Survival

 Our Survival Tips

• Nutrition -
  The Long course will take you between 4.5 and 6.5 hours to complete, think about eating and drinking regularly. The great tasting range from SiS Nutrition is an ideal way to achieve this. They even have a nutrition guide that outlines how much you will need for the level of energy expenditure and can be found HERE. Getting this right will be critical to your survival.
  

• Neutral Aid Stations -
  We encourage riders to be self-sufficient. We will have aid stations at several spots on both courses. They are Aid stations and not feed stations. They will only have water, bananas, and soft drinks. Treat them as a back up to your nutrition plan if you find yourself having a bad day.
  Due to the remote nature of the course, access is dificult. Please do not send family and/or friends onto the course to provide support.
  This increased vehcile traffic is not ideal and road closures are in place to prevent it for everyones safety.
  Plan to be self suficient with on the bike nutrition and drop bags.
  
  The Aid Stations are located at the following marshal points:

  • 37KM - Ringarooma Long course/Short Course Junction - ROLL Cycle Mechanics on site.

  • 53km - Forest Lodge Road x Mount Victoria Road Junction - ROLL Cycle Mechanics on site .

  • 81 km - Mount Victoria Carpark.

• Long Course Drop bags -
  Drop bags with specific nutrition or preprepared water bottles can be dropped off at registration and will be available for you at the Ringarooma and Mount Victoria Aid Station. Please have your full name and contact number on your bag.
  

• What are the Gravel Grades of our course -

  13% bitumen over 4 short sections

  67% Grade 1, 2 to 3 Gravel with a slight bias towards more Grade 3

  18% Grade 4 Gravel

  2% Grade 5 Gravel
  
  Grade 1

  Suggested tyre size: 700×25 – 700×32

  Bad roads, cobbles and rough paved surfaces. You’re fine on this with a road bike, but you’re going to have a better time on wider tyres and with disc brakes.

  Grade 2

  Suggested tyre size: 700×28 – 700×35

  Dirt roads. The native habitat of our crew in Boulder, where well-made, hard-packed dirt roads offer a road-like experience but without the traffic. A 2WD car will have no problems getting along here; a road bike will be mostly fine but some rutting and looseness will mean that it’s getting a little out of its depth. At times, may be even smoother than bad paved surfaces.

  At the rockier end of the dirt road spectrum, you start to approach…

  Grade 3

  Suggested tyre size: 700×32 – 700×38

  Reasonably smooth gravel. Discernible small rocks over a hard-packed surface mean that you’re struggling to pick a line on narrower tyres; a bigger volume tyre allows you to keep your speed up. In wet conditions, there’s a fair bit of muck kicked up from the surface so rim brakes, even if they allow the tyre clearance, might not be ideal.

  Grade 4

  Suggested tyre size: 700×35 – 700×40+

  Rough gravel. With surface conditions that may include shale, larger gravel and rocks, this is tending toward the rougher-end of the capabilities of a 2WD car.

  You’d be well and truly out of your depth on a road bike here, and are getting to the point where tubeless tyres, disc brakes and big clearance are the safest and most practical choice. May also include smoother singletrack.

  Grade 5

  Suggested tyre size: 700×38+ / 650b

  Borderline MTB terrain. At the rougher end of the spectrum for the capabilities of most gravel bikes, we’re starting to get into the more weird and wonderful of the category’s tech – we’re talking dropper posts, 650×2.2” tyres, suspension … essentially drop-bar MTBs.

  These more robust creations allow you to tackle 4WD tracks, rough firetrail and terrain that five years ago would probably have had you reaching for your mountain bike.
  

• Hunt in a pack -
  Ever watched the Tour de France and wondered why they all rode in a big bunch? It is because the energy savings are significant. This image gives you an idea of the amount of relative effort. So find a few buddies and take turns to ride on the front or take a rest.