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2015 Mt Buffalo Challenge

20/10/2014

 
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.  
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                                                                           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. 
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Starting point for timing your Mt Buffalo Ride.
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This Information Wall is also just befor the Official Starting point.
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"The Gap" is where you take your finish time.This sign is on the RHS at the top of the main climb just before you descend down towards the Chalet turnoff.
                                               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. 

2015 Results

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2014 Results

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2014 Mt Buffalo Challenge

7/10/2013

 
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.
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                                                                  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. 
Picture
Starting point for timing you Mt Buffalo Ride.
Picture
"The Gap" is where you take your finish time.This sign is on the RHS at the top of the main climb just before you descend down towards the Chalet turnoff.
                                             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!!

                        2014 Mt Buffalo Challenge Results

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                       2013 Mt Buffalo Challenge Results

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The Men's Perpetual Trophy,The Women's one is very similar.

           The Mt Buffalo Segment on Strava.

2013 Mt Buffalo Challenge

24/10/2012

 

2013 Winners Announced.

Matt Clark has once again taken out this years Mt Buffalo Challenge in a record time of 48 mins 4 secs.He has had a wonderful year claiming some very big races and we're all watching Matt's Cycling Career with interest. I think the only way anyone else has a chance to win will be if Matt gets a Pro contract and doesn't have time to get near Mt Buffalo.

On the women's side of the leader board we have a new winner in Clare Dallat. Clare's time of 1 min 10 seconds is the fastest yet by any female in the competition.I'm also reliably informed that in another attempt, she would have gone under the hour mark, but had to get off her bike and walk around a fallen tree over the road.

I'm also excited to announce there is a Perpetual Trophy for the Women being constructed at the moment and I'll be able to present it to Clare soon.


We will start the 2014 edition of the competition after winter.Thanks to everyone who participated.Scroll down to see the winner's times and the full leader board. 
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Mark Newton about 300 metres from "The Gap" ,the end of the climb
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The Perpetual trophy for the fastest overall time would be a good edition to anyones Pool Room.
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Don't forget to let your Spirit Dance whilst dancing on the Pedals.
                                                                   Details of the Competition.
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 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. 
Picture
The Starting point at the bottom.
Picture
The Finish Point on the top of the main climb.
                                              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 2012 results sheet can be seen below the current 2013 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 some comments below too spice up the competition. 

                                                                   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. 
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Don't forget to look at the fantastic views whilst riding up.
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Shane Miller enjoying the view from the top of Mt Buffalo.
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Mt Buffalo Challenge winner Matt Clark on his way to winning A Grade in the recent Baw Baw Classic Road Race.
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Women's Mt Buffalo challenge winner Clare Dallat (on the front) in action during the Women's National Road Race Championships held in Buninyong this year.I'm currently in the process of making a Women's perpetual trophy.

2013 Mt Buffalo Challenge Results.

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2012 Mt Buffalo Challenge Results

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Easter Happenings and other News

8/4/2012

 
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Thomas McDonald shows his father Dean,the medal after winning Alpe de Buffalo Under 15 ITT
Finally I've finished editing the photos taken last week at the Junior Mountain Climbing Championships-Alpe de Buffalo.
Have a look at them in the Galleries I've created,I had lots of trouble with my wireless internet coming into Easter so only uploaded the last Gallery on Saturday

A bit of an update on the Mt Buffalo Challenge Competition is local cyclist Matt Clark became the new leader with a time of 49min 30sec, which will be pretty hard for anyone to beat. I've now also added the descent as a separate competition.You can see results underneath the climb competition.I rode Mt Buffalo on easter Sunday for the first time this year and managed the climb in 1hour 4min 30sec which is 1 min slower than my best time and then turned around and completed the descent in 21min 53sec.So far Shane Miller is leading the descent comp. at 18min 39sec.   

I don't normally have much to say about Professional cycling here as there are many websites that specialise in the pro scene. However, watching Paris-Roubaix last night was so exciting to see Tom Boonen ride the last 55km by himself.The following group,including a number of Team Sky riders,were powerless to close the gap as Boonen powered away to his 4th Paris -Roubaix victory.

If you haven't seen any of the GreenEdge backstage pass videos,have a look at them,really gives you a feel for what goes on inside a professional team.Below is the Paris-Roubaix one but I really love the Milan-San Remo video they did, when Simon Gerrans won they just went ballistic.      
Finally it was lovely to have my sister and mother out for dinner on Saturday night and we cooked up an excellent feed on the outside BBQ.Just lately I've become quite accustomed to lighting a fire then cooking on the coals,there is something very special about cooking on a fire.  
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Mum and my sister Barbara overseeing the potatoes.Full moon rising in the background.

Strava Segment Created for Everton-Beechworth Rail Trail Section.

8/2/2012

 
Strava is becoming quite popular with cyclists. Using a Garmin device or an iphone with the Stava App running you can record your ride details then upload your ride file to Strava for viewing. Strava will pick out any rides you've done where there has been a segment created and you can compare your ride against others who have ridden the same segment.Most of the major climbs now have a Strava segment,including all our local Alpine Climbs.It's very interesting to compare yourself against other riders and also note your improvement.  

