Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

LateStarter
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Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby LateStarter » Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:46 am

A little more accessible (for Sydneysiders) and maybe more achievable for many of us than Alpine 320s.

Well the Newcastle Overnight is on again (5th edition)

Saturday 10th December 2016 at 9pm, arrive early, (by 8 at least) for admin and to check out the bikes, starting from Observatory Hill, southern end of Sydney harbour bridge finishing Sunday morning Newcastle City Baths.

The Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10070048

Some details: https://newcastleovernight.com/

Registration: Online registration via Audax Portal https://www.audax.org.au/portal/index.p ... night-2016 (closes 11pm Friday 09/12/2016)

111 riders registered already for this great ride, over 280 registered last year and quite a few others riding part way.

You have to do it at least once, great support at Mt White (60 kms) & Budgewoi (120 kms) to help everyone finish. Weather forecast looks great.

See you there.
Bill (Long Distance Dreamer)
2008 Cannondale Touring 2, 2013 Vivente World Randonneur, 2015 Lynskey Sportive Disc

sobmal
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby sobmal » Mon Dec 12, 2016 9:14 am

Amazing ride! This was an awesome experience.

The support crew were amazing, what an absolutely lovely generous bunch of people.

My only complaint was the unrelenting headwind, but once finished even this complaint turns into something that made the ride so much more personally rewarding.
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby tcdev » Mon Dec 12, 2016 3:20 pm

Another one of those events that I'd love to experience but will have to wait until my kids are a little bit older and not so much of a burden in the mornings on their mother. Leave passes are quite difficult to come by these days, especially an overnight that would effectively wipe me out for the Sunday as well. :oops:

Glad to hear it was such a success again. Assuming this gets bigger every year, I'd like to have a go before it goes 'mainstream' and gets completely out of control, like the Sydney to 'Gong or - reportedly - the Spring Cycle is now.
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queequeg
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby queequeg » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:23 am

What you missed at the finish

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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby queequeg » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:32 am

tcdev wrote:Another one of those events that I'd love to experience but will have to wait until my kids are a little bit older and not so much of a burden in the mornings on their mother. Leave passes are quite difficult to come by these days, especially an overnight that would effectively wipe me out for the Sunday as well. :oops:

Glad to hear it was such a success again. Assuming this gets bigger every year, I'd like to have a go before it goes 'mainstream' and gets completely out of control, like the Sydney to 'Gong or - reportedly - the Spring Cycle is now.
I don't think you need to worry about this going "mainstream". For one, the distance is a killer for many people, as is the complete lack of any support on the route. It's a true Audax ride, and aside from the two well stocked controls at Mt White & Budgewoi, you are basically on your own.

It was 3rd year straight doing this event. This time I herded a bunch of 12 from our club, and I was the designated pack horse. I had two pannier bags stuffed with every spare imaginable, none of which was needed thankfully.

It was a another great night. Despite the much more cruisy pace we set early in the night, we actually knocked 5min off our time from last year. Don't ask em how, but we left pretty much at the back of the pack and by Mt White we were in the first 50, and we passed most of the rest by the second stop. There were only 4 or 5 riders at Newcastle when we got there about 5 min before Sunrise, assuming nobody else had arrived and then buggered off lol.

I have grabbed video again this year but haven't put it together yet. Been too busy catching up on my sleep!
'11 Lynskey Cooper CX, '00 Hillbrick Steel Racing (Total Rebuild '10), '16 Cervelo R5, '18 Mason BokekTi

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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby tcdev » Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:07 am

queequeg wrote:I don't think you need to worry about this going "mainstream". For one, the distance is a killer for many people, as is the complete lack of any support on the route.
My longest ride to-date is just over 80km, though my riding is constrained far more by time and opportunity than any other factor. Of course when I do have a crack at it someday I'll ensure I put in the necessary km beforehand. I've been planning to do a metric century for a few years now but - for example - I don't think I've had more than 1 or 2 rides over 40km this year. :oops: Again, not because I've wanted to stop!
queequeg wrote:I have grabbed video again this year but haven't put it together yet. Been too busy catching up on my sleep!
When you do get the chance, I'd love to see it.
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sobmal
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby sobmal » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:21 pm

The two control stops (with snacks, coffee and water) as well as the 200 or so other cyclists are pretty much all the support required.

