getting up the mountain

asterope said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.
im not one to be phased by hills, i regularly ride all over this lovely
hilly town we call brisbane and the new roadie makes it alot easier for
me. i thought this would be a good sunday challenge for me and some
procrastination to get away from the textbooks.

so i had a good breakfast, a nice cup of tea, psyched myself up and
told myself to relax and go easy and just spin on granny mode all the
way up it i had to and off i went...

i didnt even get half way up the mountain... no amount of granny mode
or standing up for short bursts was going to get me up there... my
sunday challenge just walked all over me. so i sprinted home and washed
my bike feeling defeated.

i know HEAPS of you have climbed mt cootha or similar or bigger
mountains... how did you do it? is there a trick to tackling these big
steep monsters or is it just something im going to have to slowly inch
my way to the top of?

im going to see if i can get further up next weekend, any tips for
helping me do so are muchly appreciated!

Try again next weekend, and the next, and the next. The more you do,
you will get stronger, fitter and lighter.

I rode up Mt Cootha on a visit when I was 15 and made it to the top
using a 40x18 low gear, but that was when I was young and skinny. 6
months ago now that I'm 20 years older and <cough>less skinny</cough> I
tried to climb up the Coalfields Road out to Collie with a 39x21 and
only made it about a 1/3 of the way up. I did some more hill riding and
tried a couple more times before I made it all the way.

This 'country' life is not helping the physique...

Keep trying.

--
BrettS

BrettS said:

asterope said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.
im not one to be phased by hills, i regularly ride all over this lovely
hilly town we call brisbane and the new roadie makes it alot easier for
me. i thought this would be a good sunday challenge for me and some
procrastination to get away from the textbooks.

so i had a good breakfast, a nice cup of tea, psyched myself up and
told myself to relax and go easy and just spin on granny mode all the
way up it i had to and off i went...

i didnt even get half way up the mountain... no amount of granny mode
or standing up for short bursts was going to get me up there... my
sunday challenge just walked all over me. so i sprinted home and washed
my bike feeling defeated.

i know HEAPS of you have climbed mt cootha or similar or bigger
mountains... how did you do it? is there a trick to tackling these big
steep monsters or is it just something im going to have to slowly inch
my way to the top of?

im going to see if i can get further up next weekend, any tips for
helping me do so are muchly appreciated!

Try again next weekend, and the next, and the next. The more you do,
you will get stronger, fitter and lighter.

I rode up Mt Cootha on a visit when I was 15 and made it to the top
using a 40x18 low gear, but that was when I was young and skinny. 6
months ago now that I'm 20 years older and <cough>less skinny</cough> I
tried to climb up the Coalfields Road out to Collie with a 39x21 and
only made it about a 1/3 of the way up. I did some more hill riding and
tried a couple more times before I made it all the way.

This 'country' life is not helping the physique...

Keep trying.

--
BrettS

I once did a tour from Sydney to Brisbane and took the scenic route up
Mt Tamborine. I had sleeeping bag and tent and stuff loaded on the bike.
Cars and trucks kept stopping and asking if I wanted a lift, which I
politely declined. The road down was nice, stopped off to check out the
"Thunder Eggs".

Brett as you probably know now the hardest part of the Coalfields hill
is the beginning, especially near the cutaway bit. The scariest thing is
the traffic, there really needs to be wider shoulders on that part of
the highway, ditto for Raymond Road which is long overdue for widening.

Friday

asterope said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount cootha.

[snip]

im going to see if i can get further up next weekend, any tips for helping me do so are muchly appreciated!

Mt Cootha is steep - it has reasonably long sections around 10% grade (iirc). If you have the right gearing and a lot of patience, you'll get there.

R

Quoted message said:

asterope said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.

[snip]

Well done asterope on getting so motivated!!!

All I can say is - it gets easier...!! 12 months ago, it took me 14min
to make it up Mt Gravatt, and I was totally b#ggered by the time I
reached the top.

Nowadays, I'm doing 3 x repeats at between 8 - 9min each.... Still some
ways to go, but a vast improvement. Sure, there have been some
technique improvements (big nod to Tam for that!!), but just getting
out there and doing it is a pretty big part as well!!

Keep it up - you'll get there!!

Cheers,
Abby

asterope said:

i know HEAPS of you have climbed mt cootha or similar or bigger
mountains... how did you do it? is there a trick to tackling these big
steep monsters or is it just something im going to have to slowly inch
my way to the top of?

