Rapha Festive 500 – A ride to redemption and fundraiser for Wat About Cambodia

I had, earlier in the evening, descended amongst the rolling green hills of Tasmania to alight, not from my beloved Scott CR1 but from a jet of a different kind. Exit aircraft and enter Hobart, Tasmania’s picturesque capital city nestled between the shores of the Derwent River and the abrupt, forested foothills of Mount Wellington.

The Derwent in turn empties into the blue green expanse of Storm Bay, a swell savaged  bite smiling south towards Antarctica from the south east of Australia’s southern most island state. In just a few days the fleets of Sydney and Melbourne to Hobart Ocean Racers would be slicing into the very same ocean, southbound on their annual pilgrimage for line honors or simply the honor of completion of the epic 1000km ocean race.

Little did I realise that in just a few hours I would be embarking on an epic journey of my own. Instead of ocean mistrals and rolling mountains of swell I would be battling headwinds, mountain climbs and the occasional errant motorist as I pushed and at times punished myself along, up and over 555km of snaking blue bitumen.

I had returned to Tasmania for a family Christmas reunion, accompanied by my road bike and eager in anticipation of a reunion of another kind; some of my favourite rides in and around the abundance of climbs that encircle the mountain by the sea. A few months earlier I had embarked on a self guided riding tour of the Italian Alpi and Ligurian coast www.crashionitaly.wordpress.com but since returning my riding excursions were inconsistent, broken by life’s necessary distractions. I was anticipating a solid week of uninterrupted cadence to counter the Christmas excesses. Little did I know what was in store.

Late that night I swiped my way into Facebook and noticed the email. My old friend and fellow adventurer, Mark Hubbard had nonchalantly thrown me the bait, ‘Check this out’ was his only comment – so I did.

Rapha..? Festive 500..? Ride to Redemption..?
Within five minutes of browsing I was in need of Rapha cycling kit and intrigued by the universal appeal of the Festive 500; riders from across the planet attempting to pump out 500 redeeming kilometres during the xmas week. If my northern hemisphere compatriots could commit to 500km in snow and ice – then all I required was a bidon of ‘harden-up-princess’ for the hilly terrain of Tasmania…make that two bidons.

I was however, in need of a kickstart for my year of the charitable quest – I planned to raise $5,000 this year for Wat About Cambodia (W.A.C.), an aid organisation headed up by an enthusiastic and tireless Australian, Deborah Jewell King.  W.A.C. is committed to providing educational resources, medical aid and sustainable infrastructure for the poorest Cambodian and Thai communities.  My goal is take my enthusiasm for cycling and experience riding in France to lead a group of like minded cyclists on a sojourn following the Pyrenees climbs of the 2012 Tour de France, followed by the fabled Ventoux and then famous Cols of the Rhone Alps, Huez, Croix de Fir, Telegraph and Galibier – with all profits to aid W.A.C.
Spurned on by challenge of the high-bar set by the Rapha 500 I decided then and there to commit.

555km, 8,997m of grimacing ascent and 22hrs of painful backside later, I had kicked off my W.A.C. fundraising with $420. Admittedly, I did have to publicly declare my willingness to shave my legs and inflict myself with a nasty dual-climb finali from sea-level to Collinsvale return, followed by the 1,271 summit of Mount Wellington. Hmmm, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Timeline to Redemption

Fri 23 – 2300hrs: Email from my mate Mark reveals Rapha & Festive 500.

2330hrs:  Note to self – Bugger it, I’ll have a crack at this

Sat 24 – 1445hrs: Rapha Festive Day 1 complete.

A welcome quiet country road on the outskirts of Hobart, several phone calls along the way in search of a mate (i.e. a sucker) to climb ‘the mountain’ with until the ever dependable Mr Revell obliged. The only issue for me was that he’s ‘Revell’ by name and ‘Rev’ by nature. I negotiated the spectacularly and equally unsafe steel encased bike path across the Tasman Bridge to rendezvous with Rev and off we set at a steady pace passing the temptation of the historic Cascade Brewery and into the 5-8% switchbacks that sweep 11Km upwards to Fern Tree. A right turn onto Summit Road and then the fun begins. A 10k grind to the top.  The narrow road cuts a path through the wet Eucalypt forest and at 7km from the summit it gives way to sub-alpine growth as the road hugs tight under the rock climbing playground of the spectacular Organ Pipes.  It is here that the climb really kicks into gear. The 9% gradient rises to 11% for 3-4 km. In keeping with his namesake Rev upped the cadence and left me to ‘dig fence post holes’ with every wincing pedal rotation. I was sporting a SRAM 28 but at that point in time I would have gladly put pride aside and swapped my cranks for a compact as well. I embraced the pain, grimaced a little more and sweated through to the summit and a smiling Rev, looking like he had just ridden from waterfront cafe to waterfront cafe. Can someone remind me why I am mates with him?

