Welcome to the 4th Mt Buffalo Challenge.Matt Clark has won the Men's Competition 3 years in a row and will be hard to dislodge from the top spot again this year.On the Women's side of the competition we've had a different winner each year. Verita Stewart is the current Queen of the Mountain and will be looking to go faster again this year.
But it's also a Challenge to ride your own best time or race your friends.It's great to see riders of all abilities submitting a time.  

                                                                           Details of the Competition.
The Mt Buffalo Challenge is a competition to ride up the main Mt Buffalo climb as quickly as possible.There are 2 perpetual trophies offered for the fastest time for both men and women.
The starting point is at the bottom of the mountain near where the little office/gatehouse used to be. See the stone wall on the LHS (this has a digital screen on it now) The Eurobin Creek Picnic area sign is on the RHS.Just start your time when you pass between the digital screen and the Eurobin Creek Picnic area sign. It will be based on the time it takes to ride from the starting point (see pic below) to the top of the main climb finishing at The Gap.(finish timing your ride when adjacent to "The Gap" sign), see image below.   

           Important Statistics. Distance 18km, Average Gradient 5.4%, Elevation Gain 1004 metres. 

                                               PLEASE READ THIS PART IN RELATION TO STRAVA. 

I have recently, Feb 2015, created a Strava segment that will the the one we use now for timing when it's done through Strava.
It's called Mt Buffalo Challenge Official and I've added it to the page below.
You should be stopped or rolling very slowly at the start so as not to get an unfair advantage by hitting the start line at 40 kmh.
It's been decided to NOT make this a Strava only competition as many people want to join in who don't use Strava.
It's pretty easy to time it manually on most bike computers or an iPhone.

There are many ways to submit a time for the competition and one way is to contact me via email. I'm also on Twitter so feel free to tweet a time in too.The 2013 results sheet can be seen below the current 2014 results for comparison.I will also need the date the ride was completed,your name and racing category or age so that information can be added too. 

                                                                             IMPORTANT NOTE.
I also think it's fair to the leaders of the competition, that anybody submitting a winning time be able to verify their time.Either on Strava,or taking a photo of your bike computer, displaying the recorded time.Or have somebody else that witnessed the ride be able to confirm the time. 

It's time to wake up those climbing legs and start the Mt Buffalo Challenge for it's 3rd year.Each year the number of people entering is slowly increasing which is fantastic.With the "Tour of Bright" entries currently being taken, it seems fitting to launch this year's competition.Matt Clark has owned the Men's Trophy for the last 2 years and will start the favourite once again.The Women's event gets more interesting each year, with Clare Dallat the current keeper of the Perpetual Trophy.Rumour has it there will be times under the hour from the Ladies this year.

                                                                  Details of the Competition.
The Mt Buffalo Challenge is a competition to time your ride up the main Mt Buffalo climb.There are 2 perpetual trophies offered for the fastest time for both men and women.
The starting point is at the bottom of the mountain near where the little office/gatehouse used to be. See the stone wall on the LHS (I think this has a digital screen on it now) for another landmark,with the Eurobin Creek Picnic area sign on the RHS.Just start your time when your passing through this point and you'll be close enough. It will be based on the time it takes to ride from the starting point (see pic below) to the top of the main climb finishing at The Gap.(finish timing your ride when adjacent to "The Gap" sign), see image below.   

           Important Statistics. Distance 18.5km, Average Gradient 5.4%, Elevation Gain 1004 metres. 

                                             PLEASE READ THIS PART IN RELATION TO STRAVA. 

It's probably better to be stopped or rolling very slowly at the start so as not to get an unfair advantage by hitting the start line at 40 kmh.The Mt Buffalo segment on Strava is around 10 seconds shorter than the manual timed segment I've created for this competition, so you can use Strava to get your time.I will then add 10 seconds to all Strava times.It's been decided to not make this a Strava only competition as many people want to join in who don't use it.It's pretty easy to time it manually on most bike computers or an iPhone.

There are many ways to submit a time for the competition and one way is to contact me via email. I'm also on Twitter so feel free to tweet a time in too.The 2013 results sheet can be seen below the current 2014 results for comparison.I will also need the date the ride was completed,your name and racing category or age so that information can be added too. 
Feel free to leave your time in the comments section at the bottom too. 

                                                                    IMPORTANT NOTE.
I also think it's fair to the leaders of the competition, that anybody submitting a winning time be able to verify their time either on strava,taking a photo of your bike computer displaying the recorded time or have somebody else that witnessed the ride. 



                                                         2014 COMPETITION CLOSES WITH A BANG 
Many thanks for everyone who has been involved in The Mt Buffalo Challenge over the last three years.I enjoy running it and hope it keeps growing in the future.Making the trophies was great fun and I know the quality of them is appreciated by the winners.
  
With a week left to run in this year's competition,Verita Stewart completed the winning ride on the Women's side of the ledger.
Verita is improving all the time and has made huge gains in the last year,can't wait to see if she will be the first Female to go under 1 hour next year.

Not to be outdone,like the last minute bid on an Ebay item, Matt Clark once again proved he's the man to beat.Matt completed his ride on the second last day of the competition after Stephen Lane had been in the lead for most of the year.

I'm trying to work out how to get more competitors involved in future years.This year has been the lowest in the event's short 3 year history.I'm thinking about running a handicap event along side the current scratch race.Hopefully that would create more interest for those of us not gifted enough to get the fastest time.Just have to work out a handicap system!!

Fresh of the press is a Winter series of races that offer a little of everything.See below for all the details. 

The highlights are;

·       Myrrhee Road race as a lead in to Sam Miranda ( 2 Weeks out ). It is a Sunday morning race.

