MASSIVE weekend of cycling coming up

One of the reasons why the ride from Brisbane to Townsville is called a challenge has absolutely nothing to do with the road between Brisbane and Townsville but rather the road between Brisbane and Warwick. This ride is the major training weekend for the Smiddy Challenge and is on this weekend.

Why is this so? Well its because between Brisbane and Warwick lies the imposing mountainous feature of Queen Mary Falls which the riders must ascend on their way to Warwick. Reaching the dizzying height of just over 1000m this is a climb not for the ill prepared or feint of heart.

From when the road starts ramping up at about the 120km mark we have about 40 kms of climbing ahead of us. Sure the first part is pretty gradual with a gradient of around 3 or 4% but once we hit the the steep section there is a 4km 18% stretch with switchbacks that would not go astray on the Alpe d'Huez!!

This ride has reached almost mythical status amongst the Smiddy riders who have ridden it in the past and has been sitting out there playing on our minds for many weeks. The nervous banter over coffee has been a regular feature with the all too often question "is it really that steep?" being frequently asked.

Those Cyc'd boys with a 25 cog on the back have been doing some serious sole searching asking themselves should I get a 27 fitted??? Those with a 27 (Kent!!!) have been smirking a little but still seem to be thinking maybe a 29 would be better!!

The ride is 220km each way making it a 440km weekend so its going to be a couple of long days in the saddle with an absolutely epic climb in the middle but we are looking forward to it and will approach it like a 2 year old child approaches Santa for the first time.....wide eyed, full of anticipation and excitement but with that nagging thought of is this going to end well or in tears!!!

You can check out the profile for the ride at http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=276667

The good news is that on the Sunday we get to ride back from Warwick and to descend Queen Mary Falls.....that is after first climbing it from the other side!!

Stay tuned for a full report of this 440km epic adventure next week.