Coming to us from the Mornington Peninsula, 54-year-old contributor Pete Mills. HIs rides cover his home region, the Peninsula.
For Pete, he believes that “the Mornington Peninsula is a great place to live and ride. It has some really nice steep climbs including the very scenic Arthurs Seat.”
The region has a lot to offer riders and holidaymakers and features great vineyards, cafes, beaches and secluded forest roads that are brilliant to ride alone or with others.
Plus some really nice weather in spring, summer & autumn making it a must for all cyclists whether they are serious riders or the more casual type of rider.
“I wanted to share this with others so they can enjoy riding them. These are the roads I train and love riding on all year round.I hope everyone loves them as well.” said Pete.
What’s your favourite ride to do in the real world?
The Falls Creek 3 peaks challenge in Victoria’s high country is certainly a ride that challenges everybody who is crazy enough to do it and it was my turn in 2019 with a great bunch of mates.
It includes the climb of Mt Hotham and Tawonga Gap which are on FulGaz and also the back of Falls creek. It’s an epic day with over 235kms and 4600 metres of climbing.
Favourite FulGaz ride & why?
Far too many great ones to choose from but I do love the climbs. All of the Col climbs are awesome as well as all the ones in the Dolomites. Sella Rhonda clockwise on the Jens Voigt shut up legs event would have to be my no 1 though. All of the Switzerland rides are brilliant as well .
How did you start filming rides for FulGaz?
I wanted to do some of the Mornington Peninsula rides on FulGaz to replicate the training rides I would normally do when the weather was bad. I had considered it for a while but my GoPro and Garmin bike computers were earlier models so no good.
When I updated my bike computer to a Wahoo bolt I happened to drop into FulGaz HQ on the spur of the moment to meet Mike [Clucas] and after talking to him he was able to arrange with Aiden to borrow a GoPro to film some rides. I just loved doing it and hope to do more in the future. As a mate said to me, “we love riding routes overseas that we will never do IRL (in real life) so it’s great that others can do some Aussie rides.”
Favourite cycling memory?
The time I rode with a mate around the whole of Tasmania on our road bikes over 10 days whilst another mate drove a support vehicle. Tassie is such a beautiful place and definitely not flat. It included the awesome climb of Mt Wellington which is also on FulGaz.
Also attending the Tour Down Under in Adelaide many times and riding with Jens Voigt on his “Shut Up Legs Down Under” team one year. He is such a funny bloke and a real gentleman.
Why did you start riding inside?
Three years ago I found it really boring to ride my spin bike during the week for extra training or in wet weather and a mate kept telling me about this app called “FulGaz” he had discovered and a smart trainer where he could ride all over the world.
After joking with him it was some kind of glorified spin bike he insisted on bringing it over so I could try it. Of all rides I could have done I agreed to try 20 mins of the earlier FulGaz version of Mont Ventoux .
Nearly 2 hrs later I made it to the top and I was hooked and amazed by how great it was. I went and bought a smart trainer, Apple TV and became a FulGaz subscriber. In fact, I used FulGaz a lot to train for the 3 Peaks ride combined with my outdoor training.
Now I love my FulGaz riding as much as any good outdoor ride. It’s hard to choose which one to do, especially with events like French Tour and the upcoming Australian Tour.
Dream bike or favourite bike?
Specialized S works.