Training

As the planned ride schedule grew, so did the need to get out and start riding in the hills! I had no specific goal other than get in the hills as often as working full time allowed.

Having a wife who was an athlete herself and understood the need to prepare made the process a lot easier, as it meant I was able to disappear into the hills for whole days many weekends running.

The bulk of the 35,011 metres vertical gain I accumulated over these last four months was spent riding laps up Mt Donna Buang. It is one of the few local hills with some decent length; offering 16.8km of climbing and a consistent gradient that averages 6.4%. Many of these days involved riding three repeats, which put 50.4 km of climbing and 3240m vert into my legs.

Totals

Being winter and Melbourne’s closest snow play area threw in some added hazards, some snow but fortunately mainly just really cold. On most days it was only 1-4 degrees on the summit and not much warmer on the climb as the road takes the shaded southern side. It was warm enough wearing the right layers ascending, but to combat the wind chill on the descents I had to wear the usual winter layers such as thermals, arm warmers, gillet, and waterproof top. Additionally I took to wearing plastic waterproof pants carried up in the second bidon cage to try and keep the legs warm!

Perfect weather – warm in the sun

Same day – conditions deteriorated

The worst day - strong winds and driving rain

Final ascent, last day. Very glad I won't have to climb this hill again for a while.

The Alps cols are big and with long sections at a steep gradient, so I’m a little apprehensive even with the training if I’ve done enough! I will find out the answer very soon…