Mt. Donna Buang - The Climbing Cyclist

December 2, 2015February 1, 2022

Vertical K: seeing a different side to Mt. Donna Buang

I've climbed Mt. Donna Buang more times by bike than I care to remember but there's one way up I'd never experienced, until now. At Sunday's Vertical K event I 'ran' up the steep walking track to the summit of Donna while my brother Brendan rode up the main climb. The race was on. Read more

November 25, 2015November 27, 2015

The inaugural CyclingTips Giro della Donna

After many months of planning, the first-ever CyclingTips Giro della Donna was held last Sunday in perfect conditions. I was lucky enough to be able to do the ride while my CyclingTips colleagues were stuck working at the event village. Read more

February 11, 2015

A day with Donna: a fitness test and supporting Everesting

Last Saturday I headed out to Mt. Donna Buang for a couple of reasons: to have a crack at the climb and see where my fitness is at, and to support a bunch of amazing women who were trying to "Everest" the climb. Read more

July 2, 2014February 2, 2022

In search of snow: a Donna Buang winter ride

There's something strangely appealing about the idea of riding up a mountain in winter, with the promise of catching some snow at the top. It's something I've tried to do in recent years, but with limited success. Last Sunday was different. Read more

August 15, 2013July 2, 2014

Donna Done Dirty 2013

Riding up mountains in the middle of winter mightn't sound like much fun, but when the ride is organised by Hells 500 and you're surrounded by great people, it's a great way to spend a chilly Sunday morning. Here's my report from the second annual Donna Done Dirty. Read more

November 12, 2012January 31, 2013

The Demon's Double (with some hell in between)

'I've ridden the first 140km of this ride before, how hard could it be to add one climb of Mt. Donna Buang to that? After all I did a Triple Donna just a few weeks ago!' All of that was true, but it didn't make the ride any easier. In fact, if you erase the 3 Peaks Challenge from my cycling memory, Saturday would probably be the hardest ride I've ever done. Read more

October 17, 2012

Double Donna, Triple Donna, Quadruple Donna?

As a recreational cyclist that's spent the past few years getting stronger and faster on the bike, there's a question that keeps resurfacing in my mind: 'What's the limit of my cycling ability?' I suspect it's a question that most (if not all) cyclists find themselves asking at one point or another and for me, trying to answer that question is one of the biggest appeals of cycling and sport in general -- how far can I push myself before it becomes too much? Read more

October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

Double Donna done, but why do we do hill repeats?

Climbing Donna Buang twice got me thinking about a handful of impressive repeat efforts I've heard of in recent years. It also got me thinking: what even is the appeal of riding the same mountain again and again? Read more

September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

Group ride: The Demon’s Double (and some hell in between)

There’s something a bit sick (and not in a good way) about me lending my name to an event with ~3,500 metres of climbing – especially less than a year since my first climb, Mt. Donna Buang, nearly ended me. Read more

August 14, 2012

The Dandenongs/Double-Donna double-header

I wasn't planning on having a big weekend with lots of climbing, but in the end, that's exactly what happened. On Saturday morning I met the Donvale Demon in Kew and we headed out to the Dandenongs via the Eastlink Trail. We didn't have a concrete plan -- we'd just find our way out to the hills, start climbing, and stop when we got tired/bored/soaked/ran out of time. Read more

August 6, 2012August 8, 2012

Donna Done Dirty 2012 (a Hells 500 epic)

After a week of checking snow and weather reports religiously, and after many weeks of build-up and anticipation, Donna Done Dirty finally landed on Saturday. It was well worth the wait, and if there's one thing I took away from the day it's this: the Hells 500 crew do an amazing job of putting on interesting, challenging and well-supported rides. Read more

July 19, 2012July 20, 2012

Group ride: Donna Done Dirty (a Hells 500 epic)

The Hells 500 crew don’t do things by halves. They hold the record for the fastest completion of the 7 Peaks Alpine Ascent Challenge (less than 35 hours), they’ve ridden 500km in the Victorian Alps over two days and, more … Read more “Group ride: Donna Done Dirty (a Hells 500 epic)”

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

Guest post: Racing up Mt. Donna Buang

It's one thing to climb a mountain by bike. It's another thing entirely to climb that mountain against the clock while competing in an official event. In this guest post, Josh Goodall describes his experience competing in C grade in a recent individual time trial (ITT) up Mt. Donna Buang. WORD Read more