day. This Audax ride in particular is extremely well organised and highly recommended.

DHBC has made a big showing at recent Alpine Classics with 15 riders doing varying length and difficulty rides in 2011 and an equally excellent social experience as a number of riders brought friends and family. We spent the whole week before the ride in Bright and took the opportunity to go on flat rides along the rail trail, visits to wineries, navigating a maze, bit of sightseeing as well as some training and acclimatisation rides and quite alot of socialising with everyone from DHBC and others.

The ride is on Sunday 29th January 2012 with a mountain for everyone from a 62km ride over Tawonga Gap to Mt Beauty to the challenging 250km Alpine Classic Extreme that requires pre-qualification. The Alpine Classic itself is a 200km ride with around 5,500m of climbing.

So - who is in for 2012? Camilla and I are signing up for the 250, having qualified by completing the 200 last year.

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Stuart
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Postby Stuart » 23 Jul 2011, 12:16

62km ride over Tawonga Gap to Mt Beauty
& back!
Yes, up, down, up , down. It's not flat people! But really, if you're into a good time and don't mind some hills, it's a great week away. Plus there's lots of flatter rides too and the rail trail is excellent.

here's a helpful map! http://www.cyclingprofiles.com.au/HTM/V ... ngaGap.htm

Enjoy it people.

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 27 Jul 2011, 21:20

How hot does it get? Or being in an alpine region does it keep the temps down?

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 27 Jul 2011, 21:25

Last year it was 14 degrees up the top of Falls Creek and 30 something down in the valley and then up Buffalo. It depends where you are!

Richard
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Postby Richard » 28 Jul 2011, 11:14

The temperature can vary dramatically depending on the conditions.

There was snow on Mt Hotham a couple of weeks before the Alpine this year but on the day we had perfect riding conditions.

The first year I did the Alpine the temperatures were in the 40's out on the road and the tarmac had melted in places, mainly on the corners. (Images of Beloki) That particular Alpine was on the weekend immediately before the Victorian bushfires. They now have a policy that if its predicted to be 38 and above then the 200 and 250 options will be canceled.

Even if its hot in the valley it can still be single digits on top of the climbs. Best to take gear for either.

We have booked our accommodation for 2012 and I am planning to do the 250km again and Simone the 130km.

In my humble opinion it is the best ride in the country and I would strongly recommend making the effort.

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Camilla
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Postby Camilla » 28 Jul 2011, 22:35

Yep! My favourite (one-day) ride of the year by far. The whole week is excellent, in and around Bright. Amazing cycling, beautiful scenery, fabulous company, great food, and as the week goes on more and more cars covered in bikes roll into town. There's nothing else quite like it.

kiwiames
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Postby kiwiames » 29 Jul 2011, 08:18

I'd like to go down again for this ride, but only for the weekend itself. Unless someone else is doing that Ill have to train it down and ride the bike trail into Bright and hopefully scab a lift back on Monday. Then the only decision is weather i ride the 200 again and beat my time or try the 250. At least i have lots of time to decide.

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Camilla
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Postby Camilla » 29 Jul 2011, 10:51

Amy - Riding the bike trail from Wang is amazing! You get the entire world to yourself. Just you and the cows and the birds. Only trick is to take food! It was so early that nothing was open for the first 70km when I did it, and some of the 'towns' on the map are nothing but a pub (sadly shut at that hour). I was killing for a coffee by the time i rolled into Myrtleford.

I can get your bike home afterwards, but not your person.

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 29 Jul 2011, 11:07

I won't be going this year as I'm off to Adelaide for the TdF. Seriously fantastic ride and a must do.

RE: the weather and the distances, unless its raining all you need to take is a wind vest and arm warmers. If your doing the ACE its a good idea to do a few +200km Audax rides before the event to get your body used to the distance.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 01 Aug 2011, 20:57

Registration is open! I registered for the 250 ... gulp

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 03 Aug 2011, 13:14

Amy, I'm aiming to do it but will only go down for the weekend too... I have a car with plenty of room for bikes so you should have that option.

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JoTheBuilder
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Postby JoTheBuilder » 15 Aug 2011, 21:23

Sorry Amy! I won't be able to do this after all as I now have a hens weekend that weekend. As I am a bridesmaid it will be difficult to get out of it! And lets face it, a weekend of champagne is a welcome alternative...

