Around the Bay 2013

[drnick79]

I failed... 210km clockwise, got the 12pm ferry over west and then the wind/heat killed me.. Running my Zipp 404's was a massive mistake as I was fighting the bike most of the ride. I Vlined it back from Geelong, dejected. 135km in the books. When I got off at Southern Cross and rode to the Art Center for my car I felt as if I could ride 100km no worries at all, damn you wind and heat!!! My riding partner kicked on after we split at 3:30pm and went over the finish line at 8:30pm. Massive effort from him!!

S

[dale79]

Did the 210 clockwise.. Was a very tough ride..

Probably won't bother traveling to melb to do it again..

[snark]

My apologies... I didn't factor such strong winds.
But I was right. No?!
Your legs had more than enough.

Well done Snark.
Great effort and 70km more than your longest previous ride is a super achievement.
Congrats

Technically, I'll say you were right . I'm sure I would have cruised it in without those awful winds. Well, "cruise" might be a bit optimistic, but I was still feeling pretty good at Geelong.

Cheers,
Simon.

[Gary78]

Completed the 210km clockwise. Curious on the actual distance though. Cyclemeter said 220km's, Strava 232km's.

Winds out of Geelong were a killer. Plenty of people on the side of the freeway coming into Werribee getting some rest.

Rode past the poor girl near Lara lying in the middle of the road. Was a terrible site and I thought the worst but glad to read the report on the 3AW news site that she only has a broken arm.

This was the first ATB I've done and I must say the signage around the course to alert motorists to the fact there's upwards of 14,000 cyclists on the road was pitiful. Also very surprised that the event supplied Jerseys have no 'high visibility' colours on them. Plenty of room for improvement for the event.

[BianchiCam]

I did the Sorrento Melbourne run in just under 4 hours. Then another hour getting back to Mordy, so that was 126km in around 5 hours.
Actually a really good day as I could gauge my bike fitness amongst others. Normally I am a lone wolf so riding in such a ride was an eye opener.
Sorrento to Frankston wasn't too bad. Lots of big groups but mostly going quite slowly.
From Franga the wind hit bad and I was sitting on around 24-26kph when normally in the high 30s.
Tacked on to a few groups from Chelsea to Mordy but found myself wanting to go faster! Believe it or not!
Took the front of a couple of groups but ended up loosing them! Ha!
Big shout out to the few riders that let me draft along Beach Rd. Made a big difference. From Mordy to the city I found myself overtaking most riders and wasn't passed much except for a couple of serious TT riders that I vainly tried to catch.
I thought that once we had turned onto Beach Rd the wind would be more bearable, wrong. It just didn't stop but it was consistent without the normal buffering wind we get down here.

Few negatives but I know it's a rec ride.
1 many riders taking the car lane when it wasn't necessary.
2 when you've overtaken someone, is it proper etiquette to keep a bit left so others can pass without going into the car lane.
3 a number of riders were acting like they were the only ones on the road. Riding two abreast in a full lane (legal I know) and havering a good old chat. Very hard to pass and when there are a number of riders behind, downright dangerous.

Jus saying that's all.

To the two numpties, one just out of Frankston on the way back to the city. Would it not be wise to take that phone call on the side of the road instead of while riding?
And lastly, near Black Rock, to the dude that was ahead of me riding in the center of the lane, checking his water bottle (which looked empty by the way he was shaking it) best to keep both hands or at least one on the bars as you are weaving around while I was approaching you in order to pass. I gave him a spray at the next lights with about 4-5 other riders. He was looking a tad sheepish.

Apart from that rant, it was great. Typical, today Is cool with very little wind. *shakes fist at sky*

Cheers,

Cam

[Summernight]

I did the 50km with my mother. We both made it and I tried to have her draft me for as much as possible although the wind was very bad, especially on the way home and she just didn't have the fitness to keep up a decent speed to stay in my draft (as well as her bike weighing probably 20kgs).

