ET News
5/5/13 - Dalle Nogare dominates Donna Buang
ET members Adrian Dalle Nogare and Matt Fletcher are headed to Italy this month to check out the Giro d'Italia. Aside from a decent sampling of Italian food, wine and coffee, the boys plan on tackling three iconic peaks - Alpe d'Huez, Galibier and the Zoncolan. That last one has got them very nervous that's for sure. Their preparation has not been fantastic - and the excuses are plentiful. But in a last minute cramming session, they joined Matt de Neef out at Mt Donna Buang on Sunday for what was Adrian's first real mountain ascent. Recent sessions with his physical trainer and cutting back on the good things in life have clearly worked because Adrian took on the 17km climb (1,069m elevation gain at 6.4% avg. gradient) with panache, completing in an impressive first up time of 1hr32. Check out Adrian's Stava file here. The three boys were unanimous in declaring the descent was "FREAKING COLD!" So Adrian and Fletch are certainly looking forward to the Italian sunshine. They'll be using Alba in the Piedmont wine region as a base, home of Ferrero Rocher and where Fletch's wine-making brother is living and making Nebbiolo. Aside from cycling and Giro watching, for the first time Adrian will also be visiting Conco, the village where his late father grew up. Reports on their mountain riding tails will follow!
3/5/13 - ET welcomes Phil back to Melbs
The team is delighted to welcome founding member Phil McMaster back to Melbourne. Phil has been working with the Australian Air Force as a pilot based out of Canberra. He has worked several years as VIP pilot for the Australian Government including dedicated transport of the Australian Prime Minister. Phil grew up in Melbourne and is looking forward to warmer cycling conditions... well, than greeted him in and around Canberra anyway! Fellow founding members Adrian Dalle Nogare and Matt Fletcher were on hand to recognise the homecoming, donning the original (vintage) team jerseys for a quality ride around in Melbourne in perfect conditions.
27/4/13 - New members hit the Grampians
The Anzac weekend in Melbourne was accompanied by an invite from the Climbing Cyclist, ET's Matt de Neef, to hit the Grampians. Matt had plotted two days worth of riding goodness over Saturday and Sunday, with highlights including an ascent of the intimidating Mt William on Saturday, and a Sunday video session care of new ET member, professional photographer Nigel Welch of Pulse Photography. Joining Matt and Nigel would be Matt Fletcher and two other brand new ET members, Cyril Dixon and John Gogis (welcome Nige, Cyril and Johnny!). Saturday featured a rolling 100km ride in the incredible backdrop of the Grampians before the 12km ascent up Mt William and a final decscent back into Halls Gap for an all up 120km and around 2,100 metres vert. The final 2km of Mt William, after the carpark, took its toll on the riders each with 100km already in their legs, hitting pitches of 20%. With Fletch recapping... "I had to stop. Twice. I don't remember having to stop my bike ever before. Sure I'm a little out of shape but that's worse than the back of Falls. Much worse!". The weekend finished with a 54km recovery ride which still featured just under 1,000 metres vert. But it looks like everyone had fun if the video below is anything to go by. Check out John's Strava file on Saturday here and Cyril's Sunday here.
20/4/13 - Beechworth Gran Fondo
In what was his third large ride in just over a month, Matt de Neef headed to north east Victoria for the inaugural Beechworth Gran Fondo. Participants had the choice of the Medio (83km) or Gran (173km) or skip those entirely for the Gourmet - a leisurely pedal for a gatsronomic tour of the region. Other events were also held over the weekend including cyclo cross and period cyclosportive. Its not often you get the opportunity to ride on 173km of closed roads - especially around the beautiful scenery in the foothills of the Victorian Alps. The course featured mostly rolling country out of Beechworth towards the Kiewa Valley in the shadows of Mount Bogong (Australia's 2nd highest mountain), then towards Mount Beauty, through to Rosewhite Valley via the Rosewhite Gap climb. The following 10km climb from Mudgegonga to Stanley on newly sealed roads is the highlight of the course with competitors tackling it with 150km in the legs. The event then loops back to finish in Beechworth. Check out Matt's ride report over at Climbing Cyclist here and his Strava file here.
13/4/13 - Hell of the West
Crit specialist and Northern Combine regular, Marcus Nyeholt, loaded up for one of the winter calendar's most revered race event, the 'Hell of the West'. In his words... "After missing out last year, I made sure to get my registration done as soon as they opened for volunteers. I hadn't had much in the way of preparation at all, having done little riding since the crit season ended a month before, so the plan was to just try and hold onto a group up the Mt Wallace climb, and see how things worked out. After a short warmup, A-C grade turned right from the start/finish point to do an extra loop that included a section of dirt that I later heard took out 3 collarbones in crashes. D grade were sent straight down the road though so missed that opportunity...The first 15km were straight north into a 30-40kph headwind, which had people doing everything possible to stay out of the wind - while still somehow holding a speed up over 30kph ourselves. After a left turn onto Glenmore Road, the headwind became a crosswind, and the road started to get a little bit lumpy. At this point I moved to the front and tried to get the pace up a bit through some lumps, which succeeded in stringing the pack out and causing some splits towards the back. Given there was no real hiding from the wind now that it was an almost direct cross wind, being at the front felt the safest place to be. Going into the main climb I was positioned near the front, but could feel my legs just weren't going to agree. Several people went past, while I was just trying to get a rhythm - a few minutes later some of those people were walking by the roadside as the gradient got up over 20%, and by the top of the climb, a group of about a dozen had formed 30 seconds or so in front of myself and 3 or 4 other riders. In the end my time up the climb was exactly the same as 12 months before when I first rode it. We worked together as the road turned south again, and got some respite from the wind. After running far too long in the red, we ended up just making contact with the back of the bunch - just as the road went up a slight rise, and I couldn't hold on any longer. Again I watched as the bunch disappeared down the road in front of me as my lungs couldn't breath any harder. After taking a gel, and a drink, I let my heart rate drop a bit, and got myself into a rhythm, and slowly everything started to get back together again. With a tailwind and some gentle downhill stretches I was able to keep moving around 50kph for extended periods, and I was picking off individuals who had been dropped off the bunch in front. I got as close as 5 seconds or so before hitting some more rolling terrain, and eventually the elastic snapped and all I could see was the chase car disappearing around a bend never to be seen again. After the descent into Anakie and turning north, I eased up a little and waited for another lone rider to help work together into the wind - which was fine until I accidentally dropped him! Turning into the last 5km straight, I fell back into a group of 4 riders, between which we sprinted for the line. I think the winner of the bunch got 9th or 10th, leaving me with 11th or 12th on the day. Given the circumstances I was pretty happy with that - though a little disappointed with the climb, which should have been 20-30 seconds quicker, leaving me comfortably in the lead bunch instead of chasing it for the rest of the race. Next year!" Awesome effort Marcus. Check out his Strava file here.
13/4/13 - The Crux
So soon after 3Peaks? Matt de Neef you crazy cat. Here he was, lining up with the Hells500 crew for another epic, this time in Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges. Hells500 don't do small. And this was certainly no exception. Every Hells500 epic is designed to test the limits of endurance, physically and mentally. This year’s installment - 'The Crux' featured three laps of the 70km Crucifix, a challenging 70km route taking in four key Dandenong climbs — The 1 in 20, The Devils Elbows, The Wall and Inverness Road — around 1,850m of climbing (for out-of-towners the Crucifix forms a street map cross). Multiply that by three and you’re looking at 210km with 5,500m of climbing – a long, hard and painful day on the bike by any stretch. Check out all the agony and a highly amusing video over at Climbing Cyclist here and Matt's Strava file here. Some of us are asking "why"?!