Good effort asterope. When I first moved to Brissie and was training
with a group, we did repeats on the back side of Cootha (north side -
check www.bikely.com for a route I've marked up). We rode up for five
minutes, then down and along the flat road for a bit (turned near the
toilets), then back up again. Seated. Do three of these and do them
once a week for a few weeks, then perhaps try five. Before long, you
will be strong enough to storm the summit.

Donga

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

Quoted message said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.
im not one to be phased by hills, i regularly ride all over this lovely
hilly town we call brisbane and the new roadie makes it alot easier for
me. i thought this would be a good sunday challenge for me and some
procrastination to get away from the textbooks.

so i had a good breakfast, a nice cup of tea, psyched myself up and
told myself to relax and go easy and just spin on granny mode all the
way up it i had to and off i went...

i didnt even get half way up the mountain... no amount of granny mode
or standing up for short bursts was going to get me up there... my
sunday challenge just walked all over me. so i sprinted home and washed
my bike feeling defeated.

i know HEAPS of you have climbed mt cootha or similar or bigger
mountains... how did you do it? is there a trick to tackling these big
steep monsters or is it just something im going to have to slowly inch
my way to the top of?

im going to see if i can get further up next weekend, any tips for
helping me do so are muchly appreciated!

Questions about Mt Cootha seems to come up pretty regularly on a.b! Do a
google groups search if you are keen.

Good on you for having a go. Like abby says you just gotta keep doing it. I
can normally get up there reasonably quickly in under 9 minutes, but if I've
had time off the bike, I'm struggling to make it! You've just gotta do some
climbing regularly. Have you tried Mt Mee? It's still quite a challenge, but
nowhere near as steep, but a lot longer and beautiful scenery.

Adam

Friday said:

BrettS said:

asterope said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.
im not one to be phased by hills, i regularly ride all over this lovely
hilly town we call brisbane and the new roadie makes it alot easier for
me. i thought this would be a good sunday challenge for me and some
procrastination to get away from the textbooks.

so i had a good breakfast, a nice cup of tea, psyched myself up and
told myself to relax and go easy and just spin on granny mode all the
way up it i had to and off i went...

i didnt even get half way up the mountain... no amount of granny mode
or standing up for short bursts was going to get me up there... my
sunday challenge just walked all over me. so i sprinted home and washed
my bike feeling defeated.

i know HEAPS of you have climbed mt cootha or similar or bigger
mountains... how did you do it? is there a trick to tackling these big
steep monsters or is it just something im going to have to slowly inch
my way to the top of?

im going to see if i can get further up next weekend, any tips for
helping me do so are muchly appreciated!

Try again next weekend, and the next, and the next. The more you do,
you will get stronger, fitter and lighter.

I rode up Mt Cootha on a visit when I was 15 and made it to the top
using a 40x18 low gear, but that was when I was young and skinny. 6
months ago now that I'm 20 years older and <cough>less skinny</cough>
I tried to climb up the Coalfields Road out to Collie with a 39x21 and
only made it about a 1/3 of the way up. I did some more hill riding
and tried a couple more times before I made it all the way.

This 'country' life is not helping the physique...

Keep trying.

--
BrettS

I once did a tour from Sydney to Brisbane and took the scenic route up
Mt Tamborine. I had sleeeping bag and tent and stuff loaded on the bike.
Cars and trucks kept stopping and asking if I wanted a lift, which I
politely declined. The road down was nice, stopped off to check out the
"Thunder Eggs".

Brett as you probably know now the hardest part of the Coalfields hill
is the beginning, especially near the cutaway bit. The scariest thing is
the traffic, there really needs to be wider shoulders on that part of
the highway, ditto for Raymond Road which is long overdue for widening.

Friday

That was exactly where I stopped the first couple of times. I was out
of puff, plus I took so long getting that far that I had to turn around
to get home in time to pick the kids up from school. The last time I
made it to the 'top' just past where the overtaking lane ends. When I
get a better window of opportunity I want to get to Collie and back.

--
BrettS

Absent Husband said:

Quoted message said:

asterope said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.

[snip]

Well done asterope on getting so motivated!!!

All I can say is - it gets easier...!! 12 months ago, it took me 14min
to make it up Mt Gravatt, and I was totally b#ggered by the time I
reached the top.

Nowadays, I'm doing 3 x repeats at between 8 - 9min each.... Still some
ways to go, but a vast improvement. Sure, there have been some
technique improvements (big nod to Tam for that!!), but just getting
out there and doing it is a pretty big part as well!!

Keep it up - you'll get there!!

*gasp*

You've been sekrit training!!!!

