“Well that was fun”. These were the first words that I
mumbled as we arrived back at our cafe end point to conclude the 2nd
annual Adelaide Dirty Dozen Ride. What is the Dirty Dozen I hear you ask! Well
let me explain. The format of the ride is as follows.
Over 3000m vertical in approximately 100km over a 'Bakers Dozen'
of hills close to Adelaide.
Hills will be in order of:
1.
Mt Osmond (Hayward Dve) -
2.3km @ 9.7%
2.
Gill Tce - 0.6km @ 14.7%
3.
Heatherbank Tce - 0.6km @
10.3%
4.
Kensington Rd - 1.3km @
11.5%
5.
Coach Rd - 2.4km @ 9.8%
6.
Knox Tce - 1.4km @ 9.4%
7.
Ridgeland Dve - 1.2km @
10.7%
8.
Burdetts Rd - 1.7km @ 7%
9.
Nicols Rd (up and back) -
0.7km @ 11.7% & 0.5km @ 12.9%
10.
Knotts Hill / Pound Rd -
2.7km @8%
11.
Fernhurst Rd
(Cherryville) - 2.1km @10.8%
12.
Corkscrew Rd - 2.5km
@8.9%
13.
Coach House Dve /
Woodlands Way - 2.7km @10.1%
According to Ride With GPS - 3595m vertical all up!
This is the 2nd year that the Dirty Dozen ride has been held in Adelaide. Last year an overwhelming fear of failure rendered me a non starter and it is something that was continually eating at met. Last year just over 80 people took on the challenge with only 35 finishing. yes it is THAT hard. I, once again, listed myself as a non starter due to a really poor winter training season and no ride over about 70kms in the last 6 months. I volunteered my services as a support vehicle for the event as a way of still being involved but without riding. 2 weeks out from the start i said to my wife "i think i want to give this ride a crack". As usual she was super supportive (even if i secretly wanted her to talk me out of it!). My issue was i was confirmed as support for the day. After some sweet talking on my behalf my wife, reluctantly, agreed that she would step in my place and drive the car! ok, shit, i am riding now with 2 rides in the past 7 weeks, this is gonna hurt! After completing a reccie ride of 6 of the hills (yes not even half of what is on offer for the ACTUAL day) i thought once again of backing out. I remembered how i felt after last years event and hearing the storys of the day and having nothing to offer. The words that i promised myself last year were "i would rather try and fail than not try at all".
Night before i followed my same pre race plan. Big bowl of pasta, cooked exactly the same way and a decent hour of stretching. Also i had promised the event organiser that i would be more than happy to bake some treats for the day! ooops. So the night before was also filled with making banana bread, cookies and "cocaine" bars. Lucky i had some assistance.
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| Don't worry we had finished mixing! =) |
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| It would look a little different in a few hours! |
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| Prime Parking spot |
As soon as Walter and the crew threw open the doors at RBE i was in! first coffee down and i was feeling great. The nerves continued to build as more and more people began to arrive. Being on the reserved/Shy side i was happy that my boys from Cervo Rosso arrived early and in full CR kit. Not being organised before hand i took a punt that there would be a couple of us at least in the "uniform" so i wore mine. Good move. Before we rolled out it was decided that we would stick together throughout the ride. This was an unexpected bonus for me and goes to show the continuing camaraderie we have, No one was left behind. For sure there were varying abilities and being that I had very little preparation I was one of the slower ones but the stronger riders made sure that we all stayed together (I think they enjoyed the breaks just quietly).
Trying to keep a lid on the excitement was difficult and i couldn't figure out if i was shriving due to nerves or the crisp morning air!
After a nice 20min "warm up" we hit Mt Osmond which was a nice way to start the ride. We rolled over this one with relative ease and then meandered our way down the Southern Freeway to Gill Tce. Hadnt done this one before and after a quick regroup, a drink and listening to AVO call out to his first random of the day "Kat! Kat! your name is Kat isnt it?" "ahh yes, did you read it on my helmet?" to the laughter of the group we started up Gill (and Kat, if that is her real name, just about sprinted up there). Not a bad climb which, as weird as it sounds, was made easier by the photograper on the side. I mean no one wants to look like they are struggling on the 2nd climb of the day with a camera there!