10/3/13 - 3Peaks
Bushfires and landslides meant a last minute change to the course. Extreme heat was forecast for the day. And nervous snoring rang out in tiny claustrophobic hotel rooms the night before. But none of this was enough to restrain the all-out ET assault at the Scody 3Peaks Challenge for 2013. Incredible in its own right, eQuipo tranQuilo sent no less than 13 riders. A 230km course with 4,000m of vert awaited, including ascents of Tawonga Gap, Mount Buffalo and Falls Creek on the agenda, and a fair bit in between. Pre-start, there was thankfulness that the new course bypassed Mount Hotham and the dreaded back of Falls. And although the impending heat was mentioned, it's fair to say that the toll it eventually took surprised even the most hardened long-distance specialists. When 3-time winner Nick Mitchell declares that two-thirds in, he'd seriously had enough and contemplated quitting, people take notice. And an ex-pro who finished 10th decided it was the hardest thing he'd done on a bike, well... you get the idea. It hurt. A lot. The carnage brought out the best and worst of a true cycling challenge. With uplifting stories of against the odds completion and the successful meeting of time goals, to people invariably succumbing to the heat and unable to finish, or beat the 13-hour deadline. The sight of exhausted people lying next to their bikes by the side of the road and more than one actually having a seizure near the finish line as their bodies truly broke down, all brought the difficulty of the day glaringly home. But whether you'd toiled in the sun for 7, 10 or 13 hours, whether you'd met your goals or not, whether you'd finished or not, really it did not matter. The mutual respect for all participants, for daring to take on the alpine peaks on a hot, hot day was unreservedly reward enough. Congratulations go to Dave Langley for another
incredible performance, finishing in under 9 hours. To Kevin Egan, Paul Dalgarno, Matt de Neef and Matt Fletcher for picking up sub-10 hour finisher jerseys. Also to Anita Mudge and Graham Purches for smashing their previous times and finishing along side Gerard Knapp in under 10.5 hours. As well as incredibly gutsy solo efforts by Brendan de Neef (who battled mechanicals all day), Chris Kerr and Carl Jenkins who all did ET proud. For more 3Peaks goodness, check out Matt de Neef's blog over at the Climbing Cyclist, Dave Langley's blog here and Kev Egan's strava file here.
24/2/13 - Wiggle Morning-Ton Sportive
Back in December, several ET members took part in Wiggle's first Australian cycling event - the Bendigo Belter. Not long after Wiggle hosted another new fully supported cycling event starting and finishing in Mornington, Victoria called the 'Wiggle Morning-Ton Sportive'. The event sought to take in the beautiful Mornington Peninsula and Port Phillip Bay, whilst challenging riders to a healthy amount of climbing including notable local landmark, the infamous Arthurs Seat. The event offered several options, the Standard (110km), Epic (140km) and Fun (65km). ET member Sean Sampson took up the Standard option - in his words... "After missing the Wiggle Bendigo Belter due to spending the previous night in hospital (with a very sick daughter), I was keen to make amends in their Mornington event. Riding with a good mate ticked off the social aspect and given the heat soared above 30 degrees the challenge aspect was there in spades. Setting off a little after 8, we immediately earnt the ire of ride organisers by not going off in numbered order. Oh dear... A casual 7km warm-up was brutally stopped when I realised the sign I'd just ridden past said Arthur's Seat. Having never ridden it before I didn't know what to expect. I found myself peering around every hairpin, praying for the end. The ride itself was very well organised, aside from the first rest stop (base of a hill, near blind approach, tray truck parked on the edge of the road) the food and drinks offered were great and everyone was in a cheery mood. We reached a fork in the road around 100km in, push on in the now blistering heat for a 140km loop, or turn for Dromana and finish on 120km. The heat had really taken a toll, so the shorter route was the option, which was a good decision given the cramping that kicked in moments after crossing the line. Official timing showed we finished T27th out of 140, not bad for a leisurely roll but it gives us a target to try and crush next year." Great work Sean! Check out his Strava file here.
24/2/13 - 7 Peaks Domestique Series, Mt Baw Baw
And so it was, the thoroughly enjoyable 7 Peaks Domestique Series came to end on Sunday with a final ascent of the revered Mount Baw Baw. The series co-organised by ET's Matt de Neef and Hell's 500 has been a huge success, with more than 100 riders regularly turning up to the variety of scheduled climbs over summer to complete their 7 Peaks passport. With the series also taking in Mount Hotham, Falls Creek, Lake Mountain, Mount Buffalo, Mount Buller and Dinner Plain, it was perhaps Mount Baw Baw that caused the most trepidation amongst riders. Ranked among the hardest road climbs in Australia, the ride up Mount Baw Baw covers 12.2km at an average gradient of 7.7%, however, its the second half at over 10% which causes the most nervous anticipation. With the usual fantastic support, free nourishment and prizes up for grabs, cyclists had the choice of commencing at an official start point (Tanjil Bren) or add a further 18.5km and start from Icy Creek. An even more challenging route from Noojee was proposed, providing an all up 95km return ride with 2,600 vertical metres over approx. 4 hours. ET members Paul Dalgarno, Brendan de Neef, Matt Fletcher and of course Matt de Neef successfully took up the challenge in what was another very rewarding day of riding in the Victorian Alps. Matt de Neef's strava file here.
21/2/13 - ET puts two on the podium at Footscray
As the summer criterium series edges towards completion, several ET Members have been regularly hitting circuits with cycling clubs in St Kilda, Hawthorn and Footscray. Marcus Nyeholt and Matt Fletcher have been regulars down at Footscray's Hoppers Crossing circuit and following Marcus' win last week, the boys were keen to continue the success in Thursday night's C-Grade criterium. So after some typically strong work at the front (and the occasional attack) by Marcus, they both managed to escape in a 3-man breakaway with about 7 or 8 laps to the finish. Eventually joined by a 4th rider, the break worked well, rotating turns, dealing with with the turn 3 headwind and maintaining an 80 metre gap on the main bunch. The final attack came with a half lap to finish, with Fletch making a decisive move at the top of the turn 2 hill and taking out his first criterium win, with Marcus continuing his great run with a well earnt 3rd. No doubt they're probably getting sick of the big "Q's" down at Hoppers Crossing! (Strava file here)
17/2/13 - Melbourne Dirty Dozen
Sometimes you have to ask yourself what's going on in the minds of cyclists. When Matt de Neef and Dave Blom put on the inaugural Melbourne Dirty Dozen last year, around 50 cyclists agreed it might be a good idea to spend a morning riding up 12 of the Danendong's steepest climbs. The event was based on something similarly evil over in Pittsburgh USA and the disease of cyclists voluntarily electing to put themselves deep inside the pain cave seems to spreading, with new Dirty Dozen events following hot on the heals of Melbourne last year in Hobart and Adelaide. This year's Melbourne edition promised (quite sadistically) that it would be longer, tougher and dirtier. It even stretched the ludicousy to a baker's dozen of steep goodness with an additional 5 bonus climbs! Did that deter people? Oh no. More than 200 misguided individuals took it on. And the stats? 2,200 vertical metres in just 66km. AVERAGE gradients ranging from (just) 8% on some of the bonus climbs, with 7 out of 13 of the main climbs between 11-14%, right up to 16% on Braeside Avenue. And if that wasn't punishing enough, unlike last year when it was held in winter, this year's temperatures reached 30 degrees on a hot and humid summer day in February. You can see more detail about the event here, a ride report by Climbing Cyclist here and Matt de Neef's strava file here. Congratulations to the following ET members who each now have two Melbourne Dirty Dozen's in their palmares - Brendan de Neef, Marcus Nyeholt, Paul Dalgarno, Matt Fletcher and of course the evil mastermind himself, Matt de Neef.
11/2/13 - ET's Climbing Cyclist joins Cycling Tips
Fantastic news - our resident Climbing Cyclist, Matt de Neef, has decided to embrace full time cycling journalism, jagging a role at the ever popular "Cyclist Tips". Matt starts there this week as Chief Editor. Started by Wade Wallace in 2008, Cycling Tips is pretty well all over cycling. Providing more than tips, with pro interviews and regular video blogs with the likes of Matt Keenan and Scott McGrory. While we're watching the grand tours on TV, Matt might actually be paid to be there! And check out his bio here - putting the ET jersey out there nice and proud!
