sadly jason leaves on monday. we had spoken for a while about doing the 5 Blue Cols, it is basically riding 5 of the “local” hills that hurt. there really isn’t any other way to describe it. so what better way to send him off than to complete the cols. he had done it before by himself and estimated it to be 115km and should take around 4.5 to 5hrs. in total it ended up being 134km and took 5hrs 20mins. with 11 starters and 10 finishes i was first off from home up to jasons place. there we left as a bunch of 4, met up with another 4 at blaxland, then michael [chamois/cha_cha] with 3 mates. after old bathurst then lappo we dropped one rider who had to go home to do some chores.
the day in all was one of the best rides i have ever had. we all rode like we had been a bunch for many years. lots of respect and i was blown away by the quality of the riders. these guys know how to ride, and ride well they did.
the weather was a bit of everything starting with humidity that found me in a lather of sweat even before leaving the house. there was almost all seasons, rain, heavier rain, sun, and a little wind but in all it was humidity that i felt the most. on all the climbs i was really heavily heating up. i love the rapha jersey but it is not the best in heat. its more a spring cool jersey so i am going to look into the summer jersey they do.
i made all hills but almost DNF’d on Bowen. that is a killer of a climb that can only be described as totally brutal. what amazed me more was the level of fitness of all the riders. tim and a few of the others were just way beyond what i had ever seen. going up hills for them seemed to me like they were on the flats. most climbs i finished up second last which i was still happy with. finishing was enough. pretty chuffed as this was a great way to start the year off as the first ride.
the five hills and my accounts:
Old Bathurst
this was my first ride up. it hurt but i wasn’t too bad. probably because it was the first one. it isn’t long but the grade hits 14% at sections. not for the faint heart’d but thankfully it doesn’t go on for ever, like some. i will be back. i need to invest some time there.
Lappo
nothing unusual there. same old same old. simple, not to hard but a good ride like always.
Bowen
best described in one word. fuck! hurt lots and it almost got me but i didn’t let it. i am going to go back. i quite liked it to be honest. it just doesn’t end and slowly but surely gets steeper and steeper. those that hadn’t climbed it before all agreed it is one of the better climbs around. it needs some serious taming
Kurrajong/Bellbird hill
not too bad but it is really steep. i had some great memories climbing it in the little pocket of pain i went through only because we passed loxley on Bellbird hill which is where karen and i had our wedding reception. such a great day our wedding, just loved it.
alpé de heights [hawkesbury heights]
i did climb my home hill well. considering i had about 110km+ in the legs i went up the alpé comfortably. i felt really good climbing it with the confidence of a long ride and still being ok on the ascent reasonably ok. sadly jason got a cramp on his way up. i have never seen him cramp so that was a big surprise. he did say he hadn’t been 100% and that was proof.
the most important thing was jason seem to really love the ride. with a much bigger then expected turn out you could see how much it all meant to him. sad to see him go. gonna miss ya!
i only took the blackberry for pictures so they are very average shots and i think the blurriness of them is actually moisture from sweet.
the bunch at jason after the ride
the stats:
distance: 134.12
time: 5:20:16
avg speed: 25:12
max speed: 76:19 [could have been much, much higher but it was wet]
ascent: 1646m with multiple 8-9% grades in places and peaking at 14% at times, just ask my legs!
the elevation:
map my ride data: [hopefully the last hand mapped ride i do with mmr - garmin connect soon]