Baseline Bike Fit

Peaks Challenge Falls Creek: A Baseline check before the load rises

Peaks Challenge Falls Creek returns on 8 March 2026 and remains one of Bicycle Network’s most demanding and exciting endurance events. At 235 kilometres and over 4000 metres of climbing, this event is often compared to a mountain stage of the Tour de France and is certainly not for the faint of heart.

As the Peaks Challenge approaches, most riders naturally increase their training. Longer rides, more climbing, more intensity. This is what we refer to as training load. Load is the total stress placed on the body through how long you ride, how hard you ride, how often you ride, and how much sustained effort is involved.

As load increases, the margin for error gets smaller. Positions that feel fine on shorter rides may not hold up after many hours on the bike. This is why niggles often appear during peak training. Knee pain late in long rides. Hip or lower back tightness after climbing. Saddle discomfort that worsens hour by hour. Hand or foot numbness that was previously intermittent. These are rarely new injuries. More often, they are signs that your setup is being pushed beyond what it can tolerate.

A bike fit in the lead up to Peaks Challenge Falls Creek is not about chasing a new position. It’s about confirming that your current setup can handle the load you’re asking of it. Addressing cleat position, saddle height and fore aft, and reach prior to increasing load helps reduce unnecessary stress, improve efficiency on long climbs, and manage pressure points that only appear late in the day.

At Baseline, bike fitting is physio-led. That means your body comes first, and the bike is adjusted to support how you move, not the other way around. The aim is to balance your body to the bike so that joints, muscles, and tissues share load more evenly when fatigue sets in. This approach is particularly important in the lead up to long endurance events, where small imbalances are magnified over hours of riding.

This period is also your adaptation window. Even small changes require time for the body to adjust. Muscles, tendons, and movement patterns adapt over weeks, not days. Making changes now allows you to train into the position, refine it, and build confidence under fatigue. Leaving it to the final week removes that opportunity.

For an event like Peaks, a bike fit is best thought of as risk management. It’s about making sure discomfort, pain, or numbness is not the reason things unravel when the road tilts up for the final time.

If bike fitting is already on your radar, now is the time to act.