I had to drop my mum on the way home because she was going so slowly that I couldn't ride at that slow pace, especially in that wind and I just wanted it to end. She was okay with me leaving her behind, so off I went. I was riding on my own as most of the people I was passing were going slower than me so I couldn't use them as windbreaks and then a lady who had been drafting me for a little bit passed me so I hopped onto her wheel and used her to make that headwind less yuck. She pulled away from me on the uphill on the Westgate on the way home, but I didn't mind as I was almost there. Then I got to 60kph on the downhill of the Westgate (no-one was near me so I had some fun). I was going faster than the cars.

Just before hopping on the Westgate for the return leg it looked like a car had had an incident with one of the riders (although he and his bike looked fine) and then on the bridge it looked like someone had had a multi-bike accident or something on the downhill section (losing control in the crosswind, maybe?) with a rider lying on the ground on the bridge.

I passed the lady I'd been drafting in the headwind somewhere. Anyway, got to the finish line, booked myself and my mother into the massage and she arrived 10 minutes before she got hers, whereas I waited 40 minutes. I'm not complaining. I had fun but I don't know if I'd do any longer distance (unless I was with a group of people who ride at my speed). Maybe that was the wind too. Garmin said it was 55kms all up.

I still managed to smile and give a thumbs up to any official photographers I saw.

EDIT: Oh, and the signage warning drivers was terrible and some Melbourne drivers showed they know nothing about driving around bicycles.

[djw47]

Did the anti-clockwise 210 and clocked 7hr 15 riding time which I was very impressed with.

The good:
the wind on the way down to Queenscliff - I was sitting at well over 40km/h for most of the way.
the ferry - arrived at Queenscliff at 9.45 and got on the 10am ferry, I had expected to wait ages so was pleasantly surprised.
the organisation - the food at the halfway point was well needed and more than enough to keep me fuelled for much of the second stint, and the regular water stops were well manned and organised - well done to all those who volunteered and were shouting encouragement.
the team work - riding together in bunches with people I'd never met, people were friendly and generally worked for the group taking their turns at the front and keeping the pace up.
the guys who sacrificed themselves leading groups into that wind - I did a few stints across the mornington peninsula and that was tough into the wind, but the guys who led large bunches going north from frankston were heroes.

The bad:
the northerly wind all the way back from sorrento was horrific and unrelenting.
the knobheads who ignored the single file downhill bits on the mornington peninsula and rode down the middle of the road holding up traffic and being a danger to us all - you gained nothing and did none of us any favours.
the riders who didn't understand the concept of keep left making overtaking in the cycle lane dangerous.
the car park at fed square that charged me for two days parking because I arrived before 6am.
the traffic lights up beach road and into the city - or as I'm now calling it, the red light district.
the anti-climactic finish - would have been good to at least get a show bag and a bottle of water would have been appreciated, it took me ages to find the powerade stall.


Overall, a good day, and I achieved more than I expected with my time and the general lack of suffering - training obviously pays off! Would I do it again next year? Ask me in 9 months...

[snark]

Completed the 210km clockwise. Curious on the actual distance though. Cyclemeter said 220km's, Strava 232km's.

Gary, I had 219km on my Garmin and on Strava. I can't describe the negative feelings going through my head as we saw the sign underneath the Westgate saying "15 km to go" when I was showing 205km done on my Garmin

Cheers,
Simon.

[kman]

did the 250km anticlockwise.. about 50km into the ride was with a pack going at about 40kmh I reckon... I hit a damn metal bar and flew off my bike. Ripped jersey, bleeding legs, sore wrist and shoulder. badly torn saddle and handlebar tape. Fortunately no mechanical damage and managed to finish my ride in agony.

and I Missed the 10am ferry

Kman - that's terrible to hear.
Glad to hear you're ok, and it wasn't any worse.

Just a quick question - do you ride a white orbea?

Hey Dimis, yea thought I was pretty lucky and I was in my white orbea. Did you ride past?

I went back and got the bar off the road so no one else would be a victim

[djw47]

Completed the 210km clockwise. Curious on the actual distance though. Cyclemeter said 220km's, Strava 232km's.

Gary, I had 219km on my Garmin and on Strava. I can't describe the negative feelings going through my head as we saw the sign underneath the Westgate saying "15 km to go" when I was showing 205km done on my Garmin

Cheers,
Simon.

