Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi all...
Im heading over to do the 3 peaks challenge ride next weekend...
http://www.3peaks2011.com.au/

235kms and 5334m vertical meters of climbing...

Anyone else heading over for it? if so how u feeling bout it? training done and and ready to go?? Any secret tips? Thoughts?

Hope theres a few Sth Aussies heading over for it...

Cheers
Harry

I know Dahondude is doing it.

Dr Mutley

You gave me a couple of water bottles last year which I am still using. They are great!

Yep I am heading to the 3 Peaks with my brother and a few other guys from Tassie. Flying into Melb and driving up on Saturday. We got the food/accommodation/entry package so will be staying in the bunkhouses and eating BV grub Sat and Sunday nights. They've downgraded the vertical climbing to something like 4200m (which is better than 5334, but still alot). All the Garmin profiles I have seen say something like 4200m.

I've blogged about my training/preparation/general brain dumps over on Adelaide Cyclistshttp://www.adelaidecyclists.com/profiles/blog/list. But in summary...

>if so how u feeling bout it?
Nervous...about the weather (riding for 10 hrs in the rain and at altitude isnt exactly enjoyable) and the amount of climbing (I've ridden the Marmotte course in the French Alps over 2 days and would never have considered doing it in a single day, but its shorter and has less climbing than the 3 Peaks!)

>training done and and ready to go??
Been averaging around 170km a week which is not nearly enough, but am relying on a 15 year base of regular riding/racing/cyclosportifs, the 600km I did during the TDU and am still carrying some form from 11 days in the French Alps/Pyrenees in Sept last year. Last training ride will be the Coast to Coast on Sunday.

>Any secret tips? Thoughts?
Consume 70g of carb per hour. Don't try and chase bunches. Save some gas for the last climb which is meant to be a killer (10% gradients for up to 10km). Keep my heart rate as low as possible. Pray for a sunny day!

Good luck and might see you in the throng. I'll either be wearing a white Molteni World Champ jersey (if its dry) or the black/yellow CVSA jersey (if its wet) and riding a yellow trek 1500.

Dahondude wrote:Dr Mutley

>Any secret tips? Thoughts?
Consume 70g of carb per hour. Don't try and chase bunches. Save some gas for the last climb which is meant to be a killer (10% gradients for up to 10km). Keep my heart rate as low as possible. Pray for a sunny day!

Good luck and might see you in the throng. I'll either be wearing a white Molteni World Champ jersey (if its dry) or the black/yellow CVSA jersey (if its wet) and riding a yellow trek 1500.

What size chain rings do you use? Good Luck

Mustang wrote: What size chain rings do you use? Good Luck

52/39 with a 12/27 rear cluster, This combo has gotten me up and over loads of Alps/Pyrenees climbs (including one section of 18% for 2km).
But if I was in the market for a new bike I'd get a compact and a 12/25 on the rear.

Dahondude wrote:

Mustang wrote: What size chain rings do you use? Good Luck

52/39 with a 12/27 rear cluster, This combo has gotten me up and over loads of Alps/Pyrenees climbs (including one section of 18% for 2km).
But if I was in the market for a new bike I'd get a compact and a 12/25 on the rear.

I come from the lowly flatlands of Perth and have been training with a 50/34 compact and 11-28 cassette but trying to stay out of the 28 as much as possible. After looking at the climbs on various sites with gps logs I have decided to get an insurance policy and ordered an 11-32 last week so I have another bailout gear for the start of the Falls climb at the end of the day.

Any suggestions on how to tackle the ride from those who have done it before? I have been looking at the course analysis and are thinking of this basic strategy. I will use my garmin and treat each section as a lap so that I can monitor my average speed for each section, any suggestions on other ways to do this?.

Hills are not really my forte so the plan for those is to just spin to the top if possible otherwise grind when necessary and try to maintain something like the lowest suggested average for the climb sections (12kmh).
"Flat" sections aim for the medium average without knackering myself as they are probably not going to be very flat either?
Downhill sections, let gravity be my friend and use it for recovery time as much as possible.
Stopping, pretty much as little as possible except for changing gear, food and calls of nature. The more time out of the saddle the less ride time I will have to complete the challenge.

