Miss Donna Buang

Route: Launching Place to Mt. Donna Buang return

Distance: 61km

Climb time: 1h26m35s

Here are a couple of things I learnt from my time with Miss Buang;

1. Just because it is 24 degrees and sunny at sea level does not mean that this will necessarily be the case at 1250m of altitude.

2. Wearing only cycling nicks, a jersey and fingerless gloves will do little to prevent one from freezing on the descent from the aforementioned altitude.

3. The PattStrap is a waste of time.

After doing a little bit of climbing recently I thought I would take it to the next level and attempt to cross one of the mountains off my 'to climb' list. I headed out from Eltham toward Yarra Glen, noting that driving that route takes significantly less time than riding it. From YG I headed to Healesville before taking Don Rd toward Launching Place, up and over Mt. Toolebewong and down the dirt road on the other side. I parked the car at the Launching Place Hotel before saddling up and heading to Warburton. The 13km warm-up to Warby was fairly flat but I was keen to start climbing so when I saw the turn off to Mt. Donna Buang I was pumped and ready to go.

The first 7km is kinda like doing the 1 in 20 I guess, except that it's more like 1 in 15 if not steeper. By the time I reached Cement Creek and the hairpin that takes you up to the summit though I was more than ready for a bit of a breather. As mentioned earlier, my assessment of the weather turned out to be quite wrong and by the time I had reached Cement Creek it was starting to get quite chilly.

After refilling my drink bottles from the aforementioned creek I turned the corner and continued on the 9km remaining to the summit. Now even though the next 6km probably wasn't as steep as the first 7km, I'm not too sure where the 'false-flats' talked about on Bikely were! With 3km to go I started seeing snow on the side of the road which, for some reason, spurred me on even more. Despite the last kilometer tilting up unforgivingly, I pulled myself through the snow that was melting on the road to the lookout tower at the top. 'Tis quite an amazing view from up there. Whenever I have been on the bike and climbing hills or mountains the same thought always goes through my head - 'why am I doing this to myself?'. But the feeling you get when you reach the top makes it all worth while.

After a few minutes and a few home-brand jelly snakes I began the descent. I don't think I've ever been colder in my life. You know how they say the faster you go, the colder it gets? Well, it is true. I couldn't decide if it was better to pedal faster to warm myself up or to slow down and stop the wind from freezing my face off. As I got further down the mountain the temperature picked up and my face and fingers started to defrost somewhat. The ride back to Launching Place wasn't too bad, save for the setting sun blinding me.

In ITB news The PattStrap that I had ordered from the States proved to be extremely useless, curling up at the edges and even coming undone before I had even arrived at Warburton. Consequently I reverted back to my trusty bandage which did the trick, stopping me from having any pain during the long climb.

Overall, a good couple of hours in the saddle and the feeling once I got to the summit was unbelievable. I think some more climbing might be on the menu very shortly.

30 days to go.

Ambitious

Route: Eltham to Kinglake return (inc. Kinglake climb)
Distance: 68km
Kinglake climb time: 26m45s

So much for building the kays up slowly. The bro and I decided to throw caution to the wind today and head up to Kinglake for a bit more hill climbing and good scenery. It was an awesome ride but I was a little slow up the 6.8km climb after yesterday's effort at the 1 in 20. Despite the climbing and the increase in distance my knee was fine again today. The only downside was that the tightness of the bandage was restricting my quad a little bit and it felt as if lactic acid was building up more quickly in that leg than the other one. Oh well, we can't have it all can we?

The bro and I are looking forward to our week-long family holiday in Bateman's Bay in a few weeks time. We are going to take the bikes along and get some kays under our belts, including a possible attempt at Clyde Mountain up the Kings Highway. I just have to remember to keep up the stretches and exercises to try to fix this problem rather than avoiding it with straps and bandages.

37 days to go.

Ramping it up, in more ways than one

Route: Ringwood East to Sassafras return (inc. 1 in 20)
Distance: 32km
1 in 20 time: 20m24s

So I went to the physio again today. He said that it was a little strange that my knee was still sore, and proceeded to try and loosten it up. He suggested that I take a course of anti-inflamatories and return next week for another session, including a proper bike set up. I told him of my make-shift PattStrap which he seemed unimpressed with saying 'it is a temporary measure. It will not fix the underlying cause of the pain'. Oh well, it's helping me ride so it can't be all bad.

After the appointment I grabbed my bike out of the car and headed out to The Basin for some 1 in 20 smashing. I was really keen to beat my previous best time up the 6.75km course (22m30s) and if possible to beat 20 minutes. I started out really hard (probably too hard) and fell back to a regular pace quite quickly but for the rest of the climb I pushed myself, keen to finish inside 20 minutes. I reached the top fairly exhausted, in 20m24s. Damn it! Oh well, something to work on and not bad considering how little riding I have been doing lately.

The descent was awesome and made the climb worth while, but some rain on the way home was more than a little annoying. In good news, no ITB pain again today and so tomorrow with the bro we will see how I go with 40km.

38 days to go.

Pain-free eighteen

Route: Eltham to Kangaroo Ground return
Distance: 18km

So I finally got back on the bike today and it felt sooooo good. I'd been thinking about what my bro's lecturer told him - that a good way to prevent pain from ITB is to use a knee strap like the PattStrap. I asked the physio whether or not it would work and he said it wouldn't because a strap like that targets a tight IT band, not a weak one which I am suffering from. However, having been frustrated out of my head lately at not being able to ride I decided to give it a go anyway. I got a bandage, folded it up and tied it just above my knee, and it works! 18km pain-free. The most encouraging part of it all was that I went fairly hard today, especially on the awesome downhill on the way back through Research.

I'm really relieved that I've found something that works, and I have ordered the proper strap which should arrive this week or next. Now I can stop worrying about my knee and just concentrate on building up the kays again - such a relief. I wonder how it will go over 30km?

40 days to go.

I just wanna ride!

I guess when you are down you are down eh? On top of all the ITB annoyance, this last week has seen me bed-ridden with a nasty dose of the flu. My last ride was over a week ago and I'm scratching at the walls, just itching to get on the bike. On the days where I've had the strength to do so, I've been keeping up with my stretches and exercises, so hopefully they are starting to help a bit.

But the most annoying thing is, I still have pain in my knee! After all this time it still hurts to bend down, to get in and out of the car, to drive the car etc. Granted, the stretches give some relief but it's more than a little annoying. I'm heading back to the physio on Thursday to see what he says, and I will ask about the pain and if there is any way of making it go away.

Anyway, a few days off work this coming week means a few chances to get on the bike, health pending. Hopefully I can start building up the kays and the fitness again.

42 days to go.