My First 200km Alpine Classic

Okay, the idea started last year when I had dreams of improving my climbing and Carl mentioned the Alpine would be a good challenge.

Then I was at the Blackburn dinner and the guy opposite me asked if I was doing the Alpine, and I said yes. He asked if I had entered and he told me entries had closed.

Now, this was months ago. I thought, oh well that’s that idea; looks like I am not doing the Alpine. Fortunately or unfortunately for me one of Lawrence’s students had an invite that he didn’t want and I suddenly had a ticket. Hoorah for Lawrence.

Carl had done lots of base with me and Lawrence has had me do lots of climbing. I had done all the preparation all I could physically do but like most people, I would always like to have done more, but with work and extra commitments, I can only do what I can do with the time, the body and muscles I have.

Then the bushfires started, and I thought the event was going to be cancelled. But I kept training, secretly thinking the thing wasn’t going ahead; and I guess sort of hoping it was going to be canned. And as the event approached, the worse I felt, ‘oh god, not going to make it, ahh I am not ready for this; not ready at all!’

The Alpine has forced me to work to the goal of completing it. Going up hills and riding new places, and learning the art of climbing better has helped me become more familiar with extra training venues and other aspects to life fitness via the bike, which is all good.

I am finally getting used to sharing the roads with mad car drivers, which is a good thing. But I still don’t like 6am rides and will do everything in my power to avoid them.

The lead up hasn’t been that good, though- some poor form in races and plummeting 1:20 times hasn’t helped the confidence thing; and putting on three kgs over Christmas certainly hasn’t helped achieve the confidence boost to complete an event as difficult as the Alpine.

But I have been on the saddle as per my programme, so thought at least I have done what’s meant to be done for an event like this, well to prepare me anyway.

So like it or lump it, the event is going ahead and off I go to Bright, I must go. Okay on the way, sharing the car with an a grader who predicted I finish the ride in eleven hours, which I thought fabulous because that means I will make the cut off of thirteen, which I was aiming for. And he is in a grade so he must know.

Okay drove up to Bright on the Friday, and stayed at Myterlford (30 km ) out of Bright because I couldn’t get accommodation in Bright city.

This meant I had to get up 30 minutes earlier than other people. I rocked up at the motel around 6pm and asked for dinner in their restaurant, when the person said that the restaurant is booked. I thought this wasn’t possible, what is this Lygon Street?

So off to the main street in a town, which sort of looked like the town in Flying Doctors, looking for a carb meal.

Now for those of you who don’t know me I can be described as the accidental tourist from hell. I am particular about food, to say the least. I was truly in hell and kicking myself for being disorganised. I have Lawrence’s voice in my head ( Lawrence is my cycling coach) saying remember have a good meal on the Friday night.

Found a pizza place, which looked like a glorified Milk Bar. There were a bunch of hooligans out the front smoking, which added to the whole atmosphere . I was not in Smith Street that’s for sure.

Great, I need to eat a solid meal and I am stuck in town for a crappy pizza, hardly the most nutritious food but at least full of carbs.Anyway they had a pasta menu and I thought I would give it a try. The lady cooked me a lovely wonderful pasta dish and I had some garlic bread. It was nice.

This is food I don’t normally eat and I found it a bit rich, but treated it as a treat. So had heaps to eat including sweats and went back to the motel and decided to pump up the tyres and get the bike ready. Blew a valve, changed the tube, checked the bolts and was ready for the 200km dash in the mountains.

I crashed to bed and had a good sleep and woke up at 4:45 am for breakfast, which included four bits of toast, two wheat bix, and orange juice.

Got ready, showered and drove to Bright arriving at 5:30 am. Had no idea where to go, so I followed the other cars to the car parking area. After discussions with the other cyclists around me, I decided to wear a wind vest and arm warmers. I am one of these people that would rather overheat than freeze. I hate being cold. And given it was eight degrees in Falls Creek, I thought I am going to freeze to death if not die from climbing the damn things.

I rocked up to the starting area; again no idea where to go but followed the bikes.

Opposite was a restaurant hijacked by Audax, so I went in, and the lady said ten bucks for breakfast. I thought I have already had breakfast but could do with a coffee.

Anyway paid my ten dollars and because I am mental and from Horsham ( I have to eat because I paid for it) I had to get my moneys worth, so forced down cornflakes, coffee and orange juice.