10/2/13 - Anita jags QOM at Johnny Warren Classic
Stay tuned!
9/2/13 - Nyeholt has a week to remember
Marcus Nyeholt is starting to get a little form on the Melbourne summer racing circuit if his last week is anything to go by. Not only did he grab a win at the FCC Hopper's Crossing crit circuit (C-Grade), he also managed to back up with a second podium on Saturday morning in the Geelong Cycling Club Summer Scratch Race, taking out 3rd place. Averaging 35km/h for the crit win took some effort in what was a very windy Melbourne summer evening. Marcus made is move with 20km left to race and managed to hold the field out. A cracking effort. See strava file here. The scratch race featured a touch 55km circuit of Parkers Road which Marcus completed in 1hr37, averaging 34km/h and just losing out to the winner by just 30 seconds. Official results here and strava file here.
25/1/13 - Tour Down Under (BUPA Challenge Tour)
The 15th Tour Down Under was held in Adelaide over the last week in January 2013 and finished off a big month of pro cycling in Australia, following the Bay Crits, the Herald Sun Tour and the Nationals. The TDU is a fantastic event, offering pro teams and fans the chance to experience the best of Adelaide - incredible roads, great food and warm weather - whilst basing themselves in the one spot every night (a real luxury especially for the pro teams and their support crews). With stages starting at 11am each day, its gives riders plenty of chance to get out and experience the same roads on the morning of each stage and setup in at a good vantage point for the action later that day. In addition, the BUPA Challenge Tour is held each year, inviting amateurs to take on the whole or part of a single stage of the TDU. This year it was Stage 4 - a 127km rolling stage from Modbury (Adelaide) to Tanunda (Barossa Valley). Along side more than 6,500 riders (see video at start line below), ET's Tim Dugan and Matt Fletcher took up the challenge, riding with a mate of Tim's - Armon Hicks. A quote from Tim - "one of the best rides I have ever had, especially that flat/undulating section into Angaston at 45-50kph … I recall thinking at the time that I won’t forget it – pure ego riding". You can see the strava file here and we've added a special photo section from the TDU here.
9/12/12 - Wiggle Bendigo Belter
By now most Aussie cyclists have heard of Wiggle. They're the UK’s number one online cycling product retailer, but they've also recently been giving the local bike shops in Oz a run for their money. For a while Wiggle been running a series of road and mountain bike cycling events in the more picturesque locations of the UK. In support of their newly established Australian website, on Sunday they ran their first Aussie sportive - the Bendigo Belter. Providing course marking and marshalls, 2 feed stops, electronic timing, mechanical support and free energy products, the course would take in a lot of the roads used by the Victorian Road Cycling Championships. The 'Epic' version would cover 155km in and around Bendigo (2hrs north of Melbourne), with approx. 1800m of vert including Mount Alexander (5km, 6-10%). ET members Dougal Hunt, Matt de Neef and Matt Fletcher teamed up with ex-local Gareth Pellas to take it on in a total field of 91 riders. What they hadn't bargained on was the 40km/h winds, gusting to 60km/h! Riders were let off in groups of around 20. Drawing one of the later bunches, despite the wind, the pace was strong with the bunch comprising a large contingent of Bendigo locals keen to give the out-of-towners a run for their money. Just before the Mount Alexander climb (37km mark), the four lads decided to take it a little easier and spent the rest of the day on their own working together. The course did prove challenging with consistent rollers throughout (very similar profile to TDU Challenge Ride), but the scenery was well worth it, including Lake Eppalock, Heathcote and Mount Alexander. The rider support was first rate and although numbers seemed to be well short of the 1,000 cap (officially 217 riders participated in all options), we expect plenty more riders in future editions. FYI, the fastest time over the 155km Epic option was 4hr41min (33km/h), with an average time of 6:hr20 (24km/h). Check out Matt Fletcher's strava summary here.
29/11/12 - 7 Peaks Domestique Series Mt Baw Baw
Together with Andy van Bergen from Hells 500, ET's Matt de Neef has been doing some great work encouraging Melbourne cyclists to complete "7 Peaks - The Alpine Ascent Challenge". The challenge asks riders to cycle 7 popular climbs in the Victorian Alps over summer - complete with a passport to be stamped at the top of each climb. The boys have been running a domestique series, essentially nominating a day for people to do a particular climb together, and helping everyone arrive at the top safely. The boys have been quietly chuffed with the response. Not only were each of the first two climbs attended by more than 80 riders, but they've also received generous support from Winners Cycling, Emma & Toms and Cycling Express. On Saturday they took on the most daunting of the 7 climbs - Mt Baw Baw. You can read about the day over at Climbing Cyclist, but the video below really captures what's its all about. And look out for plenty of representation of the mighty "Q"!
26/11/12 - Miss Schiffer is born
Encouraging us to cycle even more is probably not high on the list of most of our significant others. But we might all want to get some tips from Tim Dugan though, because clearly he's doing something right in the Dugan household! Not only did his incredible wife Lauren surprise him with a bike frame for Christmas last year, she showed impeccable taste to chose an absolute classic - a 1996 Colnago Master Olympic created to commemorate the 1996 Games. You can't just build a bike with a frame like that out of any scrap parts, so Tim has spent the last 12 months sourcing period Campagnolo parts including titanium groupset and sharmal 16 spoke wheels. Last week over beer and pizza with Tim's mate Craig Klement and his boys at Urban Cyclist she came to life! And Tim was absolutely stoked to take her for a very smooth first ride on Saturday. Although he did say, "The wheels are unreal but heavy and that much rotating mass on a 9 speed sprocket means I won't be doing 3 Gorges on her in a hurry!" And the name? Well with a stunning frame and curves like that, it was only natural she should share her name with a fellow supermodel of that era. You can call her Schiff for short!
17/11/12 - Jenko takes out Corin Classic!
If you're going to take responsibility for flying the ET flag in Canberra, you might as well do it in style. And that's exactly what Carl Jenkins did on Saturday, taking top step of the D-Grade podium in the 2012 Corin Classic. The annual scratch race run by the local Canberra Cycling Club, is essentially a race up to Corin Forest - one of the longer climbs in the region. Having teetered on the edge of not being bothered to get out of bed for it, Jenko's could not let the new ET kit go to waste and wanted to be amongst the first to use it in anger!
In his words... "I rode out to the start and arrived only moments before the start, having mistimed my ride from home. I found that D/E grade had been merged for the race so we could stay together as a bunch until hitting the climb, and as a result the pace was fairly pedestrian for the first 10km or so prior to hitting the climb. Whether this was a result of people trying to save their legs or simply the weight of numbers from E grade, the bunch did a good job of staying together until the base of the climb. Corin is a long climb (15km) at an average gradient of around 5% - however the real challenge is that there are a series of rollers to get the climb started, followed by gradients of between 2% and 11%. This ensures that while the average gradient is not particularly vicious, you never really get a chance to settle into a steady pace. I decided I would settle in for a steady pace and see how the legs would hold up going up the hill; I quickly found myself towing two other riders up the climb at a steady pace. The first of these cracked around 5km into the climb, and the second finally popped with about 5km to go. I made it over the KOM point of the hill and decided I needed to push on as hard as I could, noting that as the climb started to flatten out, I didn't want to have the chasers get organised in the last 3km. In the end I made it over the line with around 30 seconds in hand; my feeling on the chasers proved well founded as there was a sprint for second out of around four riders who had gotten themselves organised. Clearly the kit was what got me over the line…
Bloody fantastic Jenko! That's how you christen new kit people :) You can check out the Strava summary here and the Race Report by CCC here.
