A Straight Ride Report (?!) - Alpine Classic 2007

(Written in haste for the Eastern Veterans CC newsletter)


I happily (?) completed my first 4 or so Alpine Classic 200’s without giving a tinker’s toss about my time, just finishing the damn thing on a very limited training time budget being challenge enough. But in 2002, just after descending Buffalo, I happened to hook up with a rider who encouraged a few of us to work hard into Bright “so we can break 10 hours”, which we managed by 5 minutes or so. I completely blame that anonymous person for leading me astray into a minor obsession to beat 9 hours for the 200.

In 2003 the bushfires put that plan on hold for a year; in 2004 a combination of spending way too long at checkpoints and a deathly-slow grovel up Buffalo (basically not being fit enough) saw me do no better than in 2002; in 2005 I got close with 9:03 (which would have been well under 9 without the Dingo Dell magical mystery tour kindly added by Audax for the 2004 and 2005 editions); then in 2006 I was grimly hanging onto the schedule as far as Eurobin Falls, but with 42 degrees showing on the bike computer I decided that discretion was much the better part of stupidity and pulled out just before my brain melted.

Enter 2007 and it’s a moot point whether the apparition of Comet McNaught over Bright is an auspicious or baleful omen. Ironically, my training schedule has been limited by the time demands of writing about training for the Audax website (http://www.audax.org.au/alpine-training.htm). A short hitout up Tawonga Gap in Thursday’s mid-afternoon 33 degree heat had been a total shocker, lowering the confidence level markedly. Onto ride day and as usual I sleep only patchily before the 5am wakeup and meet my mate Steve 10 minutes late after faffing around with food, clothing, bottles and other paraphernalia.

After the standard messy ride out to Tawonga Gap we cruise steadily up the climb, almost get skittled by one of those dreaded riders who leap out of the saddle unannounced and instantly move their bike about a metre backwards and sideways in the process, and then regular as clockwork we go over the top at 7:20. Normally I descend OK but today I’m getting passed and can’t manage a clean cornering line to save myself. On the flats the aim is to lurk in a group but I end up hiding second wheel into the (unusual) cross-headwind and doing more work than I’d like. A quick splash and dash at Mt Beauty and we settle into another cruise up Falls with about equal numbers of riders falling away behind us and pulling slowly ahead. No dramas so far and we arrive at Falls a bit ahead of schedule at around 9:40.

The planned 5-8 minute stop somehow morphs into 15 before we’re ready to roll and I try to sort out my descending down the steeper bit of Falls. I decide that while a light carbon fibre frame is the ants pants for getting up the hills, my compliant old steel machine definitely felt more secure on the corners, especially after juddering scarily around a rough-as-guts left hander not far from the bridge. How can I arrange a quick bike swap for the descents in next year’s edition?

Back to Mt Beauty with no further dramas and Steve & I pull into the servo for water and a quick clothing adjustment, along with about 50 bearded Harley riders who must have just missed running over a flock of cats (at least I assume that’s the drift of their conversation about “having no pussy on the bike”). We leave them to their feline discussions and embark for Tawonga Gap.

Normally this is where it all starts going pear-shaped for me but with temperatures 15-20 degrees lower than last year we can hold a steady pace of 13-14kph and the heart rate is still under control. About halfway up the climb I notice that the guy riding off my right shoulder is on a single speed setup with what looks like a 52-21 combination. “It takes a bit of practice” he comments without leaving me any the wiser as to why you’d want to practice that particular form of self-torture. He also claims that 52-21 is much easier to pedal than a 42-17 (both 67 gear inches) and now I know he’s definitely mad. (Mate if you’re an Eastern member and reading this, I’m only kidding!).

Over the top we’ve already made up for the lost time at the Falls turnaround and I’m finally regaining the hang of descending. The hoped-for peloton of large muscle bound rouleurs fails to materialise after the drop and Steve and I can find only one strongman to work with back to Bright, so feel compelled to take our turns on the front (into the wind of course). Now the HR is sitting on 160-170 rather than the desired 130-140 and I’m thinking this is not a good tradeoff for the 3 minutes saved. But vanity prevails over sanity and we push most of the way back into town, arriving at 11:45.

Here the planned sub-10 minute stop time again blows out by about 5 minutes and then a little more as I pull up outside the accomm on the way out of Bright to quickly greet the family and get stocked up with jelly snakes and flat coke for the Buff. However this second stop works out nicely when a group of 6 comes by just as we get rolling, this time Steve and I stick resolutely to the back of the bunch and enjoy a solid tow and tailwind to the tollgate. By now 9 hours is looking in the bag unless I completely blow up on Buffalo, which probably mean it’s about a 10% chance.

But wonder of wonders the man with the hammer stays hidden in his cave or wherever he lurks and doesn’t come swinging for me this year. I may be stuck in the 25 but I’m feeling OK and holding the prescribed 13 kph quite comfortably. The irony of Buffalo in the 200 is that it’s the one hill where you urge your heart rate upwards, not downwards (which would mean fatigue and an inevitable grovel), so I’m actually pleased to be sitting above 165 most of the way to the water stop. Just up from here I do my Good Samaritan act for the day and inform a tired-looking rider that he’s set out for the top minus helmet. My reward is the continued non-appearance of the hammer-man and although an attempt to push harder on the last couple of k’s to the Gap collapses pitifully just before Devil’s Elbow, we reach the top having climbed Buff a good 15 minutes faster than previous years, and the only thing that will stop us comfortably breaking 9 hours from here is a puncture or a crash.

Neither of those inconvenience us after a quick refuel at the Chalet, and a third of the way down we (guiltily, your honour) pass the slow-moving car constituting the only obstacle to a quick drop. By now I’ve got the descending thang sorted and am really enjoying it. A string of riders appear ahead of us on the final climb after the toll gate which encourages Steve and I to crank hard up the hill and form a group of 5 or so for a final push into the headwind home. The last 10km fly by at 33-35 kph and we stop the clock at 8:35 elapsed after a very satisfactory day out in the hills.

Next year, the 140 beckons. After all, following 5 years of effort I think I deserve some sort of reward.

(Although …. - he suddenly thinks to himself - …… with a ride time of 7:52 this year it might only need a little pushing on the first three climbs plus the return of my inner short-stop Nazi, and sub-8 might be achievable?? …… no, No, NO!!! – that way lies madness ……)