On the anti-clockwise ride, my Garmin clocked exactly 210km, I wonder if there's an extra 9 or 10km on the clockwise ride because you're on the "outside" of the loop in the left lane? Assuming a road is about 10m in width on average, you'd be riding 10m further from the centre of the loop for the whole ride which over that distance would add up to a significant extra distance.

[Cowcorner]

What can I say? Horrible - horrible - horrible. In retrospect, doing the 135 in those conditions was probably not a good idea. I think it may have been the only ride where there was no discernible tailwind on any part of the route. Geelong to Queenscliff was OK, but from Sorrento onwards was just a slog all the way to Melbourne. I actually felt jealous watching the guys screaming down south towards Sorrento, but then I realised that, at some stage, they were going to have to head north again. And I just had nothing in the legs at all yesterday - I think the combination of age and being underprepared (compared to last year) came back to bite me hard.

On the plus side, thank-you to the vast majority of motorists who seemed quite patient and understanding on the day. Kudos also to the guy on the green unicycle coming down Oliver's Hill into Franga - that was seriously impressive.

[Robthommo]

I completed my first ATB yesterday. 210km clockwise

As previously mentioned there was an extra 9km. My garmin came in 219km as well

Tough day. My longest ride by far. Also my preparation could have been better as I had a 3 week holiday in Vietnam that I returned from on October 9.

Highlight

The ride to Sorrento. 3 hours of bliss with the tail wind

Lowlight

Geelong to Melbourne and the puncture at Hoppers Crossing

Strange happening of the day

Was riding through Rosebud West when the group I was with got flashed by one of the local women. Our group almost crashed

Took 11 hours exactly to complete. 9 hours 44 min ride time

Asked if I would do it again last night I said no. Thinking about it this morning I may change my mind

[kb]

...
about 5 minutes later I left and as I change up gears I hear and almighty crunch and the rear derailleur managed to shear itself off the hanger, totally sieze up the chain and bent 2 spokes

That's nasty. Simple chain jam is enough to make me cringe.

...
I was questioning whether or not if I will do the ABD again and I am leaning towards not, its a long flat slog and I think I prefer to climb some hills and go down em.

Yeah, I don't think I'll do it again with the masses. Still like the area though. Maybe something like Bay2Bay.

The wind was a pain in the hills too. You're welcome to join me on my alternate route (if over the next 12 months I forget how painful it was and do it again )

http://www.strava.com/activities/90187544" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[im_no_pro]

On the plus side, thank-you to the vast majority of motorists who seemed quite patient and understanding on the day. Kudos also to the guy on the green unicycle coming down Oliver's Hill into Franga - that was seriously impressive.

Holy crap.... we saw him at the Franga rest stop, I wanted to asked him but assumed there was no way he could have done it any way other than walking. Guess I was wrong

[snark]

Completed the 210km clockwise. Curious on the actual distance though. Cyclemeter said 220km's, Strava 232km's.

Gary, I had 219km on my Garmin and on Strava. I can't describe the negative feelings going through my head as we saw the sign underneath the Westgate saying "15 km to go" when I was showing 205km done on my Garmin

Cheers,
Simon.

On the anti-clockwise ride, my Garmin clocked exactly 210km, I wonder if there's an extra 9 or 10km on the clockwise ride because you're on the "outside" of the loop in the left lane? Assuming a road is about 10m in width on average, you'd be riding 10m further from the centre of the loop for the whole ride which over that distance would add up to a significant extra distance.

A quick bit of naive maths doesn't seem to help with that explanation . If we rode in a perfect circle with a radius of about 33.432km, adding 10m to that only adds about 60m to the ride.

Which way did the anti-clockwise come off the Westgate? We had to do a little jig up Hyde St and along Francis St before sweeping back around to the bridge. If you came straight off the bridge and turned left down Melbourne Rd that might explain the extra 9km. My ride is here on Strava - zoom in to the top to see where we went.

Edit: scratch that (partially) - Bike Route Toaster shows that would only add about 3km. There's still 6km missing...

