Grand Slam 2010 - Round 2

[steveoc]

Round 1 out the way, Round 2 coming up on 18th April.

Only 7 weeks to get ready for this one !!

Provisional route has been posted on bikeSA site - and a mapmyride attempt to map it here :
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/australia/littlehampton/461126741820429920

Route is subject to change between now and then.

I am not going to make any uninformed comments this time about how flat the route looks - haha - , but it does look a little bumpy this one, even with MMR's tendency to average out the gradients over a long distance.

Loop 1 covers typically spectacular Adelaide Hills areas, looking fwd to that section.

Be careful traversing Mt Barker - it gets pretty congested on the main road and roundabout through there, and the local motorists are not always cyclist friendly.

Loop 2 - a wonderful high speed descent for 20km through to Wistow .. should be a good opportunity to get the avg speed up. And then a 20km grind to climb back to Nairne. That road to Nairne is perfectly positioned to benefit from a tailwind, if current wind patterns keep up.

Im aiming for anything under 3hrs20mins on this one as a great time. Comments ?

[rustychisel]

There is no such thing as a descent to Wistow. You'll remember that piece of advice later.

[CliffG]

There is no such thing as a descent to Wistow. You'll remember that piece of advice later.

Too right.

I presume steveoc means the fantastic run down tinpot hill to Woodchester.

The grind back to Nairne thru Kanmantoo will be a headwind. It always is. It's a meteorological conundrum.

Have fun.

[Dr_Mutley]

anyone having trouble with the bikesa site registering tonite??

[bionic wombat]

Looking forward to the 100 km grind - just hoping its not going to be sub zero temps at the start!

[limetang]

Got my kit all set out for tomorrow morning, will have to get to bed nice and early this time unlike Grand Slam #1...... see you there rain or shine!

[bionic wombat]

what a ride ! - did 100 kms in three hours 50 minutes - not too shabby for 40 year old bloke despite the chain keep slipping off !

[Patdys]

I like the Hills.
I hate the wind.
I really hate the wind.

Thanks Bike SA. Usual quality event.

[feeltherush]

Good solid day on the bike.

First loop was very pleasant, mind you those ups and downs take their toll after a while.

Happy to see some flatter terrain at the start of the second loop until we turned at Woodchester (a big thanks to Glenn on his fixie; I don't know how those guys do it?, I think it would have been twice as hard if it wasn't for us helping each other out, and he stayed with me while I changed a puncture on that stretch as well so thanks again.)

Those couple of hills heading into Dawsley at the 90km mark were nasty but all in all a good day out with great weather (except for that wind).

Thanks again to BikeSA for great organisation and I was really impressed with the amount of people that turned out to do the ride this morning, well done to everyone.

[bionic wombat]

grand slam 2010 route #2 photos are up

http://www.epsomrdstudios.com.au/

[crackoflunch]

First loop was very pleasant, mind you those ups and downs take their toll after a while.

This was my first Grand Slam, limited Klms in my legs at this stage but the first loop more than softened the legs. The incline on a couple nearly popped a few blood vessels. Noticed a large number of riders had a couple of gears lower than mine. (53/42 : 13/23), since been researching compact cranks. How many use these?

Fantastic countryside. Looking forward for the next stage, hopefully a bit better prepared.

cheers

[hotwheels]

First loop was very pleasant, mind you those ups and downs take their toll after a while.

This was my first Grand Slam, limited Klms in my legs at this stage but the first loop more than softened the legs. The incline on a couple nearly popped a few blood vessels. Noticed a large number of riders had a couple of gears lower than mine. (53/42 : 13/23), since been researching compact cranks. How many use these?

i have tried them previously but found my legs couldn't keep up on fast descents.i see your fronts are 53/42 i believe the "norm"(or should i say more common) is 53/39 which i have, so smaller front chainring could be a cheaper option. also 12/25 is a common rear cassette which would also give you different climbing capabilities.one or the combination of these may be worth looking into.

[Patdys]

Aren't fast descents for freewheeling and thinking 'wheeeeeeeee'?

[MichaelB]

I run a 36/50 Compact front and 12/27 rear.

At my size, for the steeper parts you need all the help you can sometimes, but generally find myself in the 24 or 21 T out the back for most climbs.

It all depends on the bike, the mood at the time, the funds and whether you can be bothered.

[bionic wombat]

Round three is posted BIKE SA

[Dahondude]

This was my first Grand Slam, limited Klms in my legs at this stage but the first loop more than softened the legs. The incline on a couple nearly popped a few blood vessels. Noticed a large number of riders had a couple of gears lower than mine. (53/42 : 13/23), since been researching compact cranks. How many use these?

i have tried them previously but found my legs couldn't keep up on fast descents.i see your fronts are 53/42 i believe the "norm"(or should i say more common) is 53/39 which i have, so smaller front chainring could be a cheaper option. also 12/25 is a common rear cassette which would also give you different climbing capabilities.one or the combination of these may be worth looking into.

I run a 52/39 on the front and 12/27 on the back. You get the best of both worlds...can still crank it up to 60+km/h pedalling if you want/need to but with the 39/27 you can climb pretty much any hill there is without having to get out of the saddle.