A crazy friend of mine needs our knowledge, support and well wishes.

The gent I speak of is very fit, but not so much ride fit, although he does get around everywhere on a fixed gear he doesn’t ride long distances.

Like I said he’s crazy and as such is planning to leave Melbourne Thursday night and ride to the top of Mt. Hotham. He has asked me for advice about building up a new bike and all of the things he will need. What do y’all think about this? I have offered teh following suggestions;

If you don’t have to buy a new bike, don’t.
If you do, get steel.
25mm tyres.
Hydro pack to carry spares clothes etc, it’s a long way.
If not hydro pack, good saddle bag and bidons.
Get a brake (he doesn’t want to).
A basic computer to have something to ride to 9he’s going on his own).
Shoes - road or mtb.
Drops, ergo drops for comfort.
Gloves and lycra.
Gels.
Chamois cream.
Rest for small amounts when needed and eat and drink little bits often.
Pace yourself.

I think that’s about the extent of my knowledge. What can the brains trust fill that I have missed? Thanks in advance…

I had to gmap the ride. So he’s going to do a 7-800km return ride with no real prep, no spare clothes etc, no sleeping gear, and NOBR AKES? Is this a correct assumption?

Compact crank with 11-28T cassette??

//youtu.be/DvOHbxBAEN8

i wanna know who this crazy friend is!

And on a newly built or bought bike?

If he hasn’t ridden long distances I reckon he’ll find it challenging to say the least, coming down mountains without a brake after a a long day in the saddle.

Sounds like he might be biting off more than he can chew. But good luck to him.

Does he have any Rapha?

I’ll add, good lights to see by and a good taillight and spare batteries/charger for both. Also phone charger. If he leaves Thursday night, he could get to Harrietville on Friday night/Saturday morning. I’d aim to get to Harrietville and sleep if possible until Saturday morning to do the climb in daylight and a little bit rested. Also, I hope he’s meeting someone at the top so they can drive him home… Good luck mystery dude!

No, good point, a ride this epic needs some Rapha and a black and white short film.

To clarify he is not riding back, just there. He has a place at Hotham and I imagine he won’t return for about a week given the pain he’s about to cause himself. If this was anyone else I’d say there’s no way they could do it, but I rowed with this guy and frequently watched him push himself beyond the limit. He’s tough. He’s also gonna need all the luck he can get.

Also I suggested a flip flop fixed-fixed so he can change to a lower gear for the climb, I recomended nothing bigger than 69" on the way out and whatever the smallest cog he can fit without needing to change the chain for the climb.

he should pack a tail wind

oooh, is this a clue??!!!

nice.

ftfy.

Also, not sure riding up a big mountain after riding a couple hundred k’s is equivalent to rowing a couple of k’s, with all due respect to the rowing fraternity.

Thankyou, I’m glad you knew what I meant. Smallest gear/biggest cog. I be not too samrt.

As for the rowing thing, I’m not pretending that he’ll be a good cyclist because of it, I just know his ability to suffer is equal too or greater than pretty much anyone I’ve met. Anyone who has rowed at a decent level can attest to the shear pain that is caused by 3 a day training camps.

You can be as tough and as fit as you like but numb dick is numb dick.

Why Rowers Make Exceptional Cyclists | Cycling Tips

From hearing of experiences from my partner, who rows. They seem to be very good at turning themselves inside out for about 40 minutes. Also good for overcoming mental barriers. She isn’t bike fit but can easily jump on and smash 10s of kms without much trouble. (10s though, not 100s!)

All that fitness still not helping out James?

Hey you leave nick alone hmc

Also this guy sounds like a champion, and towers are lunatic prissy fancy private school lads most of the time so tell him to pack some tissues for when he misses his mummy, and also tell him I could do that with a butt plug in cos I’m not stupid enough to do that without gears and lycra

^ He’s doing it with Lycra. His mate’s doing it with gears.

I would go 28mm tyres.

Some decent nicks and a defibrillator.