First ride in the hills

toofat
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First ride in the hills

Postby toofat » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:20 pm

didnt fancy the crowds of the great bike ride so took off for the hills

Now I know the hill up to Lesmurdie is a killer so I went Vic park Welshpool Forrestfield and up Kalamunda Road

That was the first mistake, I dont know what gradient it is in degrees but its about a nine on the heart attack meter, I had to stop half way to have a drink get some air and confrm yes there are no easier gears left, this is it.

When I finally reached the top I stopped to recover and have breakfast
I discovered I had brought the Stirling map and not the hills one.
Set out again clueless as to directions and saw a bunch of riders in the distance, they will know a good route, so set after them as they disappeared down a hill

It was called Mundaring Weir Road, that was the next mistake.

the negative voices in my head said "you know you are going to die coming back up these hills" but the positive voices said "dont worry,enjoy the rush, you will find another way back thats not nearly as steep"

Another Mistake,
the other side of Mundaring Weir looked just as steep and no way back from Mundaring Townsite except along the Great Eastern Highway so it was back up the hill to Kalamunda, I found a detour via bickley but it turned out the road wasnt sealed, red mud, and then it started to rain

On a road you dont know you can always hope that around the next bend the road will flatten out, not today fool

So if you are a first time rider in the hills I can recommend close attention to the map and gradients, mind you if I had I would probably not have gone and stayed on the flat

Is there a less steep way to get to the Hills,? I hope so

Joeblake
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Postby Joeblake » Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:42 pm

Well, if you go UP the Zig Zag (Gooseberry Hill, off Ridge Hill road) it's a piece of cake, but remember it's a very rough road, narrow, winding and the traffic flow is down. It's supposed to be a tourist attraction only in that direction. For some reason there's a view that if the traffic flow were reversed it wouldn't attract tourists.

I reckon it would be great to attract cycle tourists if it were an upward flow of traffic. Come up the Zig Zag, go down Gooseberry Hill Road. (I've hit 87 on my 'bent SWB bike going down there).

Or you do a full loop and go through Kalamunda, Lesmurdie, then down Welshpool or Crystal Brook road. Crystal Brook is shorter but steeper.

Joe
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Redbull
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Postby Redbull » Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:05 am

:lol: Kalamunda road "looks" easier but its much nastier

Remember that Kalamunda township is at the top of the hill, all paths lead up.

Your lucky you didn't decide to go through to Bickley (Past the Observatory) a from the bottom of the first gully on Mundaring Rd. That is a nasty, nasty hill all the way up to Bickley.

Ya know what they say "hills don't hurt less, you just go up them faster"
The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass

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Postby Joeblake » Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:14 am

I think (ignoring Zig Zag) Welshpool Road is the easiest. I CAN ride up unassisted, but I've found with my electric motor assisted trike (200 watts), I can make it up Welshpool Road and still have enough charge in the batteries to get onto Sanderson Road and head home at 24 km/h (the maximum) but if I ride up Crystal Brook with electric assist my batteries are very much depleted and I can barely hit 18/20 km/h.

I haven't "powered" up either Kalamunda OR Gooseberry Hill roads simply because it's a waste of energy as once I get to Kalamunda then I have to go DOWN Lesmurdie Road to get home again.

Joe

PS Have you ever ridden up Kawina Road? Just off Heidelberg. Even with the motor it's a beast. I've got to do it in about 4 stages.

J
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toofat
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Postby toofat » Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:36 am

Thanks for the advice,
I will give Welshpool road a try next time, the hills are a beautiful place to ride,
do people commute down to Perth from Hills, I cant imagine facing that climb on a daily basis

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Postby Joeblake » Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:41 am

Yes, there are several people that do the daily grind.

I don't do it regularly, but often enough to make me grit my teeth.

I mostly travel by motorcycle, mainly because of time factors. I have to go into the Big Smoke to collect work and bring it back home. Otherwise I'd like to cycle more often.

Joe
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Postby cavebear2 » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:40 pm

Joeblake wrote:PS Have you ever ridden up Kawina Road? Just off Heidelberg. Even with the motor it's a beast. I've got to do it in about 4 stages.
This is called Chook Hill on hillclimbr.com climb off Palmateer Dr Bickley

Love it! A nice little hill - must ride to it over summer and post a time for the climb.

