In April 1997 I attempted a 1000-Km ride as part of the ride "Way Out West 1200", run by Malcolm Rogers. This ride did not go well, we had a huge number of problems in the first 100 Kms and ended up hours behind schedule. When the support car finally came back to look for us at 2 am, it was freezing cold, it was 40 Kms to the hotel and sleep, and there was no way I wasn’t getting into that car.
One of the problems for me with this ride was that I was the only rider doing 1000. Riders doing 1200 have different checkpoint close times to riders doing 1000. A few kilometers prior to giving up there was a town where I could have slept for the night and probably should have. However the 1200-Km riders could not stop, as they would miss the control close time, so I rode on with them.
This left me still wanting to do a 1000 in order to finish the Randonneur 5000 award, so I decided to run a ride specifically for people wanting to do 1000, and so the Dubbo 1000 was born.
After I gave up on the 1997 ride I helped Dad do the support for the sole rider who managed to complete the 1200. Part of the route was through Dubbo and I thought the roads in this area were well suited to Audax riding. So I decided to center the course on Dubbo and have three loops out of there. I spent a lot of time plotting out possible courses and then in November went to the area and drove all the courses I had considered using. From this I decided on the course that I used.
I decided to have a number of non-control checkpoints like in Paris-Brest-Paris and some secret controls so that I could use the standard Australian Audax card that has only ten slots for controls. This worked out very well although if I had had more riders could have been difficult for the support staff.
Be very careful when designing your maps and prepare them well in advance. I ended up with one extra non-control checkpoint than I had expected because of a typo, namely the first stop at the town of Molong. This made some controls too close which made it difficult for support.
Having decided on the course and date I also had to train. Initially I couldn’t decide if I really wanted to do the ride or just run it but in the end I decided to do it. In 1997 I had been quite happy with my training for the event and decided to do more or less the same, just adding a bit more climbing this time. I decided to center my training on three Audax events and a week of touring. The rest of the time I would do standard rides as fillers between these main events.
My training schedule lasted 10 weeks and I rode 2311 Kms and did 31,000 meters of climbing. I feel the climbing was an important part of the training.
|
Week |
Number of Rides |
Distance covered |
|
1 |
3 |
171 |
|
2 |
2 |
265 |
|
3 |
3 |
192 |
|
4 |
2 |
236 |
|
5 |
2 |
145 |
|
6 |
1 |
397 |
|
7 |
2 |
139 |
|
8 & 9 (Touring) |
8 |
587 |
|
10 |
1 |
179 |
I set the alarm for 3:30 am and somehow I managed to get up and had a tin of rice cream and a bowl of cereal for breakfast. While eating I distributed the cards to the riders that arrived late last night and then quickly checked that all was all right with the bike. Then out to the cabin park entry and… they’d all gone! I looked at my watch 4:02 am, well I ask you! They’d only just taken off so I quickly joined them and gave a few last minute instructions before settling into the ride. The course to the first checkpoint was very scenic, with quite a bit of climbing. The moon was very bright and I could just make out the speed on my speedometer, 25kph, pretty good. Someone got a puncture, we all stopped and then someone suggested we ride on ahead slowly, so we did, at least to the top of the next hill. That was the last we saw of the riders that stopped for the next 8 hours. The rest of us were riding more or less as a group with people moving past and dropping back. I wanted to go to the toilet so I speed up for a while then stopped. Eventually the group caught up to me. It was much like this all the way to the first control at Yeoval.
I had a very quick control here, sculled a Gatorade, took off the night gear, and set off. Matthew Rawnsley caught up with me and after a short chat went on ahead. Lindsay Green and Peter Brown also caught up and we kept passing each other all the way to next control. The route was much the same as the previous section but not as hilly. Another lightning stop at Molong and then through a quite hilly section to Manildra. A side wind started up as we turned east and it got rather overcast, but not cooler. The road was a little busier but not too bad but as we turned on to the main highway south to Cudal we turned straight into the headwind. At Cudal it was time for a drink and a quick stop, then straight into the wind all the way to Eugowra. The road there was actually pretty good, a couple of large hills followed by smaller rolling hills and then a flat run into the town itself. Relief!
Finally time for a decent stop. Dad had cooked some spaghetti and pesto and there was Gatorade and Powerbars. After about 20 minutes, a comparatively long stop, I set out again. The wind was with me now and what a blast it was. I powered back to Cudal where I stopped briefly for a coke. I discovered that Peter Moore, one of the 1000km riders, and all but one of the 400km riders had given up. The heat and head wind had been too much, unfortunately we couldn’t carry them back so they would have to ride back giving them a total of over 300km’s, still a good effort. From Cudal I rode on to the next control which was at Manildra. This time there was pancakes with jam and of course another Gatorade. After another relatively long stop I set out for Molong, this time the hills seemed bigger than before, the final hill into Molong seemed enormous.
