Come on
Gravel Giro yesterday was ace, super-fun fast descent in the mud left a massive smile on my (very dirty) face for hours afterwards. Will definitely consider it again next year!
^ Nice one Khan, I imagine the rain would have been pretty constant.
Met up with Beaker at 5:20am and we headed out for another day spent suffering on the hills surrounding Warburton.
After a pretty cruisy start along the rollers I gave thee Reefton climb a nudge and didn’t really have any problems.
Fast descent into Marysville was fun and had a quick stop for some snacks and bottle refill.
Headed on to Acheron Way which seemed harder than I remembered, but the gravel section was fun - pretty soggy in places but not too bad. Did manage to lose both my water bottles - the first fell out during a fast section so I thought “fuck it, I’ve got another.” Then that fell out about a minute later so I had to go back and retrieve it. Stopped at the aid station just before the final climb and realised it had split when it fell, so I was sans water for the remaining 10k’s.
So I set off and found a comfy position for Donna Buang and most of it went OK, but god damn, I was looking for another cog for that last few hundred metres - my quads were about to explode. Seriously, I’m probably just getting old but 39/23 is not ideal for that climb with ~100k’s in the legs.
Descent back into Warburton; beer, food, satisfied with life. Sorry, no photos, it looked pretty similar to last time.
Big thanks to Beaker for transport and inane banter!
#humblebrag
That’s your problem right there. Why do you persist with such ridiculous gearing? Afraid Jamesy will make some comments about sensations?
Excellent Pinz, but I had to chuckle a bit at the gearing comment
Can’t put a modern groupset on that Pinarello huh?
Retrogrouch for lyf.
I just want him to like me.
God no. I’ve only just managed to accept the 39 up front.
if its not a straight block cassette it isn’t cycling imo, sorry about it.
TC - took me quite a while to remember that a 23t on a roadie sucks for climbing.
very few sensations in 50 cadence and red face its true.
I caved to 39/27 and good sensations were had on Buffalo and Falls Creek.
Cracking day out. Rode slow all day*, while Pinzo zipped away in his 23T. Such a stunning place to ride bikes. Post-ride porter was sensational. Oh, and I met Bertie, eff me what a day. Will be back for more next year.
*Except the descent out of Marysville, where I only saw today when I uploaded the ride that I hit 86km/hr and spent a full 30 sec above 80km/hr. Fuck that - use your brakes next time dingus.
^ Wow, you met Dave Hogan!
I wasn’t in my 23 then 
oh boyyyyyy
lolwut? #speedthrills
Evidence:
^ Photo by Neil Hollingshead.
^ Pinzo drilling it.
Me putting along enjoying the scenery…
^ “Geez, it’d be quicker if I could just cut through that valley.”
about to “ze moment” those hubbards!
Steph and I started the day well enough. Easy trip out, bumped into Beaker and P!N20 at the village, good coffee and a rubbish sausage to kick off. From there we had to walk along a little trail to get into the start, which was odd.
After this, it took a little turn. Steph was having an absolute shocker. Neither of us had prepared very well, however Steph was straight into struggle town after having done a hike of Mt Gould in Tassie the prior weekend which was an absolute killer. Struggled up Reefton Spur, thoroughly loved the descents, however the damage was done. By the time we got to Marysville, Steph was having the devil of a time keeping her HR under 160bpm. We talked pretty honestly about getting an Uber from there and calling it.
We pushed on to Acheron Way, which we loved. What a beautiful spot. The gravel was pretty great too. At this point Steph was starting to believe she could do this thing. That she could get to the top and finish it out. As finished Acheron Way, Steph sai she could climb up alone and that if I was feeling alright, to ride on. I kicked off my climb and pulled back a lot of places - I felt great on my climb of Donna and put in PBs for most segments on the climb.
Steph crossed the line later on, beaten but not broken. I’m so proud of her for finishing and getting it done. I can’t believe how she managed to pull another 50km out and double her climbing. Absolutely gutsy ride.
(Side Note: Steph’s suffer score was 783!)
