Lilydale to Wangaratta 4 day tour Nov 22-25 2015

This would be my first gentle foray into a touring, being a point to point credit card tour staying in accommodation along the way.

My friend Andrew had mapped a mostly offroad route that would take us 489km from Lilydale to Wangaratta. It would include some extremely rough and steep terrain between Mirimbah and Whitfield which added to the challenge.

Day one saw four of us on the train out to Lilydale, where we were to start the 163km days ride to Jamieson. Roughly half  of day one's route was sealed - to Warburton via the rail trail, Reefton Spur, Eildon Warburton rd (not one car!) and then over a tough climb at around 140km in to finally descend into Jamieson.

Bike set up using my Revelate Designs Viscacha which works amazingly including numerous jumps over water bars day two!

Eildon Warburton rd

 

Day two Jamieson to Whitfield over Mt Stirling 133km and some extremely steep and rough 4WD tracks.

No 3 Road view at around 1550m above sea level

 

Day three 104km. Was to go over the back of Mt Buffalo via the Goldie Spur track, but the inclement weather had us taking the safer option to Myrtleford and then onto Bright.

 

 

Day 4 88km Cruised into Wangaratta via the rail trail and spent a couple of hours enjoying the three course degustation option at Gapsted winery before continuing on to catch the train back to Melbourne ...

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

Glendora Mountain Road - Ridge Road to Mt Baldy 19th September

My final day in the States for this trip would tackle the classic Glendora Mountain Road - Glendora Ridge road to Mt Baldy Village before ascending the final steep pitch to the Mt Baldy ski lifts.

After a great night sleep, I enjoyed a large bowl of porridge and couple of espressos before packing the van and driving the short distance to start of Glendora Mountain road with my host.

I'd heard a lot about this ride as well as seen many photos online when planning my trip and was therefore keen to sample it for myself. This would be only ride over the last three weeks with company and enjoyed the more leisurely pace and conversation as we headed up out of suburbia.

Glendora Mountain road (14.5km @4.8%) was a nice constant gradient, so made for a pleasant ride as we gained elevation.

 

 

 It was amazing to experience a road so close to a major population centre with so few cars. Although it was a weekday so could expect a few less cars, I was told it isn't much busier on the weekends either!

At the junction with Glendora Ridge road, the climbing relented and now followed the ridge line as the not so ingenious road name implied.
 

 There were amazing views on offer on either side of us with Mt Baldy directly ahead.showing the way. After another 19km of amazing vistas we arrived in Mt Baldy village.

 Once we topped up our bottles, we rolled out to start the final tough climb to the ski lifts (7.7km @ 8.6%). This on its own would be challenging enough, unfortunately this whole stretch had been very recently chip sealed.

Fun police

 

On top of the noxious fumes, I lost count the number of times stones would stick to my rear tyre and then jamb between the frame grinding my paint and locking the wheel. The only fix was to stop, roll the bike back a few centimeters to extricate the offending stone!

 If it wasn't my last climb for the trip I think I would have turned around. But as it was, my final kilometres were ridden angry; with a sailors tongue loudly cursing the road and road crew everytime the wheel locked and I would have to stop again!

Last steep stretch.

Finally the ski lift carpark came into sight which was where the resealing stopped; it was a blessing to ride the rough, cracked and potholed surface to the lifts.

 

After a few photos it was back down carefully to Mt Baldy village and contined the very fast descent straight down Mt Baldy road and back home.


Here it was a matter of now cleaning the bike thoroughly before packing it and my gear for the late night flight. I'd planned on getting through LA to LAX early, unfortunately I took a while to get everything sorted, so had to endure the afternoon peak hour traffic. Still I'd quite a few hours up my sleeves to make it to the terminal and check in.

At just past 11:30pm, the wheels of my Qantas flight left the tarmac and it was only a 16 hour flight to home.

Ride details 67.62km max elevation 1986m

2261m elevation

Palomar Mountain 18th September

This ride would take me up Palomar South Grade; an extremely popular SoCal climb often referred locally as being similar to Alpe d'Huez. Perhaps it is counting the number of hairpins, but as it is a far more consistent gradient  than Alpe d'Huez I found it far easier to hold tempo. This is unlike Alpe d'Huez which tenderizes you with a couple of kilometres of double digit gradient right at the start and fluctuates for the rest. Regardless, it sounded like a great climb which is why it made the trip schedule.
 
First I had to still get to the start. So on waking I drove the last kilometres to Harrah's Rincon Casino car park where I'd mount my bike; only stopping at a roadside pullout on the descent to enjoy breakfast and a coffee overlooking the fog that was still blanketing the valley below. 

