The Challenge : DAY 5 : THREDBO
  
The Challenge : DAY 5 : THREDBO
Wednesday 17 October.
The Day of Exploding Dates. Up the Tower of Pain.

THE TOWER OF PAIN
(In memory of the Challenge Thredbo Ride...)

Well my friends are cactus, and my hair is grey
And I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm crazy for love, but Its not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every kay
Up the Tower of Pain


I said to Lance Armstrong: How tough does it get?
Lance hasn't answered yet....
But I heard him laughing, all day long
A hundred classes above me
In the Tower of Fame


I was born like this, I had no choice.
Born to hang with mid age bandits, loud of voice.
...and twenty-seven angels from the Great beyond
And now they've tied me to this table right here
In the Tower of Shame


So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I'm very sorry, Ricardo, doesn't look like me at all
But Im sufferin all the same
My face a deathly pall, In the Tower of Pain


Now I'm riding up this mountain where the wind is strong
And if the switchbacks dont get you, then with lactic acid you'll be gone
But don't let those downhills kill you,
...not comin' down the Tower of Pain


Of accomodation, you can say that I've grown bitter, but of this you may be sure:
Some of us richboys have landed the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgment coming
But I may be wrong ....


You see, I keep on hearing these funny voices
Going up the Tower of Pain


...I see Pop Smurf riding on the other side
I don't know how the hill got so high

They loved us, baby, on day one, way back when...
But we've now gone and burnt all the bridges that we might have crossed
With all our drinking and bragging, and slagging at their cost
But we never feel too close to everything that we lost
'Cos we'll never, never, have to lose it again


I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow to that padded cell down the back
But You'll be hearing from us, baby
Long after we're gone
We'll be speaking to you sweetly from a window
In the Tower of the Insane ...

All right, oh yeah, uh huh
..go sweetly with that hammer baby



WITH RESPECTS TO :-
Song: Tower Of Song
Band: Leonard Cohen


Yes folks, today, live from Thredbo, at the Tower of Pain, we bring you the Alpe Duez of Australian Cycling. Where incredible scenes were witnessed.... Wives swearing at husbands. Grown men crying at the roadside. Great tears running down their sweaty cheeks. And worse. Much Worse. People walking with their bicycles. Carnage? An understatement. It was war out there today !!!

THE STATS
Trip 110km, Av Speed 18.7kmph, Max speed 76.4kmph , Height climbed approx 3500 metres, 5.5 hours effort.
Elapsed Distance : 600km
{nb: av speed up to Tom Groggin was 29kmph...that gives you an idea of the change of geography}

THE RIDE
First and foremost I record a ride of immense natural beauty. We have had some great scenes float past so far but today some really spectacular ones were visited. We floated past very slowly. Unfortunately unlike feathers borne by the wind.

In essence, the ride was 3 chunks of massive hills. We got our legs warmed up travelling from Corryong to Khancoban. Enough for a normal days ride.

The first big climb was up to Scammels Lookout. 800 metres. Big big hills. Long passes. One after another. Unrelenting.

The second took us to Tom Groggin. More big hills releived by plentiful downhills.

The third was the killer. 1200 metres. No downhills. Death in the Afternoon. The Tower of Pain. The hills echoing with the sound of exploding dates. I can still hear those funny voices talking in my head.

THE METHOD
Most people knew today would be a marathon and paced themselves. The trick was to get up the mountains using the minimum effort and maintain aerobic respiration. This can be done by walking or using a mountain bike with a 35 in the front and a 35 at the back (a one to one ratio, or 2 metres travelled per crank) However most bikes have a 39 in the front and a 25 at the back (hence a 1.6 ratio, or over 3 metres per crank) It doesnt sound much different. But but and but. After 36 thousand revolutions it makes a huge difference. Hence it was essential to keep moving aerobically. Too much gradient and the legs got killed by lactic acid.

So thats how we all came thru it. Slow and steady. Breathing very hard.

The moment of truth was Leather Barrel Creek. The gradient probably changed from the normal 7% to 10% and navigation required hard effort. The VO2 maxes made it. Many walked.

THE PROTAGANISTS

APB
The Punisher of Hills, came, saw and conquered. Hung with the mortals for 10 kays and then dotted out. Hanging out with the big hitters. Missed his lunch and tea but got the first turn in the shower at Thredbo

AL PRESIDENTE
There were 2 types of people today. The walkers and the non walkers...AP did not walk. Al huffed and puffed all the way up the hills. Consequentially we saw very little of the wild life allegedly on offer.

CLIVE
Clive of India arose from his deathbed with a throaty cough. Declared he would ride. Like the Phoenix he flew up to Tom Groggin. Made a second declaration. His legs were shot, his head hurt and he was shaking like a leaf. The death rattle seemed near. He then proceeded to shoot up the hill like Beep Beep the Road Runner. The biggest comeback since Lazarus. A complex man to be sure. But a sucessful man to boot. Headed straight for his bed after the shower. Surfaced for tea and went down again. Does he know something we dont?.

PHIL
The Nuggety One cruised up the hill. The Master Pacer. Would not entertain any surges and downhill hammering. Made the grade.

WAZZA
Definitely the easiest ride of the tour so far for the Scribe. Danced, Lance style, all the way up the hills. The needle on the pain meter had a day off today. Resting comfortably on the zero end stop. With a twitch at Leather Barrel Creek. Hills where is thy sting? Give me excess of it, so that, surfeiting, the appetitite may sicken and so die....

STEW
The young one is still struggling. Firstly it was trying to adjust the Porsche climate control so that his head would feel like it was in Antartica whilst his feet would be in the Sahara. This caused another headache for our surfin bro. Next problem was trying to hack the GPS display to play Chess. A very stressful day for the bleached, waxed and gelled stripling..

Tomorrow we away to Canberra. TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY KILOMETRES. Whhhooo wee. We have to be up at 5:30. Why am I typing in the middle of the night. I can hear voices again...

Time to be gone. Hoo Roo.

NOTO BENE :
Many many thanks for all the voicemails chorus the Bandits. Many thanks for all those emails too. Folks I am reading them but am flat out like Jacky Rabbit. I will try and reply later. I have shown them to the other dudes.
I am also struggling to download all the pictures on this site. I will pop a few on the night and catch up on my last report. I will also whack em all on one page so you dont have to cruise around day to day. OK? Good.

ps : to see the latest news and pics go to
http://au.oocities.com/bbchallenge2001/index.html

or go to the Bandits Mega Site
http://www.baysidebandidos.com

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Click on the images below…

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PB-The Punisher Clive of India El Presidente Nugetty Phil
     
Wazza