In his words... "I rode out to the start and arrived only moments before the start, having mistimed my ride from home. I found that D/E grade had been merged for the race so we could stay together as a bunch until hitting the climb, and as a result the pace was fairly pedestrian for the first 10km or so prior to hitting the climb. Whether this was a result of people trying to save their legs or simply the weight of numbers from E grade, the bunch did a good job of staying together until the base of the climb. Corin is a long climb (15km) at an average gradient of around 5% - however the real challenge is that there are a series of rollers to get the climb started, followed by gradients of between 2% and 11%. This ensures that while the average gradient is not particularly vicious, you never really get a chance to settle into a steady pace. I decided I would settle in for a steady pace and see how the legs would hold up going up the hill; I quickly found myself towing two other riders up the climb at a steady pace. The first of these cracked around 5km into the climb, and the second finally popped with about 5km to go. I made it over the KOM point of the hill and decided I needed to push on as hard as I could, noting that as the climb started to flatten out, I didn't want to have the chasers get organised in the last 3km. In the end I made it over the line with around 30 seconds in hand; my feeling on the chasers proved well founded as there was a sprint for second out of around four riders who had gotten themselves organised. Clearly the kit was what got me over the line…
Bloody fantastic Jenko! That's how you christen new kit people :) You can check out the Strava summary here and the Race Report by CCC here.
22/11/12 - ET makes first donation to Lifehouse!
A mighty big congratulations to all our ET members as this week we successfully made our first donation of $2,000 to Chris O'Brien Lifehouse at RPA. Fellow ET member and CEO of Lifehouse, Tim Dugan, was rapt to receive the donation and here's hoping its the first of many to assist him with his work managing a dedicated cancer treatment and research facility at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. It's exciting times for Tim as construction work on their brand new building is close to completion and his staff numbers will explode from 45 to around 250 in 2013. Awesome work all round!
17/11/12 - Grinderman's incredible 400km in a day!
Is there nothing Dougal Hunt can't do? In an awe inspiring effort, this time Douggie (aka Grinderman) took on a challenge that has literally resulted in acclaim around the globe. The challenge had been niggling Douggie ever since he road 300km on Australia Day back in January - would it be possible to ride 400km in a single day? Not one to leave a challenge untested, Douggie set himself to ride an epic 436km from Mt.Gambier to Melbourne. The route was carefully selected - a reasonably flat, fairly direct line to Melbourne, hopefully taking advantage of prevailing westerlies. A V-line train out to Mt.Gambier on the Friday locked in his plight, before setting off before 4am Saturday morning. Not only did Douggie get the job done in an inspiring solo effort, he managed the incredible feat in under 14.5 hours, averaging over 30km/h. As a bonus, Douggie's ride happened to fall on a weekend that BMC were running a Strava competition, challenging riders to go out and ride more than 79miles in a single day. Douggie beat more than 10,000 participants with his 279 mile ride, the next sorry competitor falling short at 252 miles. You can view Douggie's amazing ride summary here and the Strava damage here. Be sure to see the comments section on Strava with contributions from all around the world. You can also view the BMC competition results here.
11/11/12 - The Demon's Double
It was less than a year since ET's Paul Dalgarno, aka the Donvale Demon, took on his first climb (no doubt a nervous effort up Donna Buang in the lead up to his 3 Peaks challenge back in March) and here he was challenging people to his new signature ride - the Demon's Double. The person who had originally suggested the route as good training for 3 Peaks - but then added "Be warned, it's nearly as difficult as 3 Peaks itself!". The ride would feature almost 4,000 vertical metres over a 180km route tacking each of Reefton Spur, Lake Mountain and Mt. Donna Buang. Promoted on the Climbing Cyclist website and twitter, the ride attracted 27 other ambitious cyclists and by all accounts was a roaring success. You can read backgound to the route here, Matt de Neef's write up here and the Demon's own Strava summary here.
8/11/12 - Bondi to Brunswick in just 5 days!
Dougal Hunt and Matt Fletcher originally planned to head up to Sydney for their first attempt at the Gong Ride (Sydney to Wollongong), but one thing lead to another and next thing the idea of catching a plane back to Melbourne just seemed silly. So only 2 weeks out, a loose plan was hatched to join Sydney's biggest one day participation ride and just keep going - a route that would largely stick to the eastern Australian coastline and cover some 1100km over a fairly tight (and no doubt sore) schedule of just 5 days! The lads covered the distance without too many problems, lucking out with the weather, featuring fairly consistent north-easterly winds and only one rain sodden day (but all day) on Day 4. They had no external support and carried supplies in back packs, staying at fairly basic pub style accommodation along the way. The following is a summary of the journey:
The boys want to thank ET members Cam Ziebell for his accommodation and hospitality in Bondi and Tim Dugan for his awesome lead out amongst 10,000 fellow Sydney riders on the Gong Ride, sending off the lads in style. Congratulations to Grinder and Fletch and here's to this becoming an annual ET tradition!
- Day 1 - Bondi to Ulladulla via Wollongong (246km, elevation 2,587m, moving time 9hrs)
- Day 2 - Ulladulla to Bermagui (166km, elevation 1,740m, moving time 6hrs)
- Day 3 - Bermagui to Cann River (207km, elevation 2,773m, moving time 8hrs)
- Day 4 - Cann River to Maffra via Lakes Entrance (235km, elevation 1,372m, moving time 8.5hrs)
- Day 5 - Maffra to Melbourne (235km, elevation 933m, moving time 8hrs)
The boys want to thank ET members Cam Ziebell for his accommodation and hospitality in Bondi and Tim Dugan for his awesome lead out amongst 10,000 fellow Sydney riders on the Gong Ride, sending off the lads in style. Congratulations to Grinder and Fletch and here's to this becoming an annual ET tradition!
28/10/12 - Fitz's Challenge
ET will always have a fond affiliation with the Fitz's Challenge, because it was immediately after the 2011 event and during a fairly decent Captain Morgans session at Phil McMaster's Canberra pad that the team was born. Billed as Australia's toughest cyclo-sportive challenge, Fitz's is Canberra's biggest and best-known long-distance one-day participation cycling event, with the 2012 edition being its 24th running. The event Includes some of the toughest climbs in the Canberra region (a few up to 12%) including the infamous Fitz's Hill - a short but painfully share rise deep near Stromlo Forest Park. Although ET fielded a large team in 2011, it was left to local Canberra hardman Carl Jenkins to the sole representative for 2012.
Having done 105km and 165km in the last two years, and having hibernated part of the winter, Jenko wasn't game to try out the 205km Fitz's Epic - and so he loaded up for Fitz's Classic, reported to have 2300m vert (noting Tim Dugan's Garmin showed closer to 3000m last year than the reported 2300). Over 400 turned up for the event this year - well over last year and apparently an event record. Initial cool weather eventually gave way to a clear, perfect sunny day around 20 degrees, prompting Jenko to ride the 11km to the start line and priming him for a day in the hills.
In Jenko's words... "Following the initial climb out of the Cotter Reserve, some bunches got organised and we set into what rhythm we could find between the hills. Having made it to Tharwa, the ominous Fitz's Hill didn't seem as bad as last year - and certainly not as bad as a pinch around Rendezvous Creek that seemed to be well over 15% (to which the many walking cyclists may have been able to attest). Bunches broke up very quickly on the hill as people set into their own climbing pace; this was a theme that persisted through the steep ramps between Fitz's Hill and the turn at Rendezvous Creek. Ominously, cramps set in around the 90km mark (probably showing why I shouldn't have done the longer distance!) but my commitment to keep my fluids up throughout held off the worst of it. Having made it down from the mountains, only the continual rollers stood between myself and the finish. I recalled Dave Langley's description of our participation in the B2B earlier in the year and his comment that there was little course selection to break up the bunches, which resulted in massive (read insane) bunches hurtling along the road at breakneck pace. In Fitz's the reverse is true with continual rollers and the occasional steep pinches smashing the field to bits, with the result that by the back end of the ride, many find themselves riding at their own pace on their own (as I did for the last 50km or so), as the continual hills force everyone to ride at their own pace. I was pleased to get back in to Stromlo Forest Park just over 6 ½ hours after I had started, over an hour better than last year. A steak sandwich and a Coke (and a beer and massive steak when I made it home) rounded out the day nicely." Great work Jenko - I am sure a few more ET members will be joining you next year!
