Tell us about your weekend ride

Last year, just before my annual visit to Australia, I discovered a website about mountains in Victoria - http://theclimbingcyclist.com/, there was also a link about the 7 Peaks Challenge, but as we did not have enough time, we went out to Bright to have a look at a few of them. We rode two, Mount Hotham and Mount Buffalo, and three months before this years trip, I looked into doing all 7

Now we only had 5 days to ride 7 mountains, perfectly doable but there was to be a huge amount of driving, 295ks to get to the start of climb 1, Mount Baw Baw

It is written, ranked among the hardest road climbs in Australia, the ascent of Mt. Baw Baw presents a challenge for cyclists of all abilities. The first half of the climb is friendly enough but at an average gradient of over 10%, the second half of this climb is not for the faint of heart.

I turned my Garmin on at the start, and it was dead, so I tried my phone instead !!! At the Gantry, the final 6.5ks averages 11%, and it just ramped up. There was no respite, thankfully, it was 12 degrees with mist so we couldn't see what was coming, and to get to the end, my legs were happy

https://www.strava.com/activities/255569812

127ks later, we were in Marysville, and this time my Garmin did work as we hit the base of Lake Mountain, but it died within a K or 2 !!! As for this climb, the temp was 31, and 21.3ks, this was going to be a little bit tough after Baw Baw, however once over the initial 4.4ks with an average of over 8%, it was plain sailing, and it wasn't long before we had arrived at the finish

109ks later, we stopped in Mansfield where steak was on the menu

https://www.strava.com/activities/255643772

Up early, we drove down to the start of Mount Buller, eager to get the 3rd climb out of the way. Only 16.8ks long with an average of 5.9%, the lower parts were very mild, but with 4ks to go, it ramped up towards 15%, and you could feel it in your legs as we ground out the remainder of the climb. Maybe a bit sadistic, we also took the optional K ride just for the views !!!

We also found that my phone was nearly doubling the Garmin ion altitude so my climbing stats were looking impressive !!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/255982727

177ks later, we were in Bright

It was raining when we awoke so we decided to climb Mount Hotham. This is most probably the hardest as there are millions of flies, and the way the last third ramps up. Basically, it is a climb with three sections. The first section just goes up until the Meg where it hits over 10%, the next 10ks, you are in a false flat and you can pedal along at a nice pace, whilst the last 10ks have sections of over 11%. There are also 2 very fast downhill sections, but as the road was slippery, my GF took these very easily. We also hit many crosswinds as we made our way along the ridge, and with the temp only at 10, the windchill made it feel colder

https://www.strava.com/activities/256436845

Up early the next morning, we drove back on up to Hotham, onwards to Dinner Plain. Now the start of this one was another 43ks to Omeo, but we decided to ride there instead of riding back to the car. It was a very undulating ride and we could see what we would be in for. We passed a few guys going up and they looked like they were struggling !!!

After a quick toasted cheese, tomato and ham sandwich, we hit the climb. 43ks with and average of 2.2%, the first 8ks sit on around 8% and today we could feel it. The road never stopped going up/down and we also had a headwind so I took my place at the front and dragged my GF along. The plan was to break 3 hours, but she got home in 2:29 !!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/256882950

Mentally, this was tough, but we were now home and hosed, so we we hit Bright Brewery

We had 2 mountains left, a long one at 29.5ks and another at 24ks

Falls Creek is another mountain that is split into thirds. The first section has only 4.5ks of climbing at 5% and once over that, the road undulates for 12ks and after this section, you are only 27 metres higher !!! The last 13.5ks just goes up and didn't drop below 6%. As we reached the end, we knew we were now so close to the finish, that we could smell it

https://www.strava.com/activities/257268749

After a quick lunch, we drove to the base of Mount Buffalo. After 6 mountains, we could both feel it in our legs, it was also getting hot, the temp was now at 32, so we took off, not wanting to break any PBs, just survive till the finish !!!

Halfway up the climb, the temp had reached 35, but as we got higher, the temp started to drop. The road went on and on until we crested the last rise and found the turn off to Dingo Dell where a cafe was waiting. It was great to finish !!!

After a quick coke, we rode back down and spoke to some other cyclists telling then there were snakes on the road so to watch out !!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/257336210

It had been an epic 5 days, one that I can recommend if you ever are in the Alpine part of Victoria