Kurth Kiln Gravel Grind 26th October 2014

This was to be my first real ride in a number of months. I had been commuting again, but only after a long enforced layoff due to a crash on the velodrome; hence the long time between posts...

Metalware, a frozen shoulder and a number of months off the bike was the result!

Given I had only just regained close to full mobility I was somewhat concerned how it would handle the rough terrain.

The ride was an organised gravel grind hitting my local hills on the roads and tracks less travelled, so was keen to take part and explore somewhere new! A number of riders exited the train at Boronia and we slowly made our way up to the Basin shops and the official start of the ride.

Soon we were away and hit the front side of Mt Dandenong. The gradient and congestion at a pinch point meant this would be the first section of Hike A Bike (HAB) for the day. The circuit mapped out offered a great array of tracks and fire trails; only taking the bitumen when no dirt option existed.

 

Due to one rear flat approaching Yellingbo, we only just made the general store just on closing and only after the others has stripped the shop bare of all edible foods. I ended with a Chicken and gravy pie which I regretted for a number of hours afterwards!

 

 Some gems of the Kurth Kiln section was the sealed Sheepstation Creek road linking from Yellingbo to Gembrook road and the many quite dirt tracks through the Kurth Kiln park. We eventually arrived in Gembrook, where another feed was in order. Here the options and quality was much better so we enjoyed our food sitting in the shade before continuing on. Again many out of the way dirt roads were followed although more cars now as we got closer to Monbulk.

 

The final cruel HAB section was straight up Chalet rd to Olinda. Marked on the map as a road but barely wide enough to walk the bike! Last run back to the Basin shops and finish was down the gravel Basin Olinda road, one that I had ridden a number of times up on the road bike but never down. Having the wider tyres on the CX bike made it a breeze!

All up just over 100km was travelled over some great little tracks. Shoulder did hold up to the abuse, so felt like things are finally on the improve.

Ride details  114.8km

 

2897m elevation gain

 

Mt Baw Baw from Noojee return 28 December 2013

My only memory of the Baw Baw climb was as a teenager driving up to the snow one cold and wet night; wondering if the car would actually make it up to the resort so steep was the road!

Many years have passed, and due to this distant memory and the climbs fierce reputation I hadn't till today attempted to ride it. I'd had a busy Christmas break with not enough riding and had to get out. The weather forecast was sounding nasty with high heat and strong northly winds, so the steep winding roads up to the Baw Baw ski resort sounded the best option....

The alarm sounded way too early, but I wanted to make the drive to the small town of Noojee before the heat kicked in. The drive was uneventful and somewhat boring along the M1 through the ever expanding outer suburbs of Melbourne.

Once in the small town of Noojee, I unloaded and was out on the road and heading towards Mt Baw Baw. It wasn't long before being confronted by Vespers Hill (9.1% 2.83km) which definitely got the legs working! The road continued on initially through rolling farm land around Icy Creek before weaving through wonderful stands of tall treeferns and even taller eucalypts. There didn't appear to be one metre of flat roads so I  was either climbing or descending till hitting the start of the climb up to the Mt Baw Baw resort.

Here the climb started calmly enough (5.58km @ 4.2%) and could easily lull any unsuspecting rider into thinking Baw Baw isn't so tough. Those who have done their research know this is merely the calm before the storm...

Once at the Gantry where the old Toll house was located is the first sighting of the road balking skywards. Here it hits double digits (3.5km @ 13.1%) and continues at a painful gradient from this point to the top. I still had the mid cage derailleur fitted so slotted in the 13-29 cassette. Even with this there were many points where my cadence was under 50 rpm.

There were a few sections where there was a slight easing in gradient such as the left turn towards the resort, but really not enough to offer much respite. Especially when shortly after the turn was the aptly named Winch corner hitting over 20%!

The top section 2.23km eased slightly back to 11.6%; though it wasn't till the last 700m to the resort when it finally relented.

Once I rolled through the resort entrance I stopped found a shop that has a few tools as my left cleat had a bolt nearly completely undone. 
 

Then made my way to enjoy an expensive coffee overlooking the rolling hills of Gippsland below.

Soon enough it was time to point the bike downhill and head back to the car. Given the gradient, it was a cautious ride off the mountain. Other than a blue tongue running alongside and nearly running over a snake I made it back down safely.

I'd saved a bit for the ride back as there were a few climbs I had to ride over. Towards Noojee it was getting a lot hotter and I was running low on water so glad to finally roll into the carpark. Immediately after topping up the water bottle and loading the bike into my car I headed straight for the Latrobe river I'd parked next to and enjoyed sitting in the cold water.

Ride details 97km 

2976m elevation gain