Domestique Dirty Dandys

If you love climbing and you live in Melbourne, chances are you spend a fair bit of time in the Dandenongs. And if you do, you probably spend much of your time on the more popular climbs. But there are also a bunch of amazing unsealed roads in the Dandenongs that should be on your radar. We took a group of 30 riders out to explore some of these great roads. Read more “Domestique Dirty Dandys”

Crux: the movie

A few weeks ago myself and a dozen others took on the annual Hells 500 epic: Crux. It was a tough day -- 215km, 10+ hours in the saddle, 5,600m of climbing -- but it was also a very rewarding and memorable. Thanks to Nigel Welch, there's now a terrific video that really captures the spirit of the ride. Read more “Crux: the movie”

7 Peaks Domestique Series ride #2: Mt. Baw Baw

Few hills in Victoria inspire fear quite like Mt. Baw Baw. Sure, reports of it being the hardest sealed road climb in Australia might be overblown -- this is supposedly harder -- but it's still a climb that will make you suffer for almost every metre. So when Andy van Bergen and I plotted out the dates for our 7 Peaks Domestique Series and put Mt. Baw Baw so close to the start, we probably weren't expecting more than 20 people to turn up. We needn't have worried. Read more “7 Peaks Domestique Series ride #2: Mt. Baw Baw”

The warm-up is done, now bring on Mt. Baw Baw!

If I had to nominate the 7 Peaks climb I'm most looking forward to riding this spring/summer, it would have to be Mt. Baw Baw. It's probably the hardest of the 7 climbs, but there's something about the ridiculous, unrelenting gradients that has great appeal. Of course, there's also the awesome ride between Noojee and the climb to look forward to -- in fact, that's probably up there with the best roads I've ever cycled. Read more “The warm-up is done, now bring on Mt. Baw Baw!”