·       TT up Mt Stanley. This will incorporate a social day at Beechworth Brewery. Race is sponsored by Beechworth  
         Brewery and will include a social ride to the bottom through Myrtleford.
 
·       Ladies come and try day a few weeks prior to the start of Spring series

·       All welcome try day and Cycling Swap meet 2 weeks prior to the start of the Spring Series

·       Minimum of 2 ITT on state course in the lead up to Victorian Junior State Champs and Wangaratta ITT that is part of 
       the Cycling Victoria ITT Series.



All races are subject to weather conditions and rider numbers. Any cancellations due to weather will be posted on Wangaratta CC Facebook & Twitter  @WangarattaCC by 11.00am on the day.

It's with a tinge of disappointment I write this post on the eve of the above titled event.Four days cycling in Victoria's High Country, all in the name of Charity,and sneaking in some fantastic riding and maybe a quiet beer or two at the end of the day
would be just the tonic to kick start 2013's Cycling training.I'd reserved my spot as soon as I was informed of the event but a strained left hamstring has left me unable to ride my bike.  

This will be the first time this ride has been held and from what I understand from the BDA crew this is a "pilot run" with the hope of it being an annual event.And from the enthusiasm I've seen from all involved I'd suggest there will be a queue waiting to register for next year.

The riding in the Victorian High Country will be awesome and you can have a look at the itinerary on BDA's website here Also look at the sponsors of the BDA crew who are involved in helping getting this inaugural ride up and running.  

From what I understand money raised from the event will go to the Amy Gillet Foundation which is inspired by the life of Amy Gillet,the foundation's aim is to eliminate cycling related fatalities. 
 Sam Miranda has shown once again, how keen he is on promoting cycling in the Wangaratta area by giving a large donation towards the event.The ride officially starts from Sam's Winery in The King Valley tomorrow morning. 

So if you see the guys out on the N.E Victorian roads over the next few days,give them a friendly wave and any donations would be more than welcome too.

I received an email this afternoon from Tom Barry regarding the upcoming 2nd launch of the NRS Bicycle Superstore team this weekend in Albury.I've copied the majority of Tom's email into the post below which contains the relevant information.
Sounds like a great opportunity to catch up with these inspiring women some of whom I've had the pleasure to meet.

I don't think I'll be able to do the ride but may try and head up for the presentation of the team at 4pm.The Granya Grind (135km) would be awesome training for the BDA charity ride coming up pretty soon too.

Hi Tony, 

The NRS Bicycle Superstore team is having their (2nd) launch in Albury this weekend at the BSS store in Lavington and I was wondering whether you could let people know around Wang. 

It is comprised of multiple local ladies, including my wife Lisa Barry, Flick Wardlaw and Clare Dallat (Alexandra- but we will claim her!) and a lot of the horsepower on both the technical side (Osteohealth doing the bike fitting, strength and conditioning, injury management and Peter Collier from Riverina Podiatry Group assisting with lower limb biomechanics and Solestar orthotics) and the management/logistical side comes from the North East.  It is a great endorsement of the skills and talents of this region and one of their reasons for existence is to help promote women's cycling in the region. 

They will be riding the 'Granya Grind' on Saturday morning http://www.bellbridgerotary.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=39 (a 135km charity ride through the stunning Granya/Tallangata region) before the presentation at 4pm in Lavington. 

There will be some interviews with the girls, a bit of a chat from the people behind the team and just explaining their goals etc. The women are quite amazing with their time management and dedication and if they can expose a few more women to the sport it would be a great thing. 

Anyway- thought you may be interested and if you could pass on to anyone who you feel may be keen for a ride with the BSS NRS Women's team or to meet them and listen to their stories feel free to do so. 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bicycle-Superstore-Womens-Road-Team/422702464423539?ref=ts&fref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/BicycleSuperstoreFlemington?ref=ts&fref=ts

I guess I shall catch up with you at the next major bike race!! 

Regards, 
Tom Barry

We had something different occur during yesterday's Beechworth Bunch Ride. Alan Thrum's seat post broke clean off forcing him to ride the rest of the way into Wangaratta with no seat(around 40km).I wonder how his legs are feeling today?Many thanks to Ash for this video clip showing Thrummy's new position.

Every year the Wednesday bunch ride to Beechworth has a xmas ride.Which involves the same ride as usual but with a detour to the Miawa Cheese Factory for lunch and a quiet drink.Below are a few pics of the day's activities. 

What about purchasing a copy of my 2013 Cycling Photography Calendars?I've set up a page here with all the information.
Also happy to work with people to avoid postage costs where possible.Great Xmas gift for cyclists.  

Often the only thing we hear about in the media is animosity between motorists and cyclists.It's nice to be able to report the other side of the coin.On last Wednesday's Beechworth Bunch ride, a peloton of 16 cyclists came upon a lady with a flat tyre. 
Whilst I wasn't present on the ride, John Myles sent me this photo of the group in action helping change the flat tyre.The very relieved and grateful motorist was very thankful for the assistance.I did hear it was the older members of the bunch that did all the work, but can't confirm or deny this particular detail of the story.  

Todays bunch ride was well attended and the weather was pretty good.It was so foggy when I left my house I wasn't sure I'd be able to find Wangaratta,let alone be there by 7.30am for the Beechworth Ride.In an unusual event the fog completely lifted by the time I got to Boorhaman.Usually the Ovens River flats are thick with fog and I was expecting today to be no exception.
But luckily for us we had completely clear roads and skies for the whole ride.The only thing we seem to have to contend with was worms.Yes Worms,my bike looks like I've ridden through a worm farm.It appears the worms have gone on the rampage after the late storms yesterday and decided the road was the place to be.A few pics of the boys below and even a couple from Cafe Derailleur  where we have our fantastic lunch on our return.