I rode the alpine classic extreme in January.
My advice is enjoy it.
The scenery is stunning. Beautiful views, open roads, It is a wonderful place to ride.
It's not a race, it's all about endurance. I dont know the weather but be prepared.

Pick your heart rate and stick to it.
Eat every 40 minutes to an hour minimum.
Drink, drink and drink some more.

Other than back'o'falls, it is constant but not horrendous hills.
And you know, back'o'falls is ok when it is just one rise and one bend at a time.

I expected to feel a sense of achievement in finishing; what I didn't expect was the sense of wonder and fun.
Seriously enjoy a bloody good day out.
FWIW, my 250 km started at 4am in bright and finished at 3.21 pm. I had just over an hour of rests, peeing and eating. Mainly the last two.

And BTW, 53/39 11/28 was fine for a 40's year old wannabe.

Would love to do it, but think my ability is not up to it.

Would love to see some pics and more details as a potential challenge though ....

Im planning on doing it next year, so any feedback, advice etc you guys can put up on here will be greatly appreciated. Gotta get my dogs to bollards time trial down 3 minutes to match dahondudes first though!

Hi all from Falls Creek!
Good to see u doing it too Jeremy, hope to see u out there...

Great atmosphere here. Anyone thinking of doing it next year, my early impression would be to say go for it! Alot of riders here, of varying degrees of fitness & "pro-ness", which is nice

Glad the weather looks ok for tomorrow... Temps of 11 to 18 and a few showers... Could be much worse (ie like last year)

Off to carb up!

Dahondude wrote:

Mustang wrote: What size chain rings do you use? Good Luck

52/39 with a 12/27 rear cluster, This combo has gotten me up and over loads of Alps/Pyrenees climbs (including one section of 18% for 2km).
But if I was in the market for a new bike I'd get a compact and a 12/25 on the rear.

Having completed my first 3 Peaks yesterday I wouldn't dream of climbing the back of Falls with anything other than a 50/34 on the front.

I used an 11-27 on the rear and even then I was a couple of teeth short of what I needed to complete the last climb with the cadence I wanted.

The back of Falls, with 190km in the legs, is in another league to Hotham - treat it with respect.

grnis200 wrote:

Dahondude wrote:

Mustang wrote: What size chain rings do you use? Good Luck

52/39 with a 12/27 rear cluster, This combo has gotten me up and over loads of Alps/Pyrenees climbs (including one section of 18% for 2km).
But if I was in the market for a new bike I'd get a compact and a 12/25 on the rear.

Having completed my first 3 Peaks yesterday I wouldn't dream of climbing the back of Falls with anything other than a 50/34 on the front.

I used an 11-27 on the rear and even then I was a couple of teeth short of what I needed to complete the last climb with the cadence I wanted.

The back of Falls, with 190km in the legs, is in another league to Hotham - treat it with respect.

Coming up the back of falls was suffering at it's finest... 8kms straight up after 200kms ain't much fun... Then add in the rain! I agree with the compact suggestion, unless your a proficient climber, after 200kms, save yourself intermittently walking nag with a compact front & 28 rear... I ran with 39 x 27 and am proud to say I didn't stop once on the back of falls, but I was damn close at least 20 times!

Big props to anyone that finished... U had to be a hardcore mofo to complete the full journey...

Was glad to see the finish!!

Congrats.

Would love to see a more detailed writeup of the experience !!

MichaelB wrote:Congrats.

Would love to see a more detailed writeup of the experience !!

Will do when I get back to Adelaide... Awesome experience in all aspects... Driving back tomorrow

Start training now for next year!

Anyone interested in reading about the 3 Peaks experience from a variety of angles there are now quite a few online write ups...

The Climbing Cyclist - http://theclimbingcyclist.com/episode-2 ... challenge/

CyclingtipsBlog - http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2011/03/ ... more-17719

Nathan P - https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... ZGI5&hl=en

And my verbal diaorrhea http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/profile ... lenge-ride
http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/profile ... nge-ride-1

Great writeup there and some great pics.

Love the "This is serious" sign re brake testing prior to the steep descent.

With the weather history and the descents, a disc equipped bike makes sense !!!

Thanks !!!

Doc,

YOU LEGEND. Enough said.

Cheers

Travis