Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi ALL

Had the pleasure of riding these 2 today. Headed out from our Barry st office up to Black Mt, guys here said its only the first 500m thats bad. Well unforutnately from our office to the start I didnt warm up and then up the hill. I hit it hard thinking it was going to be easy on the way up, I was a little wrong It hurt on the way up simply that I'd started too hard. Not sure if I'm pleased but I found my new max HR of 182 and not 178. Ride down was great !

Over to Mt Ainslee I went, got way lost way even though I had a google printout with me!!! Met up with another rider on the way ( from Russell st) who helped me get to the bottom. We were having a great chat on the start when another guy rode past us, hmm.....said goodbye to my partner and got onto the back wheel of this other guy and off we went. He happened to be doing interval training and he was good. I managed to get past him. Well the pain was on, really on. I managed to stay infront and as I'd never ridden it before, I let him pass me with 50m to go. I met him on the way down again and he told me we did 10 1/2 mins up which he said was a reasonable time. I have no idea if this is good or bad but I'd have to say its one of the tougher things I've done.

So back to a local LBS, I'm so so so close to buying the new bike, took it for a spin and its nice. Sorry I wont mention the shop or the bike, I dont want any of you buggers knicking it

Cheers..Pete

Hi Pete

Yep, the first 500m of Black Mt is the steepest part but I've learnt from painful experience to hold a little in reserve since there's still 2km of up to go after that. And a good warm up makes a HUGE difference. Mind you, that was your warm-up for Mt Ainslee.

I'd say 10 1/2 minutes for Ainslee is better than a reasonable time. Well done mate!

David

Dave

Thanks for the feedback. Must admit I'd tackle Black Mt a lot different next time, not so hard at the start and leave a lot more in the tank. I was really surprised at how many cyclists there were on both hills, maybe its all the public servants taking their prescribed 1 hour for lunch

Either way, there are lots of "Canberans" living healthier than I've seen in most other places !

Cheers..Pete

According to Cycel2Max 10 1/2 minutes is a pretty good time. I won't tell you my best time up it - let's just say that it's a bit more than 10 1/2 minutes.
ps. I'm registered at Cycel2Max, so I could see the page - I hope that every-one else can.

Hey Pete

Yes I had a look at that site last night. I cant believe a guy did that in 8 mins, thats amazing. IN the end Pete, no matter your time, you took the decision to ride it and made it which is a strong accomplishment. Its a tough one but well worth the effort

Cheers..Pete

sandman wrote:In the end Pete, no matter your time, you took the decision to ride it and made it which is a strong accomplishment. Its a tough one but well worth the effort

Agreed. There were days when I first started climbing these peaks that I got 1/2 way up and decided "too hard" and rode back down again. The instant relief when you quit is glorious, but by the time you reach the bottom you're already kicking yourself for giving up.

As David says, (and Pete found out) if you hit Black Mountain hard from the start, it tends to bite you back. I've done it in under 15 minutes, but the mountain goats are almost twice as quick. I'm still on the Cycle2max lists for Black Mountain, Mt Stromlo and the climb out of Lower Molongolo (Poopworks) from last year, so I'll have to give them all another go before too long.
I might whinge about climbing, but it's just that - whingeing! It would be good if there was an easy way to improve, but I think that the saying "The best way to improve your climbing is to ride up hills" is an absolute truth. The Hartley ride was a turning point for me - I led the team up all of the climbs, albeit slowly, and never had a problem. My current goal is to 'lock in' the 12-23 cassette which might be a bit of an ask, but there's only one way to find out.

DavidH wrote: ... there were days when I first started climbing these peaks that I got 1/2 way up and decided "too hard" and rode back down again. The instant relief when you quit is glorious, but by the time you reach the bottom you're already kicking yourself for giving up.

There's a lot of truth in that, David. I've only turned back on Black Mountain once, but I was regretting it well before I got to the bottom.

Hi Guys,

I'm new to all of this and have just bought a roadie (thanks to Paul at Smiths) after commuting on a MTB on and of for a couple of years.

I had my first crack at Black mountain and OMGosh. I didn't even make it to the 300m mark before my lungs were bursting.

The good news is that after reading this I decided not to give up. I ended up doing the "walk some, ride some" pattern untill I made it to the top.

Riding down was awesome, I'll have another fo next weekend.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Congrats on not giving up! It does actually get easier as your climbing fitness increases and you get to know the climb better.

Do you know what gear ratios you are using on your new roadie?

When I first climbed Black Mt my smallest gear at the time was a 39/23 combination, which meant a lot of slogging along at a ridiculously low cadence. I'm now using 39/25 which makes a HUGE difference on a climb like Black Mt.

See you out there some time!

David

Well done Rob!
As you've guessed, we've all fallen foul of the 'hit it hard' syndrome. Black Mountain just hits you back! I'm glad that you made it, and that you enjoyed the ride back down. That's the only real reward that you get, so you have to make the most of it.

Well done Rob for seeing it through to the bitter end. You will find that on subsequent climbs and as your fitness improves, there will be less walking and the riding will be easier. As the guys have said, its repeat and train, that will get you up that hill.

Next time I give it a go, I think I'll take the time to warm up a little and take it a tad easier on the first 500m.

Mate, its all gud, pat yourself on the back for challenging yourself, lots of people would just not even bother.