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Camilla
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Postby Camilla » 22 Aug 2011, 09:58

Right. All signed up for the 250! Not looking forward to the 4am start but I'm told the sunrise is stunning.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 22 Aug 2011, 22:33

I'm looking forward to the sunrise too! The bits that come after that could be a bit challenging ...

Any other takers for the ACE 250?

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paul
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Postby paul » 23 Aug 2011, 23:02

I'm in for the 250.

Paul

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 02 Jan 2012, 20:35

I'm planning some social events for the Alpine Classic week. If you are going and haven't said so on this forum, or aren't staying with us, please PM me and I'll give you the details for our likely Australia Day BBQ pool party type thing.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » 02 Jan 2012, 21:29

How do I qualify for the 250

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 03 Jan 2012, 05:17

Do a qualifying event - Alpine Classic (200) or Fitz's Challenge or a couple of others - see link below.

http://www.alpineclassic.com.au/index.p ... &Itemid=71

However, I think I saw that the 250 entries have closed for 2012.

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 30 Jan 2012, 17:41

The women’s tennis final is on the TV, the household is watching the game after an early dinner. I can’t rest and am finalising my prep for the morning’s 3.30 departure. I spend the evening packing and repacking my seat bag, working out what’s going in each pocket. Fortunately I pack my DHBC rain jacket. It has been crying out for a tour of the Victorian Alps and a thunderstorm is forecast for the afternoon. Too bad I’ve got a steel bike – I knew I should have gone carbon. Oh well, too late now.
I write out schedules for me and Camilla of checkpoints, water points and avg speeds required for various target finishing times. I plan to finish at 7pm (15 hours) – I figure 250kms with 4,800m of climbing won’t be that quick.

Camilla and I have decided to ride the 6kms into Bright for the 4am start of the Alpine Classic Extreme. There’s another start at 6am for faster riders, Mark Lacey is one of them.

We leave a few minutes after 3.30am and roll down the hill to Bright. Lots of people are there already. We are on the lookout for other women and spot a couple. About 10% of the 400 riders doing the ACE are women we find out later from our vollie insiders. Adam and Ted are down at the start to see us off before going for special volunteer breakfast and then spending the day at the top of Falls Creek where they will get to see everyone we know at some stage.

We are off! The climb to Mt Hotham starts with a 1% grade out of Bright and gradually gets steeper. It’s pitchy black and I’m glad I have my Ayups and on hi-beam. A bunch settles behind us, commenting on the quality of the light Camilla and I are casting, but not taking a turn on the front. The night ride with all those lights looks pretty impressive. Behind Harrietville the climb starts in earnest and Camilla rides off into the dark. I ride up Hotham with Bec from Audax NSW and the sun rises just as we hit the top of Hotham, the sky is blue and the view fantastic. But, we’ve been riding for hours and only gone 60km or something!

I sort of catch up with Camilla at Dinner Plains control, we exchange texts but don’t see each other. Then it’s mostly downhill to Omeo, which is a bit before the halfway point. The ride is pretty good and although I can see others I mostly rode by myself, passing one guy on the downhill only to have him pass me on the up-hill. At Omeo, I see Camilla just about to leave and she tells me Mark who started 2 hours after us has already left Dinner Plain.

Leaving Omeo I check out my average speed on the Garmin and find that I’ve done avg 2,700kph! Kms of confusion and I can’t work out what has gone wrong – I though maybe it had suddenly changed over to calorie consumption or something useless. Then I notice the distance is 17,700km. I’m fairly sure this isn’t true. This problem keeps me occupied for quite some kms as we wind around hillsides pretty much following the contour line, just like Richard described it the night before. By the time I try resetting the screen, whilst still riding (against instructions from Ted and Adam not to try multi-tasking on the bike), I eventually realise I can’t fix the problem. At the next stop I end the ride on the Garmin and start a new one. Game plan now completely out the window! How will I know when the stops are? I didn’t pack an emergency pencil. (But I do have emergency everything else.) And I can’t work out average speed so that I will know whether I’m on track to finish by 7pm.