Molong wasn’t a control on the way back so I just kept on riding, it was starting to get late and I wanted to get as far as I could before it got dark. I pushed quite hard through the next section, it was mildly hilly but I kept watching the sun sinking in the west and remained very focused. I ended up making it as far as Cumnock while it was still light, shortly after here it got dark and I needed to put my lights on. This was a particularly awful section of road. The road was a very light grey colour and the surrounding dirt was a light red, in the dark the two merged together seamlessly and it was extremely difficult to make out the edges. Also the road had very few poles along it, no fences and the trees were some distance away from the road. I tried to stay in the middle of the road so as not to drift of it but still found myself doing that on some of the corners. Eventually the moon came out and suddenly I could see again. It was a huge full moon that bathed the landscape in a silver sheen, this made it much easier to navigate. Once the moon came up the ride seemed to whiz by and suddenly I reached Yeoval.
It was getting late and cold so I was pleased to reach a control. I can’t really remember what goodies support had here (spaghetti or baked beans spring to mind) but I’m sure it was good. Peter Moore had managed to get a lift with Dad so he was there, Mathew Rawnsley had already left, and everyone else was an hour or more behind. I didn’t want to stop for too long, as it would just drag the night out so I tried to eat and drink quickly, and no way was I getting into one of those nice warm cars for a minute or two. I set of for Dubbo and the end, fortunately it was a pretty warm night, the hidden blessing of such a hot day, and the riding was pretty pleasant. After an incredibly short time I saw the first glow of the lights of Dubbo in the distance. Excellent!
I rode on feeling good, knowing I’d soon be in. After what seemed an interminable time all I could still see was the glow of the lights. I stopped for a toilet stop and took the cycle computer off so that I could look at it in a light. Oh no, what a mistake, still 35km’s to go. At least. Feeling a bit depressed I rode on, I should have known better, never look at the computer at night, I know that. After a time I finally saw the actual lights of Dubbo, what a relief. Dad drove by, he slowed down said a few words and then drove on to Dubbo. I sped up a bit knowing this time I was close.
A truck came up behind me, the first vehicle other than dad in an hour or more, I quickly turned the computer over to the distance and took a peak as the truck went by. Oh no, still 15km’s to go! This was really depressing, I know better than to do that, but I so wanted to get in. I kept trying to motivate myself and stay focused on the final section, after all, a mere 15kms is nothing, or so it should be. I pushed on and eventually got back to the cabin park. Ahhhh, what a relief, finish time was 11:45pm. Mathew was an hour in front of me and the other riders came in, in dribs and drabs, over the next three hours.
Distance | 395 Km |
Time | 19 hours 45 minutes |
Average | 22.5 Kph |
Out of bed for the toilet at 5am, then I just lay there until 5:30 when the alarm went off. I had a quick breakfast, checked out the bike and then left with Mathew Rawnsley at 6am. I was actually feeling quite good, not too stiff, and I warmed up very quickly on the way out of town.
This next section turned out to be quite difficult. The route itself was not that difficult it was just that there was an endless row of small hills, 75kms of them. You would ride up a little hill, reach the top and then half a kilometer ahead you could see another little hill. Very depressing. Most of the morning turned into a depressing blur of going up hills and down hills. My front right fork has a large splotch of rust on it that I have been meaning to get fixed for ages and ages and ages. As I was crawling up yet another one of these hills I started day dreaming about how nice it would be if that spot of rust would turn into a crack and snap just as I get near the top. Thankfully this didn't happen but this was certainly a depressing section.
Fortunately it eventually came to an end and I reached the town of Mendooran. I had a quick snack here, not that hungry, just forced some down and set off. Maria turned up while I was at the control which spurred me to get a move on:) Mathew had been and gone, half an hour before I arrived. This next section, to Binnaway was much better. We went onto a much more interesting road, this one had bends in the road. Did I fail to mention that, the previous one appeared to be dead straight most of the time, yuck. Not long after the start of this leg there was a short section of road that was unsealed. At the time, and only for me, this was a great change of pace. It was really fun couple of kilometers compared to what we had been doing earlier. This opinion, however, was not shared by any one else on the ride. Feeling better for the change of scenery I made good time to Binnaway where dad was waiting. Lindsay's wife Connie was also there, she had decided to join dad doing support which was good, it is much more fun doing support when you have company.
After a quick feed of spaghetti with pesto sauce I was on my from Binnaway to Coonabarabran. Unfortunately I don't recall this section at all. It was fairly long and flat, a few hills near Coonabarabran is all I can recall, especially the one going into the town itself. My main memories from this stretch are that it was hot and that it was a long way down into the town. Fortunately dad had set up the control at a picnic area on the outskirts of the town so we did not have to go all the way into the town. Of course we all did in anyway, searching for Coke and the like. Mathew was already here and had been for a while. He was suffering a lot from saddle sores and was in need of a rest. It was also very hot and so after an extended stay the two of us set off.