Tam

adam85 said:

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

Quoted message said:

morning all 🙂

this morning i decided, what the hell, im going to ride up mount
cootha.
im not one to be phased by hills, i regularly ride all over this lovely
hilly town we call brisbane and the new roadie makes it alot easier for
me. i thought this would be a good sunday challenge for me and some
procrastination to get away from the textbooks.

so i had a good breakfast, a nice cup of tea, psyched myself up and
told myself to relax and go easy and just spin on granny mode all the
way up it i had to and off i went...

i didnt even get half way up the mountain... no amount of granny mode
or standing up for short bursts was going to get me up there... my
sunday challenge just walked all over me. so i sprinted home and washed
my bike feeling defeated.

i know HEAPS of you have climbed mt cootha or similar or bigger
mountains... how did you do it? is there a trick to tackling these big
steep monsters or is it just something im going to have to slowly inch
my way to the top of?

im going to see if i can get further up next weekend, any tips for
helping me do so are muchly appreciated!

Questions about Mt Cootha seems to come up pretty regularly on a.b! Do a
google groups search if you are keen.

Good on you for having a go. Like abby says you just gotta keep doing it. I
can normally get up there reasonably quickly in under 9 minutes, but if I've
had time off the bike, I'm struggling to make it! You've just gotta do some
climbing regularly. Have you tried Mt Mee? It's still quite a challenge, but
nowhere near as steep, but a lot longer and beautiful scenery.

Adam

In the bike rogaine yesterday, out Samford way, we found a hill that's
20%, total climb was about 150m vertical, so about 750m at 20%, lovely.
Even in my bailout gear, I didn't get very far!

Tam

Tamyka Bell said:

In the bike rogaine yesterday, out Samford way, we found a hill that's
20%, total climb was about 150m vertical, so about 750m at 20%, lovely.
Even in my bailout gear, I didn't get very far!

Years ago on a tour up to Qld I was very impressed by the climb on the
Running Ck Rd south of Rathdowney, heading south up to the border. About 1
km and it climbs about 150m. That was one hell of a slog with four panniers
and 20-25kg of camping gear - standing up in the 26-30 bottom granny gear
:-{

--
Cheers
Peter

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

Tamyka Bell said:

In the bike rogaine yesterday, out Samford way, we found a hill that's
20%, total climb was about 150m vertical, so about 750m at 20%, lovely.
Even in my bailout gear, I didn't get very far!

Tam

Not Mt Oreilly rd by any chance ?
bikely.comBrisbane Mt Oreilly RdOpen ↗

Adam

adam85 said:

Tamyka Bell said:

In the bike rogaine yesterday, out Samford way, we found a hill that's
20%, total climb was about 150m vertical, so about 750m at 20%,
lovely.
Even in my bailout gear, I didn't get very far!

Tam

Not Mt Oreilly rd by any chance ?
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Brisbane-Mt-Oreilly-Rd

Adam

Er, I can't look at that link from here, no www. However it was only a
few km north where Richards Rd, meets Mt Glorious Samford Rd or whatever
it is, near the Samford Rd intersection with the newer shops. The
turnoff was from a street that had a bit park on it and then we went
down a big hill before turning to commence our climb. Oh, and Lot 1 at
the top, was called Madison.

Tam

adam85 said:

I can normally get up there reasonably quickly in under 9 minutes,

Errrmm, Adam, that's not "reasonably quickly". I get rather chuffed
with the low teens.

donga

On 2006-08-07, Peter Signorini (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Tamyka Bell said:

In the bike rogaine yesterday, out Samford way, we found a hill that's
20%, total climb was about 150m vertical, so about 750m at 20%, lovely.
Even in my bailout gear, I didn't get very far!

Years ago on a tour up to Qld I was very impressed by the climb on the
Running Ck Rd south of Rathdowney, heading south up to the border. About 1
km and it climbs about 150m. That was one hell of a slog with four panniers
and 20-25kg of camping gear - standing up in the 26-30 bottom granny gear
:-{

How much do you reckon Breakneck Rd in Christmas Hills[1], was?
"caution, emergency vehicle use only!"

I do recall a couple of riders with grannies managed to get part way
up. Don't know whether they got the full way.

[1] MBTC ride a 15 or so months ago, stopping overnight at a member's
place near Lilydale perhaps? Memory fade.

--
TimC
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the software. --TimC

Donga said:

adam85 said:

I can normally get up there reasonably quickly in under 9 minutes,

Errrmm, Adam, that's not "reasonably quickly". I get rather chuffed
with the low teens.

donga

How is the gradient percentage of a hill worked out?

TimC said:

How much do you reckon Breakneck Rd in Christmas Hills[1], was?
"caution, emergency vehicle use only!"

