On Sunday 23rd February, I was lucky enough to take part in the Second edition of the Wiggle Morning-Ton ride with two of my mates, Chad and Dave. We signed up online for the 140km version which I knew would be a bit of a test for my legs as I had only completed one ride over 50ks in the month leading up to the event.
On the morning of the event I had arranged to meet my friends at the starting point in Red Hill at 6, which meant a 4:30am wake-up and an hour travelling by car. It all worked out pretty well and we caught up at the registration desk. After a coffee and hot chocolate from the barista and a quick
toilet stop, we got our bikes set up and met at the start line for a 7 o'clock rollout. Personally I loved the early start time as it meant that we could get going before the heat of the day kicked in and get home earlier to spend some time with the family.
toilet stop, we got our bikes set up and met at the start line for a 7 o'clock rollout. Personally I loved the early start time as it meant that we could get going before the heat of the day kicked in and get home earlier to spend some time with the family.
After the final instructions (which included a route change as the original included a steep dirt road) we were off. The only problem was that the head of the first bunch turned left instead of right! I have a holiday house around this area and I was fairly certain that we were going the wrong way. I voiced my opinion to a few around me but they were all following like mice so I just kept plodding
along with the group. After about 7km of mostly downhill, a Wiggle van over took us and after the next roundabout, confirmed my thoughts that we had gone wrong from the start. Essentially by turning left instead of right, we had missed the main climb of the day, Arthur's Seat. The official wasn't local and didn't know if we could get back to the climb, however as I had ridden the roads a few times before, I knew that it was a 6km ride up Purves Road to the top of the Arthur's seat climb, where we would be able to descend and then climb and be back on track. All the riders thought this was the best option so on we went, backtracking to the beast that is Arthur's Seat.
The Arthur's Seat climb is only a short one at 3kms long, but what it lacks in distance, it makes up for in gradient, averaging 8.1% and rising 208m. I heard a few people asking the question why did we back track, as we rode back up, but it is a good challenging ride with good views both on the way up and at the top. I felt ok going up, especially considering I hadn't been riding as much as I would have liked, and I was surprised to see that I had gained a PB once I had reached the top.
along with the group. After about 7km of mostly downhill, a Wiggle van over took us and after the next roundabout, confirmed my thoughts that we had gone wrong from the start. Essentially by turning left instead of right, we had missed the main climb of the day, Arthur's Seat. The official wasn't local and didn't know if we could get back to the climb, however as I had ridden the roads a few times before, I knew that it was a 6km ride up Purves Road to the top of the Arthur's seat climb, where we would be able to descend and then climb and be back on track. All the riders thought this was the best option so on we went, backtracking to the beast that is Arthur's Seat.
The Arthur's Seat climb is only a short one at 3kms long, but what it lacks in distance, it makes up for in gradient, averaging 8.1% and rising 208m. I heard a few people asking the question why did we back track, as we rode back up, but it is a good challenging ride with good views both on the way up and at the top. I felt ok going up, especially considering I hadn't been riding as much as I would have liked, and I was surprised to see that I had gained a PB once I had reached the top.
After waiting for Dave at the top of the climb, we headed back down Purves Road and started moving pretty well as a group. Another rider, joined with the 3 of us, and we took rolling turns over the next 10kms keeping a good pace and covering it in 15mins. It was at this point I was thinking that we could push on and try an knock off a fair chunk of the course quickly, however it was right at this point that Chad punctured and we lost all our momentum. It took him about 10mins to change the flat and Dave and I had a few chuckles at his lack of experience in taking the rear wheel on and off.
Back on the road, we continued on towards St Andrews Beach and then along Borneo Road to Flinders. This stretch of road included a false flat and then 3 quick drops with a pinch on the other side. A lot of riders were caught out by these and I heard that one individual snapped his chain at this point as well. With around 60kms down, we rolled into Flinders and stopped at the feed station. These were great and were spread out every 25ks or so. They were well stocked with gels, bars, fruit and lollies as well as sports drinks and water. There was plenty to go around and alowed us to restock on what we needed.
having filled up on lollies and museli bars, we started the 15kms back to Red Hill. Dave started a few minutes before Chad and I to get a bit of a head start. We thought we would catch him in the first couple of Ks, but he was going really well and we only caught up to him in the later stages of the climb. Having now knocked off more than half the ride, I was expecting things to become a little easier on roads that i thought were going to bit more or less flat. Boy was i wrong though. Rolling hills were the order of the day with quite a few little punches in there to boot. We stopped at the next feed station around 90kms in and continued through up to Baxter.
At about 110kms in to the ride, Chad was still going strong, but both Dave and I were starting to come unstuck from the small amount of riding we had been doing in the lead up to the ride. It's fair to say that we lead Chad take the lead for most of the last 30 odd kms and we were doing our best to hang on and keep the pace moving along.
Seeing the 5ks to go sign was great, but unfortunately, I knew what we still had to contend with, the second hardest climb of the day in Whitehill Road. I've been up this hill once or twice before, but never with 140km already in the leg. The result was a very slow pace with a 20 second stop at the side of the road to let the cramps settle down. Once back on the bike, I managed to catch back up with Dave (read here that he waited for me) and we finished the ride together jsut under 6 hours from when we left. Chad had smashed the last climb and finished a good 5mins ahead.
Once back at the school in Red Hill, we grabbed some snags and drinks that some parents and students from the school community had whipped up for us and sat down and chatted about what a great day we had all had. Apart from the very first wrong turn of the day, the course was very well sign posted, great support with feed stations and medical and mechanical assistance frequently going past. Comparing this to previous organised rides I have been on, it seems to be better bang for your buck with the added benefit of not being as crowded either.
Seeing the 5ks to go sign was great, but unfortunately, I knew what we still had to contend with, the second hardest climb of the day in Whitehill Road. I've been up this hill once or twice before, but never with 140km already in the leg. The result was a very slow pace with a 20 second stop at the side of the road to let the cramps settle down. Once back on the bike, I managed to catch back up with Dave (read here that he waited for me) and we finished the ride together jsut under 6 hours from when we left. Chad had smashed the last climb and finished a good 5mins ahead.
Once back at the school in Red Hill, we grabbed some snags and drinks that some parents and students from the school community had whipped up for us and sat down and chatted about what a great day we had all had. Apart from the very first wrong turn of the day, the course was very well sign posted, great support with feed stations and medical and mechanical assistance frequently going past. Comparing this to previous organised rides I have been on, it seems to be better bang for your buck with the added benefit of not being as crowded either.
Thanks to Wiggle for the opportunity to ride this event and I will be looking out for different Wiggle rides to enter in the future!!