'Bent Brevet

[Freddyflatfoot]

Doing my first 'bent brevet this weekend.
I was going to use my trike, 'Goanna', but after doing a 90 k ride a week ago, and some other
bent riders riding their two wheelers, I have decided to ride my SWB, 'Blue Heeler'!
Its 'only' a 100k ride, the Pyrennes magic, around the foothills of the Pyrenees. I have done the ride twice before on a conventional bike, but this will be the first brevet done since becoming 'bent!
I wish I could do more, but work keeps getting in the way!

[Kalgrm]

Good luck Rob, and have fun.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Uba Tracker]

Its 'only' a 100k ride, the Pyrennes magic, around the foothills of the Pyrenees. I have done the ride twice before on a conventional bike, but this will be the first brevet done since becoming 'bent!
I wish I could do more, but work keeps getting in the way!

Not being aware of any Pyrenees Mountains in Vic I'm guessing you're off to the land of Escargot and Frogs Legs. Have a hoot mate and please indulge with photos on your return.

regards

Harry

[Freddyflatfoot]

Actually Harry, the Pyrenees ARE in Vic!
West of Avoca to be precise, so alas, I will not be going OS for a ride.
So far, I think there will be 4 'bents riding this year.

[william]

Hi Rob,

Hope the ride is good for you.
When you first mentioned that I wanted to go but have 2 other functions on that day. Sunday would have been perfect. It drove me crazy trying to get out of the other stuff and have a nice ride.
I used to live near Castlemaine and have been through Avoca many times and know you'll enjoy it.

Will like to read the report...

William.

[John Lewis]

Lucky you.

Hope you have a great day. Looking forwrd to your report.

John Lewis

[Freddyflatfoot]

Ok! Completed the Pyrenees Magic ride today! In the grand time of 5Hrs exactly. Avg.s speed of 20 kph, with a moving avg of 22.4 kph. Not too bad for hilly terrain. Well it did seem a lot hillier than I remembered!
The ride started fairly cool, with a light SW? breeze on our tail. Rode with 3 other bent riders. SimonW on his Baron, PeterMath and Bernie on the FF 'bents, and me o 'Blue Heeler'.
Got off to a good start, and the 180 or so riders soon separated into their respective speeds, so there was very little interference from other riders.
We soon turned west towards Moonambel, and after a while gradually climbed, until there was a nice long downhill run. That was fun, just rolling past a few uprights! Then a couple of rollers until we turned south towards Landsborough. That section was fairly up and down, so hard to get any decent speed.
At the 45k mark, we stopped at Landsborough for the first checkpoint, and some cake and toilet stop!
We then continued south at what seemed like a constant climb, as the speeds were fairly low, until we reached a particularly steep section. Granny gear, here we come! Actually my granny was only just low enough for this steep climb, and I found that my right cal was starting to cramp, and I was getting some pain in my left shin.
After the climb, was another fairly long descent, so I sorta throttled back on the pedalling, to rest my legs for a bit. Also rehydrated with some Powerade, and found that I started coming good.
Some more rollings hills, and a short climb to the railway line, where we hit the highway to turn east towards Elmhurst, only a few k's away.
At Elmhurst we had the second checkpoint and a feed of watermelon and oranges. From there we took a country road to Nowhere Creek, about 5 k's away. IIRC, that was around the 75k mark. There we had some lollies and a third checkpoint. We turned back towards the highway, and headed east for home! The 5k's back to the highway was hilly, and after hitting the highway, there was a further climb for around 5 k's.
Once we crested this hill, it was plain sailing all the way home!
The south westerly wind had picked up, and so had my speed! With 15 k's to go, I reckon I averaged around 30 kph. I was feeling pretty good, and I was poking along at a fairly healthy speed.
I remember the last time I did this ride on my upright (2 years ago), my feet were burning and I was really struggling to finish, often letting my speed drop to around 20 kph! My feet were burning a bit, but nowhere near as bad as I remember!
Not so this time, just kept right going and pulled in the last checkpoint bang on 2 pm, 5 hrs after we left. I checked my GPS, and found that I had a total of 38 mins stopped, so I was pretty happy with the result!
We then had a feed of a BBQ'd hamburger, can of soft drink, and chewed the fat for a bit, before we all parted company and headed home.
As I type this, I'm still feeling pretty good, although I noticed some light sunburn on the top of my legs! Can't remember if I put some there or not.......... My legs are a bit sore and tired, but not overly so.
Riding a bent on these sort of rides is definitely better! When I needed a 'rest', just maintained an even cadence, rested the head on my headrest, and just poked along! Albeit, probably overall a tad slower than an upright, although I can't locate my old brevet cards to confirm.
Ah, but what price comfort! I had a blast!

[Freddyflatfoot]

Oh, I only found one of my old brevet cards, from 2005. Only 10 mins difference in time, so the bent did well!

[william]

Hi Rob,

Good to read your adventure. I Am assuming you rode the 2 wheeler.
Do you have a preference of bikes in general or whatever suits the ride?
I also like the idea of the stops and fruit supplies. BV's ATB had er... water and that tasted awful. I'm now feeling disappointed I couldn't go. Next time for sure.
Just one more thing.... Any Pics?

William.

[Poiter]

Recumbents are very welcome on all Audax rides.
None of this start at the back crap.

You can ride an Audax without being a member if you like.

Full program of challenging rides around Australia.

www.audax.org.au

Pete.

[Freddyflatfoot]

Poiter, yep, its great that 'bents are welcome on Audax rides! saves trying to explain that you are as normal as the next guy!
I think I would be right in saying that fairings and velomobiles are also welcome?
Trike is getting some 'add-ons' as you know..............

Wlliam, sorry no pics. But I believe PeterMath took heaps of pics with his camera! I'm pretty sure I saw him riding with the camera hanging off his hand.
And yes, I rode my SWB two wheeled bent. Very comfortable ride. Hard shell seat with head rest, praying mantis type steering, bar ends to change grip occasionally.

[Poiter]

Yep, anything human powered.
Fairings and velomobiles would be no problems.
There are some basic common sense rules to do with visibility (vests and reflectors) and lighting when the maximum time of a ride is likely to continue into darkness but that's all.
Poit
(20,000km of Audax rides for me)