Cheers..Pete

Guys,

Thanks for the encouragement, when I bought my bike I went for a compact crankset.

I have to say it is my aerobic fitness that is lacking the most. I guess I've been bludging on my other rides more than I realised.

The good news is that it can only get better. I'll be having another crack at this on Wednesday.

Happy riding.

Rob

Rob, the compact crankset seems to be the most popular currently and seems a good all rounder to help you cover most of the terrain. I cant recall the gear I went up in, I do know on Mt Ainslee I was in the granny gear on the compact set towards the end.

Also, its good to have a goal and there is more than one way to get there. You've got some nice rolling hills along the Federal Highway heading north, these would be good to ride along at a quick pace to help build aerobic fitness. Keep the legs spinning, get the lungs n heart to work harder, they'll get used to it

Keep us posted as to how you go.

Cheers..Pete

Hey,

Just to revive an old thread, I replaced my clunker Apollo 21 speed with a Cell Hybrid with 8 speed alfine.
I took it up Black Mountain on Saturday with my brother in law and his 21 speed rock hopper.
I was pretty impressed with how I went with my 8th gear - the cadence on this gear is much lower than that on my BIL's mtb.

I had to stop 3 times for a breather and once to rip some thorns from my arm.

My stops were at the water revevoir, half way from there to the scenic lookout, the sceninc lookout and the summit.

From O'connor it took us 35 minutes - and My Max HR was 180 - and killed around 900kCal which I was pretty happy about.

Riding down was fun, the excessive sweating on the way up made for a brisk feeling of elation on reaching the top and speeding down (AT) 55kmh

I think my low cadence top gear is countered by the weight of my frame, I am not sure if I could have done it on my MTB regardless of it being 21 spd.

Keep going guys it gets easier & more satisfing

We have a group that tackles the mountains every couple of weeks & weve gone from sruggling at 1 to last week doing 6 none stop repeats. it very satisfing to better your last time or quantity of climbs.
We now have a goal of 10 repeats before next years alpine classic
Stu

stu wrote:We have a group that tackles the mountains every couple of weeks

Hi stu. What group would that be?

Black Mt never gets any easier for me. Even the "hey, I'll just take it easy today and enjoy the scenery" is hard work. And the days I decide to take a crack at my best time...ouch. Satisfying...I'll give you that, but easier...maybe one day

Just agroup of mates who all ride.....

When I say easier I mean easier mentally whilst the Mountain itself is still a bitch in your mind you know youve done one so you can work on two & so on.

Last weekend I takled it in a higher gear which is something ive never done before.

It hurt but i made it

Stu

stu wrote:Last weekend I tackled it in a higher gear which is something ive never done before.

It hurt but i made it

I'm a wuss. As soon as I hit the bottom of the mountain I select my lowest gear and it stays there. What was the effect of selecting a higher gear on the time it took you to climb Black Mt?

What are you guys riding up ?

I have tolock it inmy lowest gear and occasionally went downa gear for some stand on the pedal sections.

Because I'm only running an alfine 8 speed, it appearsto be harder than my riding partner who is ontop gear on 21 speed, but that just makes me work harder, knowing I can get up on less gearing thanhim is very satisfying...

That first x amount of meters to the reservoir, thats the killer - make it past that, and you're pretty much topped the mountain.

Dunno how you single speed roadies can do it... props to you guys.

DaNmAn wrote:Dunno how you single speed roadies can do it... props to you guys.

Agreed.

My lowest gear is 39 front, 25 rear on the race bike or 34 front, 23 rear on the commuting bike. I stay out of the saddle until the reservoir and then ride the rest of the way up in the saddle (unless I'm going for a personal best time and then will get out of the saddle for the last couple of corners and then a sprint up through the car park...followed by cardiac arrest like symptoms).

Ive been told that if you get out of the saddle always go up a gear.
Not sure how it affected my times with the change of gearing as we didnt time our selves.
You are right about the first half being the hardest yet when you go to Ainslie its the 2nd half that destroys you.

Ive got to get out & have another go at Fitzs as it been a few years since my last attempt

Stu

Just to throw this in here, I think Ainslee is a lot harder than black mountain.... maybe because I've ridden black mountain so many times. Ainslees kick at the end is incredible on a hot day. Its the only place where I've not only felt sweat accumulate, but I think I could actually feel it coming out of me... it scares me to remember that day!
I used to do reps (3 or 4 in a session) of black mountain on a 39/15 700c fixed gear, you need strength to do it, but it comes automatically if you stick with it. single speed/fixed gear isnt as tough as it looks. I think my heart rate definitely gets higher when climbing with gears.

I find Black Mt more difficult, but then again I've ridden Mt Ainslie much more often than Black Mt so I guess it's a question of familiarity (maybe).

I've just finished building a single-speed road bike and had my first ride today. Lasted 25 minutes. Getting blown into traffic is not my idea of fun (it's seriously blowing a gale in Canberra today). It has 42/16 gearing and I will have to seriously harden up before contemplating pushing it up Black Mt (or Mt Ainslie).

Here is the single-speed...will it ever climb Black Mt? Maybe one day...



This bike was completed yesterday and I braved the Canberra gale that's blowing today for a 25 minute ride. Tried to drop into a lower gear a couple of times . Will seriously need to harden up before venturing anywhere near Black Mt.