Cheers,
Simon.

[djw47]

Gary, I had 219km on my Garmin and on Strava. I can't describe the negative feelings going through my head as we saw the sign underneath the Westgate saying "15 km to go" when I was showing 205km done on my Garmin

Cheers,
Simon.

On the anti-clockwise ride, my Garmin clocked exactly 210km, I wonder if there's an extra 9 or 10km on the clockwise ride because you're on the "outside" of the loop in the left lane? Assuming a road is about 10m in width on average, you'd be riding 10m further from the centre of the loop for the whole ride which over that distance would add up to a significant extra distance.

A quick bit of naive maths doesn't seem to help with that explanation . If we rode in a perfect circle with a radius of about 33.432km, adding 10m to that only adds about 60m to the ride.

Which way did the anti-clockwise come off the Westgate? We had to do a little jig up Hyde St and along Francis St before sweeping back around to the bridge. If you came straight off the bridge and turned left down Melbourne Rd that might explain the extra 9km. My ride is here on Strava - zoom in to the top to see where we went.

Edit: scratch that (partially) - Bike Route Toaster shows that would only add about 3km. There's still 6km missing...

Cheers,
Simon.

Yeah, maths was never my strong point...

Looking at your route, you seems to have done a convoluted route via Altona between the freeway and the bridge - we went over the bridge, off at the first slip road, through the traffic lights and then straight back onto the freeway all the way to the werribee area - not sure that would account for 9km, but probably adds a couple to your route.

[cyclotaur]

The Strava iPhone app records a slightly longer distance than a Garmin GPS does. This seems true for almost any ride.

I rode with a mate using his iPhone/Strava. He showed 122.6 against my 188.5 kms (Garmin) for the exact same ride from Rye>Sorrento>Melb>Balwyn.

Might explain some discrepancies.

[Cowcorner]

On the plus side, thank-you to the vast majority of motorists who seemed quite patient and understanding on the day. Kudos also to the guy on the green unicycle coming down Oliver's Hill into Franga - that was seriously impressive.

Holy crap.... we saw him at the Franga rest stop, I wanted to asked him but assumed there was no way he could have done it any way other than walking. Guess I was wrong

I actually passed him in the higher section of Oliver's but it was still reasonably steep even at that point. I think my helmet cam was still running at that stage but I haven't had a chance to go through the footage yet. Assuming it's there I'll post it tonight and attach the link. Watch this space.

[adrian_d]

I can say I was cringing at the thought that I wasn't attending this year. Congratulations to all that attended, and i'm sorry to hear that there was some injuries but wish you a quick recovery so you can get back on the bike.

Was there also a bad headwind last year? I remember hitting a wall at the last 20km of the 100km event and ended up almost at a snails pace. I'm hoping to get more experience.

[ratter]

I did the 100 klm from Sorrento to Melb, I was supposed to do it with a relatively new rider but has been unwell for the last month or so decided to pull out, probably a good thing considering the wind.

A few things I noticed

The starting areas, if people are sticking to their designated speed start time, why are the faster riders passing very slow people on the road in the first couple of klms?
Through Chelsea, a guy leaning off his bike in the gutter, his wife (I assume wife) sitting on her bike beside him still in the middle of the lane, please get off the road next time.
Because of the tailwind for those coming from the city and then turning around at Frankston, we came across many riders that had very little bike skills and found it difficult in the headwind heading north, one kid lost his footing off his pedal and nearly went down in a group of maybe 20 riders.
As mentioned previously, there were many riders taking up a complete lane and causing other riders to pass in the car lane, please keep left in future.
Not many punctures this year that I saw, great compared to previous years.
I appreciated my wife, who is 7.5 months pregnant (so could not ride this year), playing support for me, with cold water bottles at Frankston and Blackrock

Did I have fun? No not really
Was it hard work with a headwind pretty much all day? yes it was, I don't think I've been so buggered and really felt for those doing the bike rides and having to face the headwind on the return trip.
Was I almost ready to give up? yep just after Frankston I felt why bother, but stuck to my guns and finished.
Would I do it again? most likely

[snark]

Looking at your route, you seems to have done a convoluted route via Altona between the freeway and the bridge - we went over the bridge, off at the first slip road, through the traffic lights and then straight back onto the freeway all the way to the werribee area - not sure that would account for 9km, but probably adds a couple to your route.