This time we were to head back to the first control, Mendooran, but by a different route to the previous section. I rode with Mathew for a while before he dropped me on the hills just after we turned off the Oxley highway. I was riding fairly strongly at this point and was looking forward to an early arrival at Mendooran. If you have read my PBP account you will recall that I used to worry if my time was getting to be too long. Well I still do that and in this section my time was looking really good. Alas, just out of Mendooran I got a puncture. Bugger! That is just so annoying. Anyway I fixed the patch but I was bummed out and ended up taking my time. I had really been hoping on getting to town before it got dark. Unfortunately I didn't make it. But you know, I still made good time. Just no pleasing some.
So after yet another meal, pancakes?, it was back on the bike for the final leg back to Dubbo. Mathew was at the control again, so we set of together again. I was glad to have someone to ride with because I had been a bit worried about the section ahead. However I needn't have worried. I quite like riding at night, as you can't see the terrain ahead, so you don't worry about it. The night turned out to be glorious. It was almost a full moon out and it bathed the landscape in a lovely silver colour. Very pretty, one of those moments you wish you could photograph. I rode with Mathew for quite a while but after a while those little hills started to wear me out again. Mathew drew ahead and ended up beating me in by 20 minutes or so. Funny thing about the lovely moon, it turned out to be a bit of a nuisance after a while. Because of the direction we were riding the moon was off to the side behind us. So it looked like head lights of a truck in the distance. Every time I looked back I kept having to check to work out whether it was really a truck or just the moon. Sigh, as I said, no pleasing some.
Distance | 312 Km |
Time | 17 hours 20 minutes |
Average | 21.9 Kph |
Out of bed at 5:10 am, for the toilet again. This time a bit stiffer, had a more leisurely breakfast, depart at 6:05am. That puncture I had the previous afternoon. I had a slow leak, I'd had to pump it up once last night but that was all. Of course it was flat again. Richard fixed it for me. Ah, I love having a support team!
Anyway after breakfast I set of Mathew again and a few minutes later Maria caught up with us. I was really quite stiff this morning and it took several kilometers to warm up this time. Fortunately on this route out of town it was a fair way to the first hill and by the time we reached it I was feeling pretty good. The road out of Dubbo turned out to be something of a disaster. I had checked this route out before hand, but by car. The route had looked really good when I surveyed it, freshly sealed roads with not too much traffic, albeit most of the traffic was trucks. Unfortunately there was one aspect of it that I had not noticed. The new road seal was not really a new seal. What the local council had done was to cover the road in a new layer of tar, but they had not smoothed out the shoulder of the road. Consequently all of the potholes that were there before they sealed the road, they were still there. This made for incredibly uncomfortable riding, and it went on until just after Dunedoo, over 110kms. Mathew was less than happy about this section of the ride. Can't say I blame him.
The only solution for the road condition was to ride in the main lane of traffic. Fortunately this was not a major issue as it was early Monday morning and so there was not a huge amount of traffic out on the roads. This section of road turned out to be one of those legs were you are either passing someone or being passed by someone. Considering there were only four of us that was quite a feat, but we were all cycling to a different rhythm so it happened a number of times. When I finally got to Dunedoo it was a great relief to be off that road, or so I thought.
I can't recall what we had to eat here, but I do recall that during the survey of the route that there was a good bakery with nice Devonshire Teas, so I think I would be safe in guessing that is what I had. After the stop I set off, on that awful seal, but fortunately it finished after not too long. The day was hot and dry again so I tried to remain focused on getting to the next control, Gulgong. Consequently I can't recall a single thing from this leg, just hot and dry.
Gulgong was of course on the top of a hill, funny how towns do that isn't it? Anyway after riding up there I had to hunt a little for the support car which, considering the town size, indicates how tired I was becoming. Then after a quick stop, more Gatorade I was off. This section of the road was nowhere near as rough and bumpy but lo and behold, my only other mechanical problem. The bracket that holds my tail light on broke, too much road vibration I suppose. I used some insulation tape to hold it on to the bike and continued on. I still had a back up flashing LED so I could continue without it if need be. Certainly nothing to worry about in the middle of nowhere. Just before the Mudgee there were some road works which required a minor detour before we got to the rest area. Mathew was already here, of course.
As you can see I am feeling a tad tired here, as is Mathew. While I was here Richard, our expert super-duper mechanic took the bracket from his bike that he uses to hold his light on with and put it on my bike. So I was set for the evening! I had to really fight to get my self going here, but I knew that every second here was a second before I would finished the ride, and so a second longer before I could go to bed. Consequently I dragged my self onto the bike and set off. Mathew was feeling really tired at this point and stayed a little longer at the control.
