Mt Donna Buang

While riding in the Nongs I thought the one place I would not want to be is Mt Donna Buang! Dear god your even crazier than me! *applause*

Riding to Donna on Cup Day, hopefully the snow will still be their. It certianly gets cold on the way down though. Yesterday was one of the coldest rides I've done, wind, rain and hail, thankfully it didn't happen for the whole 200k.

ritcho said:

Ok, so it wasn't as fast as the times posted on cycle2max by Gpl and
JonoL recently... quite a lot slower actually. It was cold at the
bottom of the hill and got colder as I went up. Snow was piled up on
both sides of the road near the summit and some kids were playing
around on cross-country skis at the top.

Spitting chips! I ran a club ride (Donna Buang Snow Ride) up the mountain
back in August, the aim being to ride on snow pack. Usually this is achieved
in August - no sign of snow at all. Baahh!

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

On 2006-10-29, Peter Signorini (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

ritcho said:

Ok, so it wasn't as fast as the times posted on cycle2max by Gpl and
JonoL recently... quite a lot slower actually. It was cold at the
bottom of the hill and got colder as I went up. Snow was piled up on
both sides of the road near the summit and some kids were playing
around on cross-country skis at the top.

Spitting chips! I ran a club ride (Donna Buang Snow Ride) up the mountain
back in August, the aim being to ride on snow pack. Usually this is achieved
in August - no sign of snow at all. Baahh!

You did that to me lastyear too 🙂

Well, there was a tiny bit of snow on the side of the road, anyway.

--
TimC
"I'm gonna show you a hill that would choke a mule."
-- President G.W. Bush on his MTB moments before losing his
front-wheel traction and flying over his bars down a steep dropoff.

Peter Signorini said:

ritcho said:

Ok, so it wasn't as fast as the times posted on cycle2max by Gpl and
JonoL recently... quite a lot slower actually. It was cold at the
bottom of the hill and got colder as I went up. Snow was piled up on
both sides of the road near the summit and some kids were playing
around on cross-country skis at the top.

Spitting chips! I ran a club ride (Donna Buang Snow Ride) up the mountain
back in August, the aim being to ride on snow pack. Usually this is achieved
in August - no sign of snow at all. Baahh!

You need to do Hotham in November 🙂

quote='Bleve'Peter Signorini said:

ritcho said:

Ok, so it wasn't as fast as the times posted on cycle2max by Gpl and
JonoL recently... quite a lot slower actually. It was cold at the
bottom of the hill and got colder as I went up. Snow was piled up on
both sides of the road near the summit and some kids were playing
around on cross-country skis at the top.

Spitting chips! I ran a club ride (Donna Buang Snow Ride) up the mountain
back in August, the aim being to ride on snow pack. Usually this is achieved
in August - no sign of snow at all. Baahh!

You need to do Hotham in November 🙂[/QUOTE]

Even if it's like it was in February's climbing camp - I'm staying indoors. Or I might bring up my hiking boots and go for a wander.....to Zirky's and sip on lattes (do the shuttle buses operate in summer?).

Personally I have some unfinished business at Mt Donna Buang!
In my short 3 year history of riding, I've been up Donna about 5 or 6 times
and have never had the pleasure of getting to the top on a clear day. Maybe
that mountain doesn't like me! On one particulay occasion in December, left
home at about 7 AM (Knox Area) on a warm morning (19 degrees). Approaching
Warby, top of mountain covered by cloud and thankful I had my shower jacket!
Soon after Cement Creek, cloud increasing, rain starting and temperture
decreasing! About 2K from the top, hairs on my arms turning white and
notably colder. Get to the top felt like in the middle of a blizzard. On the
way down was my worst descent on a bike! Wet roads, debris, wind and
freezing conditions ( we were told later it was below 1 at the top) causing
loss of feeling in legs and hands. Get to bottom to thaw out and after a
welcomed coffee, started our trek home only to require sunscreen!
Oh, Melb had a temp of 28 degrees that day but not Donna.
Riding out to Donna and back with a few mates Cup Day because I really do
love that Mountain but would rather not see any snow! It owes me a nice view
at the top for once ( they tell me it's nice ) and I need the training
before Hotham in 3 weeks.

"ritcho" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ok, so it wasn't as fast as the times posted on cycle2max by Gpl and
JonoL recently... quite a lot slower actually. It was cold at the
bottom of the hill and got colder as I went up. Snow was piled up on
both sides of the road near the summit and some kids were playing
around on cross-country skis at the top.

It's probably the coldest ride I've done, and definately my longest
climb. 72min isn't going to have any A graders worrying about me
competing for the KoM, but anyone that has seen me would probably
figure out I'm not built for climbing...

Froze on the way down, thawed out in the car (cunningly placed near the
base of the hill - cheat!) and warmed up with my thermos of hot coffee.
Mmmm, coffee.

Ritch

--
ritcho

jazmo said:

Bleve said:

You need to do Hotham in November 🙂

Even if it's like it was in February's climbing camp - I'm staying
indoors. Or I might bring up my hiking boots and go for a wander.....to
Zirky's and sip on lattes (do the shuttle buses operate in summer?).

That was just a bit of rain, did you see our first one? :

http://www.aboc.com.au/images/galleries/20041113_climbing_camp/

JoeD said:

On one particulay occasion in December, left
home at about 7 AM (Knox Area) on a warm morning (19 degrees).

That's a good effort. I've done the ride from Lilydale and think that that undulating ride up to and back from Warby is just as difficult as Mt Donna Buang itself (not to mention dangerous).

I must agree, Warby Hwy can be dicey at times. From my place I'll ride to
Donna, over Mt Dandy via 1:20 (Mountain Hwy) down the wall to Monbulk then
Macclesfield Rd direction to Yellingbo ending up on the Warby Hwy at Woori
Yallock. From there, if the traffic seems heavy, just before Yarra Junction
I sometimes ride via Corduroy, Settlememt, Railway, Station Rd which takes
you to Wesburn. This enables me to miss a fair chunk of the Hwy. Mind you
returning home, the climb at the end up the wall to Olinda seems a little
harder than normal. I call this route my Mini Alpine.

"jazmo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

JoeD said:

On one particulay occasion in December, left
home at about 7 AM (Knox Area) on a warm morning (19 degrees).

That's a good effort. I've done the ride from Lilydale and think that
that undulating ride up to and back from Warby is just as difficult as
Mt Donna Buang itself (not to mention dangerous).

--
jazmo

jazmo said:

JoeD said:

On one particulay occasion in December, left
home at about 7 AM (Knox Area) on a warm morning (19 degrees).

That's a good effort. I've done the ride from Lilydale and think that
that undulating ride up to and back from Warby is just as difficult as
Mt Donna Buang itself (not to mention dangerous).

But there's a chance to break a 90km/h speed limit!

And, if you blow, you can always crawl home along the rail trail 🙂
It's quite ridable on a roady.