Okay totally full and worried about where I was going to take a slash on the mountains with all of this fluid on board. Glad I didn’t have scales nearby because I think if I had weighed myself at this stage I would have gone home! And believe me, I have been so wound up over my weight lately, I would have driven back to Melbourne if I had blown up from all this carb loading.

Before I knew it, the 6:20s had left and it was time for us 6:40s to take off. I was at the start line and a bloke commented on my granny gears ( I had some easy gears installed on my bike for this event).

He reckoned I won’t use it till Buffalo ( the last climb) I said I had no idea but was glad I had them as I was pushing 84 kgs up the hill, plus my gear and my bike. I reckon a total weight of around 100kgs. I got the idea of changing my gears from the aboc climbing camp. I sore how Jess climbed Hotham wonderfully and she was glad she had the extra gears, so I thought I will do it, spinning and grinning is better than crying and stalling.

Yeah I am not a girl but I want the gear there to save my legs as my legs aren’t as strong as they should be and I need that granny gear. I did notice around me, the starting area was full of whippets, guys that looked like they were around 70kgs. In an instant I was regretting the food I had eaten over Xmas, and secretly hated them all for being skinny!

And off we went. Heart rate monitor was not working for the first 30km. Wasn’t too stressed as hadn’t started climbing yet. After fiddling (stupid polar), it finally clicked in. Was riding with a group of guys doing around 36km and my HR was a nice 110, a nice warm up for the hills I thought. Was chatting with some of the guys, most who had ridden the 200 before. They thought I would be okay but explained the importance of pacing.

And this reinforced what Lawrence has been saying to me the last few weeks. “Remember Nick it’s not a race; it’s an endurance event.”

The first climb began – Tawonga Gap. I had developed a methodology for myself to help me climb, it’s an acronym – HRC- Heart rate, rhythm and cadence. I know it seems ridiculous but I have been known to kill myself early so I had to keep reinforcing the distance I had to go, and what I needed to do to get there. Rhythm and core stability were the issues for me today, as I wanted to avoid wasting energy and cramping. I had HR limits in my mind and I wasn’t to reach them and if I did I had to minimise the time I was in these limits.

I have been known for not starting well, and truthfully, Tawonga Gap was not different in that respect. In fact it was on of the worst climbs of the day for me.

The climb started out of nowhere. Everyone was passing me – literally. Grinding, grinding and felt like I was getting nowhere, legs as sore as hell, ahhh screaming inside, regurgitating cornflakes and indigestion- yuk!

“remember Nick it is not a race,” so I was getting my head around that, looked down, legs were not spinning, so went down several gears to one of my easiest gears. Heart rate was 170 – way above what it should have been for a long day.

Okay was panicking, climb WAS not going well. Regretting a big breakfast as I could feel breakfast sitting there and making me almost sick. I started to cramp in the left quad- ouch. At this stage I was off the seat.

I grinded away, I started spinning the legs, my heart rate started to come down and I began to maintain my core and stroke and started feeling good. Okay I started climbing. A steep section approached, I again got off the seat and was grimacing – a lady next to me said, it was early for me to be grimacing, I told her, I was warming up, and I thought concentrate on what you are doing, and thought something else but unwilling to publicly broadcast it on the net!

Climb over, and I noticed I was in the granny gear. Not a good start Nick- a long way to go. At this stage I was concerned that I was NOT going to make the 200. There was a stop at Tawonga Gap but it wasn’t a card puncher, so I continued on to spin the pain out of my legs. It was clear I wasn’t warm for the climb, and I thought I am fitter than this, I have done the training, knuckle down and I’ll be okay.

Span the legs down the descent and on the flat, in and out of the big chain ring, down in the drops because I didn’t want to become cold, and I wasn’t going to freeze on the flat and after what I had been through at Tawonga Gap, I wanted to make sure I was nicely warmed up. I wanted to see my HR rise on the flat and get pumped for what awaited me, a 30km climb at Falls Creek. And I have climbed Falls Creek before in a climbing session with my mate Brian, and it was bloody hard, especially the last 7-10 kms.

I stopped at Mount Beauty for a pea and a bun then off to Falls Creek. I wasn’t hungry and after just digesting breakfast I didn’t feel like any food at all. But Lawrence told me to keep eating no matter what so in the mouth goes a bun and a banana, and some extra fluids.

