Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Great Vic... A bike ride. Part II

A few details about the Great Victorian Bike Ride 2014

(ha ha... blogging this was a good idea, now at least I'm bothering to read some of the details on the Bicycle Network website)

Where:      Albury to Lilydale
Duration:   9 days including two rest days (I'll only be riding 5 days... day one is a rest day... cool!)
Dates:        29 November 2014 - 7 December 2014
Distance:   520km (I'll do 334km Albury to Mansfield)

Towns the ride will pass through, Albury, Yackandandah, Bright, Myrtleford, Moyhu, Mansfield... There's more but I'm not going there so who cares! (Or check the route out HERE)

Terrain: A bit of unsealed road to negotiate and.... whoah! Holy crap! What the?! Hills! Bloody big ones! Oh yeh... 'The High Country'! Right, hills... We don't do hills here in Darwin. The elevation profile looks like I imagine my electrocardiogram will look when they've revived me after my first attempt to climb one!
This is an image of an ECG, it's not the actual Elevation map if you want that click HERE
I saw something in the email they sent me today about preparation, better go back and find out what I'm supposed to be doing.

OK there's a video and some basic advise HERE, on 'Final preparation tips'. (Final? Oh... whateva!) I'll summarize:

  • Something about next few weeks of training (too late mate, I only have one week!)... 
  • Ride multiple days in a row = Check! 
  • Don't have to ride long distances = Check! (top points on that one!)
  • More than three days per week / commute = Check!
  • Get used to being on the bike for several hours at a time. = (Well... Nahhh)
  • Get some experience in windy, rainy weather. = Huh? (We aint got none of that here yet.)
  • Wet weather gear.... = (in Darwin that means take your T-Shirt off and enjoy a warm shower... what's this joker talking about?)
  • Raincoat = (Is this guy a bit of a sook or what? Raincoat? What for?!)
  • Prepare for cold = (Huh?)
  • Nutrition, experiment with foods, energy etc.. = Check! Check! Double Check! (You got it brother! I'll get onto that right away... you can never be too prepared!)
  • Hone your descending skills = (descending? Oh yeh hills... Oh crap I'm going to need to fix my brakes!) 
  • Get your bike serviced before riding or make sure you check the cassette, chain, brakes, bottom bracket, tyres... = bla, blah blah blah... (OK, OK, I get it, I'll check my brakes, sheesh! bit fussy if you ask me!)

Damn it's past midnight! I thought this was going to be fun but it's shaping up to be a bunch of humbug!

Catch ya tomorrow, when I've had a chance to find out where they're hiding the fun on this little adventure.





    

3 comments:

GreenComotion said...

Hills like an ECG - go David go! Why couldn't they accept the cycle on the train, I wonder.
I am happy you finished safely.
Peace :)

GreenComotion said...

David,
You need to check out RAGBRAI - http://ragbrai.com, just for fun. It is a guided tour, with flat terrain and hills. I haven't been on it yet, but I know a few who have.

Peace :)

David J said...

Yeh the ECG spike looked just like the hill profile that's for sure!
I checked out the RAGBRAI site. Looks like a very similar set up. The website is huge. Have you done one of those rides Chandra?