Not long after the water stop at the Blue Duck Inn I’m riding along a river and thinking that it’s quite hot, well over 30 and hotness reflected off the road, I should jump in. Then I notice some people have! But just then the road turns left and after a moment of indecision, I go left too and away from the river. BIG MISTAKE – it’s the 2nd steepest hill I have ever ridden up and there’s no going back. I realise this is the start of the dreaded climb up to Falls Creek. I’m determined not to get off and to go up this hill which is allegedly over 20%. I’m not looking at the Garmin at this point. People are getting off and walking. But it only goes for about 800m or something and then softens off to about 14% … for about 5km. I thought the stories of people taking their thongs off were myth, but no there were plenty with thongs in their back pockets trudging up the hill. I’m still determined and grind away at about 5kph or something stupid until after an eternity it gets less steep. The drink stops are about 20 km apart and there are extra barrels of water in between. It’s so hot it’s baking. Somewhere here I have to break out the emergency gel and a fruit bar both of which I have to force down. Mark comes up along side at some point and we chat briefly, he looks strong and rides off and I’m imagining he will catch up with Camilla.

After another eternity I got to Raspberry Hill for a drinks stop and a painful but welcome face clean with a spray gun to wash all the gunk out. It was excellent. Ate 2 bananas and was off again with a promise that there was only another 4kms of serious climbing and then flat across the high plains before a descent into Falls Creek. I was so looking forward to a brief respite at Falls Creek and that I would see Ted and Adam and eat rice cream and fruit cake. Fortunately it really is a descent into Falls Creek and Adam and Ted are there waiting. I’m the last Dulwich Hill rider and they had already greeted and sent on their way Richard, David, Simone, Michele, Camilla, Mark as well as a mysterious rider in DHBC kit who they didn’t recognise.

Camilla was now about an hour ahead of me, with Mark still to catch her. Her message to me via the boys was not to race down the hill. Warnings were issued about road hazards. Duly noted and I was on my way. I took it easy down the hill as I was tired by this stage, but more my feet were hurting as well as my shoulder and the combination of being in the drops, braking and pressure on my downward foot was quite painful. At one point I started hoping the uphills would start again! Must be mad. Saw one cyclist off his bike, and with a paramedic, which was sobering.

The closer I got to be bottom of Falls Creek, the hotter it became. It was now about 5pm and the hottest part of the day in this neighbourhood. Only the climb of Tawonga Gap to go. Camilla and I had said that when we got to the top of Falls Creek we would know would be OK, after all it’s only Tawonga. Think again, it broke a few people and it was a hard, hot climb. People were off their bikes walking again. The water stop with ice packs was welcome and I stuck one on the back of my neck for 5 mins before riding another 1km to the spring where I stuck my head under to get wet and off again. About now the Garmin gave up altogether and I had no idea what time it was but still hoping for 7pm. Got to the top of Tawonga and suddenly everything was great! Only 20kms to go and it’s all downhill. I descended fast and confidently and turned onto the road into Bright with just 5km to go and a slight decline, down in the drops riding as fast as I could.

I got into Bright at 6.59pm ☺

Camilla came in over an hour before me and just pipped Mark. Her ride was most impressive given her lack of actual training because of illness, PhD, weather and other catastrophes.

We gathered on the hill in front of the Brewery to cheer in the other riders. One of the best things about the Alpine Classic rides is the welcome you get as you cross the line. Not long after Ted and Adam arrived down from Falls Creek after a very long day volunteering and we stayed around to watch the Lantern Rouge (last rider) come in at about 8.30. Imagine our surprise when they said that rider was Ron Webster! We gave him an extra cheer and congratulations.

Just then the rain eventually turns up, but it’s only light. It had been fine all day but it was still about 30 degrees so the rain jacket was never required. It had been on a nice tour but added only warmth to my kidneys.

Post script – my exceptional bike handling skills came into their own at the very end of the ride. Camilla and I bravely got back onto our bikes and rode the 6km home. I rode into our place, around the back and decided to ride straight into the bike room and bunny-hopped over the small step. Could have got off just outside and walked the last 2 m … but didn’t. Bunny-hop failed and I fell over much to everyone’s amusement. Fortunately Camilla didn't have a camera this time. :)

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Dougie
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Postby Dougie » 30 Jan 2012, 19:09

Great report. Sounds like an epic ride that I can afford to miss. The internal combustion engine was invented to deal with these kind of distances!

Great work Eleri and all other DHBC riders (who is the elusive one? own up now....)

