Climbing to the Alpaca 17/09 @6:15am - Starting at Canungra

[hosko]

Just received notification from the BikeForce Oxenford group that tomorrow morning's climb ride will be from Canungra to the Alpaca farm up O'Reillys

It should be a nice fine morning much better than when I came off coming down this hill last time, due to it being quite wet.

Start time - 6:15am from Canungra (Eastern side of town)

It's is a 13km climb to the Alpaca farm (AT) an average of about 4% so anyone who wants to get a nice hill out of the way should come on up.

I am NOT a hill climber and I was certainly the slowest going up this one last time (took just over 1hour) however you will have a smile on your dial the whole way!

The more the merrier!

Coffee at the Alpaca farm (bring $5) and then head back down.

[hosko]

There were a LOT of riders today, however our group was eclipsed by a group from Brisbane.

A bunch had come down from Brisbane it would seem to do Tamborine and then do O'Reillys. I think they were from something called Red Dog. Seems they are a Triathlon group based up there.

Anyway, myself and one of the other BikeForce Oxenford group members started a little earlier than the others as we knew we would be caught which did happen as we got to the summit. They started 30 mins after us and still caught us! It was her first time up the hill, and only my second time. We did it in just over 1 hour again so a little faster than last time. Best part was there was no blood letting on the decent compared to my first time down.

The Alpaca farm was unfortunately shut so coffee was back down in Canungra.

This ride I highly recommend to anyone new to cycling and wants to get a hill under their belt. It only has an average gradient of 3.5% (according to Strava) and it does kick up to 5-6% in some small sections, but it is a very constant hill. You can just set your gears and pretty much leave them until you get to the top. I do have an 11-28T cassette on the back however it was in the second largest the whole way up which is a 25T cog.

I think as this ride is very close to us, it will be getting done more and more.

[ozdavo]

Hi Hosko, sounds interesting! I'm right in that noob boat your talking about, and hills are my achillies, but I know if I want to get better, then I need to get out and ride more! Do you have a GPS log of your ride? Can I view it or get a copy? I'm GC based, but don't know the Alpaca farm. Also, what the road like? Is there a decent shoulder/smooth for a solo rider, or are you basically in the traffic lane the whole way?

[hosko]

No probs OzDavo

Here is the Strava link to the ride - http://app.strava.com/rides/1645403

I have extracted the GPS data from Strava in .gpx format (Should also work in Google Maps)

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?ci ... DEB207!155

Road is a little rough. You're pretty much on the road all the time. Going up isn't an issue, it's coming down your wrists feel how rough it is.

You also don't want to ride to close to the shoulder. That's how I had my fall. It's a got some quite rough edges and never ride this one in the wet unless you have a heap of experience!

Hope this helps.

[hosko]

Open that Oreillys.gpx file in Google Earth client...very cool function actually. Ensure you put a tick in to map the lines, but if you hit play, it will play back the ride!!

[ozdavo]

Awesome, thanks will prob go for a drive up there first, but definitely want to tackle it!

... Also you said your running an 11-28, is that with a STD or compact chainset?

[hosko]

Compact 50x34T...worth the investment.

[ozdavo]

Compact 50x34T...worth the investment.

Yeah I have a compact too, but with 11-25. I was kinda hoping you had a STD, it would make me feel better knowing I had some lower ratios to back me up , anyway I just need to find the time, HTFU & have a crack

[A_P]

What a great view. Really wanted to to that ride today but didnt finish work till 0730hrs. Next time definitely.

[ozdavo]

but didnt finish work till 0730.

What do you do? Some kind of shift Wk I assume, but that's a s#!thouse time to finish (mind you my missus also does shift Wk and starts at 10p about 5-7 nights a month!)

[A_P]

Work in health care, the only bonus is that it was all overtime

[notwal]

That looks like a nice ride. I've put it on my list. Thanks for the file