Cycling (Challenge) 5:15:00 [4] ***** 115.0 km (21.9 kph) +3042m
CTAWA 10,000(ft) in 8 (hr) Challenge Ride. Starting at Kelmscott Railway Station.
Climb 1:
Up Brookton Highway, then up the very steep Peet street. Cold morning not warmed up hit bottom gear very quickly. A cruel start. Up Chevin road (low level climb) to Brookton Highway. Back down the hill via Araluen. Smooth road, fast downhill, very pretty with autumn colours, no wind what more could you want.
Climb 2:
Up soldiers road past Churchmans Brook Dam. One steep section which seemed to be very manageable despite changing to the lowest gear. (It seemed harder on the 5 Dams ride) Up to Albany Highway to the Canning Dam turnoff. Worst part of the ride, as the road shoulder is very degraded and rough. Speeding cars keep you off the better bitumen.
Climb 2a:
"Small" hill on the way to Canning Dam. Then very fast down hill past the dam. Cross the river at the bottom at a sharp right turn (almost did not stop in time) then
Climb 3: up out of the valley on the same road we came down on earlier hitting high 50's which means it is steep back up. Managable but the last corner, before it flattens out, is a little steeper than earlier and has me out of my seat as I do not have a triple. I am starting to think that I am riding a fixie not a bike with gears. Up to Brookton Highway and over to Canning Mills road via Chevin. This where we get to have a look at Climb 5 as we storm down hill reaching a reserved 69kph. This area was severely burnt in the Summer.It is amazing how some of these houses survived. A few km round the base of the scarp to the base of Canning Mills East road.
Climb 4: Tough climb up Canning Mills East road - bottom gear - 8kph - sore back now - a psycological battle as much as a physical one - very hot now - I have wait to until the top to take the thermal off - if I stop I may not restart. A U turn at the top of the hill and straight back down at high speed. Passed a BMX rider who had been driven up half way cheated on the climb. Round the base of the scarp to
Climb 5: Canning Mills Road - straight into the lowest gear and into a rhythm - I keep going by focusing on any thing else but the climb. We see the tail end of the CTA group going down - along day ahead for them. The climb goes on for ever. Even when it shallows of I cannot change up gears as there is nothing left. Then through Rollystone to Brookton Highway and fast to the bottom again
Climb 6: Patterson Road - Carradine road. I have attempted Patterson Road before and failed due to short section of 14% slope. With no petrol in the tank and inadequate gears I bottomed out and pushed the bike up this section. ( walking was still hard work). My partner had a triple but still only managed it by zig zaging up the road, a dangerous occupation with 4wd's looking for an excuse to take you out. Slow up the last section around Settlers Common (no climbing legs left) until Albany Highway. Let fly down the smooth surfaced Albany Hwy knowing there is no more climbing. Very happy to get off the bike in the end but satisfied with the acheivement. How do they do those climbs in the Giro??? What we did would be less than a normal day for thes guys.
With rest stops all finished in under 6 hours - riding time 5:15