Having done 105km and 165km in the last two years, and having hibernated part of the winter, Jenko wasn't game to try out the 205km Fitz's Epic - and so he loaded up for Fitz's Classic, reported to have 2300m vert (noting Tim Dugan's Garmin showed closer to 3000m last year than the reported 2300). Over 400 turned up for the event this year - well over last year and apparently an event record. Initial cool weather eventually gave way to a clear, perfect sunny day around 20 degrees, prompting Jenko to ride the 11km to the start line and priming him for a day in the hills.
In Jenko's words... "Following the initial climb out of the Cotter Reserve, some bunches got organised and we set into what rhythm we could find between the hills. Having made it to Tharwa, the ominous Fitz's Hill didn't seem as bad as last year - and certainly not as bad as a pinch around Rendezvous Creek that seemed to be well over 15% (to which the many walking cyclists may have been able to attest). Bunches broke up very quickly on the hill as people set into their own climbing pace; this was a theme that persisted through the steep ramps between Fitz's Hill and the turn at Rendezvous Creek. Ominously, cramps set in around the 90km mark (probably showing why I shouldn't have done the longer distance!) but my commitment to keep my fluids up throughout held off the worst of it. Having made it down from the mountains, only the continual rollers stood between myself and the finish. I recalled Dave Langley's description of our participation in the B2B earlier in the year and his comment that there was little course selection to break up the bunches, which resulted in massive (read insane) bunches hurtling along the road at breakneck pace. In Fitz's the reverse is true with continual rollers and the occasional steep pinches smashing the field to bits, with the result that by the back end of the ride, many find themselves riding at their own pace on their own (as I did for the last 50km or so), as the continual hills force everyone to ride at their own pace. I was pleased to get back in to Stromlo Forest Park just over 6 ½ hours after I had started, over an hour better than last year. A steak sandwich and a Coke (and a beer and massive steak when I made it home) rounded out the day nicely." Great work Jenko - I am sure a few more ET members will be joining you next year!
27/10/2012 - Ride to Conquer Cancer (Vic)
The inaugural Victorian Sunsuper Ride to Conquer Cancer raised an incredible $6.2 million for cancer research at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne to become the largest single fundraising event in Australian history. A total of 1,609 riders, including ET's Paul Dalgarno, took on the challenge to cycle over 200km through Victoria (from Albert Park to Healesville) with an overnight camp in Healesville before returning to Melbourne on Sunday. Aside from the challenges presented by the terrain itself, participants brought attention to the disease impacting so many people and often directly to their own family members. Paul was no exception. You can read about the tragic circumstances about his poor mum here.
In Paul's words... "The two-day combined total of 2580 vertical metres would be challenging for a dedicated recreational rider, but for those many people I passed on rickety commuter bikes, already struggling noticeably on Kew Boulevard before the real work began, it must have been very difficult indeed. My plan wasn't to smash myself but, even after taking sizeable breaks at the official stop points, I found myself arriving at Healesville campsite to the cheers of gathered staff and volunteers at 11.10am, with just four other riders ahead of me." [An awesome effort Demon well done!] "That, and the fact it was raining, made me think I should do the return leg on the same day rather than wait the 18 or so hours until the following morning. When I told one of the organisers my plan she was shocked but supportive, and urged me to have a massage by the masseurs on site before leaving. I'm glad I did: the free rub-down was terrific and set me up nicely for the journey. Retracing the same route back to Melbourne meant I passed many people who were still completing their outward journey to the campsite, many of whom waved and smiled, many of whom shouted: "You're going the wrong way, mate!" As a result, the return leg was – bizarrely – way more sociable than the way out. I didn't have the heart to answer honestly when two riders, coming the opposite way about 20 kilometres from the campsite, asked me if there was far to go. "You'll make it!" I shouted, and I hope they did."
A gutsy ride by a gutsy bloke. From everyone at ET, we hope your Mum and Dad are doing ok Paul.
In Paul's words... "The two-day combined total of 2580 vertical metres would be challenging for a dedicated recreational rider, but for those many people I passed on rickety commuter bikes, already struggling noticeably on Kew Boulevard before the real work began, it must have been very difficult indeed. My plan wasn't to smash myself but, even after taking sizeable breaks at the official stop points, I found myself arriving at Healesville campsite to the cheers of gathered staff and volunteers at 11.10am, with just four other riders ahead of me." [An awesome effort Demon well done!] "That, and the fact it was raining, made me think I should do the return leg on the same day rather than wait the 18 or so hours until the following morning. When I told one of the organisers my plan she was shocked but supportive, and urged me to have a massage by the masseurs on site before leaving. I'm glad I did: the free rub-down was terrific and set me up nicely for the journey. Retracing the same route back to Melbourne meant I passed many people who were still completing their outward journey to the campsite, many of whom waved and smiled, many of whom shouted: "You're going the wrong way, mate!" As a result, the return leg was – bizarrely – way more sociable than the way out. I didn't have the heart to answer honestly when two riders, coming the opposite way about 20 kilometres from the campsite, asked me if there was far to go. "You'll make it!" I shouted, and I hope they did."
A gutsy ride by a gutsy bloke. From everyone at ET, we hope your Mum and Dad are doing ok Paul.
22/10/12 - 7 Peaks Domestique Series
Local Melbourne lad Simon Gerrans is known to promote '7 Peaks - The Alpine Ascent Challenge' - essentially challenging riders to cycle up each of 7 Victorian mountains over the summer:-
So ET's Climbing Cyclist Matt de Neef and his mate Andy van Burgen thought, wouldn't it be great if someone organised some specific dates and open it up to people to tackle each of the climbs alongside others. Next thing they thought, hey why don't we put it out there that we'll support people riding up and make sure they make it to the top. Hey presto, the boys became instant mountain cycling instructors, albeit unpaid ones! You can read more about it over at the Climbing Cyclist website here.
So ET's Climbing Cyclist Matt de Neef and his mate Andy van Burgen thought, wouldn't it be great if someone organised some specific dates and open it up to people to tackle each of the climbs alongside others. Next thing they thought, hey why don't we put it out there that we'll support people riding up and make sure they make it to the top. Hey presto, the boys became instant mountain cycling instructors, albeit unpaid ones! You can read more about it over at the Climbing Cyclist website here.
21/10/12 - Around the Bay
Ah yes. The Melbourne institution of Around the Bay (in a day). And this year its 20th edition attracted more than 17,000 participants, including a number of ET members - Jack Achilles, Matt de Neef, Dougal Hunt, Matt Fletcher and Sean Sampson. The event began back in 1993 with 2,500 riders and has grown to Australia's biggest one-day participation ride. This year's event raised $1.2 million for The Smith Family. Riders generally attack it in their own way, either starting at the official start and running 210km clockwise or anti-clockwise around Port Phillip Bay, or jumping on the circuit closer to home and completing their lap without too much fanfare. Others avoid the ferry ride altogether, stay on one side or the other, completing an equivalent distance over the course of the day. A conciliatory word has to go out to poor Jack who smashed it down to Sorrento in record time only to live a nightmare on the Queenscliff side. All up 2 x broken spokes and 3 x punctures buckled the Tank's wheel so bad he had no choice but to stop just 10km from the finish! He had no such trouble in the previous 2 editions and I'm sure he'll be back for more next year. Compare that to Sean Sampson's fairly leisurely effort setting off from St Kilda with a large contingent from Mercedes Benz Berwick. They enjoyed a relaxing massage accompanied by bacon and eggs at Blairgowrie care of the dealership - the perfect mixture for a significantly quicker return leg that left many riders catching their breathe before downing a celebratory beer at The Great Provider back in St Kilda. All up 165km in around 5 and a half hours and as Sean put it... "A great day in the saddle!"
