Below is my 3Peaks Challenge ride report. I previously posted in my Tri clubs Facebook page so apologies if some of you have already seen it. Apologies if its a bit long My 3Peaks ride report is here. Hope plenty more you guys get out there and take this challenge on. Ridden Sunday 09th March 2014 Ride start - Falls Creek Victoria Ride Finish - Falls Creek Victoria Distance covered - 235Km Aim - Ride under 11hrs Time to complete - 11hr 48mins Actual Ride time - 10hr 08mins (loved the rest stops) Weather - Lows of 6 and highs of 28 On Sunday I finished the 3Peaks challenge. It was a journey I will never forget. Got there on Friday and stayed with mates from WTC and our group “The Scientists”. The ride was on the Sunday and we started at 6:45am. WOW, how much fun is it riding down a 30K descent at close to 80Kph with 1800 cyclists. Yes, a fast and a tad scary but I got down to Mt Beauty. From Mt Beauty a “quick” climb up Towonga gap and then a fast descent into Harrietville. A nice break before starting the climb up to Mt Hotham. This is a 30K climb that will stay in my memory for EVER. Amazing, breath taking, thrilling, exhausting and INSANE. It can be broken into 3x 10K sections. The first is tough with the “Meg” being a solid ramp and the toughest part. The rest is still hard. The middle 10K just keeps on the going the scenery is amazing. I had to hold it together a few times as I was getting emotional knowing this was it. Got to an aid station 18K up and and looked across and saw this enormous climb was ahead. The final 10K is absurd. This included 3x 10% ramps that had many riders walking. I got up Ok and finally made it to an amazing descent on the other side. To try and describe this climb does not do it any justice. I recommend the 3Peaks climb for this experience. Amazing. After a long lunch break we rode fast down hill and solid across flats. My riding mate, James Pan went down on a wooden bridge. His front wheel got stuck in a gap and he went over the bars. Our plan to ride under 11hrs took a blow. James had a very sore shoulder. To his credit he soldiered on. We both rode solidly and had longer breaks to make sure James could rest his shoulder that was getting sorer. We eventually got to WTF corner and the final climb up to Falls Creek. This climb is hard. In fact, very very very hard. We hit it at 199K. Its a sharp left and then a right into 9K of climbing at an average of 9%. I rode the first half really well and then hit a low spot at 5K. I had to stop to swallow a gel. I was overtaking riders while I had been riding at 8Kph. Many, many, many riders walking up this hill. Just imagine riding the wall at West Head for K after K. Yes, that bad. After swallowing my gel I came good and made up some time. Got to the final rest stop before the final 27K to Falls. Yes, more longish climbs and then 12K of undulations before getting home. James and I rode into town very emotional but smiling immensely. We held hands high as we rode over the finish line together. I absolutely loved this ride. Highly recommended to anybody that wants a deep challenge. The distance, views, hills, location, mateship, and brutality make it something special, very special. It is extremely well organised and the mateship out there was amazing. I saw groups of mates pull up to help each other out when others punctured. There were support vehicles everywhere and plenty of nutrition. Would I do it again? Dont know. I have it ticked off and will see how I go next year. A truly amazing experience. A special time and life time memories with Chris Harmer, Scott Austin, Tim Peel, Neil Sheard, Ian Blaiklock, James Pan, David Wiles, Julian Edwards, Kurt from Melbourne, Thanks guys
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 06:28:43 +0000
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