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tedrobin
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Postby tedrobin » 01 Feb 2012, 09:35

Ron Webster finishes as Lanterne Rouge to a rapturous reception and congratulations from DHBC podium-girls.

http://youtu.be/F92Z8cfXEB0

Sorry about the quality, but it was much darker than it looks in the clip, and my crappy little camera caught much more than I was expecting.

His first comment, not picked up by the microphone: "I had a bad day".

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tedrobin
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Postby tedrobin » 01 Feb 2012, 10:36

4am start for the ACE 250 (Alpine Classic Extreme).

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Scenes from the Falls Creek stop. Michele appeared not to have raised a sweat coming over Tawonga and Falls Creek.

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Richard appeared slightly bedraggled, but his spur-of-the-moment decision to have a go at the 200 on little training was heroic. Whether he finished is unknown.

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Camilla looked remarkably fresh after the back of Falls Creek, which I gather is one of Australia's nastiest climbs.

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Mark seemed pretty fresh too, although there was a slightly haunted look in his eyes after the back of Falls.

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Eleri said she would finish in 15 hours. She made it in 14:59.

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The Bright Brewery is a highlight of the finish-line.

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Ron Webster picks up the Lanterne Rouge.

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Richard
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Postby Richard » 01 Feb 2012, 12:46

"Richard appeared slightly bedraggled, but his spur-of-the-moment decision to have a go at the 200 on little training was heroic. Whether he finished is unknown."

I have now made my new year's resolution (albeit a little late into the year) "I shalt never attempt the Alpine Classic 200 again with only only six days of training. Never, never never..."

The day before the ride I went to register for either the 60km or at a stretch the 130km distance and somehow came out of the tent enrolled in the 200. Still unsure how that happened.

12 months off the bike to look after the kids on weekends (while Simone finished off her PhD) added a new dimension to my riding, namely 14kg's! That and a complete lack of any fitness made my decision to enter the 200 in hindsight seem a tad over optimistic.

I started off with the 200 riders and set a slow but steady pace and was on target to make it within the time cut. Tawonga was slow but OK, Falls Creek was long but the old carcass was holding in there. According to the scales I had been carbo loading for 12 months for this ride so I still had reserves to spare.

I found that the additional mass aided my descent prowess and it was the only time throughout the day that I overtook someone but the climb back over Tawonga Gap to Bright in 40 deg + temp put an end to my quest for glory. I opted to drop back to the granny gear (only to find I had been in it most of the day anyhow) and rode back to Bright to finish the 130km distance that I was originally intending to do.

The ride up Mt Buffalo in the afternoon heat was Don Quixote windmill too far.

There were a few baffled faces on other riders crossing the line. I finished with a few boy-racers that started the 200 at the same time as me before as they rode off into the distance early in the day. They looked so deflated thinking that I had beaten them over 200km "How on earth could this old lard-arse have flown past me on Mt Buffalo!!!! they thought"

I, like the true athlete I am, went straight to the Bright Brewery overlooking the finish line to start the recovery process and re-hydrated myself with a pint or two of Witbeer. Then lay on the grass next to the bike and slept for an hour.

Simone also finished the 130km with a similar lack of training as me.

Next year will be different!

Eleri
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Postby Eleri » 02 Feb 2012, 08:43

Finally, some photos from my camera

Australia Day Pool party BBQ with many of the usual Alpine Classic suspects

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The house we rented had cows - Ted is a cow whisperer. Here is an action shot

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4am start for me and Camilla. We both look just that little bit anxious

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And we are off!

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The point at which I should have jumped in the very inviting and cool river

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The turn I chose instead to be confronted by this uninviting, hot hill that only got worse

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The high plains (complete with rather large dam) part way through the descent into the Falls Creek control. The control is just out of sight in the distance but you have to ride round the dam first to get to it.

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The profile of the ACE250 and my time

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kiwiames
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Postby kiwiames » 02 Feb 2012, 10:11

Im so tempted by the 250 .... The 3 peaks (another option) is the same course but you start on Falls Creek - So the last climb of the day is the back end of Falls! ....

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Adrian E
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Postby Adrian E » 02 Feb 2012, 10:29

Great report Eleri... and great photos as well. Congrats to everyone who rode the Alpine Classic. You've wet my appetite to do it in 2013. Your experience of Tawonga Gap is much like mine. I think it is the hardest climb of the ride purely because you hit after 220kms of riding which is a bit beyond the comfort zone.


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