The original plan had been to ride at a relaxed but steady pace with a few friends, but the plan kept changing as people joined in our little bunch and the effort seemed to lift as we battled the steady headwind until it seemed that all of a sudden we had accumulated quite a few more into our little bunch and were looking good to make the 4:30am train departure for the return trip, but then we had a puncture followed by another so by the time we got to Newcastle we just missed that 4:30 train and the cafe was not yet open for business. I suspect the first rider would have made it in around 4am

I will be back next year for sure, although I'm going to ride it a little slower so I can arrive as the sun is rising and the coffee hot.. as that would be a perfect way to end such an epic ride.
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby Leethal » Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:35 pm

queequeg wrote:I don't think you need to worry about this going "mainstream". For one, the distance is a killer for many people, as is the complete lack of any support on the route. It's a true Audax ride, and aside from the two well stocked controls at Mt White & Budgewoi, you are basically on your own.

It was 3rd year straight doing this event...[snip]

Great effort from all that cycled up in the dark. I rode up with four others (my first ride to Newcastle) in daylight hours on Saturday. Quite a bit of traffic on the highways, but no close passes which was nice. It's very scenic in sections, which may not be seen in the dark, so awaiting the video to see the attraction of riding it after dusk?
EDIT: as I'd be keen to have a crack in the dark next year! :)
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queequeg
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby queequeg » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:05 pm

sobmal wrote:The two control stops (with snacks, coffee and water) as well as the 200 or so other cyclists are pretty much all the support required.

The original plan had been to ride at a relaxed but steady pace with a few friends, but the plan kept changing as people joined in our little bunch and the effort seemed to lift as we battled the steady headwind until it seemed that all of a sudden we had accumulated quite a few more into our little bunch and were looking good to make the 4:30am train departure for the return trip, but then we had a puncture followed by another so by the time we got to Newcastle we just missed that 4:30 train and the cafe was not yet open for business. I suspect the first rider would have made it in around 4am

I will be back next year for sure, although I'm going to ride it a little slower so I can arrive as the sun is rising and the coffee hot.. as that would be a perfect way to end such an epic ride.
As you discovered, there is no advantage to arriving before the cafe opens. From the outset, our group of 12 decided to pace the ride so that those in our group who were weaker riders did not unduly suffer through the night just so they could sit around in the cold at the end either waiting for food or the train.

This year I self nominated as the group support and was carrying 8kg of gear in my panniers. I had spare chains, a spare tyre, eight spare tubes of varying sizes and stem lengths, about 10 CO2 cartridges, spare gear & brake cables (& cable cutters lol), extra quick links, derailleur hanger, food, electrolyte powder, plus jackets and vests (a few riders putting their clothes in my bags to lighten their load lol).


Going up the Pacific Highway early on, a few of our riders wanted to smash the pace, but I just herded the cats and told them to chill out and cruise and just enjoy the ride. They settled down and the guys who did it last year said the pace was much more sociable than last year. This meant these riders were not dying half way up Mt White.
We used the stops to make sure everyone was sufficiently rested, but not totally cooled down, and we kept the group of 12 together so we could share the workload. We had a few riders join us through the night for a free ride, some with questionable group riding skills, but we managed to stay safe.

By the time we reached the Newcastle CBD, we had swept up the next large group in front of us, so we had a good 20+ riders for the last couple of km. We timed our arrival with perfection. The cafe was open, the sun was about to rise, and the temperature outside was short sleeve weather. We hung around for maybe an hour then headed down to Hamilton where we just missed the train back to Sydney, and ended up having to wait 40min for the 7:30am train instead. No big deal there, everyone just sat down in the morning sun for a nap :-)
'11 Lynskey Cooper CX, '00 Hillbrick Steel Racing (Total Rebuild '10), '16 Cervelo R5, '18 Mason BokekTi

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queequeg
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Re: Newcastle Overnight (Sat 10/12/2016, 9PM)

Postby queequeg » Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:06 pm

Leethal wrote:
queequeg wrote:I don't think you need to worry about this going "mainstream". For one, the distance is a killer for many people, as is the complete lack of any support on the route. It's a true Audax ride, and aside from the two well stocked controls at Mt White & Budgewoi, you are basically on your own.

It was 3rd year straight doing this event...[snip]

Great effort from all that cycled up in the dark. I rode up with four others (my first ride to Newcastle) in daylight hours on Saturday. Quite a bit of traffic on the highways, but no close passes which was nice. It's very scenic in sections, which may not be seen in the dark, so awaiting the video to see the attraction of riding it after dusk?
EDIT: as I'd be keen to have a crack in the dark next year! :)
While I put together an edit of this year's ride, here is the one I made from last year

'11 Lynskey Cooper CX, '00 Hillbrick Steel Racing (Total Rebuild '10), '16 Cervelo R5, '18 Mason BokekTi

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