Adelaide Dirty Dozen???
Hi folks
Been thinking about this for a little while (and bounced some ideas off some of you), but some inspiration from Melbourne's Climbing Cyclist has caused me to explore this idea a little bit further... He co-organised a social ride last weekend which covered a dozen of the nastiest hills close to Melbourne - see http://theclimbingcyclist.com/the-inaugural-melbourne-dirty-dozen/#... (fantastic website by the way) and had some 50 or so riders participate. Regroups at the top of each hill, a social atmosphere, and a lot of fun, and about 30 managed to finish.
Basically the Melbourne Dirty Dozen was inspired by the Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen that has been going since 1983 with some 300 riders every year. 12 of the most difficult hills in Pittsburgh and smash them! The Melbourne event contained some 1500m vertical in only 30km of riding.... Brilliant! And nasty!
I'm trying to see whether there might be some interest in doing something along these lines in Adelaide. The difficulty being compacting those sort of steep roads required (pitches of a min 10%) into such a small area. I'm struggling. So far I have come up with this - http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1187961 - I've got my 12 steep climbs and a central starting point, but it spreads out over 88km in length with about 3300m vertical. That seems a little extreme to me...or is that what we could / should be aiming for?
Anyone wanting to have a go at it would not have to complete the whole course - there would be no issues with only doing parts of it and meeting up along the way. Starting and finishing at the Tower Hotel, Magill, the hills in order I have are:
1. Teringie Dve - 0.9km @11.5%
2. Coach Rd - 2.4km @9.8%
3. Haven Rd / Bishop St / Coach Rd / Knox Tce - 1.9km @8.4%
4. Knox Tce - 1.4km @9.4%
5. Kensington Rd - 1.3km @11.5%
6. Ridgeland Dve - approx 1km??? @approx 10% (can anyone confirm?)
7. Woods Hill Rd (Heartbreak Ridge) - 0.8km @8.1%
8. Adelaide-Lobethal Rd (little climb to Burdetts Rd - 0.8km @6%
9. Knotts Hill / Pound Rd - 2.7km @8%
10. Fernhurst Rd / Cherryville Rd - 2.1km @10.8%
11. Corkscrew Rd - 2.5km @8.9%
12. Coachhouse Dve / Woodlands Way - 2.7km @10.1%
I'm just seeing whether there would be any interest in doing something like this for a bit of fun (insert sarcastic comment here...) and if there is interest, comments on improving the route, and anything else you might like to constructively throw in to the mix.
Cheers, Adam
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pele Ton on -
Love to see a date for this ride. I am sure I could get some Riverlanders to come to Adelaide for the ride.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Williss on -
OK...date time...
Based on some of the comments here earlier, it seems appropriate to give a reasonable amount of notice for the ride. This allows some people not sure of their ability to maybe hit some of these hills beforehand, and generally give some motivation to some hard hills training over winter. I would rather 30 come out and have a go at this than 20....
I am also conscious that a couple of these hills are steep to the point that if the weather was really wet they could be pretty dicey on the descent, and be a back wheel spinning / front wheel in the air kind of experience on the way up...
It also looks like there is at least one person interested in coming over from interstate, and a few from country areas - if it means good promotion for our little cycling neck of the woods (and Adelaide Cyclists), then I am all for capitalising on that.
So how does the first weekend in September sound? Launch into the riding season with this event... Does Saturday 1st / Sunday 2nd September suit?
If you think that is too long to wait, I'm happy to roll the dice with the weather and do it as early as mid-July which is pretty clear on the calendar - it could still be wet in September after all...!
We can go with the popular vote.... Respond with either Sep or July!
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Crick on -
+1 for September too but given the current weather conditions hope it improves some what by then lol
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Permalink Reply by Dahondude on -
I'd vote September for nicer weather, but likely to be unavailable most weekends that month. So July by default. But see your point that wet/freezing cold descents in July could be a bit of a safety concern.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Crick on
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You could always hold early October after Gran Fondo... not sure what other big events are in October might fit in nicely. Think July would be to cold up in them hills and given the amount of climbing it would be an early start...
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Permalink Reply by Trent on -
my legs are already complaining thinking of this! i really think a new cassette may be in order for this! i love hill climbing on a standard crank but this may be a bit too much
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Permalink Reply by Adam Williss on
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Definitely recommend compacts... You'll smash up to half these hills - or even a few more - on standards, but unless you are a mountain goat, you will be defeated in the end without them...
Just my "positive" words of warning!
On a separate (but loosely related) matter - did you get my DM via twitter?
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