Bingo! Straight from Willy Rd to Point Cook is 12.9km and the silly route we took was 22.1km.

Convoluted indeed. I had no idea where I was .

Cheers,
Simon.

[djw47]

if people are sticking to their designated speed start time, why are the faster riders passing very slow people on the road in the first couple of klms?

This is incredible annoying, the number of plodders who go away in the first few waves is ridiculous, by the bridge I'd already passed about 50 people. I was in zone 2 (30-35km/h) and came home averaging about 30km/h - lower than I planned due to the wind on the return leg - there's no way everybody who started ahead of me finished ahead of me given the number of huge groups I passed on the freeway. I don't get it - there's nothing to be gained from starting ahead of others if you're going to spent 10 hours being overtaken constantly which must be soul destroying, not to mention the risk you pose to those trying to pass.

[adrian_d]

if people are sticking to their designated speed start time, why are the faster riders passing very slow people on the road in the first couple of klms?

This is incredible annoying, the number of plodders who go away in the first few waves is ridiculous, by the bridge I'd already passed about 50 people. I was in zone 2 (30-35km/h) and came home averaging about 30km/h - lower than I planned due to the wind on the return leg - there's no way everybody who started ahead of me finished ahead of me given the number of huge groups I passed on the freeway. I don't get it - there's nothing to be gained from starting ahead of others if you're going to spent 10 hours being overtaken constantly which must be soul destroying, not to mention the risk you pose to those trying to pass.

I must admit the most daunting for any newcomer is seeing the team racers fly past leaving me for dead haha. They look so professional, its like seeing Jumbo Jet Pilots walk past you at the Airport. What awesome Flair they have.

[teK--]

got off at sorento and the wind had picked up. I got to frankston feeling it, place my bike on the ground. Another rider tried to hold his bike up by resting the pedal on a bit of concrete, of course it fell over and onto my bike he promptly picked his bike up, apologised and left

about 5 minutes later I left and as I change up gears I hear and almighty crunch and the rear derailleur managed to shear itself off the hanger, totally sieze up the chain and bent 2 spokes

Sorry to hear mate it's always a bummer when what is a great day gets ended quick due to a mechanical or injury. The long ferry wait was probably the biggest downer for us and I don't particularly like having my bike stacked up like dominos to be honest, but I what I do notice is generally everyone takes a lot of care moving their bikes in and around others' whether they have a cheapie or a mega expensive ride

[joe88]

As someone who started in Zone 4, one of the frustrations was that Bicycle Victoria would not provide any insight to the starting time of the zones - although the FAQ's suggested that they would do so closer to the event date. All they said is that the 210 starts from 6am. Anecdotally, we heard reports that Zone 4 had started close to 7am in previous years. Surely they could have said Zone 1-2 at 6am and Zone 3-4 at 6:30.

I had a great day doing the anticlockwise although our group was not fast at all. For most of us, it was our first organised cycling event and we didn't really know what to expect. Hate to be a whinger, however found a few aspects of the organisation to be a little below expectations considering this is Australia's biggest bike ride and we paid $190 each for the privilege:

- No clarity about starting time - lots of people queue jumped their allocated zones
- No free food/bars/ at rest stops (at least not that we saw). Do recall a bbq in Geelong - not sure if that was free (and not what you want to eat on a long ride)
- Less signage / marshalling than expected. Relatively few signs warning cars to slow/take caution.
- 2.5 hour wait for the ferry for some of our crew because the 1pm ferry filled up by 10:45 and they had to (unexpectedly!?) organise an extra one
- No safety bollards on Beach Road when we came through at 7pm. At least a hundred riders still behind us, all having to cross three lanes of traffic to turn into Bay Street.
- Finish area closed down when we arrived - which we expected. We still got an official time which was good. Not sure why BV couldn't keep this open to 8pm or at least have a staff member on hand to hand out the medallions.