Tour Down Under Day 3 Thursday

So as day three dawned the weather was still hot, but there was a strong wind blowing. On the ride out to Wickhams Hill I was hit by about 5 or 6 sticks falling from trees and showered with bark. The wind made the ride tough, but did cool things down a bit.

The climb up Wickhams Hill was a tough one, short but tough.

Climbing up Wickhams Hill



There were heaps of people at the KOM point, the announcer said that there was a breakaway with OGrady, Rogers, Armstrong and Matt Lloyd, and 10 others. As they came over the top Lance was looking good.

I was right on the line and had a great view, best spot I had been in so far. After the main bunch had gone through I had to ride like the wind to beat the breakaway to the sprint point at Meadows. The riders did a loop and we cut across. It was a sprint for about 15 kms and I had to drag a couple of other riders along also.

I made the sprint point and I must admit enjoyed riding through the town with the road lined with spectators. I rode about 750mts past the town on a slight hill to watch them come past. I had pulled up on the left and as the breakaway came past they were on the left of the road with Lance driving the break. It was a great way to finish my tour experience.

I will definitely be going back next year whether Lance is there or not.

Tour Down Under Day 2 Wednesday

Today's stage started at Hahndorf which was about 6kms from where I was staying. So I left at 10am for a 11am start so I could take in the atmosphere.

It was fantastic and the dissapoinment of yesterday and missing the finish were soon forgotten. There were so many faces that I recognised from the Tour De France including Geert Coeman (Silence Lotto Manager) who I actually bumped into in the crowd.

Of course there was only one person that I really wanted to see, as did everybody else.

Lance in the media scrum

Nobody seemed to notice Mick Rogers roll by



After reading Lance's book in 2000, also known as "the book" he has been a sportsman that I have followed and admired what he has achieved. Part of the reason I was in Adeliade was that this was a chance to see him ride and ply his trade, he is definetly a once in a generation athlete.


After the buzz of Handorf it was back to Balhannah to see the first 2nd intermediate sprint at 57km. To get some riding in I headed out to Charleston which was 17km from the start. There were riders in bunches all along the road. I met a guy from Melbourne and we cycled up to Charleston, watched the sprint in Balhannah and then headed back to Stirling, for the finish.


The Breakaway


The Bunch


Got a souveneir at the sprint, Is it M for McEwen



The riders were doing three 20km laps of the finish circuit. We got to see the peleton whizz by several times, and heard that Jack Bobridge and Lance Armstrong had made a breakaway, they got caught soon after and the bunch sprinted home and the stage was won by Allan Davis.



The tour riders were all eating rehydrating and then riding back into the city, which was mainly downhill. If I had have been organised I would have joined in with a group and rode with them back to the city.

I didn't just hung out at the finish and met this guy.



And Phil was quite happy to chat to whoever came over and get a photo with whoever asked. I always thought he would be a good bloke and I was right.

Now it was all downhill back to Balhannah and a swim in the pool, as it had been a hot 37deg during the day.

Today was alot less in kms, about 80, and I got to see the riders a few more times, so it was another great day at the tour.

Tour Down Under Day 1 Tuesday

So it was an early start up at 5am to get on the plane by 7am. So after a taxi ride to my base at the Rogers house in Balhannah, I was on the bike at 10am to head over to the KOM point at Checkers Hill. I had my google maps directions to get there.

I was taking it relatively easy taking in the scenery on the way to Checkers Hill



All went well and I arrived in heaps of time. So After climbing up the hill from the east I rode back down and came up from the west which is the way the peleton would come.

Coming up to the KOM at Checkers Hill

There was a three man break that had got away from the main bunch. There were heaps of spectators congregating at the KOM point.

And LOTS of bikes, including an 09 F1

A few $1000 worth of bike up against that tree

The riders went past and of course it was just a blur, and I didn't really spot anyone except Robbie McEwen who was at the tail of the main bunch. They did go over the top of the climb fast as the bunch was chasing down the break.



As soon as the riders had gone past there was a mad rush to get to of the hill and to the next point you were headed too.

I needed water so I headed the way the riders had come from. I was aiming to cover about 35km in about 2 hours and I would make it to the finish before the riders at Mawson Lakes.

So after a refuel I was off with about 30 other riders heading where I thought was the finish.

First mistake.

I came to a fork in the road and could have gone left or right.I headed left and down gorge road which was a great descent but took me too far south. Second mistake. So after getting some more directions and then getting lost again third mistake, and getting more directions and yes getting lost again fourth mistake, I made it to Mawson Lakes to see this............


So after missing the finish I now had 40 kms to travel to get back to Balhannah. It had been 35 deg all day and I was hot and ready to get off the bike and in the pool.