13-14/10/12 - Ride to Conquer Cancer (NSW)
In the first of several Ride to Conquer Cancer events scheduled around the country, the NSW Sunsuper Ride to Conquer Cancer had a particularly close connection to our team as it sought to raise money for The Chris O'Brien Lifehouse at RPA - our primary fund raising target all year round. COB LIfehouse CEO and ET member Tim Dugan joined an impressive 1,623 riders to cycle over 200 km through New South Wales with an overnight camp in Camden before returning to Sydney on Sunday. Along the way, they raised an incredible $5.7 million and its fair to say the Lifehouse CEO was rapt! Congratulations Tim - we certainly plan to add to that total over the coming months.
13/10/12 - Australian 24 Hours Mountain Bike Champs
Mountain bikes? What does ET know about riding off the bitumen? Well its true, some of our members partake in strange cycling events requiring knobbly bits on their tyres. Perhaps craziest of all is Dave Langley and his recent unfathomable solo effort in the 2012 Scott Australian 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships - yes you read that right 24 HOURS ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE!!! The man who showed us all up at the 2012 3Peaks (complete with stuffed racoon under his bike seat) is evidently even more comfortable on a mountain bike because he managed to ride one for 24 hours and in an awesome effort podiumed with 2nd in the Solo Men 40 category - that's him in the hat looking far too comfortable on the podium. You can see the official results here and read about from Dave's point of you on his blog site here. Freaking incredible Dave well done!
2/10/12 - Hobart Dirty Dozen
You gotta hand it to ET's resident Climbing Cyclist, Matt de Neef. After leading the inaugural Melbourne Dirty Dozen back in May, when word got out that they were putting their own version on down in Hobart, he couldn't stay away. The idea of all Dirty Dozen's is to put on a show of twelve climbs in and around a city. The climbs don't have to be long, but if they're short, they're usually steep - real steep. Did Hobart disappoint? Well aside from tackling it some pretty awful weather (see pic) in comparison to the Melbourne version, Matt declared Hobart were much harder - being generally longer and steeper. You can read all about it over at the Climbing Cyclist and his Strava file here.
16/9/12 - Amy's Gran Fondo
One of Australia's most pituresque coastlines. 120km of closed roads. An event supporting a charity close to every cyclist's heart. UCI backing, A-grade rider support and pro standard race timing. What's not to like about the Amy Gillet Foundation's Gran Fondo? And then they throw in cash prizes, a KOM competition up the feature climb - Skenes Creek Road and UCI medals for riders that finish the event within the top 25% of competitiors in their age group. But the best thing about heading down to Lorne for an event like this, is spending time and catching up with fellow riders - an opportunity eQuipo tranQuilo members jumped at and throughly enjoyed. Highlights from the weekend included:
- Dougal Hunt's hospitality and sensational pre race pasta feed
- Paul Dalgarno's guitar serenading backed up by Matt de Neef on the iPhone Shiny Drum app - the perfect thing to calm pre-event nerves?
- the terrific effort made by Tim Dugan and family (including new bub) to get down from Sydney
- Owen Prall tackling what is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges he's faced on a bike and getting the job done - an inspiring effort
- Dougal Hunt smashing out a 31min31 up Skenes Creek Road (unbelievable, that cramming worked!)
- Marcus Nyeholt punching out an astounding time of 3hr41 after weeks of sickness
- Tim Dugan and Dave Shaw knocking out sub 4hrs and 4hrs14 respectively after almost no training
- Matt de Neef absolutely ripping the race apart going sub 3.5 hours and proving he's not JUST the climbing cyclist;
- after only a year of cycling and losing an astounding 20kgs in the process, Paul Dalgarno a.k.a. the Donvale Demon entirely killing it with a 3hr31 performance and missing out on age group medal by just one solitary place (lookout 2013 AGF!)
- and Fletch jagging a medal - just ask him how happy he is :)
11/9/12 - Grinderman does some cramming
Last year the one and only random man Dougal Hunt was feeling pensive about his lack of training for Amy's Gran Fondo. So without any warning, 2 weeks before the ride he did an impromptu solo ride home from Sydney... although the way back to Melbourne. Some people say you can't cram for a cycling event. Our man Douggie begs to differ. So when he still felt a little underdone for this year's AGF, a day off work on the Tuesday before the ride was too good an opportunity. Now this is a man who has actually (and successfully) swam across the English Channel, so an ordinary pre-event warm up wasn't on the cards. Instead, he decided to tackle one of Melbourne's most popular climbs, the 1 in 20, but riding up it once is for an average cyclist. Douggie thought he'd tackle it TEN TIMES! A herculean effort and one worthy of a new calling card - Grinderman! You can see the ride summary here.
11/8/12 - Iron Mike
You don't call a cycling event "Iron Mike" and make it easy. Hell we're not sure if Canberrans DO easy races. And the 2012 version proved no exception with the demanding course and conditions decimating the fields across all divisions. The Iron Mike is regarded as one of the toughest races on the Canberra calendar with the 52.1km loop held on an undulating course from Uriarra Road near Stromlo Forest Park to the top of Condor Creek climb and back. The Men’s A and B Grade races tackled two laps of the course (102.4km) while all other grades completed one. How tough is it? Well out of 24 starters in A-Grade only 13 finished. So who better to strap on the ET jersey and tackle one of Canberra's toughest - but ex defence force gun, Carl Jenkins. And we're stoked that he delivered again, with another podium in D-Grade. Jenko TKO'd the 21 person field to jag 3rd pozzie (results here) - not a bad effort after his winter hiatus!
4/8/12 - Donna Done Dirty
It's fair to say some of the ET crew love hills. Generally this involves pushing a peddly to the top of a climb for the challenge and satisfaction of a well earned view. It's even better if this climb is of an alpine variety and in the warmth of summer when the view is most rewarding. But that's not challenge enough for some of our crew! So when the Hells 500 lads decided to push the boundaries and smash up Mt Donna Buang in the middle of winter, ET riders Matt de Neef and Paul Dalgarno were right there. We're talking dirt, mud and snow. The occasional stop to crawl under an overturned tree and if you're lucky, a hot soup at the summit simply 'cause you're going to need it. You can read a great summary of the ride on Matt's Climbing Cyclist blogsite here. Here's a good quote from the blog to give you a taste of the action: "As we climbed higher and got closer to the summit road, the temperature began to drop considerably. Sure, it had been cold all day but those final few kilometres before the turn-off were icy. According to my Garmin the temperature was no higher than 5° and with my gloves wet from the showers earlier on, my fingers were starting to get numb." A great effort although some of us are definitely wondering about what they might come up with next!
7/7/12 - Alf Kimpton Handicap
On Saturday, Dougal Hunt and Matt Fletcher backed up their recent run in the Preston Mountain Classic with another handicap race, this time run by Northern Combine. The Alf Kimpton Handicap is an intimidating 100km effort comprising 3 laps of a circuit just out of Broadford, 1 hour north of Melbourne. The course features two real inclines, one mid lap and one just so you don't get too confident near the lap finish line - all up, the day would comprise 1,100m of vert. Given their recent form (or lack of!) Douggie and Fletch were drawn in the 3rd last group at a healthy 27min advantage.
As much as the 94 competing riders were blessed with clear blue skies, let's not kid anyone. It was cold. Real cold. If you were like Fletch who could not find his full finger gloves that morning, it was the sort of day you sought relief from hoping your extremities just got plain numb. The boys left the start line in a 10 man group, which worked well at least for the first lap at a high avg speed at around 38km/h. By the second lap it was clear that 5 of the riders were stronger (Douggie & Fletch included), and the frustrations of pulling 5 guys not doing turns started to bite. With Douggie starting to regret not loading up at breakky, the 3rd lap began with 67km in the bank at a healthy average speed still in the mid 30's(km/h). The group had dwindled to 6 riders but they were now officially following right behind the 'lead of race' car. In what is certainly the longest race the boys had entered to date, the distance certainly started taking its toll. Douggie, unable to hold on, left Fletch to battle it out with 3 remaining riders in the group, so far yet to be caught by trailing groups and leading on the road.