Rapha 500 – Day 1.  Welcome back to the fold. 107km, 2115m climbing including the 1271m ascent of Mount Wellington. Thanks Rev for the wheel, the laconic references to my labouring, a honking descent and finally a celebratory coffee at Retro Cafe on the Salamanca waterfront.

Note to self; Must ride more, must drink less, must ride more hills, must scoff less chocolate, must ride intervals…any.

http://app.strava.com/runs/3102350/embed/faca1cede707e4f82f7d8696784bacbf6cce9523

Xmas day, Sun 25: 5hrs driving, 3hrs eating, 0hrs riding. Note to self:   Day 1 & 2 net calorie loss = Day 2 riding time. HTFU!

Rapha 500 – Day 2.
An early morning up-country jaunt to Colebrook. The brilliance of morning sunlight soaking into the rolling rural hills of the Coal Valley; where I could utter my early morning perspectives to the puzzled sheep and skeptical horses while I undulated on a magic carpet of asphalt, flying over checkered fields, crops, vineyards and orchards. It was indeed a beautiful day to be alive and pedaling.

99km, 1,118m up in 3hrs 49″ followed by an afternoon xmas excess eating criterium to restore the in-balance.  An easier Day 2 but the door to tomorrow’s hurt locker was clanging in the wind…

My Rapha 500 tally stood at 206km, 3,233m climbing and 8hrs 11″ elapsed.

On a positive note; my Festive 500 riding efforts had raised $120 for http://www.wataboutcambodia.com!

Rapha Festive 500, Day 3.  A healthy serve of Xmas pain; a round trip to Hobart to meet with Rev, Janine, Leon a small group of my ex-Southern Tasmanian Masters racers. A solid tempo into a strong wind was to follow.  Two initial climbs; 12km up Mount Wellington again, thankfully avoiding the summit this time, then on to Neika via Fern Tree; a welcome 10k descent  before the 7km pinch of hurt up to Vince’s Saddle. From there it was wind buffeted peloton pacemaking south to Huonville followed by undulations and an excursion from the pure wilderness sourced water of the Huon River to climb up into Cygnet and a welcome halfway coffee and muffin stop at the Red Velvet Lounge.

If only they had let me sleep for a while…the mostly up return leg punching into headwind didn’t exactly beckon but off we went into more lush rural undulations that lead to the Nichols Rivulet climb, a 5km forested climb as the summer sun elevated the temperature in the same direction.  I hung on through the undulations and Bonnet Hill climb, called the police to report an idiot that swerved at us and even managed some token-effort sprints to stay within reach of the ever charging ‘Rev’, as we wound our way back into the city and waterfront.  The crew departed following coffee and ice creams to leave me with what was, by then, a punishing 18km of upriver riding into a solid headwind. Head down, grimace up with my leg grinder on it was a case of  “shut up legs!” …thanks for the inspiration Jens.

152km, 2,224m ascent, 5:28 in the saddle @27.8km/hr avg.  Nothing like a peloton to up your average and put some hurt in your legs.  Following this big day I was into the tight descending bends and holding my line towards the 500k finish line – Day 3 totals: 356km, 5,457m climbed & 13:39hrs in the saddle. Whoa-hoo!

Rapha Festive 500 – Day 4.
A beach-to-beach loop immersed in the rugged and rural beauty of the Tasman Peninsula. 101km of visual splendor, 1,450m of undulating ascent and 4hrs of easy pedaling. Cumulative totals; 457km, 6,907m climbed, 17:40hrs. I have the finish line in sight and a rather large smile on my face.

Rapha Festive 500 – Day 5 finale.
To give my charity fundraising a kicker I shaved my legs and posted Facebook photo’s then foolishly promised to include the two singularly most savage climbs in Hobart in my last hurrah! The Zen of Forrest was ringing in my ears…“stupid is as stupid does!”

95km & 2,244m of savage climbs including ‘Col du Collinsvale’ & sea to summit Hobart to Mount Wellington, which was my opening climb 5 days ago.  The thought of funding a new toilet for children forced to defecate in the local trash dump got me up that mountain. Next time you flush I urge you to think about it.

The Wrap
A grand total of 555km, 8,997m ascent, 22hrs in duration & one sore bum! I’m targeting 10Km of ascent next year.

The riding aside, the most satisfying achievement was to raise $420 to aid Wat About Cambodia – just another $80 and we have a new toilet underway.

Go on, email me a pledge to crashion@gmail.com

Thanks Rapha for the creative concept of the Ride to Redemption, Mark Hubbard for lighting my spark, all my friends who supported me and our wonderful cause, Caroline Rebaque for the push, blog site work and editing and W.A.C. …for the inspiration.

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