Degani Arthurs Seat Bay 2 Bay Ride: Sunday the 29th of April
Hello again, one week later and another way for me to hurt myself. I have used Arthurs Seat as a measuring stick to help gauge my fitness over the past couple of years. Every time I try to tackle it, it has always been a question of how many times I need to stop on my way up rather than a question of what time it has taken me to complete the climb.
I have never been a great climber but have been able to hold my own depending on the group I am riding with. Coming back to the sport after a long break, though, I am still trying to find the climbing legs that I used to have. This climb still scares me; only about four kilometres long but with an average gradient of 8% and hairpin turns that kick up to around 20%, it hurts.
So with a little encouragement from the Gran Prix group ride guys and some trepidation I signed up for this year's Bay 2 Bay Ride.
The week leading up to this event was spent both recovering from the Gravel Grinder the week before and trying to build some energy reserves for the big day. I was nervous to say the least.
Up with the birds on Sunday morning, I started pouring as much coffee down my throat as I could stomach. I have never been able to eat breakfast even on a normal day so on a day with butterflies in my stomach it was really going to be a struggle to get anything solid down. I forced myself to eat though knowing that I would regret it later on in the day otherwise and drank more coffee, never too much coffee. Then I packed the van and headed off to Mornington for the start.
I parked just near the start and started getting ready, still plenty of time in hand.
Rain was predicted all week, but I woke up to a gorgeous morning instead.
At the start.
We were lined up like cattle in grades of meat, prime cuts to the front and the older, chewier cuts toward the back. I was one of the chewier ones.
We patiently awaited our time to get underway keeping an eye out for the people I was supposed to be meeting at the start but hadn’t seen yet..
“If I put on a confident face maybe I will start actually feeling that way?”
Gingerly taking off, it didn’t take long to realise that we were in the wrong group - time to start chasing. It didn’t take long before we had integrated the group in front and took the lead. Not exactly the easy ride to the base of Arthur’s Seat that I was hoping for but lots of fun none the less.
This was certainly not the normal way I ride down to Arthur’s Seat; we were taking some roads I had never ventured onto. It was certainly a good choice of route, some nice rolling hills to get the heart pumping and a nice long descent down Nepean Highway.
Before long we were back to more familiar terrain, making our way back down to Dromana and along the beach before turning left to start climbing. You are climbing a decent hill even before you hit the climb proper at the gates to Arthur’s Seat park. After a short break to strip off a couple layers of clothing it was time to start suffering. The first section of the climb after the gate really does hit you like a wall, a good few hundred metres at 10% gradient really lets your legs know that the climb has started. Then you hit the first hairpin and almost come to a grinding halt. Awesome, are we having fun now? This pattern continues for the next four kilometres or so.
A couple of hairpins in now.
At the top of the climb the first rest stop was lying in wait, it was also the first time I had seen the guys I was going to meet at the start. Quickly jam some complimentary energy bars into my pockets, squeeze a gel down and top up my bottles. I got done in time to see the guys taking off into the distance, oh well, time to start chasing again. It was a nice road to chase on though, mostly downhill rolling terrain to the other side of the peninsula.
I kept catching glimpses of the Gran Prix Bicycles jersey colours and thought I was about to catch back up only to drift back again when the road turned uphill. Awesome roads out here though, so I didn’t mind chasing much at all here.
Second rest stop.
Now it was time to feed and water myself some more and get ready for the next section that apparently included the “Corkscrew”. I had been told on the start line about this climb and how it was a tougher climb than Arthur’s Seat, just what I wanted to hear. At least I had caught back up with the guys now and would hopefully be able to stay with them for the rest of the ride. There certainly was some tough climbing coming back to the northern side of the peninsula but I was starting to feel good now and the climbs seemed to pass by without too much grief.
Back on top of Arthur’s Seat now with a bit more time to take pictures.
I was looking forward to the nice long downhill from here and a chance to recover from the climb back up to the top of Arthurs Seat. One more rest stop that nearly caused a crash in our group because it was placed on a fast downhill and we didn’t spot it till the last second. More refuelling and back on the road again, dreading climbing back up the descent that we had at the start of the ride. It is a wide open road, so you get to see exactly how far it is to the top the whole way up. Just killing me at this stage of the ride.
I was feeling pretty good though, I managed to keep both my fluid and food intakes high enough that I wasn’t getting any hunger flat. Note to self, eat lots and drink even more. I was even feeling strong enough to put in a little sprint at the finish line, I reckon I might have gotten up to all of 30km/h!
Fantastic day, great ride, great people and great feeling of achievement. I actually made it in one piece and am now thinking that I could have gone harder, next year it is.
It was a very well organised event and I will definitely be back next year for some more punishment. A big thank you to the team at Degani for a job well done.
- Brad.
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