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.
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