3 peaks challenge 2017 – Ride Report

3 peaks Challenge is done & dusted for 2017 and it didn’t disappoint. By far my favourite event of

the year and this was made extra special as it was the first time my long suffering wife Mary came

down to see what the fuss was about. This year was also quiet emotional as I was thinking about

absent friends but was delighted that they could cheer us along from Cairns

Steed

I completed the ride on a Giant TCR Advanced PRO running Shimano Ultegra 11 speed mechanical,

full compact at the front (50-34) and climbing cassette at the rear (12-32) with a mid-cage derailleur.

The wheels were Shimano Dura-ace C35 Carbon rim, aluminium breaking surface running

Continental S2 4000 tyres. Other aftermarket additions included a Pioneer left pedal power meter

and a Fizik Antares R5 saddle. The bike performed very well and I was very pleased with all

equipment.

Clothing Plan

The weather on the day was forecast showers with 60 % chance of 0-6 mm rain with strong N to N/E

winds especially at Hotham with gusts up to 45-50 kph. Temperature was forecast to be 10 to 18

degree at Hotham but getting to 30 degrees in the valley near Omeo. For clothing I choose Assos bib

shorts, wool socks (pearl izumi), DHB merino base layer, ‘Jungle Ride’ short sleeve full zip jersey,

short finger gloves, arm sun protectors (no fleece), DHB sleeveless gilet and Scott Pro shoes. The

clothing plan was excellent; I was hot in some places, cold at the start but very happy. I carried my

gilet for 200 k but still glad to have it as insurance.

Food Plan

My nutrition was based on 60 g carps every hour with a winners bar every hour, SIS gel every hour

and salt stick every hour. Fluid was plain water and I had a banana at lunch and just prior to the last

climb at Anglers Rest. I also had a can of coke at the last drinks stops Trapyard Gap. Last three SIS

gels contained caffeine. The plan was to ‘eat - drink – repeat’ and it worked well. I could possible do

with another banana @ Anglers Rest but at no stage did I run out of food. I had mild cramp in the

toes around 180 km but two salt sticks made it go away.

Training

The training plan was a wee tad more complex to explain. I went for another 24 week build up with

base training in October and gradual increasing in November. In December, January and February I

really hit the straps. The plan was long hill intervals increasing every week by one minute, short

sharp intervals once a week and minimum stop training rides on Saturday with a social ride on

Sunday. All up I averaged 300 km and 3,500 m climbing each week. This was a big step up on

previous years ie

2016/7 2015/6 2014/5 Number of training weeks 24 24 24

Total Distance (km) 7,352 6,297 5,140

Average Distance per week (km) 306 262 214

Total Elevation (m) 85,555 73,002 58,707

Average Elevation per week (m) 3,565 3,042 2,446

In summary the training plan was ok but average speed was low and needs more attention in 2017/8

campaign. I will try and lift the intensity especially in the minimum stops training rides although the

heat tends to be a factor. I used ‘Golden Cheetah’ software ‘Coggan’ metrics to manage my fitness

and fatigue. My peak fitness hit an all-time high of 138 two week before the event (blue line) and

was 121 on the day of the event. My fatigue was 81 on the day of the event (pink line) which

indicates I was in great form and tapering had worked.

Pacing Plan

I produced a pacing plan based on initially getting ahead of the 10 hr wave riders who set a pre-

determined pace around the course and hoping to join them near the last climb as fatigue set in.

Pre Event

With all the training done we headed up to Falls Creek on the Friday evening and had a relaxed

Saturday. Kev & I went about the preparation for the ride which consisted of assembling our bikes,

safety check, registration and filling valet bags. With all booked in we then headed off on a pre-event

cycle for about an hour. Saturday evening is also the ride briefing and it was sad to see our usual

vantage spot was empty and it wasn’t the last time we all thought of absent friends over the

weekend.

Day of the Ride

The Sunday morning came; we were up at 5.15 am dressed, breakfast and headed for the start line.

Kev and I wore our warm jackets to keep warm and took them off just before we set off. It was

special having Mary and Julie seeing us off.

