Mt Coot-tha training

[Mr Purple]

Well, I'm consistent at least. 8:14@366W last week for the podcast segment, 8:15@358W this week. Very similar conditions, I just suspect my PM was a little 'happy' last week as the battery was on the way out.

#1 this week so far as well. Conditions up there haven't been particularly pleasant at the moment.

[Mr Purple]

Mank up there this week. Spectacularly slow, 20W down on average power and average HR of 188 this morning.

Way too humid for this time of year!

[jasonc]

another year, another 100 coot-tha backs
edit: first year of over 100 was 2013. so 12 years in a row

edit: got the coot-tha back that i missed out on a few weeks ago after a logging a job with strava.
also did my fastest one of the year this morning. happy with that
nope. second fastest. was best power on the climb for the year though

[bwdftp]

good consistency Jas.

[Mr Purple]

Yep, top effort Jason.

I'll obviously be out for a few months now sorting out my various broken things. Both bones and bikes.

Hope to be back at it some stage. Hopefully reasonably rapid and fully seated!

[jasonc]

Yep, top effort Jason.

I'll obviously be out for a few months now sorting out my various broken things. Both bones and bikes.

Hope to be back at it some stage. Hopefully reasonably rapid and fully seated!

well that doesn't sound great

[jasonc]

fastest time for the year on second best power for the year this morning

edit: botanical gardens descent is now 50....
you know it won't be long til there's some enforcement there

[jasonc]

kudos to bwdftp - 5000 sub 9s
you are in a different league sir

[warthog1]

^^

[bwdftp]

kudos to bwdftp - 5000 sub 9s
you are in a different league sir

Thanks Jas. Been a real grind lately...

[jasonc]

120 backs for the year

[stevenaaus]

Great hill hey .
I had a hilly 70km last month.. Around cootha and then return to Karana Downs. Problem was I grabbed the wrong bike. 36x28 is a bit high for cootha back nowadays. Steep rollers out at Karana too and a bit of traffic midday Sunday.

What happened to you / bike Mr Purple?

[Mr Purple]

Great hill hey .
I had a hilly 70km last month.. Around cootha and then return to Karana Downs. Problem was I grabbed the wrong bike. 36x28 is a bit high for cootha back nowadays. Steep rollers out at Karana too and a bit of traffic midday Sunday.

What happened to you / bike Mr Purple?

Rear seatstay snapped at 720W/48km/hr. Six broken ribs and a scapula.

Recovering well now close to seven weeks later but not allowed outdoors for another five weeks (I swear it's a conspiracy between my wife and my physio).

Back up to close to 3.5-4W/kg FTP on the trainer but definitely lost a bit of climbing strength (as you'd expect). Hoping to reinvent as a 'spinny, gentle type' climber so I stop breaking stuff in the meantime.

I have a 'sub 9 minute Cootha Back' as my benchmark on my 9.5kg/42mm tyred gravel bike as my trigger point to buying a new road bike.

[stevenaaus]

Bummer... Nasty high speed accident.

[jasonc]

while climbing near the start of coot-tha back, saw bwdftp descending. my radar went off around the 1800m mark, look around and here he is coming. so put the hammer down to make sure he didn't catch me. it was close but I got there!

[Mr Purple]

while climbing near the start of coot-tha back, saw bwdftp descending. my radar went off around the 1800m mark, look around and here he is coming. so put the hammer down to make sure he didn't catch me. it was close but I got there!

Held him out for 400m, nice!

Brave being out there this week. I'm half tempted to try my first Cootha Back on the gravel bike this weekend, but know it's going to suck.

Wide knobbly tyres on wet roads aren't exactly fun. Managed a sub 7 Gravatt on it last weekend, I think the sub 9 Cootha will be a challenge.

[jasonc]

if it makes you feel better a friend of mine has done a sub 9 on a duallie

[Mr Purple]

if it makes you feel better a friend of mine has done a sub 9 on a duallie

I managed a 7:46 on my old 9.5kg alloy Avanti (same weight as the Checkpoint) but I suspect tyres will be a greater limiting factor.

Well, that and the whole 'f this' that comes from having four months without a Cootha Back.

[bwdftp]

while climbing near the start of coot-tha back, saw bwdftp descending. my radar went off around the 1800m mark, look around and here he is coming. so put the hammer down to make sure he didn't catch me. it was close but I got there!

"near the start" aka around 500m

[jasonc]

was almost a fair competition bwdftp

[Mr Purple]

Did an impromptu Cootha Back in the gravel bike in the rain, 45km into the ride today.

8:58. Grip was an issue. The guys I passed were surprisingly good natured about it.

I think that gives me permission to order a new road bike now. Stopped by Giant Brisbane on the way home - the TCR just happens to be on special this week.

[elantra]

Did an impromptu Cootha Back in the gravel bike in the rain, 45km into the ride today.

8:58. Grip was an issue. The guys I passed were surprisingly good natured about it.
……..

Crikeys sub-9 minutes up the back of Coottha is FAST. Especially on a gravel bike.

My best ever Coottha back was just over 10 minutes, several years ago, on an old steel racing bike with downtube shifters.
I’ve not come close to that since then, even on lighter bike (Trek discovery channel Lance type thingo with 9-speed Dura Ace)

Going DOWN the back of Coottha in the rain is not really recommended.
Many of those corners are a bit off-camber and that is slightly terrifying in heavy rain on a wet road.

[Mr Purple]

Yep, I always do the full loop so I'm descending the front if it's wet!

The gravel bike tyres are 42mm Specialized Pathfinder SWorks and they're randomly sketchy. I think it's the slick centre strip with the knobbly bits up the sides - how much grip you're getting depends on how angled your wheels are, so you can randomly transition between 'some' and 'none' depending on how you're leaning.

I reckon I could do a sub 8:30 on the Checkpoint in the dry. Just not sure there's enough motivation in the world for me to do so, it was pretty unpleasant.