My first 1 in 20 ride - a picture tells a thousand words!

The sun is creating dappled patterns on the road as it shines through the trees and the sound of birds is the only thing I can hear other than my own labored breathing. I have been in pain for the past 40 odd minutes and the countdown to the finish rolls under my wheels bit by bit- 500mts, 250mts, 100mts and so on. My chest is burning, my legs are aching, the sweat has soaked through my headband and is dripping onto my sunglasses, my feet feel like they are on fire and my jersey is unzipped as far as it will go in an attempt to cool my body down. All I can think of is that next meter of road in front of me...

Man it feels good!

Ok; I’ll go back a bit…

The first time I heard about the 1 in 20 ride up Mt Dandenong, I thought it was crazy. Sure the pro riders can climb the mountains but we mere mortals don’t ride up such hills. Or so I thought. Then I read more about the climb and while it still sounded like hard work, I was feeling stronger and stronger on the hills and the idea of pushing my limits up such a climb sounded like a good idea.

Polka Dot Lisa and I drove the course one dull Sunday to see what it was like and while it did seem like a long hill, it wasn’t too steep and not unfeasible. “We can do this” I said to PDL, but she just thought it was way too much for us and deep down I think she was right. Then on one of our rides down to Frankston, I attempted Hopes Rise for the first time and didn’t get very far before I had to stop and walk up. At the time I was really disappointed in myself and the whole idea of riding the 1 in 20 was put on hold.

Then all of a sudden, my fitness and strength seemed to ramp up suddenly and I felt like I had a new burst of strength in my legs when riding. The rolling hills around Ricketts Point didn’t slow me down too much and all other hills that previously made me work hard, no longer seemed to be a problem.

Then, with the Around the Bay ride coming up and with PDL and I not entered, I figured what the heck- let’s undertake our own personal test and give the 1 in 20 a go. “We’ll just spin our way up slowly in a super low gear” I said to PDL when she thought we were biting off more than we could chew. And so, reluctantly, PDL agreed to give it a go with me. She calls my constant pushing of our limits the "Vidman School of Accelerated Cycling!"

Sunday morning I did my weekly weigh in after getting up. I discovering that not only did I not have my weekly 1kg weight drop, but I actually put on 0.1kg! Not happy, not happy at all!

We packed our bikes into the back of our Renault Megane for the trip out to Anaconda for a 7am start. We had never tried to get two bikes into the car so it was a bit of an experiment but luckily they fitted in easy with room to spare.

At Anaconda we met up with Ian from the BV forum who had done the 1 in 20 before so it was good to get a bit of a guide. Sunday had dawned hot with a hot northerly wind so it was less than ideal for us newbies to be attempting such a challenge but so be it- I wasn’t about to let a bit of heat stop me.

As we rode towards the mountain down Colchester Rd, PDL picked up a rear puncture. Damn those tyres are puncture magnets! A quick swap of the tube, a short burst of the CO2 cartridge and we were back on the road. On the approach to the official start of the 1 in 20, we climbed some decent looking hills and I was worried. My legs felt dead and I was hurting already. I doubted my ability to do the climb and I was feeling crappy about me lack of energy and my morning weigh-in.

We stopped at the shops at the base of the climb and had a breather. Ian had to take off up the mountain as he was running short on time so we said our goodbyes and PDL and I discussed whether to go on or not. After weighing up the prospect of how much physical pain I would go through to ride the climb or how much mental pain I would have to deal with if I DIDN’T do the climb, I figured the physical pain was the lesser of two evils and I would give it a go. Plus- given my lack of weight drop that week, I HAD to push myself harder if I was to keep on dropping the kilos.

We set off and ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurt. My lungs were working hard and my legs ached. I had to spin fast in a low gear as my legs didn’t feel like they could push harder for long. I was sitting on a pathetic 11-13 kph and at a cadence of around the mid 80’s. PDL was obviously doing it easy at my pace but she stayed with me to help me keep going.

After about 15-20 minutes I had to stop to catch my breath. Even though I had been working on keeping my pedaling and breathing at a steady pace, it got away from me and I had to cool off before I totally blew up. I staggered off the bike and sat on the embankment, breathing hard and dripping with sweat.

I took my mitts off for the rest of the ride up to help cool me down and that helped me a lot. PDL was concerned about me doing this climb but I assured her I would stop if I felt like it was too much for me.

We continued on and the road felt a touch easier and I was even able to click up a gear or two and my speed picked up to about 18kph. Unfortunately this easier section of road didn’t last long and I was back down the gears, plodding along at 11kph again. Riders we riding past me regularly and I felt so damn slow and crappy.

Another 15 mins and I had to stop again for a breather, only this time I didn’t slump on the ground. I sat on the bike and sipped water while slowing my heart rate down. PDL pulled the camera out but I felt too trashed to even raise a smile. Before we took off again I told Lisa to watch out for the distance to the top painted lines on the road and to go off at her own pace at the 1km mark so she could take a photo of me getting to the top.

Slowly the distance lines on the road went down- 1km, 500mts, 250mts, 100mts, etc. The view off to my left was great but all I could do was concentrate on my breathing to keep a steady pace. At once stage I rounded a corner and was hit by some of the northerly headwind. Gee great, as if the mountain wasn’t enough of a challenge!

Finally I made it past the official end timing point but there was still a corner and short rise to reach the top. As I rode towards PDL, I raised one hand in mock celebration but PDL was too slow with the camera and I was too stuffed to do it again.

I slowly rolled to a stop at the park, dismounted, found my legs were supper wobbly so petty much dropped my bike and staggered to the grass and lay down (well it was more like I fell down). As I did this spectacular dismount and lay down in the grass, all the other cyclists who were sitting around burst out laughing at me with one yelling out to me- "yeah that’s how we all do it!" I didn’t take offense to the laughing and comments as I must have looked pretty funny.

As I lay there, one guy asked "if I wanted an ambulance called", so I waved I was OK. I was too stuffed to actually speak. PDL walked over and asked if I was OK as she tried to stifle her laughter. She asked if she could take a photo of me and I just spluttered that she could do anything she wants for all I cared at that point.

Eventually I got up and sat with PDL. One cyclist said that "he was trashed the first time he did it too". I suggested he try it with a keg strapped to his back to see what it felt like for me but I‘m not sure he got the joke. PDL and I then took some photos, had a pee and made a few phone calls to work out the rest of our day. Even though I was stuffed, I was elated to have ridden all the way up. It almost seemed surreal to think I had ridden up Mt Dandenong. Woohoo!

The ride down was great for me but it scared PDL. I cruised down at around 45-50kph while some riders zipped past me and left me for dead. Wow they must be flying!

After a quick breather at the shops, PDL and I rode the rest of the way back to the car including a stretch with a tailwind down Canterbury Rd at about 40kph. You little ripper!

Back to Anaconda and after packing up, we brought some more tubes (where PDL was ogled at in her lycra by a bloke with his wife and kids!) and left to drop in and visit my mother and prepare for the afternoons ride with my sister Sara.

All in all it was great to have done the 1 in 20 and I felt a real sense of achievement to have made it up at a weight of 135kgs. Yes it hurt but I still did it all the same! My aim next time is to make the ride with only 1 break next time and then the time after that with no stops.

I know I can do it. I won't allow myself NOT to meet my goals! Its the "Vidman School of Accelerated Cycling" way! LOL

My first 1 in 20 ride - a picture tells a thousand words!