A beautiful ride though, somewhere, took us back towards Greenhill (i think) we came to Heatherbank which was checked off with relative ease. Then it was on to Kensington, or Kensi as it is to the locals. I had attempted this for the first time 3 weeks ago and had to stop half way up, first time i had stopped on a climb in 18mths. This time i was determined to make it and make it i did. It was made a little easier by riding up with Richard, who half way up, turns to me and says "shit i shouldnt have had those beers last night, oh wait no it was actually the red wine i should have avoided"!
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| Start of Kensington |
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| Top of Kensington |
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| Damn, now we have to go back down! |
On to Coach Road. This road is a MONSTER! 2.4km long with a section known as "The Wall". as you turn right at about the 1.5km mark you see it, an approximately 300m long section that peaks at about 23%. This is where shit gets real REALLY fast!. people employed the "weave" to get up there, others walked while some of us just gritted out teeth, pulled on the bars until our knuckles were white and got up there. I was thanking what ever God was willing to listen for the fact that at the summit of Coach there was a pre-arranged "Cafe". RBE had put on cold drip coffee and the banana bread, cookies and cocaine bars were being consumed. This was my first chance to see my wife and kids in a "somewhat" fresh state. Adam ( the provider of this pain) was lucky enough to have his wife who baked 10 DOZEN cupcakes! This was just the recharge we needed.
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| Coach Road Cafe. AVO at the front of the cupcake line |
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| Coach Road Cafe |
After a 30 min stop we took off. The next 5 climbs, Knox, Ridgeland, Burdetts, Nicols and Pound were all ticked off. I was hanging on by a thread! Then came Furnhurst. I had heard tales of terror from this, referred to as the Pit of Death as once you descend there is only one way back out. AVO has this as his nemesis. I actually managed to get in to quite a decent rhythm with this one but it is slightly demoralization to look at a speedo that says between 4.9-5.5 kph. Any slower and i would have fallen off!
I never thought i would say this but we actually headed to Corkscrew road and looked at it as a recovery hill! That is not normal seriously! quick bite to eat and a kiss from the kids we headed to Coach house drive/Woodlands way
This was the end of me once we got up Coach house. I was cooked, done, nothing left! Then we hit Woodlands. This is a road, not overly long, maybe 1.5km but it has 3 "ramps" with each one a little longer and steeper than the next. This is also a hill that plays with your mind. At the end of the 2nd ramp there is a sign, a beacon to continue to ride for that reads "CREST". Unfortunately when you get to the top you are faced with the 3rd ramp! Once i managed to pull myself over the crest i heard an excruciating "OH GET F&#$%D" coming from Roger behind me. I managed to ride on for another 100m or so and i had to stop and walk for a minute. This poses a problem in itself, re cleating on a hill. This is difficult even if you are not in a dehydrated loony state but on the last climb of this ridiculous ride it was just dangerous! Roger caught up to me and after a quick breather he looked at me and just said "c'mon we can do it together". "Yep lets to it Rog!" Somehow we got going and the 2 of us rode over the crest and to the encouragement of the waiting group. We werent first, but we werent last either.
After a 15min regroup, a coke and some water we headed over to Norton Summit where every small rise in between hurt. We flew down Norton Summit Road with everyone too exhausted to put the brakes on and meandered our way back to Red Berry Espresso. Rolling in as a team was a great reward for a special day out on the bike. Coffee consumed by all, a sandwich by some we reflected on the day that was, our victories, our struggles and thanks given to Walter and Adam for pulling this together.
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| THE team! Cervo Rosso Adelaide |
I parted ways with the group and started the 5km ride back to the office which was nice as a way to quickly unwind the legs and reflect on the day.
It was a very special day on the bike, without a doubt the hardest i have had since i started riding but it was made easier by the group i had with me. I dont think i would have had it in me to finish the ride without them.
To put this into some context. Harley aka "Durian Rider" said that this was his toughest ride since 1999. This from a guy who doesnt own a car and does some EPIC rides. Also I contacted former Pro Cyclist Pat Jonker and asked how he pulled up the day after, his response, "My body feels like the morning after stage 14 of the Tour de France"!
My preparation was poor for this event, hindsight is always 20/20, but i can certainly improve and will continue to strive to do so.
Bring on 2014!!!!
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| The day after at CR HQ La Musette Cafe Glenelg |
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