Off to the Falls Creek climb, sat on the seat, span the legs and climbed the hill beautifully, maintaining my heart rate at around 160 for most of the climb, my rhythm felt good and when I was off the seat, I maintained my core and felt comfortable.

Legs were not hurting at all. Indeed it was not as hard as the Wall. I wasn’t going fast but was passing lots of people, which was hairy at times because most riders didn’t stay to the left. I think all the good climbers were well ahead of me and I was at the back with people wobbling all over the road, which after doing Hotham I fully understand their pain. Having being there myself, I just tried not to get knocked by them, which meant I really had to look around me, not just ahead, great another thing to worry about.

A guy almost knocked me off whilst he was taking a drink. He swung out at least six feet, right across the road. I was off the seat when this happened and avoided an accident by braking., which is an interesting concept when climbing.

Falls Creek was the easiest climb for the day I thought. It was a breeze.

Got to the top, had some food- forced some down, replenished fluids and down to Mount Beauty again via Tawonga Gap. Descending down Falls was nice, but I was conscious of many people passing me descending. I have to work at going faster down hills, it’s quite an art really. The max speed I reached was 64.2 KM, which is a PB for me, but slow for someone wanting to race better.

Going up Towanga Gap again wasn’t particularly easy, but the second half of the climb was a lot easier. Nearly got knocked off by a car who left me no room but I survived.The other cyclists abused the driver. I was more concerned about getting up the hill than some idiot who doesn’t know how to drive. And was conscious of what had happened in a C grade race at Glenvale where a rider abused a driver and six riders got disqualified- so I am thinking we are lucky to have the roads and keep my thoughts to myself. But the driver was being an idiot. But the guys who mouthed the driver weren’t much better. For once I was not the centre of the dramas.

Back to Bright for a quick lunch and by the way Audax has great food and it is plentiful, you don’t really need to carry much on you, just emergency jelly beans for a hypo I suggest.

After what I had gone through in the first climb by being cold, I wasn’t going to sit around and chat. I arrived at the stops ate, peed, drank and filled up the bottles and off I went. For me, this was the only way I as going to make the Audax. Seriously, once I am cold, my legs are dead, and recovering and regaining that rhythm is hard for me.

Then reluctantly off to Mount Buffalo. I mean reluctantly. It is through sheer mental strength that I got back on the bike. I was very comfortable after lunch and could see my car in the car park, and was tempted to call it a day.

Legs were starting to feel really sore by now. I felt like I had done sets and sets of weights. I am thinking perhaps I went too hard up Falls Creek. Oh well not much I can do now but pedal. And pedalling I was.

Began the climb up Buffalo, and I immediately knew this was going to be tough. Legs weren’t spinning and lots of people passing me. I had little rhythm and my heart rate was dropping to 130, which meant I was stuffed. Oh oh what now?

Never give up; never surrender!

Emergency – should call Lawrence, but what can she do, here I am blowing up and nowhere to go but up. I certainly wasn’t going to quit that’s for sure. That was not an option. To quit, they would have to take me off in an ambulance.

I was sucking on water bottle like there was no tomorrow. The bottles, which I filled with cordial at lunch were really sweat; it was foul, and I had two water bottles full of the stuff. Totally my fault – did not check it. And it was mixed with my anticramping powder- big big mistake. Never do this- I was cursing myself! Bloody idiot!

Reluctantly I was drinking it, but in many ways it was making me feel worse. Not climbing well at all. In the second gear from the top and considering using granny but was thinking, don’t do it Nick, don’t be gutless, be a man god damn it! This gear is for an emergency, is this an emergency? Ride through the pain you wimp.

Thankfully there was an Audax water cart half way up the mountain. I stopped and got my bottles filled with water, tipped the cordial out and refused to put anything but water in my water bottles. At this stage I should have had some jelly-beans or something as I knew my HR was low, which is a sign of a hypo for me. I had a headache and was extremely thirsty. My legs, well can’t describe how they felt, except they were getting worse by the minute. The headache persisted.

Continued to climb, but not doing well, off the seat, on the seat, passed by girls, getting worse, getting much much worse. I really wasn’t spinning, I had no rhythm and my core stability was all over the place. My back was aching and my feet were burning. The feet thing was totally new. What now?

Okay 3km to go before the end of the climb and I became dizzy and my legs weren’t moving, toes are now numb. I stopped, had a bag of jellybeans and drank some water., and then straight back on the bike.