I've just created a segment on Strava that includes the climb we do on the Everton to Beechworth Rail Trail every Wednesday.
I started the segment a little past where we enter the rail trail near Diffey Rd to the end of the climb before you start descending into Beechworth. I hope I've set the segment up correctly and I think I have but we can also create another if need be.

Strava then looked through it's Data to see if anyone else has ridden this segment and has found 8 others. Currently I'm in the number 1 position so probably should keep this to myself as once others get on board it wont last long. I've seen a few riders on Wednesday with a Garmin 500 which is what I used and as I mentioned earlier you can use a iphone.So I'm hoping a few others will join Strava which is free unless you want to upgrade to premium membership.

I'v also included Strava's Mt Buffalo Segment to give you more of an idea on how many others are using it.
The Mt Buffalo Segment has been ridden 527 times by people using Strava.

I've also created a segment for the descent out of Beechworth which is always full on. I don't know how long it will last but top spot has my name on it.

Mt Buffalo Challenge,Where to from here?

31/1/2012

 
Last year the Mt Buffalo Challenge was started on this website, it has proved to be quite popular in it's inaugural year.I'm still getting the odd time coming in but it's clear the sting is out of the tail.We've had 33 competitors both male and female coming from many different levels.  At the moment the leader is Shane Miller with a very impressive time of 51 minutes  39 seconds. I've been wondering what to do about the competition,I will be awarding a very special trophy to the winner, I'm hoping this will be a perpetual trophy for other years too. 
I'm after some suggestions before deciding on future of this and other years Challenge.I'll throw out a few ideas and hopefully will get some feedback and suggestions from others.

1. How do we wind up the competition for this year? Late Iast year I had been thinking we may be able to have a handicap ride off using the times submitted by entrants. But I believe this probably is not that feasible and that it would be difficult to arrange and how many people are likely to turn up for the race? Also many people are in their off season and not training much. 
Which makes me think the person with the quickest time come March 31st deserves the trophy.I'm thinking about framing one of my TDU photographs for the fastest female.
2.I'd like to run the Challenge again this year (starting after the snow season) and I think Mt Buffalo is the best option.


So if anybody has any suggestions about the current or future Mt Buffalo Challenge please leave a comment at the bottom of this blog.
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Weekend Roundup

13/11/2011

 

My cycling activities have been a little quiet recently as I try to recover from an injured knee after slipping on a flight of stairs whilst in Port Douglas. The worse seems to be over as yesterday I did a pretty solid 70km and this morning there is only a small amount of muscle soreness around the knee.
There were several cycling activities going on over the weekend. The Kelly Country Classic was held yesterday starting in 
Glenrowan and I have a few images taken at the start finish area. 

The Hume Veterans held their fortnightly race and you can view the results here.


Also the Mt Buffalo Challenge that we're running on this website is really hotting up with a new leader and some excellent times being posted. Check out the leaderboard and latest news. 
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The Samsons make a hasty retreat as Ned looks to have them in his sights
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Some riders after the finish of the Kelly Country Classic
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The Start Finish area at Glenrowan

Training and other stuff

10/9/2011

 
I didn't race this weekend and from what I was told racing was called off due to a very small turnout of riders and very ordinary conditions. I must admit to feeling quite flat this week and I think last weekend's "Race of Truth" had the last laugh. I decided that I would have a slightly easier week of training to allow for good recovery. I'm not sure if I succeeded as this afternoon my legs are feeling  sore after a good 80 km hit out this morning with Wes, of WestEnd BikeHub fame, in the Beechworth hills and coming home into a pretty decent head wind. We did see the local A Graders blast through Beecworth and after a fruitless attempt to catch them along the Beechworth - Wodonga road we settled back to our own pace. I am reliably informed the A Grade bunch clocked up a lazy 140 km on their journey   
I also have to thank Wes for supplying me with what will be part of the Perpetual Trophy for the Mt Buffalo Challenge. Now while we are not getting any new  times coming in I hope this will change as the weather improves or Jake is in the box seat to get the trophy. I also have it on good authority that a group of Melbourne Cyclists known as The Captain's Crew are coming up in November to have a crack at the Challenge.
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The first part of the Trophy
Last weeks Training.

Mon. 5-9  Gym and stretching 1h 30min
Tues.6-9 Day Off
Wed.7-9 Beechworth Ride 90km 3h 20min
Thurs.8-9 Kew Blvd.  25km        1h
Frid. Day Off
Sat. Gym and stretching  1h 30 min (increased all weights)
Sun. Chilt. Beech. Yack. Chilt. 82 km 3 h 08 min.      

Next weekend I am competing in the first Amy's Gran Fondo held on closed roads with 40 km on the Great Ocean Road.
I've put myself in the 30-35km group which should be perfect and there are a couple of really decent climbs involved.
This will be a very competitive event with the ride timed so it's pretty much going to be a race. I have a couple of members of the Captain's Crew to keep me company during the event, hopefully they give me a nice tow.
Have a look at the course profile @ Cycling Profiles, the ride also has UWCT qualifier status for 2012 World Masters Championships. 

    Tony Reeckman

     

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