Your ride today, yesterday....

[norbs]

Go V.

[markus]

Mallorca312 [x]

https://strava.app.link/QU8ds4IJeW

To put things into perspective - I lost more than 2.5 hours to retired Alberto Contador

[CLP]

Mallorca312 [x]

https://strava.app.link/QU8ds4IJeW

To put things into perspective - I lost more than 2.5 hours to retired Alberto Contador

To put things into perspective.. you rode 300+km and climbed over 4500m :o
Epic gold plated kudos to you good sir!

[norbs]

That is a big ride. Well done Markus.

[CLP]

Got back home on Sunday from an epic adventure on the bike. For those not following me on Strava, Miss V and I took part in Bike SA's Outback Odyssey which takes us up the Mawson Trail from Adelaide CBD to the highest town in South Australia, Blinman. In total, approximately 900 km with about 10,000 m of climbing on predominantly unsealed roads and road reserves.

I'll post up a few photos once I get myself a bit more sorted.

[KNAPPO]

Legend, what a journey.

[norbs]

As I said on Strava. Jealous.

[CLP]

As promised, a few photos from our Outback Odyssey adventure.
It's super hard to take a shot to depict the vastness of the landscape, nor the changing colour of the ranges depending on the light.

If you're thinking about doing it.. i'd say go for it! There's some hard days of riding, but also some simply magical days that you wouldn't want to miss.

Since we did it via BikeSA, it was all fully supported (meals, route support etc) which made things *much* easier for us. We also took the "Deluxe Camping" option, meaning they supplied the tent and put it up/packed it down for us. This worked well for us, since we're slow and we like to stop and take lots of photos . This took the pressure off and removed the need for us putting a tent up after a long day (potentially in the rain!).

Full Flickr album is here for those that want to look at some of the panoramas:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/19315964@ ... 8696009684

015_IMG_2513_0800.jpg

026_GOPR1772_0800.jpg

039_IMG_2579_0800.jpg

044_IMG_2619_0800.jpg

045_GOPR1924_0800.jpg

[CLP]

.. a few more

050_GOPR1959_0800.jpg

051_GOPR1974_0800.jpg

063_GOPR2116_0800.jpg

068_IMG_2815_0800.jpg

069_IMG_2817_0800.jpg

[pab]

If I was a bike rider I'd love to do a ride like that. Beautiful countryside!

[CLP]

If I was a bike rider I'd love to do a ride like that. Beautiful countryside!

you have two years to become a bike rider :P

interesting fact is that the average age for this event tends to be in the 60s. Also, while some bike riding skill is a good thing (since there are some trickier bits of trail), overall fitness is probably a much greater requirement.

Also, totally agree.. absolutely beautiful countryside. Very difficult to do it justice in a few photos

[pab]

Hmmm...

Cost?

[norbs]

Stats Carlos, I want stats!

[CLP]

Hmmm...

Cost?

Not super cheap, though you can spread payment out over a number of installments. Assuming you'd like to do it via bike SA, then it's $2425.00 for the full Mawson (shorter options are available). This includes (almost) all meals, full set of hardcopy maps, jersey, morning/afternoon teas, sag wagon support, limited bike mechanic support, camp fees, national park fees, transport of your stuff, shower/toilet truck etc etc.

If you go for the Deluxe camping option (can share with 2 people), that's an additional $500, where they'll supply a tent and put it up and pull it down each day. You can also hire a bike for the duration from BikeSA if you don't have a suitable set of wheels. There 's also an additional charge for a bus transfer back to your starting location (Adelaide/Burra/Melrose)

Much more general info on their website:
https://www.bikesa.asn.au/outbackodyssey

Last time i ran into you at an ARSE dinner, you looked more than fit enough .. just putting that out there

Of course you could ride the Mawson unsupported and carry your stuff etc., though I'm not sure how that would work out cost-wise. I guess V and I like the safety net that BikeSA provide. The downside is that you're riding to a schedule and you don't have the option to wait out bad weather etc. You'd probably want to be comfortable with bike-packing to do that.

If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer those.

Stats Carlos, I want stats!

heh! i don't have the exact numbers, but they did a show of hands at the end re: age ranges. At 47yo, i was one of the youngest . There were ~150 riders at the end in Blinman.

break down of numbers looked a bit like this:
30s - 4-5 people
40s - 5-10 people
50s - 20-30 people
60s - ~100 people
70s - ~10-20 people

from memory, oldest was 77yo.

[norbs]

More like ride stats Carl.

How many kilometres covered. Ave speed. Climbing etc etc

You mentioned around 900kms and 10k of climbing above. I want exact stats

[CLP]

More like ride stats Carl.

How many kilometres covered. Ave speed. Climbing etc etc

You mentioned around 900kms and 10k of climbing above. I want exact stats

Ha! fear not, i've got you covered on that

Up front, i'm counting the rides to and from the start in these totals, plus the couple of tiny rides around the towns.