Began to climb again and felt much much better, still not quite the same but at least got to the top with a decent cadence and heart rate and rhythm. Towards the top I started to find a rhythm and was pedalling well, and thought bring it on, can climb another few kms. Finally reached the chalet at Buffalo and thought oh no more food!

Had a quick bite to eat, and then down the mountain back to Bright. During the descent began to cramp again- which was odd. At this stage didn’t want any flavour in my water bottles. Sort of hard to ride it out when you are descending Mount Buffalo but thankfully it disappeared. I almost had to stop. But mostly the climbs were over. I just sat in the drops and practiced my descending. Had no one to follow really as there were riders everywhere so made my own line.

On the flat out of Buffalo I was fully recovered and felt good, sat with some guys who were doing 44 kph into Bright. I was enjoying the ride but got dropped, or just gave up. It’s not a race Nick. Sat at my own pace (36) into town and made the finish line, and then clocked the card with a time of nine hours.

I made it!
I did it!

Went and got my medal ( an extra $10) I want it on my mantle so I can grandstand to my friends for the next few weeks, who don’t understand 200km of hills is hard, well hard for me anyway.

Wow- it was over. Today Sunday, I can barely walk but I have no regrets.

It was fun, challenging and most of all rewarding. Next year, I will be more careful what I put in my water bottles, I will work more on my endurance to improve the Buffalo climb, and I will carry less with me as the Audax food was more than adequate. In fact it was superb. Compared to other big cycling events, it is so well organised.

I used some anti cramping powder in my bottles, which really helped as I had been cramping in training and races. I only had two cramps over the day, which is pretty good. Cramps can be debilitating and I thought that could really get me.

My key advice is to know your heart rate zones, and use them for the event. Looking at my HR really helped me and I knew what I was doing and how I was doing it.

Yeah it’s not a race; you are racing against yourself. I had no idea what time I was going to get except my aim was to do it in the qualifying time of 13 hours. Which until yesterday I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it.

So now I have my medal, which is on my mantle and my jersey to say hey I did it, I’m proud of riding the Audax and hopefully there will many more Audax Alpine’s for me. But for an event like this you have to train hard, I sore people pull out because they hadn’t prepared. Lawrence and Carl made sure I had done the work I needed to do to get me up those bloody mountains.

Yes a bit heavier, yes a bit slower, but a result I can build on. I recommend anyone who wants to achieve a fitness goal to do the Alpine, it is well worth it in the end. For me it was like attempting the Frankston to Melbourne Marathon. Except this time I completed it.

Nick’s Alpine Advice: This is what I did for my first Alpine! It is by no means to be followed verbatim, but it is my advice only and it worked for me. This information does not reflect the opinions of aboc, just me only.

* preparation/training under guidance of a coach for at least 12 weeks;
* practice core strength and climbing technique on a stepper at the gym (30 minutes for four weeks before the event) , this really helped me ( but I am particularly uncoordinated;
* heart rate monitor, including cadence;
* anti cramping powder ( if you are prone to cramping) I placed extra powder in glad sandwich bags- mix with water not cordial;
* anti rash cream, apply before the event, hadn’t used it before but a must for these distances- rally helped;
* spare tube/pump (of course);
* carry two large water bottles;
* change tyres two weeks before the event;
* install granny gears two- three weeks before the event;
* get bike fully serviced three weeks before event;
* carb load three days before;
* pacing- don’t be tempted to try to keep up with fitter riders, climb at your own pace;
* be very conscious of struggling riders around you, they can be all over the road;
* carry two small packets of glucogel jelly beans;
* fifty dollars (emergency money)\;
* eat breakfast but be used to riding with lots of food in your stomach – maybe practice on a training ride, what it is going to feel like, or just don’t eat too much;
* keep drinking and eating during the day even if you aren’t hungry or thirsty;
* acknowledge signs of hypo and address immediately;
* don’t be tempted to stop for too long; and,
* go on the aboc climbing camps- recommend at least one before doing the Alpine as
Hotham can mentally prepare you for an event like this. If you have climbed Hotham, you will mentally be ready to tackle Buffalo after Falls Creek and Tawonga Gap. Hotham helped me conquer Buffalo. Compared to Hotham, these mountains are easier, but together are just as hard.

Great story, Nick.  Would you like to put it in your blog?