With just 10kms to go, two riders Tim LIer and Sam Slaney started to pull away, and Fletch was left on his own but starting to dream of bouquets and podium girls (that might just have been fatigue & exhaustion). He was fading fast. The cramping in his legs was threatening to throw him clear of his bike. Now at the 96km mark. Just 3km to the line. Fletch is passed by 2 extremely fit looking cycling machines. Not much further up the road, a 3rd guy passes saying "C'mon man - hold on you're almost there!" with Fletch still thinking of top ten. But the two bunches passing him at speed in the last 2km had other ideas...! A great day out and the ET boys felt proud to know that 2 of their group - Tim & Sam ended up taking the chocolates, thanking them for their part in the win. See Fletch's strava summary here.
As much as the 94 competing riders were blessed with clear blue skies, let's not kid anyone. It was cold. Real cold. If you were like Fletch who could not find his full finger gloves that morning, it was the sort of day you sought relief from hoping your extremities just got plain numb. The boys left the start line in a 10 man group, which worked well at least for the first lap at a high avg speed at around 38km/h. By the second lap it was clear that 5 of the riders were stronger (Douggie & Fletch included), and the frustrations of pulling 5 guys not doing turns started to bite. With Douggie starting to regret not loading up at breakky, the 3rd lap began with 67km in the bank at a healthy average speed still in the mid 30's(km/h). The group had dwindled to 6 riders but they were now officially following right behind the 'lead of race' car. In what is certainly the longest race the boys had entered to date, the distance certainly started taking its toll. Douggie, unable to hold on, left Fletch to battle it out with 3 remaining riders in the group, so far yet to be caught by trailing groups and leading on the road.
With just 10kms to go, two riders Tim LIer and Sam Slaney started to pull away, and Fletch was left on his own but starting to dream of bouquets and podium girls (that might just have been fatigue & exhaustion). He was fading fast. The cramping in his legs was threatening to throw him clear of his bike. Now at the 96km mark. Just 3km to the line. Fletch is passed by 2 extremely fit looking cycling machines. Not much further up the road, a 3rd guy passes saying "C'mon man - hold on you're almost there!" with Fletch still thinking of top ten. But the two bunches passing him at speed in the last 2km had other ideas...! A great day out and the ET boys felt proud to know that 2 of their group - Tim & Sam ended up taking the chocolates, thanking them for their part in the win. See Fletch's strava summary here.
24/6/12 - Melburn Roobaix
On the same day ET riders were hitting a scratch race 1 hour north of Melbourne, Matt de Neef and Paul Dalgarno entered a challenge of a completely different variety - the 7th running of the iconic Melburn Roobaix, aka Hell of the Northcote. Some 2,000 participants, no set route, every type of bicycle and riding ability, this is an event where its ok to take 4 hours to ride 70kms, to repeat and reride a section because it was awesome, or to stop several times for a frothy beverage or two. Riders are challenged to find their own way between several carefully selected cobbled sectors in Melbourne's inner suburbs, but more importantly have fun along the way. For a real taste of this event, check out Matt's Climbing Cyclist blog here.
24/6/12 - Preston Mountain Classic
Dougal Hunt and Matt Fletcher decided to brush off the winter cobwebs and load up for the Preston Mountain Classic on Saturday. Run by Cycling Victoria, the event is in its 35th year and while the elite riders hit 2 laps of the Strath Creek circuit, Douggie & Fletch entered the single lap 70km "master's" version. Drawn to ride in the first group with a 20 minute advantage, the boys got a little spooked before starting after being told there was a Giro stage winner leaving off scratch! Their own start group was split after some 40km and they were caught and passed around the 50km mark after getting destroyed in just a 4 man group, riding some 10km into a ripping headwind. Check out Fletch's strava summary and the official results here.
26/5/12 - The Dirty Dozen
When David Blom ambitiously decided to collaborate with ET"s Climbing Cyclist, Matt de Neef, to kick off the inaugural Melbourne Dirty Dozen, it was inevitable the ride would feature a collection of 12 of the most ridiculous climbs Melbourne had to offer. They plotted the challenging course in the heart of the Dandenongs and put the word out. What they didn't expect was the 50 like-minded (read crazy) individuals, including no less than 5 x ET team members, that rocked up to take on the challenge on a cool and damp Autumn morning. How steep? Try 1300 vertical metres in just 30km of climbs - profile here. For background to the ride including an awesome video of the 2010 Pittsburgh version, check out Climbing Cyclist here and for a glimpse of the damage, check out our Photos section and Matt's ride summary here. See also an awesome helmet cam video from Marcus Nyeholt here, giving a first hand view of the painful ride up Mast Gully Road.
19/5/12 - Nyeholt delivers ET's first C-Grade Podium
He's making a habit of this. Three podiums in 3 weeks for Marcus Nyeholt. His first time in C grade and jags 2nd! In another Footscray Cycling Club crit, this time 3 x 20km laps into the Brisbane Ranges National Park near Meredith VIC, in his words... "Course was uphill for the first half of the lap, then downhill for the second half. The 2km before the turnaround point is a climb with a steep first bit and a more gradual following part that saps your legs. First lap was just sitting on the back of the pack not wanting to get in anyone's way, but on the steep bit a couple of guys eased off the front so I jumped up to them. Once we hit the turn, we had a gap of about 30 seconds, but that was chased back by the group before we started the second lap. Was mostly the same for that lap; three of us eased off the front up the steep bit of the climb then stretched the gap before the turnaround. This time we held them off before the end of the lap, with about a 45 second lead. Charged up the hill third time around, and from what I heard later, we had a 2:30 gap at the turn. By this stage I was pretty much done, and was just holding on when the other guys were taking their turns, and actually using my turns to have a bit of a rest (hah!). The guy who was strongest of our trio jumped hard with about 300 to go, and I was only just able to get around the third place getter with 150 to go. Happy with 2nd - I didn't leave anything in my legs and was just outgunned in the end!" Great work Marcus!
12/5/12 - Nyeholt Jags Crit Podium Result
Backing up from his fine effort in the Preston Points Race just one week earlier, Marcus Nyeholt carried his good form into a Footscray Cycling Club criterium held in the western Melbourne suburb of Hoppers Crossing on Saturday. Unlucky to take a win over the 26km journey, Marcus podium'd with a very impressive second placing. In his words... "After a slow and controlled first 20 minutes, I attacked into the wind with about 20 minutes to go, hoping that a few guys would bridge up and the race could really get going. Instead I found myself about 100 metres up the road alone being smashed by the wind. After hanging about 5 seconds off the front for ~5 laps, I was cooking into the wind, and figured I had enough time to go back to the group and recover in time for the sprint. Coming into the last lap, the guy doing most of the work had thighs as big as my ribcage; I figured it could be wise to attack early instead of trying to outsprint him, and tried to go with about half a lap to go. Never quite got enough of a gap (dead legs!) and he came around me and took the win by a couple of bike lengths." An awesome result all the same!
9/5/12 - New ET member Sean passes 2,500km initiation!
When Sean Sampson contacted us and asked, how do we select new members, there was no hesitation in green lighting a bloke who had just completed an EPIC 2500km solo cycling odyssey, all the way from Brisbane to Melbourne. You might ask Sean... "why?" And he'd tell you "I was just looking for the next challenge". We reckon that's as good a reason as any. Along the way, Sean also raised money for MIS research and families and children in need. And that's why we also know, he will fit perfectly into the eQuipo tranQuilo team. You can read all about Sean's incredible effort at his dedicated ride site here. A huge ride - we want to know, what are the chances it becoming an annual pilgrimage?
