While the first stage on virtual Australian soil presented you with fifteen hundred feet of climbing for a twelve hundred foot rise in elevation overall (from start to finish), stage 282 is a different beast altogether: the stage only gains twenty feet between Bedfordale and Monadnocks, in terms of where those two towns sit in elevation, but that doesn’t stop you climbing over seven hundred feet on the stage. This one is a gig with some rather challenging ups and downs.
The rollout is down for two miles before the road hiccups back up for half a mile before carrying on downhill for a further two miles. However the bad news is that after that fun start, you regain all of that elevation between miles four and five. In fact the climb is much steeper than the preceding descent. The climb takes you through Canningdale and past Mount Curtis to the west of the highway. The descent down the other side is equally spectacular and it delivers you to the Munda Biddi Trail at seven miles. All of the descents on the stage take you down to around a thousand feet whereas most of the climbs take you back up to twelve hundred.
The next climb takes you to Gleneagle at nine miles, and it tops out at just short of twelve hundred feet. Then it’s back down by ten miles before starting the first of the longer climbs which peaks near to Mount Randall at thirteen miles. That’s followed by another dip before the road climbs again by Mount Cuthbert at sixteen miles.
The descent down to the start of the Monadnocks Reserve at eighteen miles is followed by the final climb of the stage, which also happens to be the longest at six miles. Starting near to Mount Cooke, the road climbs relentlessly through the reserve, and the stage finishes between Mount Solus to the west and Mount Cooke to the east.
Distance: 24 miles / 38 kilometres
Ascent: 745 feet / 227 metres
RGT Magic Road: r9lnQlxd9D9w
Max elevation: 1238 ft
Min elevation: 1058 ft
Total climbing: 744 ft
Total descent: -723 ft
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