Down low on SR76

I parked behind the 7-11 next door to the casino and was soon riding the short stretch back up towards the junction with SR76 and the start of the timed section. It was already warm, but not unbearably so. 

SR76

 Palomar Mountain South Grade is a climb in two parts. The busier and straighter SR76 (9.37km @6%) to begin with and and then twisty S6 (11.04km @7%) split by a short flat section. 

 I found both sections quite pleasant, but was happy when I hit the left turn and was onto Palomar Mountain road and almost no more passing vehicles. 

Once at the stop sign where the timed section finishes, I continued the short section further up to Palomar County Park on Crestline road. The small shaded park was a perfect detour off the main road as it had toilets and water.

Back down onto East Grade road I turned left and descended all the way down to Henshaw Lake. 

 Here I turned around and enjoyed the mellow East Grade climb (17.1km @ 4.6%) back to to the junction with South Grade road. 

 View SW near the top of East Grade
 

 With still some energy in my legs and time in hand, I cruised the additional short section out to the Palomar Observatory. After a brief stop here I retraced my way back to the top of South Grade and enjoyed the very twisty descent back to the van. 

Once restocked with supplies from the 7 -11, it was onto the road and the drive north to LA where I was to spend my last night in the States. I was driving to near the base of Mt Baldy where a bikeforums.net member lives and kindly offered me a place to stay when I posted questions about my trip there!

Journey north went most fine, other than I must have accidently touched the screen of the Sat Nav which reset my destination past where I wanted to go...

Ride details 98.01km 1727m max elevation 

2659m elevation gain

Mt Lemmon 17th September

The day prior was a relaxing and relatively short transit day from Safford to Tuscon. So after another soak in the hot tub and swim in the lake I drove the 200km into Tucson. Here I was able to drop into Fair Wheel Bikes; unfortunately most of the special builds were absent as they were already on their way to Interbike. After also visiting friends of my neighbours, I headed to the air-conditioned relief of my hotel where I spent the rest of the day.

Mt Lemmon stands over the sprawling city of Tuscon and the climb to its top would be another long one. The regular timed section is 34km @ 4.9%, but the true top is past the ski slopes and small village of Summerhaven. This results in a 52.2km climb when beginning from the East Tanque Verde road; though this does include some descending before the final steeper pitch.

I underestimated the size of the city of Tucson, so was only at the car parking at the corner of East Tanque Verde road and the start of the East Catalina hwy and ready to ride by 8:21am. The desert air was already warm, fortunately I would be soon climbing high above the city and into the cooler air the altitude would bring.

This stretch prior to mile marker zero still involved climbing, just at a mellow gradient which offered a pleasant warm up for the climbing to come. After 6km, I was now at mile marker zero and on the climb proper. 

This climb would be like Russian Dolls, only in reverse. The road ascended up and around the first hill only to be confronted by a bigger hill behind and this would be repeated much of the way to the crest of the climb. The first section wound its way up the mountain side and through stands of Saguaro cacti.

Once past the first section the Saguaro thinned and the flora changed as did the geology. The road continued to weave through the 3D maze of the mountains that make up the Mt Lemmon massif. Soon enough I was amongst the granite spires and cliffs at Windy point and then into the forests that cover the upper reaches.

After reaching the top of the main climb I pushed on as I wanted to post a time for the full ascent. Unfortunately forest workers were felling trees close to the road and all traffic was forced to stop.

Once restarted my legs were cold so was happy just to roll the last kilometers to the gate past the ski field that guarded the last short stretch of private road to the Mt Lemmon Sky Center.

After a few photos I rolled down into the aptly named Summerhaven and enjoyed a coke and icecream before making my way back off the mountain. 

It was hot back at the van, sensibly I'd parked it under one of the few larger trees in the car park so it was at least bearable. Another visit into the Safeway for a couple of tubs of pasta salad from the deli and other supplies for the long drive back west; and a long drive it was! First on the I10 and then onto the I8 towards San Diego. I stopped for gas at Gila Bend and had to step into the furnace; why people would live here out in the desert I really don't know?

I passed through Brawley on dusk and into dust storms as I drove through the Anza Barrego Desert State Park towards Palomar Mountain. I had planned to stop at a campsite on the mountain, but the days riding plus over 600km driving had me exhausted and looking for a spot to park for the night.

I found a spot off the road just before Lake Henshaw which I thought was well hidden from the passing cars. Around 12:30am I was proven wrong with a knock on the window and torch shining through the glass. The police weren't impressed I'd bedded down for the night just off the road; once again the Aussie accent and friendly discussion about my road trip had them letting me stay where I was and get back to sleep. 

Ride details: distance 111.48km Maximum elevation 2764m

3041m elevation