I do recall a couple of riders with grannies managed to get part way
up. Don't know whether they got the full way.

[1] MBTC ride a 15 or so months ago, stopping overnight at a member's
place near Lilydale perhaps? Memory fade.

Ayayiii!! You rode up the Breakneck[1] !! I have long looked at that as a
possible extreme MTB descent, but never found a suitable occasion to do it.
The '4WD, Emergency vehicle use only' in the Melways is a bit off-putting. I
do recall mention being made of that ride, back when I was recovering from
my MTB fall. I think it was run by Gerry and Robin, overnight at their place
out of Lilydale.

[1] Where 'to ride' may include a pedestrian definition.

--
Cheers
Peter

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

TimC said:

How much do you reckon Breakneck Rd in Christmas Hills[1], was?

Just checked in my copy of ESMAP, which has topographic details. It is 500m
at its steepest section and climbs 100m, so 1 in 5, or 20%. Bloody steep!!
But there's probably an even steeper section of 20 or 50 metres in that as
well. You did *very well* to even walk up it!

--
Cheers
Peter

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

On 2006-08-07, Peter Signorini (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

TimC said:

How much do you reckon Breakneck Rd in Christmas Hills[1], was?
"caution, emergency vehicle use only!"

I do recall a couple of riders with grannies managed to get part way
up. Don't know whether they got the full way.

[1] MBTC ride a 15 or so months ago, stopping overnight at a member's
place near Lilydale perhaps? Memory fade.

Ayayiii!! You rode up the Breakneck[1] !!

Didn't ride -- very much walked. Very slowly.

Quoted message said:

I have long looked at that as a
possible extreme MTB descent, but never found a suitable occasion to do it.
The '4WD, Emergency vehicle use only' in the Melways is a bit off-putting.

There's about 4 ~60cm high posts horizontal across the bottom, so
you've got to lift your fully laden touring bike over the top of them
before proceeding.

I was slipping quite a bit -- a few steps up, then the slightly
unbalanced bike would slip over, and we'd go back down a step or two.

One of the guys went to the top, then came back down and helped push
up someone else's bike.

Quoted message said:

I do recall mention being made of that ride, back when I was
recovering from my MTB fall. I think it was run by Gerry and Robin,
overnight at their place out of Lilydale.

That was the one. Photos from dscf0593 onwards, here:
http://rather.puzzling.org/~tconnors/photos/rides/2005-01/Belgrave_to_Hurstbridge/imagelist.html

This shows the slope well:
http://rather.puzzling.org/~tconnors/photos/rides/2005-01/Belgrave_to_Hurstbridge/dscf0597_Med.jpg.8.html
As does this:
http://rather.puzzling.org/~tconnors/photos/rides/2005-01/Belgrave_to_Hurstbridge/dscf0599_Med.jpg.10.html
Oh hell, this too:
http://rather.puzzling.org/~tconnors/photos/rides/2005-01/Belgrave_to_Hurstbridge/dscf0602_Med.jpg.13.html

And also this was as fun as it looked:
http://rather.puzzling.org/~tconnors/photos/rides/2005-01/Belgrave_to_Hurstbridge/dscf0591_Med.jpg.3.html

0-60km/h in 6 seconds. But the transition from tarmac to gravel
involved about a 4cm drop, and a lot of fishtailing at 50km/h after
rapid application of brakes soon before said transition.

Quoted message said:

[1] Where 'to ride' may include a pedestrian definition.

Ah yes, yes indeedy.

--
TimC
This is a dirty hack! It might burn your PC and kill your cat!
-- mpg123.c source

On 2006-08-07, Peter Signorini (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

TimC said:

How much do you reckon Breakneck Rd in Christmas Hills[1], was?

Just checked in my copy of ESMAP, which has topographic details. It is 500m
at its steepest section and climbs 100m, so 1 in 5, or 20%. Bloody steep!!
But there's probably an even steeper section of 20 or 50 metres in that as
well.

There were certainly steep sections, much steeper than the average.
There were a couple of sections ~30m long that took 10-15 minutes to
get up, retrying another step every 10 seconds or so after a bit of
recovery. Then another 100m section of mere 20%, then back to the
hard slippery stuff 🙂

Yeah, it was fun, but next time, I'd want to be carrying less [censored],
and be cooler than 24 degrees. It felt like 35 after climbing for
half an hour or so.

Quoted message said:

You did *very well* to even walk up it!

Take a gandy at one of the latter photos I posted a second ago. There
were a few struggling trying not to roll back down on the gravel.

--
TimC
When the revolution comes, we'll need a longer wall. -- Tom De Mulder