I arrived at the 7-Eleven at the foot of the hill at around 12:45am and started my crazy adventure. I'd chosen the Pender Road side, the easier of the two roads up. The climb is 1.7km long with an average gradient of 5 percent. It comes in two distinct parts, with the first 700m a steady 7 percent before it flattens out for some 200m at 1-2 percent. It then kicks up again via a series of steep little steps to the top. The descent, half of which is on a way-way road, is about 1.3km long, giving a 3km loop and some 81m of elevation according to the Faber 7-11 Lap segment on Strava – http://www.strava.com/activities/167959207/segments/3907763599
The first lap was surreal. Heading up the hill into the darkness knowing that I'd be repeating the process continuously until at least 7pm was a bit of a mind f#*k. Especially as I was really tired. I'd been out the night before for farewell drinks in honour of a departing Mav and the effects of a slight hangover were still lingering. I'd unsuccessfully tried to grab a quick nap on a few occasions throughout the day, and then after watching Nibali decimate his rivals on the Tour, I sent myself to bed at 11:30pm hoping to get an hour or two of sleep (or even just rest) before starting. But the sleep wouldn't come, my mind was just too wired at the enormity of what lay ahead, so I gave up on that idea at midnight and started the final preparations.
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