Great Ocean and Otway Classic Ride 2013

The Great Ocean and Otway Classic Ride, or #GOOCR13 as was the preferred twitter hashtag - mouthful i know, is one of the popular mass participation bike rides in Victoria.

The event starts in Torquay and follows an anti-clockwise loop through the edge of the relatively flat western district farmlands, crossing over the Otway Ranges to the coast, before returning 145 km later to Torquay via the Great Ocean Road.

Event Route and Profile

While not being an overly tough ride for experienced, as far as rides go, it could quite easily be turned into a challenging ride, by treating it as a race, or by trying to hang onto one of the quicker front packs of riders.  However, for novice cyclists and those without too many long rides under their belt, the rise up from Deans Marsh followed by the numerous short rises along the coast would indeed be a challenge - particularly with the winds on the day ignoring the prevailing weather patterns, which would provide a tail wind for this final 50 km stretch, and instead delivering a headwind!

I had no delusions of grandeur here.  This was going to be my first ride in excess of 80km / 3 hr for about 20 years!  My plan was merely to roll around the course, attempting to keep my HR under control - particularly after my DNF at Xterra GOR 2 weeks ago - hoping that my base fitness would get me through, if I didn't redline my HR too often.

I awoke at 3:45 had some breaky, loaded the car and was on my way by 4:30.  Quick coffee stop at the road house on the Geelong road and i was at Torquay by 6:30, just in time to get ready and take the obligatory bike and sunrise photo with the phone!

Obligatory iPhone photo for social networking purposes

Then it was time to go and catch-up with a mate who i've been chatting with on Twitter for a while but never "met" (we'll refer to him as "Nigel" to protect the guilty).  Sure enough, he actually did exist and wasn't just a little plastic man on a little plastic bike - as his twitter profile suggests...

Just like any of these events, the participants lined up behind the start line according to coloured wrist band, based on their expected finishing time.  So we made our way to the start line and after a quick chat "Nigel" kept moving forward into the Green Zone, while i was more than happy to stay back in the "Orange Zone". 

BANG!! And we're off - well, the first wave was.  After about 3 minutes i was in the start group and GO!! 

hmmm... that's strange, my cleat wouldn't click in... no worries i've only got 145k to ride on a dodgy cleat - anyway, quick stop, gave the cleat and the pedal a quick once over (no idea what was wrong or what i did, but it worked).  Take 2...and, GO!!

The start was always going to be a little nervy for me, not being a big fan of pack cycling. I just rode on the edge of the road and let a few packs go past.  There are two little hills (of 2km and 1.5km length) within the first 10km and i found myself getting stuck behind some quite slow climbers. I was feeling strong, so i started cruising onto the wrong side of the road (massive move for Captain Conservative) passing groups of slower riders.  That was just what i needed to do - ride at my pace, not being dictated by what people around me were doing.

The route took us in a general westerly direction along gently undulating roads for the next 50 km or so before turning south.  This was a nice easy section of the ride, where you could just relax, get into a good rhythm and ride.

I was going quite well until we made the left hand turn, putting us on an easterly course straight into the wind! This is where things got a little tougher, so i dialled things back a notch knowing that i was going to enter the "i haven't ridden this far before" zone part way up the looming rise from Deans Marsh up to Benwerrin...

There were numerous rest locations / water stations set up along the route. I'd managed to reach Deans Marsh (approximately 75 km) without stopping, but was running low on water, so figured this was a good place to stop to re-fill the water, have a quick bite, stretch the legs and answer the call of nature.

Now...time to get back on the bike and climb!!

The Climb!

For the data nerds, the details of the climb are something along the lines of 11 km, 250 m elevation difference (an average gradient of ~2.2 %), with 300 m of climbing... yes, there is some minor downhill sections, and quite a few flats  - so as far as climbs go, it's not too bad.

Knowing that i still had 50 km of winding, undulating, Great Ocean Road into a headwind after this, my plan was to take the climb relatively easy and enjoyed the view.  I almost achieved this, my cadence and speed got a little bit too low on a couple of occasions - as my HR started to nudge into the 170 bpm range (this ordinarily wouldn't bother me - but still a little worried about any residual effect from my recent bout of man-flu).

In all honesty, I actually enjoyed the climb, and can see people actively seek out insane climbs to ride up!  Refer to The Climbing Cyclist website for such insanity!!

One of the features of my new Garmin Edge 500 (purchased the day before the event) that i think i'll steer clear of in the future is the gradient function...too many times on the climb i was seeing numbers like 9 %, 10 % and 11 %. But having said that, it was great to know that i was climbing with relative ease (not very much speed or power mind you)... 

Typical rainforesty-esq view on the climb from Deans Marsh to Benwerrin

Yours truly looking...well, like a cyclist riding up a hill.

The Descent!

And down....

Well, I believe I can officially lay claim to being the world's most conservative / slowest / worst descender!! At one stage I was certain I was being overtaken by a group of toddlers on tricycles!

Checking the Strava segment for the descent, my average speed (excluding the time at the top to stretch) was approximately HALF that of the KOM...

I just can't let go and fly, I generally go faster on nice smooth gentle slopes than I do on massive high speed downhills!! I don't know why?? Maybe with a bit more time on the road I'll gain the confidence i need...who knows??

Anyway, I eventually made it down! My nerves were a little frayed so i took a quick break in Lorne to re-group.

I left Lorne feeling great.  There's a bit of a climb out of Lorne, up Big Hill, which isn't really that big.  But either way i was feeling pretty comfortable, and before too long the Garmin clicked over 100 km... Woo Hoo!! 

The ride from Lorne to Anglesea, follows the coast. It goes up, down, and around, and is a fantastic way to see the coast!

The typical view along the Great Ocean Road, it's pretty hard not to enjoy the ride! 

I even managed a smile for the camera. I thought about getting out of the saddle for
the photo - but my legs sensed what i was thinking and threatened to cramp!

Approaching Airey's Inlet i was starting to cramp in my hamstrings, and continued to cramp for the remaining 40 km, so stretching stops were required at Aireys Inlet, on a little climb coming into Anglesea, the drinks/rest stop at Anglesea, and finally just before Jan Juc.

The view into Anglesea is pretty amazing. This is also the area where Xterra Great Ocean Road
was held a few weeks back. The swim was at the beach in the mid-view, the ride in the hills beyond
that, and the run back up the hill this shot is taken from.

Anglesea to Torquay stretch...wow!

The final long climb, coming out of Anglesea. 

This section seems to be a continual climb all the way to Jan Juc...but no...once you summit after leaving Anglesea it's pretty much slightly down the entire way!!! DAMN EASTERLY WIND!!

After rolling over the top of a little climb i looked up and was met with a view like this... no more beach, no more forest...down town Jan Juc!!  From here i knew it was just a matter of rolling down this hill, back up the other side and then through the main street of Torquay to the finish line!

The view from Jan Juc toward the finish at Torquay

Once i got up the little rise into Torquay the excitement of finishing kicked in and i raised enough energy to put in a bit of a sprint past the cafes full of already finished competitors drinking beer!! 

And then, after 6 hours riding time (and another hour spent stretching, etc)....THE FINISH!

About 5 minutes after i finished i received a message from my mate who we're still going to refer to as "Nigel", simply saying... "Are you dead ?" to which i simply replied "dead man walking - just finished".  As it turns out, he had a pretty good day's cycling, and was sitting on a couch enjoying a cuppa!

Looking back now, it was a really enjoyable ride. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes spending a few hours in the saddle!!