What You Missed This Morning…

May 28, 2009

bawbaw1

Couldn’t resist stopping at the resort entry for a quick pic, and to rest my legs which were about to fall off. Keep up the awesome blog! Mt Baw Baw, Victoria, Australia. – Andrew

CT: for those who don’t have an appreciation for this climb, it’s an average gradient of 11.5% for over 6 km (after 30km of climbing to get to this point). This is pretty intense, especially given the last few km bring the average down. The maximum gradient on the climb is 20% which is ridiculous! To put it in perspective, 5% gradient is a nice steady climb, 10% is generally considered a fairly steep hill, and anything above 10% starts to burn after a few seconds of standing on the pedals. Best to have a 29T on the cassette for this one. I’ve intentionally cowarded away from Baw Baw since the day I heard of its folklore.

Tagged as: Baw Baw

Craig J

Where are you going with 11%? Baw Baw has an average if 18% for the 6km climb with some of the corners approaching 25%!!

The first 2km are definitely the steepest and it tends to get a bit easier towards the top… Most certainly the toughest climb I have ever done and is regarded as the hardest climb in Australia by both Baden Cooke and Matt Wilson!
Craig J

Where are you going with 11%? Baw Baw has an average if 18% for the 6km climb with some of the corners approaching 25%!!

The first 2km are definitely the steepest and it tends to get a bit easier towards the top… Most certainly the toughest climb I have ever done and is regarded as the hardest climb in Australia by both Baden Cooke and Matt Wilson!
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/ cyclingtips

CJ,
Just getting my stats from Cycle2Max. No doubt it’s the toughest climb in Australia though (from what I hear). Geez man…you’re breaking my balls here! I bet you’re one of those guys who heckle the comedians during their act too.

http://cycle2max.com/bike-hill-climb/Mt-Baw-Baw.aspx?id=73

Total Distance:
6.00km | 3.73mi

Starting Altitude:
780m | 2,559ft

Finishing Altitude:
1,460m | 4,790ft

Average Gradient: 11.3%

Elevation Gain:
680m | 2,231ft

The Baw Baw climb is 6km from the gatehouse to the summit with an elevation gain of 780m. This means that the average gradient is 13% for the whole climb (780/6000 x 100). I am not sure what the steepest sections are. As a comparison, L’Alpe d’Huez, the most famous climb in the Tour de France is 13.8km at 7.9%. The Col du Tourmalet is 18.3km at 7.7% and the Col de la Madelaine is 19.4km at 7.7%. Last year’s Tour of Spain had a climb up L’Angliru which was billed as the toughest climb in the world (see http://www.team.malarenergi.se/probike/vuelta99/alix.html ). It is 13km at an average of 9.6% with the last 6 km averaging 13%. The steepest section is 23.5%. Although a “hors category” climb normally has an elevation gain of at least 1000m and more likely, 1500m, the steepness of Baw Baw would mean that it would be classed as a hors category in Europe. As you can see, Baw Baw is not that far behind L’Angliru.
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com cyclingtips

CJ,
Just getting my stats from Cycle2Max. No doubt it’s the toughest climb in Australia though (from what I hear). Geez man…you’re breaking my balls here! I bet you’re one of those guys who heckle the comedians during their act too.

http://cycle2max.com/bike-hill-climb/Mt-Baw-Baw.aspx?id=73

Total Distance:
6.00km | 3.73mi

Starting Altitude:
780m | 2,559ft

Finishing Altitude:
1,460m | 4,790ft

Average Gradient: 11.3%

Elevation Gain:
680m | 2,231ft

The Baw Baw climb is 6km from the gatehouse to the summit with an elevation gain of 780m. This means that the average gradient is 13% for the whole climb (780/6000 x 100). I am not sure what the steepest sections are. As a comparison, L’Alpe d’Huez, the most famous climb in the Tour de France is 13.8km at 7.9%. The Col du Tourmalet is 18.3km at 7.7% and the Col de la Madelaine is 19.4km at 7.7%. Last year’s Tour of Spain had a climb up L’Angliru which was billed as the toughest climb in the world (see http://www.team.malarenergi.se/probike/vuelta99/alix.html ). It is 13km at an average of 9.6% with the last 6 km averaging 13%. The steepest section is 23.5%. Although a “hors category” climb normally has an elevation gain of at least 1000m and more likely, 1500m, the steepness of Baw Baw would mean that it would be classed as a hors category in Europe. As you can see, Baw Baw is not that far behind L’Angliru.