The first descend is hair raising fast. We were warned about an overnight shower creating havoc on

the sharp corners but luckily the road was dry as we flew down to Mt Beauty. I had a good run on

the downhill section and managed to get some clean road about 1/3 way down and was able to

descend relative risk free. This allowed me to eat a full energy bar, take off my gilet and have a gel in

preparation for the first climb. I was also in sight of the 10 hr wave riders so felt comfortable.

Tarwonga Gap

Climbing Tarwonga was interesting, I enjoy this climb as it’s is a good warm up, not too steep and

most importantly settles your nerves for the long day ahead. On the day I found it very humid and

struggled to get into a rhythm which is strange coming from Cairns. I was out climbed by the 10

hour wave riders and watched them pull away. It was very early days and I was more interesting in

conserving energy and ensuring I climbed in zone 4 around 200 - 210 W and kept the cadence high. I

even managed to smile at the peak, so far so good.

In terms of the climb I was surprised just how hard I actually rode the first half. I averaged 258 W for

the entire climb with heart at 153 bpm and speed 13.8 kph. My power for the first half was zone 5

(too high!) and it was only when I dropped my power to zone 4 did my energy levels stabilise (red

line). This is what I love about the pioneer power metre, before I seen this graph I would swear that I

conserved energy very well on this climb. My official timing for the climb was 32 mins 19 sec and

about 1 minute slower than 2016 so happy.

The power meter reckoned I produced the following output.

Time (hr:min) 0:32

Distance (km) 7.5

Work (kJ) 505

Average Power (W) 258

Average Heart Rate (bpm) 153

Average Cadence (rpm) 81

Average Speed (kph) 13.8

The graph of the first climb Tarwonga Gap is next (yellow line is watts, light blue is cadence, red is

energy remaining (W prime), green is speed and grey indicates elevation.)

After cresting Tarwonga Gap I quickly re-joined the 10 hr wave riders and enjoyed a nice bunch ride

all the way to base of Hotham at Harrietville.

Hotham

Hotham is the reason I keep coming back to this ride. It is a sublime climb, tough at the start, false

flat in the middle and three killer kicks at the end. All up it is 30 km, 1,300 m climbing. Arriving at the

base I was feeling good, early nerves gone and right on my pacing plan. The 10 hr wave riders took

off and I let them go and attempted to find my own rhythm. I was eating well and avoided the drinks

stop at the bottom as I had water. About 7 km up I caught the 10 hr wave riders just before the false

flat and got towed along to the mid drink stop @ Buckland gate. I was out of water so did a brief

stop. This proved a waste of time as the water was from a large bladder and tasted revolting. I

competed the three sharp 10% pinches and was glad to crest the beast. I was still giving the camera

thumbs up although the smile is slightly manufactured!

So far I was 5 minutes ahead of my pacing plan and feeling ok but looking forward to lunch. My

official timing for the climb was 1 hr 51 min which was three minutes faster than 2016. I averaged

225 watts but from the graphs I did a Z4 section in the middle when I caught the 10 hr wave riders. I

then kept it around the 200 W for the last 1/3 on my own. So far so good and the power meter

reckoned I produced the following output for the second climb.

Time (hr:min) 1:51

Distance (km) 28:19

Work (kJ) 1484

Average Power (W) 225

Average Heart Rate (bpm) 150

Average Cadence (rpm) 73

Average Speed (kph) 15.5

The graph of the second climb is next (yellow line is watts, light blue is cadence, red is energy

remaining (W prime), green is speed and grey indicates elevation.)

No Man’s land

It is a strange ride from lunch to the last climb; you have done two peaks, you have settled into the

ride so only one climb to go. The only problem is it starts 75k away and there is some work to be

done and you also get to cycle through some amazing valleys and scenery.

I had a good lunch stop, kept it to 10-12 minutes and pulled out ahead of the 10 hr wave riders. In

hindsight this was a mistake as there were few riders on the road and forming packs was difficult but

not impossible. It was largely a tail wind but the super-fast descend into Omeo was spoilt by the

sight of a rider down on the road. I assume cross winds were a factor as it was blowing pretty wild.

A few corners later my bike started to wobble and felt bouncy to indicate a slow flat. I kept a cool

head changing the tube and tried to find the cause to ensure I was not going to have a repeat. The

10 hr wave riders flew pasted me and that were the last I would see of them.