There was actually 130 odd kilometers still to go and no towns along the way. This was by design since nothing would be open anyway so I had organised a control at a locality called Goolma, basically a road intersection. As I was leaving, thinking about the ride ahead, I realized I was in the lead. Wow! This isn't a race, but it really did give me some motivation to get going, stay focused. Mathew, who had been dropping me every other day was no behind me! Wow! So between this and the thought of finishing I became very focused. I made very good time to Goolma, there was only one major hill along the way, actually a real grind when you have 900kms in your legs. But just like in PBP, you switch down to the granny gear and just roll your way up the hill. I stopped briefly to enjoy the view. Alright, no I didn't, I needed a nature stop.
When I got to Goolma I got another surprise. When I left Mudgee dad had asked me what I wanted cooked up at the next control. After almost three days of endless eating I wasn't actually hungry at all, I was just forcing it down because the one time I didn't eat on PBP I got quite hungry. So when I left I said surprise me. So they did. They got fresh bread rolls, two roast chickens and some roast potatoes. (As it turned out this was all of the chicken and all of the potatoes that the store had.) This is not normally what I would eat on an Audax ride, but after three days of pancakes, pasta, burgers, coke and Gatorade, this was a real nice change. I ate my fill and was just about to leave when Mathew came in. He was really suffering from his saddle sores, I commiserated for a few minutes but then felt the need to press on.
Again I was in the lead, but Mathew was really close so I new there was no chance of staying out in front of him. However, the next section had this complicated turn about 30kms further along, and I really wanted to get there before it got dark. So I pressed on and again made excellent time. Being so close to home was really helping to keep me focused, also the road we were on was very nice. The scenery probably wasn't that much but it was a nice rolling road and not a car went by in the entire 40km section. I got to that intersection well before dark. This caused me to speed up even more, it was getting close to sunset and I was now close to the next turn, only 7 kms, so it became something of a challenge to reach it in time. I didn't really make it, the sun was down, but I didn't need lights, so I chalk that up as a victory.
I was now back on that awful section of highway that we had done this morning, and it was now dark. I turned on both my rear lights and my front dynamo light. I set off again, wondering what had happened to Mathew, I really had expected him to catch me. I new I was starting to get tired and there was still 40kms to go, not to mention quite a few hills. So I tried to relax and take it easy for the remainder of the ride. Because of the awful road conditions I was moving over onto the road proper. After a few kilometers I gave up trying to ride near the shoulder and started riding down the middle of the road. As it turned out this worked quite well. I had an excellent view in front and behind, I just needed to watch out for trucks on the road behind. That bloody moon was there again so I kept having to check to see if it really was the moon or actually a truck. This might have been good in the end because I never became complacent about whether there were any trucks there or not.
This last section ended up being extremely enjoyable. Initially I was having a problem with the head lights of oncoming trucks. I guess that they would see my weak little light up ahead and think it was a motor bike a long way off. So they wouldn't dip their head lights until the last moment, by which time I was blinded. After a couple of trucks I tried putting my hand over the light and covering and uncovering it a few times as the truck was approaching, like a signal, and then putting my hand out in front to cover my eyes from the trucks lights. Well this worked amazingly well. After one or two more trucks they all dipped their lights before they got to me, and trucks coming up from behind would swing all the way across to the other side of the road before passing. This was a huge improvement and also put me in a very positive frame of mind. The final few kilometers did not seem long at all. And then, suddenly I was in Dubbo, through Dubbo, and into the finish. Yahoo!
Mathew and Lindsay powered in behind me about five minutes later and Maria only another quarter of an hour later. All in, all safe. A good ride.
Distance | 303 Km |
Time | 16 hours 31 minutes |
Average | 21.6 Kph |
The support crew was made up of Hans Andre (Dad) and Connie Green in one car and Richard McCarthy and Sharon Ferguson in the second car. They made an exceptional effort and undoubtedly had less sleep than the riders. This was the first supported ride that I had tried to organize and things went very smoothly considering, I think I can say that all the riders were very happy with the level of support received. (Especially that slow leak on the second morning, thanks Richard.)
So what was supplied? I bought quite a few groceries before the event and some things were popular and some are sitting in my cupboard. The things that went down well,
Some of the things that didn’t go well were,
2 support cars were only just enough! A morning crew and evening crew would probably be a good idea.
One of the things I was wondering after this was would the other riders have been willing to pay more, say $100, with all their drinks and food supplied, such as those above?
There are a few things that I’d change if I were to run this ride again. The final day was just too rough and the road turned out to be too busy. I don’t know if I’d worry about the moon being out either. It was quite nice the first night but on the other nights it was annoying as there was a white line to follow and it made it harder to tell if there were trucks coming.
One idea that I had toyed with but not done was to run the ride as a 500-300-200 and start it at 10pm on the Friday night. I'll probably survey the riders before making such a change.