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Ride Report - Bicycle SA Mini Slam #3

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:39 am
by MichaelB
The day finally came, and it was my first official event.

It was not a timed event, but a community participation event. The day dawned (well, was up way before dawn) and headed off to pick up the brther in law to load his bike for the trip to Echunga in the Adelaide Hills. The weather report was initailly "a few showers and -4DT", but changed to be a few degrees cooler.

The drive up showed lotsa fog, but at least the rain stayed away. Almost. 5km out from the starting point the wipers were required..... Not much was siad in the car .... :?

Anyway, we got to the town hall in Echunga, and whilst i unloaded the bikes, my brother-in-law (Peter) collected our numbers. Whilst we waited for the 8am start time to arrive, we rugged up, forgot the idea of riding in shorts, and pondered the perceived lack of common sense of som many people on a Sunday morning.

The rain had stopped, and the group set off. A total of about 230 people set off down the road to cries of "It's not a race", and "two abreast". The ride quickly settled down , and whilsta bit chilly, it was great to be riding in a bunch and through some great roads.
The first of the gentle climbs took up past Mel Gibson's hills hideaway, and on to some steeper hills. Some of the front chargers were going backwards on the hills already.

Then came the first of the biggish hills - thank god I had put the 12-26 cassette on the new rims !!!!! The hill decents were handled with due car as the roads were still damp and the bunches were still a bit wobbly.

There was a quick rest break at the 32km mark. Straight after that there was one of those 5 and a bit % climbs which tested the legs after a rest.

The remainder of the ride was just about on my own, and as I went further, the progress up the hills became a bit slower. I spent a bit of time riding with a 70= year old who was doing the 150km course, so I had to leave him behind in the fear he might actually ride faster than me. The sun was coming out and it was a great day in the making.

The last 20km got cloudy again, and then the last 10km had rain. :cry: The non-stop hills and descents were a good break from being continually flat. I managed to pass a few people near the end as the finish point came in sight.

I completed the line a bit cold & wet in a time of 2hrs & 46 min for an avg speed of 26.02km/hr. The legs were tired, but it was a great ride. Peter came in about 15min behind and they got a bit of hail !!!

The next ride on the 21st October is the 100/200km option and starts at Little Hampton. I'll put the route up soon.

As soon as some pics come up, I'll try and get them in the thread

Cheers

Michael B

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:29 pm
by europa
Good one Michael. Pity about the rain and yes, that was a lazy wind alright, cut right through you rather than going around - we froze at the soccer. Would you be angry if I said I was glad I wasn't able to do it? :roll:

Richard

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:40 pm
by tuco
You certainly start big for your first event.

Here's ournext race

Time trial 9km and around 600m up.

Not really looking forward to it as I'm still getting over a chest infection and have just ridden over 100km in a month.

Ignore the odd web address. I'm one of the two webmasters working on it.
It's the new club web site and it's not officially cut over and ready for the world to see yet.
The elevations and googlemaps were my idea for new members who, like when I joined, have no idea where the races start and what to expect.

Feel free to navigate around the site and see what you think.

Now that's how a master hi jacks a thread. :wink:

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:44 pm
by mikesbytes
Great riding Michael. Good to see you enjoyed it despite the weather.

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:10 pm
by MichaelB
europa wrote:Good one Michael. Pity about the rain and yes, that was a lazy wind alright, cut right through you rather than going around - we froze at the soccer. Would you be angry if I said I was glad I wasn't able to do it? :roll:

Richard
Nope - had a ball all by myself ......

There was even a guy on a touring bike with Front paniier still attached.

One of the other amazing things was the range of bike. Not many clunkers, and quite a few mega-buck bikes. Had great pleasure in passing them ... :wink:

Mind you, there was one guy on the +ve side of 140kg who only took marginally longer (10 min) than me to complete the ride :shock: and he didn't stop at all.

Mike : Yes, was a biggie first up, but missed the last one due to HK trip. This is all part of the buildup to the TdU - Mini Slam #4 (Aug - 72km), Mini Slam #5 (Oct - 109km), Sea to Vines (Nov - 120km) and then TdU Challenge in Jan 08 - 134km. Then rest ....

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:55 pm
by Deanj
Hi Michael have you got a link for the next ride as would be interested in giving it a go? cheers

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 7:11 pm
by europa
needsapush wrote:Hi Michael have you got a link for the next ride as would be interested in giving it a go? cheers
Look down in the SA section, he's about 4 hours ahead of you :wink:

Richard

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 7:50 pm
by Deanj
yeah found the link for the route map, just wondered if there was anything about how to enter? (Im gonna look really stupid now If I'm still missing it ha ha)

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:17 am
by MichaelB
Log onto the BicycleSA website at

www.bikesa.asn.au

and follow the links to the Grand Slam page.

Essentially, it is setup so that there are two loops to do the Grand Slam, and the Mini Slam is just the first loop (typically 1/2 the GS distance).

Become a member and the entyry fee is only $29 vs $44, but there are other member benefits as well.

The best part of the ride was the absolute lack of traffic lights and glass on the road. Only had to stop at one T junction for the whole 72km :lol:

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:18 am
by MichaelB
Here are some pics of me from the event



Just after the start (me on the left with the red legs :shock: )

hmmm, red legs not good

Heading down one of the last hills (needed to put another jersey on due to the cold)

4km from home !

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:47 pm
by tuco
MichaelB wrote:Here are some pics of me from the event



Just after the start (me on the left with the red legs :shock: )

hmmm, red legs not good

Heading down one of the last hills (needed to put another jersey on due to the cold)

4km from home !
Don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but you look like a super hero with the red legs and shoe covers. All you need is a cape.

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:51 pm
by MichaelB
tuco wrote:
Don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but you look like a super hero with the red legs and shoe covers. All you need is a cape.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'll take it as a good thing !!!!

The shoe covers earned their money that day I can tell you !

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:33 pm
by mikesbytes
Nice pictures Michael.

Those red leg warmer/tights/whatever are a good safety feature

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:37 pm
by europa
Yet another site I'm not allowed to see. Turning off my antivirus/spam/firewall thingy doesn't help either. I wonder if it's a Bigpond thing, but there've been quite a few links I haven't been able to view recently.

Richard

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:56 pm
by MichaelB
mikesbytes wrote: Those red leg warmer/tights/whatever are a good safety feature
They are full length Bib knicks and they are very toasty.

Fortunatly for the good folk of Adelaide, they are rarely seen in daylight hours.

You should see the combo with the reecntly purchased hi vis jersey from Torpedo 7 :shock:

Richard, the site that has the pics is Epsom Road studio's

web site is www.epsomrdstudios.com.au

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:27 pm
by europa
Nope, can't find it, Firefox or IE, Norton or or off. Must be Sludgepond.

Richard

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:40 pm
by MichaelB
europa wrote:Nope, can't find it, Firefox or IE, Norton or or off. Must be Sludgepond.

Richard
Don't know what you are missing !!!!