Sunday 21st March 2010
(Photo of riders exiting Clem 7 tunnel - not me)
There’s no doubt about it— riding hills is totally different from riding the flats. After completing today’s 80km Brisbane Mt Coot-tha Bike Challenge I have a whole new level of respect of all the Kings of the Mountain/s. I struggled through 4 hours of grinding myself uphills, then scaring myself going down. I’ve learnt hill riding is hard and it requires a different riding style, a definite mental approach and different strength and fitness.
Lance Armstrong’s ability to crush the opposition via a sustained high cadence of pedalling (for him, over 110 spins per minute) comes at a high cost to the body, and is only suitable for people with the specific DNA for the task. That’s not me. However, I know it is possible for mere mortals like me to climb hills effectively. And although I’ll never be fast uphill there is much I can do to make the hills an enjoyable challenge. I know this because today’s challenge was not fun, it was just hard- but with the right training I reckon it could be fun AND challenging.
It should have been fun. The day started at Southbank Cultural Precinct with a few thousand other riders watching the sun come up over the Brisbane River/ Brisbane City on a beautiful autumn Sunday morning in the sub-tropical capital city. A cyclone to the north had sucked all the inclement weather away and the day was clear, cool and perfect for riding.
The organisation was brilliant- event staff, police and volunteers were stationed throughout the whole route to provide an enjoyable and very safe ride and from what I saw, the event flowed beautifully.
From 6.30am onwards we were released from the starting gate in groups, in order of our riding speed. My group – the 20-25kph average riding speed- was the largest and the first few minutes were a bit hairy until we had a chance to spread out and ride at our natural pace.
After winding our way through the inner city, we turned suddenly onto a freeway and rode into and then through the newly opened Clem 7 tunnel, Australia’s longest road tunnel, under the Brisbane River. It’s a very rare occasion for the authorities to close the tunnel for cyclists so we were very lucky.
Well, kinda lucky..... If you get the chance to ride it, no doubt you will have great fun. But be aware, it’s hot and humid, it’s smelly and it’s long. There’s an awesome, fast downhill entrance into the tunnel followed by a long flat and then, inevitably, a long slow climb out. Bugger! And then there is an even longer and slower steep overpass that takes you onto a suburban highway that leads you up and over a series of rolling hills and into the entrance to Mt. Coot-tha. So the tunnel ride is a fast buzz that is paid for by multiple steep slow hard hills. Worth it! but only just :-) lol.
Mt Coot-tha is the tallest hill in the Brisbane area, with a 2.35km 9degree constant incline. I walked part of the way as my mind told me I wasn’t able to ride it. In hindsight, if I’d been more mentally resilient I probably would have made it, I was just impatient and did not have enough confidence in my ability and capacities. I will learn from this, and I’m sure I will be able to ride the whole way next time. (I’ll try again in a couple of months, just for fun). Interestingly, my hiking fitness is such that even when pushing the bike uphill I was still walking fast enough to overtake quite a few slow riders.
At the top there are a series of small rolling hills that are a surprise (more up hills damn it) and then there is a long downhill run starting at the City Lookout. With the road closed to all traffic it’s possible to ride safely fast although I rode the brakes all the way down. Again, my lack of confidence on the road bike came through- I’m sure I would have gone faster on the MTB with its wider wheels. Still I was hitting speeds of 60kph so parts were fast!
Finally I was at the bottom of Mt Coot-tha so I could relax and enjoy an easy 50km ride back to the start.
Nope. A good ride back but certainly not easy. Brisbane is built on a river (the Brisbane River) and today’s course meandered through the river suburbs, or more accurately up and down the river suburbs. It was fun having a full police and volunteer support through the streets (much safer) and it was great seeing the varying Brisbane home architecture- including awesome Queenslanders AND it was fun going through suburbs I’d only heard of. But what was not fun was the constant grind up hills for four hours. Why are the up hills so much longer than down? Why have I not trained for this?
Actually I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Not fun, but enjoyable. Although I was slow, and walked a bit, I realised I was much fitter than last year, and my riding skills have improved immeasurably. With one ride under my belt, and a bit more specific training I will be better next year.
I’m glad I did the ride, I saw lots, experienced the Clem 7 tunnel on bike and saw a great Brisbane sunrise. I enjoyed the full ride- even Mt Coot-tha and all the other hills, and I learnt a lot about hills and my current fitness level.
So all up, a very good day out. I'm looking forward to putting the lessons I learnt into practice and doing it much better next year. I'm also looking forward to boringeveryone I know with tales of the Mt Coot=tha Challenge of 2010. Be warned! lol.
More later, journey on
James
Word Count = 942
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