Total Distance: 887.8 km
Total Elevation: 10,092 m
Av Speed: 11.8 km/h
Av. Moving Speed: 15.13 km/h
Av. HR: 100.7 bpm
Max HR: 159 bpm (191 bpm actually recorded, but suspect this is an anomalous reading)
Total Calories: 21,273 Cal
Total Time: 80:15:46

Daily Stats

OO_Stats_0800.jpg

[norbs]

That's what I was after. Thanks

[pab]

Hmmm...

Cost?

Not super cheap, though you can spread payment out over a number of installments. Assuming you'd like to do it via bike SA, then it's $2425.00 for the full Mawson (shorter options are available). This includes (almost) all meals, full set of hardcopy maps, jersey, morning/afternoon teas, sag wagon support, limited bike mechanic support, camp fees, national park fees, transport of your stuff, shower/toilet truck etc etc.

If you go for the Deluxe camping option (can share with 2 people), that's an additional $500, where they'll supply a tent and put it up and pull it down each day. You can also hire a bike for the duration from BikeSA if you don't have a suitable set of wheels. There 's also an additional charge for a bus transfer back to your starting location (Adelaide/Burra/Melrose)

Much more general info on their website:
https://www.bikesa.asn.au/outbackodyssey

Last time i ran into you at an ARSE dinner, you looked more than fit enough .. just putting that out there

Of course you could ride the Mawson unsupported and carry your stuff etc., though I'm not sure how that would work out cost-wise. I guess V and I like the safety net that BikeSA provide. The downside is that you're riding to a schedule and you don't have the option to wait out bad weather etc. You'd probably want to be comfortable with bike-packing to do that.

If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer those.

Thanks for that, as I said, would love to do something like that, would probably have to wait until the kids are through school though before I could justify that sort of cost. We'll see, I'll keep it in mind!

[CLP]

Food for thought next time you're in Adelaide Norbs

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/10/what-12 ... ll-pacing/

[norbs]

Food for thought next time you're in Adelaide Norbs

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/10/what-12 ... ll-pacing/

Interesting read, although I sense something is missing...

Unfortunately for the researchers, only around 20% of files they sampled contained power data. And so, for riders that hadn’t recorded power, the researchers set about estimating it. Using a mathematical model for road cycling power derived back in 1998, the researchers plugged in the gradient and the rider’s speed at each given point on the climb, allowing them to derive the corresponding power numbers.

How the fuck do they do that with out weight? If you and I are climbing it Carl, and doing the same speed, I am putting out a fair bit more power to keep up with you.

Funny thing is, not even my best time up (best time was without power meter) there gave me my best ever FTP result too. I think i averaged 300W+ for 20 minutes from memory.

[CLP]

Food for thought next time you're in Adelaide Norbs

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/10/what-12 ... ll-pacing/

Interesting read, although I sense something is missing...

Unfortunately for the researchers, only around 20% of files they sampled contained power data. And so, for riders that hadn’t recorded power, the researchers set about estimating it. Using a mathematical model for road cycling power derived back in 1998, the researchers plugged in the gradient and the rider’s speed at each given point on the climb, allowing them to derive the corresponding power numbers.

How the fuck do they do that with out weight? If you and I are climbing it Carl, and doing the same speed, I am putting out a fair bit more power to keep up with you.

Funny thing is, not even my best time up (best time was without power meter) there gave me my best ever FTP result too. I think i averaged 300W+ for 20 minutes from memory.

They're not using the raw power numbers in their analysis but rather the relative change(s) in power from start to finish. They can assume a weight (any weight, doesn't matter what, though they've used 87.7kg for bike and rider combined), derive a power number and then normalise against the maximum power. Then they can plot the change in power over time, excluding the weight as a variable between rides.

edit. actually, i tell a lie. i just read some of the paper. Looks like they back calculated the rider weights from known power values to validate their model first, THEN assumed a weight for the riders without power data. Either way, I think they're normalising their data since they're really comparing "effort" rather than the raw power numbers themselves

[norbs]

This is what makes me shit my pants on the MTB...

[DarrenM]

Judging by the bark I doubt you're the one who's nervous about them now

I get the impression your local trails were made with older bikes and their narrower bars in mind. The old bar ends used to make me more nervous about close trees than the current bike does. I was always paranoid about hooking something when the trees were close.

[CLP]

This is what makes me shit my pants on the MTB...

If it makes you feel any better, even after all the MTBing that i've done, I still hold my breath and hope that it turns out okay through sections like that!

I find that going through at a bit of an angle can help when the bar clearance is tight.

[DarrenM]

I've wanted to ride Old Great North Road for a long time but never felt comfortable doing it solo. Now that I'm old and stupid I thought, fuck it. Ended up doing 55km and it took me most of the day, but it was worth it. The climb back up on Donny's Track at the 1/2 way point was a prick, but the rest was good.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2802136838