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Postby cavebear2 » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:45 pm

Joeblake wrote:if you go UP the Zig Zag (Gooseberry Hill, off Ridge Hill road) it's a piece of cake, but remember it's a very rough road.
Joe
Actually quite a smooth, good standard bitumen surface. However, beware of the loose gravel on the U bends turn slowwwly... Also watch out for traffic that should be travelling slowly down this one way road.

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Postby Joeblake » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:49 pm

cavebear2 wrote: Love it! A nice little hill - must ride to it over summer and post a time for the climb.

I think I'd need a calendar, not a stopwatch!!!


:wink:


The other great ride I love is down Repatriation Road, going anti-clockwise. This autumn just past, got some absolutely brilliant photos.

Image

Image

Joe
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Postby toofat » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:56 pm

Chook Hill

Er, not this year thanks

My knees get painful just looking at the gradient, at 95.5kg I need to drop about 10kg before attempting anything like that

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Postby Joeblake » Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:02 pm

95kg?

I'm just over 100 at the moment.

:lol:

Chook Hill is available on Google Earth Street View. But Repatriation Road isn't.

Google Kawina Road Bickley. Should get it for you.

Joe
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Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:27 pm

cavebear2 wrote:
Joeblake wrote:PS Have you ever ridden up Kawina Road? Just off Heidelberg. Even with the motor it's a beast. I've got to do it in about 4 stages.
This is called Chook Hill on hillclimbr.com climb off Palmateer Dr Bickley

Love it! A nice little hill - must ride to it over summer and post a time for the climb.
Some call it "Chuck Hill", which seems more apt.

Anybody got the Google Earth link to view?
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Postby Joeblake » Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:38 pm

I think you'll have to actually download and install the Google Earth program. Once that's done you can search for Kawina Road Bickley, then click on the "Maps" menu button and "Street View" should come up.

http://earth.google.com/

Have fun. It's very addictive.

Joe
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Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:13 pm

Joeblake wrote:I think you'll have to actually download and install the Google Earth program. Once that's done you can search for Kawina Road Bickley, then click on the "Maps" menu button and "Street View" should come up.

http://earth.google.com/

Have fun. It's very addictive.

Joe
I like that street view function, very intimate.

I usually head up Lawnbrook Rd then onto Walnut Rd to the Observatory. Never seen Kawina Rd before.
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Postby Joeblake » Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:26 pm

ajh_ausnzcf wrote:Never seen Kawina Rd before.
You may not want to see it again either.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Joe
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Postby Joeblake » Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:47 pm

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/ ... /bikemaps/

This link should take you to a series of maps where I've marked some rides around Kalamunda/ Lesmurdie, with the coloured lines indicating the difficulty of the slope (at least according to my decrepit old body). Green is flat, red is vertical and different shades ... you can work it out. ;-)


There are also some maps showing some of the eateries around Kalamunda. There's also a patisserie on Railway Road near Gooseberry Hill road which has a deservedly high reputation, that's not marked on the map.

Hope this is useful.

Joe
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Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:42 am

Thanks for your info Joe. I enjoy hills, yep ... I'm a bicycle masochist type. :twisted:
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Postby Joeblake » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:12 am

Here's a slideshow of one my rides around "Repatriation Loop" taken earlier this year. (Canning Road, onto Repatriation and nearly back again).

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/ ... 1227793218

There's 49 piccies in all.

If you click on the "full size" button it's a bit better.

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Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Fri Nov 28, 2008 3:16 am

You're on a 'bent Joe! I like the riding atmosphere early in the morning in the hills.

I might see about getting some of those routes into the gps and go on a tour.
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Postby Joeblake » Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:47 am

Not just 'bent, but almost twisted.

Image

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/09/sola ... .html#more

This ride was fairly late in the afternoon, but this was autumn, so it wasn't too hot.

Joe
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Earthy Ochre Man
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Postby Earthy Ochre Man » Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:08 am

Wow dude... great set up!

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Postby ajh_ausnzcf » Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:23 pm

Earthy Ochre Man wrote:Wow dude... great set up!
+1, that's a beautiful custom bike setup.
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scottaddict
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Postby scottaddict » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:42 am

does anyone know of any group rides that go up in the hills??

:)

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Postby Joeblake » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:44 am

Yes, but they usually only do it once.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

There's no fixed group, but I'm sure you could get some contacts from here.

Joe
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Postby scottaddict » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:51 am

ahhh ok...is it that punishing??

ive never been up there...im keen to start some hill training so if anyone knows of any rides or is keen to organize a ride let me know :)

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