Back on the bike I went through Omeo and settled into the ‘sneaky’ 6k @ 4% climb. It went ok and I

tried to conserve energy but not lose too much time. From the top of the Omeo climb to Anglers

Rest was bloody hard work due to a gusty head wind and again a lack of riders to work with. We

picked up a few stragglers that were dropped from the 10 hr wave but they were spent and we

quickly moved on.

At the last valet bag pick up at Anglers Rest I needed a few minutes rest to recharge. I hoped to pick

up more of a bunch ride to start of the last climb at WTF but it proved difficult. I watched my pacing

plan slip and knew I was 10 minutes off the pace when I arrived at WTF. Headwinds and overall

fatigue were taking a toll. I arrived at WTF a 7 hr 47 mins which was 13 mins slower than my pacing

plan.

Back of Falls

Back of falls or Raspberry Hill is what separates this event from others. Everything up to this point

should be treated as an application. Someone once said you will never see so much Dura-Ace been

walked up this hill and it was a fairly good point. The maths don’t lie, 200 km on your legs and your

faced with a 9 km hill @ 9% and while it eases after this there is still some tough climbing to be

done. I had a few goals on this climb but the main one was not to walk. I did my usual tactic and

started as slow as possible using the rear 32T cog and spinning my legs. I took it easy on any brief

respite, kept up the caffeine gels and concentrated on the climb. I was passed by a lot of riders only

to see them walk later. During this climb I was feeling heavily fatigued and could not generate any

power so the 32T cog was used almost exclusively. I did manage a smile for the cameraman so it

wasn’t all bad!

I didn’t walk but stopped once for a gel and got back on the bike. My average output was 173 W and

my official time from WTF to the finish line was 2 hr 19 min which was 30 seconds slower than 2016.

On hindsight the gap between the 32T cog and the next 28T cog was too big and I would use a 30T

cog next time. As I found out all along the power meter doesn’t lie and all stats were down

compared to other climbs which I attribute to fatigue.

Time (hr:min) 2:19

Distance (km) 34.5

Work (kJ) 1454

Average Power (W) 173

Average Heart Rate (bpm) 137

Average Cadence (rpm) 67

Average Speed (kph) 15.5

The graph of the last climb is next including the run to the finish line (yellow line is watts, light blue is

cadence, red is energy remaining (W prime), green is speed and grey indicates elevation.)

Trapyard Gap to Finish.

The last drink stop at Trapyard was quick stop, I threw down a can of coke and was quickly back on

the bike for a tough final section home into the wind. I pulled out at trapyard at 9 hr 8 min which

was 16 mins slower than my planned time.

Once again I did far too much of this section on my own as other riders were hard to find. A few

things kept me going, having Mary at the finish line, knowing that while knackered I still had not

blown up on the last climb so had some energy left and trying to beat last years time. I pushed on

and was cheered up by a few on lookers on the road. I finally crested the hill, caught sight of the dam

and dug deep to finish fairly strongly.

I did get a wee bit self indulgent on this section that my goal of sub 10 was not going to happen but

this was quickly replaced with thoughts of absent friends that were not as fortunate as me.

I crossed the line in 10 hr 10 min, my moving time was 9 hr 38 min, average speed was 24.4 kph,

distance of 235 km, climbing 4,408 m climbing and my average power output was a respectful 171 W

with normalised power of 208 W.

There is no better feeling than the last corner and crossing the finish line and seeing Mary at the

finish line. Kev had a bad dose of the cramps and had to pull out which was very bad luck after a

strong start.

So to wrap it up it was a super super super day on de bike. I loved having Mary (and Julie!) at Falls

Creek and chatting about the ride, reliving it all and celebrating how lucky we are to be able to

partipcate in an excellent event. Quick phone call to the OFILS who were cheering on from the

‘Redlynch Base Camp’ and then back to the unit to download Strava and home made soup.

Many thanks to my wonderful family Mary, Evelyn & Catherine and all my lovely cycling friends

(epecially Kev) who have all provided unwavering support, love and assistance without which I could

achieve nothing.

So will I do it again? You bet, accomdation is booked and training starts in October!

Links

Relive my ride

https://www.relive.cc/view/896754358

Strava link

https://www.strava.com/activities/896754358

General You tube – not in it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtTvxfr9ucE&feature=youtu.be