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

Mt Donna Buang Revisited 6th May

I had grand plans on returning from my holiday with climbing fresh in my legs and giving my best time up Mt Donna Buang a nudge. I personally still think it is one of the best climbs in Victoria, but having spent the last winter repeatedly grinding up the road to the summit; going back to Mt Donna Buang just didn’t appeal.

Six months and minimal time in the hills had passed when Blackburn Cycling Club posted details about a TT hill climb to be held on Mt Donna Buang. I never pass up a TT, so I put my entry in and hoped the residual fitness and intimate knowledge of the climb would help get my to the summit faster than last year.

The morning of the 6^th ended up being  a wet and cold wintery affair, so I was right in my element for the climb. All too soon my start time arrived and I rolled up to the start line which was located a short distance from the turn which marks the start of the actual climb. I noted my time to here was 14 seconds so could deduct this from my finish time, I also noted I’d lost cadence and more importantly power signals so would have to resort to feel for the entire ascent! As I knew what gears I’d used for various sections of the climb from last year, I was able to use this as a guide and make sure if possible that I was pushing at least this gear or one harder. Having riders up the road and coming from behind meant I got through to Cement creek which marks the top of the steeper bottom section  sooner than anticipated. I was also able to check my elapsed time against my PB and knew I was 90 seconds faster to this point!

On the climb - Photo courtesy MMcRitchie

The drizzle and wind hadn’t played a part on the lower slopes, but there was a possibility that the northerly wind may add an additional challenge to the ascent. In a few spots it was noticeable, but nothing too bad. I just focussed on keeping pressure on the pedals and to pass as many as possible and trying to hold off the A graders who had started after me. Finally the final kilometre was upon us where the climb cruelly kicks up one last time and it was an all-out effort to get to the final left hand turn into the car park and finish on the crest. As I crossed the line and checked my time – 55:06! Subtracting the 14 seconds gave me a climbing time of 54:52; one second short of a three minute PB!

More photos by MMcRitchie from the day - showing the challenging conditions

http://gallery.me.com/mmcritchie#100179&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=119