29.01.08
2008 Alpine Classic
It’s become a bit of a Broughton family tradition to go down to Bright for the long weekend with my Dad and Danielle hitting it up in years gone by; so this year i headed down too.
The 200k ride heads out from Bright over Towonga Gap to Mt Beauty. After Mt Beauty you immediately start the 30k climb to Falls Creek and from there head back to Bright again over Towonga Gap. Upon arrival back in Bright you have 130k of the ride covered. You then have to do the 70k return leg to Mt Buffalo Chalet (a 25k climb).
I started at 6:40 the second start time for the 200k ride with about 400 other cyclists. The first 10k was really sedate as the peleton rolled out towards Towonga Gap. Apart from two cyclists touching wheels and going down mid pack the start was pretty calm. Things changed however when the the haul up Towonga Gap started and the group exploded into a million pieces. It’s a 550m climb in about 12k. Over the top you race down to Mt Beauty. The climb up Falls Creek seemed to take ages. I hooked up with a group of young guys who were setting a good pace and were very entertaining. They seemed surprised that i was able to ride with them despite not being a member of the Canberra Cycling Club. Not long after we caught and passed Danielle (who started her 130k ride at 6:20) one of the boys needed to pee and slowed down so i left them to it assuming I’d see them again later. Riding off on my own i continued to climb. I seemed to be picking up a lot of people despite only riding at about 15kph. I got a second wind upon seeing the sign that said 10ks to the top, although after that every kilometer seemed to pass by slower and slower. Finally i passed the park entrance gates and rode the final few k’s into Falls Creek.
The one good thing about this ride is that if you’re not climbing you are pretty much going down hill. There was little in the way of long sections of flat riding, so for the next 30k (minus a kilometer or two of nasty rolling part) it was down hill to Mt Beauty.
Coming around a corner to see an Ambulance attending to a cyclist was a good reminder that this wasn’t a race and there was very few decent excuses for not getting to the bottom safely. Roger later told me he saw 3 ambulances as he descended falls creek after me.
It was then over Towonga Gap again (this time climbing the steep side - the same 550m but in only 8k). By this time it was starting to heat up and the sweat was really starting to turn itself on. Luckily from the top of Towonga it’s downhill and flat to Bright. About 10k from Bright i picked up a group and let myself get towed into Bright. Half of the riders in the group headed for the finish of the 130 the others including myself headed to the Bright rest stop for food and water, and Mum waiting with an Icy Cold Coke, which in the 34-35 degree heat was well received.
Deciding there was no time like the present I rolled out from Bright at the same as a few others, hoping to form a group for the 12ks of flat before the climb up Mt Buffalo. It wasn’t to be as when i went to have a turn the others seemed to drop off the pace. After 12k I reached the gates to the National Park and the climb began. I was starting to feel a bit sore and obviously as the hill went on and on the mental side of the game came into it. I started to play little games with myself, using the altimeter on my polar HRM I allowed myself to stand up out of the saddle for some respite every time I climbed gained another 50m of vertical. About half way up the climb i approached the water stop. Running my sums i decided I had enough fluid and decided against stopping to stay in the zone. Apart from the occasional twinges in the legs my body was holding together. However the sweat was flowing and my water disappearing. For a minute I was beginning to doubt my calculations.
Finally after a few last switchbacks I reached the top of the climb with just enough water to spare. I rolled the final 2k to the Mt Buffalo Chalet Checkpoint, filled my drink bottles and began to bomb it back down into Bright. About two thirds of the way down i went past my mates from Echuca who had stopped on the way up to stretch and were looking ordinary. They seemed shocked to see me, which made me laugh. Upon reaching the Park Gates I thought i might have a chance to go under 8h30 for the day. With a tail wind behind me I decided to push hard back into Bright, including dumping the extra 1.5kilos i was carrying in fluid out of my drink bottles. I managed to use the tail wind to average about 35k for the final 8 flat ks into Bright. In the end I was off by 10 minutes (but i also hadn’t looked at my watch since I left Bright). I ended up being out for 8h40 with an actual riding time of 8h10 for the 200ks (just under 25kph). Which I was really happy about, given i have only been back on the bike since about November.
I was grateful for the 500k in 5, especially the mountain days as i think that really played a huge part in my successful day out. I rounded out the day sitting in the icy cold waters of the Ovens River relaxing the legs. It’s a great event and an awesome part of Australia do to some riding. Maybe even better than Jindabyne! It’s a shame that the Australia Day long weekend has so much going on, because it’s an event well worth doing.
I think it’s finally time to make a return to triathlon now!