5/5/12 - Marcus Scores in Points Race
New member Marcus Nyeholt debuted with eQuipo tranQuilo in style, earning the team's first result in a points race on Saturday. Lining up with Matt Fletcher in the Northern Combine's Preston Points Race, the boys were certainly challenged over 7.5 laps of a 8.4km Gisborne South circuit, with points on offer each time riders hit the top of Dalrympie Road. In a classy effort, Marcus picked his moment mid-race and decided to punch out with a solo breakaway to collect points. His 60km daily commute is obviously starting to pay off. Welcome to the team!
22/4/12 - Climbing Cyclist Radio
ET Member, Matt de Neef, is quitely developing a cult following via his alter ego, "The Climbing Cyclist" - see his website here. And on Sunday his celebrity status went to a whole new level when he was invited to appear on ABC Radio's "Off Track" segment to explain the motivation behind hunting down some of Victoria's more challenging cycling climbs each weekend. Often it can be incredibly difficult to explain to non-cyclists why we do what we do. Matt explains it perfectly as he invites an ABC Radio reporter to join him as they tackle Melbourne's ever popular '1 in 20' climb - hear the podcast here.
22/4/12 - ET meets B2B
eQuipo tranQuilo sent a team of 3 into the New South Wales countryside for the annual cyclo sportiff challenge known as Blayney to Bathurst. Its billing as the first of a series of major participation events run by Cycling NSW proved correct with an astounding 2,300 riders registering and accompanying ET riders Dave Langley & Anita Mudge (right) down from Sydney and Carl Jenkins up from Canberra. Covering some enjoyable countryside and some challenging climbs, the ride was probably most notable for the huge bunches, comprising 100-200 riders! Fair to say Langles, Mudge and Jenko did well to complete the 160km ride in one piece and representing ET in style.
14/4/12 - ET's Super Saturday
In an impressive result, on Saturday the eQuipo tranQuilo cycling team officially cracked open the winter racing season by securing podium places in 2 cities, Melbourne and Canberra. Carl Jenkins backed up his Stromlo-Condor Creek Handicap win with a solid 3rd place in the 34km Lookout Hill D-Grade scratch race in Canberra (results here). And in Melbourne, in his first ever road race, Matt de Neef led the field of the Jack McDonough Memorial E-Grade scratch race to eventually take out 3rd position on the line (Matt receiving his award in pic left). Congrats also to Paul Dalgarno and Matt Fletcher for solid efforts in their first road races and for the two Matt's for backing up with a 90km+ long ride home!
12/4/12 - The Demon Rocks Brunswick Velodrome
Things started to get competitive amongst the Melbourne ET crew this week with winter training taken to the Brunswick Velodrome for some pre and post work efforts. The two Matt's - de Neef and Fletcher - set the early pace with a couple of 24 second laps averaging 49.5km/h, before Dougal Hunt, breaking out of his recent hibernation, dropped the hammer on a 23 second lap at an impressive 51.7km/h. Then in an early session today, Paul Dalgarno (aka the Donvale Demon), aptly wearing red and breathing absolute fire broke out all stops, setting a new ET record of just 22 seconds - at an astounding average speed of 54km/h and the 5th fastest ever time recorded on Strava - see here.
1/4/12 - Jenko grabs ET's first win in Canberra
ET has celebrated its first win on ACT soil with Carl Jenkins taking out the 56km Stromlo-Condor Creek Handicap. Covering some of the same hilly terrain seen by the team at the 2011 Fitz's Challenge and starting off scratch in his first road race, Jenko picked up the win in sunny conditions. Leading into the descent into Uriarra Crossing, Jenko was caught by a solo chaser. However, the effort required to catch up evidently proved telling on his competitor, who subsequently fell away at the climb out of Condor Creek near the halfway point in the race. Jenko was then forced to single-handedly hold off the chasing paceline, crossing the line in 1st place with a time of 1:49:50. An awesome effort, great work Jenko!
11/3/12 - ET dominates at 3Peaks
Perfect alpine weather greeted a committed ET crew at the 3Peaks Challenge 2012 comprising Paul Dalgarno, Timothy Dugan, Matt de Neef, Kevin Egan, Matt Fletcher, David Langley, Chris Kerr, Anita Mudge and Graham Purches. The event comprised some 230km and over 4,500 vertical metres and in an awesome result the entire ET crew completed the course well inside the enforced cutoff time of 13 hours. Special mention must go to Dave who in his 3rd appearance at the event, completed the course in the 19th fastest time (out of almost 1,000 starters) at just 9:09 hours ahead of a fast finishing Kev at 9:50 hours and Chris in 10 hours. You can read Dave's blog about the ride here and Matt de Neef's here.
19/2/12 - ET grabs 1st & 2nd on Crit Debut
ET's criterium debut at the St Kilda Cycling Club crits could not have gone better with Dougal Hunt & Matt Fletcher taking out the first two steps of the E-Grade podium. The boys were rapt with their race plan executed perfectly - Fletch took the lead to stretch out the field for the last lap with Douggie slipping out from his wheel to put the hammer down on the main straight taking the biccies at a speed of 60km/h.
Official results here
Official results here
26/1/12 - One impressive Big Day Out
Not content with sitting idly by while Fletch put in a 200km+ ride over in Adelaide, the man who has previously swum across the English Channel, Dougal Hunt, decided to spend Australia Day putting new meaning to the term big day out by tapping out a lazy 300km. You can see Douggie's awesome effort here which was completed in 35 degrees + and some fairly challenging northerly headwinds.
20/1/12 - Fletch takes Long Way Home at TDU
With his 3Peaks training holding him in good stead, Matt Fletcher felt so strong after completing the 138km BUPA Challenge Tour ride from Adelaide to the Barossa (strava) he made the ambitious call to ride home. You can read a blog about his 226km ride over at the Climbing Cyclist and see the strava of his full ride here.
11/9/11 - Douggie knocks out Sydney to Melbourne
ET hard man Dougal Hunt decided that the only way he could get fit fast for Amy's Gran Fondo on 18/9/11 was to take on an epic solo ride at ridiculously short notice from Sydney to Melbourne. Douggie had planned to be up in Sydney for a wedding, safe to say at the time he RSVP'd he would not have anticipated a return journey covering some 1074km over 6 days, 7 punctures (4 on one day) and countless aching body parts. An awesome effort and we'repleased to report he ended up punching out the Fondo in style. Here's a summary of the ride from the man himself:-
- Day 1. Paddington>Vauclause>Royal National Park>Wollongong>Moss Vale. 197.3km. Amazing scenery, great day...but I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Now changing my fourth flat for the day...in the rain...although it's a nice break from the headwind and bike seat that makes my ass feel like it spent the night in jail.
- Day 2, Moss Vale>Penrose>Goulburn>Yass. 167.2km. Prick of a headwind, prick of a storm, but feeling pretty strong still.
- Day 3. Yass>Gundagai>Oura>Wagga Wagga. 201.4km. Nice to see the sun back out again today and the wind dying down. Today was the day of the relentless magpies and incessant snot-rockets. Longest but easiest day so far...I might go as far as saying I'm starting to enjoy this! Been plowing through 25-40km/h headwinds all day. Finally made it to Albury for lunch at 4:20 after several unsuccessful attempts at the country towns along the way. Might pull up stumps for the day if it doesn't stop raining now.
- Day 4. Wagga Wagga>Cookardinia>Albury>Beechworth. 183.3km. Long day into a SSW headwind and rain but still had an enjoyable day. Fantastic rolling terrain from Wodonga to Beechworth. Good to be back in Victoria!
- Day 5: Beechworth>Bobbinawarrah>Whitfield>Mansfield. 152.8km. A day in the mountains. Beautiful scenery but really tough going. Shortest but hardest day yet. A good, fun (but freezing!) 20km decent into Mansfield for a much needed meal and beer.
- Day 6: Mansfield>Yea>Kinglake West>Melbourne. 174.0km. Fell to pieces with about 100km to go today. Rained upon all day, bloody cold weather and seemingly endless hills. So glad to finally be home!