So I got the Google maps out again and was off, all was going well until I missed a turnoff, fifth mistake, so I backtracked and headed up Coach Rd which was a tough climb when you have done a 100km in 35 deg. Lets just say I was less than impressed when I got to the top and Google maps said turn left but it was a dead end. Sixth mistake, trusting Google maps.

It was a good view of the city on the way up.

So now it was back down and up Greenhill Rd for the climb back to Balhannah.

I was surprised to still see a smile here in this photo, I guess it was because I finally knew where I was and how to get home.

So my first day watching a professional road bike race was over, I had ridden over 120kms spent 8 hours outside in 35deg heat and seen the riders once for all of 10 seconds. And I still thought it was great.

What a week so far

I have now seen 3 stages of the Tour Down Under and all I can say is wow. It has been awesome, the atmosphere in the towns has been great. My legs even feel good after 270kms in three days.

I have my ride from Ararat to Warrnambool tomorrow for a holiday on the long weekend, so check back early next week for a stage by stage update of my adventures.

Tour Down Under

I have managed to get the week away from the office and am heading over to Adelaide early on Tuesday to follow the Tour for 3 days, which I am really looking forward to then getting the train to Ararat and then riding down to Warrnambool to meet the family for the weekend. So there will be plenty of riding and lots of water as the forecast is for 36deg each day.

Climbs and more Climbs

So since last weekend and the riding up Donna Buang I had a quiet week on the bike with only a couple of rides commuting to and from work, which is 55kms each way.

This was a good thing as I went out on Sat morning with John, Bellie, , Jas from EPIX and Ben Randall on a ride through the Dandenongs. So at 4.45am Jas and I set off from home to meet the guys at the Ringwood clock tower.

It was a cool morning but perfect weather for a ride, just that it was dark. So we headed out to the Dandenongs were we spent the next few hours going up and down what it seemed was every climb on the entire mountain range. I have ridden the Dandenongs many times but really have only done a couple of loops so I was introduced to many new sections of road and new climbs which was great.

The pace was on for the whole ride so I was pleased that I was still riding strong at the end after 120kms. Whilst I dropped off the pace slightly on the last couple of climbs I was only marginally behind. It shows that the rest I had at the start of December and the kms I have put in since (plus the bike) are paying dividends.

All is on track for a good day at the Otway Odyssey.

Donna Buang with Rob and Wendy

So with an ascension of Donna Buang on Thursday, I thought Friday was enough rest and Saturday morning (Jan 10th) we decided that before it gets too hot we would tackle Donna Buang and then we could enjoy the rest of the day.

Introducing Rob

No he's not flexing his biceps he has a broken collarbone.


What we will do and put ourselves through for a sporting fix. I just wish I had a photo of Rob descending at 60kmph one handed, but I couldn't let go of the handlebars ;)

So as we all rode up at a nice steady tempo. We had about half a dozen people go past as we cruised along, including a singlespeeder, what some people will do for fun :) .

I am getting good at the one handed behind you photo. I must have had good teachers.

At the turnaround point which is 7kms into the climb I put the big ones in to see how many I could catch. After a steady start I certainly had the legs on the second half of the climb, and even the last km which is normally a killer I was seated and powering along and oh I just caught the singlespeeder about 100mts from the top.

The views are always worth it from the top of the tower.

Now it was just the descent. I pressed lap on the HRM to see what my average speed down the mountain was, 58.3. If you have never ridden Donna Buang its worth the effort just for the descent its fast and flowing. And kudos to the guy riding up the climb who had a bike kid carrier attached to his bike and a 5 year old in the back.

So another adventure was completed, now we just had to ride the Warburton trail with the kids.

Home To Warburton via Donna Buang

So last week it was off to Warburton for the weekend. Kezz and the kids had been there since Tuesday so rather than have two cars I thought I should ride there.

So it was straight home from work on Thursday and on the bike almost like a packhorse but not quite, unfortunately no room for the camera, so my words will have to do.

The ride from home in Ringwood North to Healsville was a fast one averaged 32kmph. That was all eroded away as I turned left up Don road and straight into a headwind Joy!!. I had come down from Donna Buang into Healsville but never gone up it. Well with the 23 on the back it got steep and I struggled to push the big gear, but I got higher on the mountain in flattened out somewhat.

The views out over the ranges to the north are spectacular and are worth doing the ride from this side for if you ever get the chance. There is a great view just before the road goes dusty, which only lasts for about 5kms.

So just over 3 hours after leaving I arrived. Now it was time to play with the kids.

Smash Fest up the 120 Climb

So Jas from Felt Epix got his new F1 and a few hours after it was put together we were off to ride the 120 climb and up to sky high, both on our new machines. Yep the grins lasted as we flew up mountain hwy.





So another ride was completed on the new roadie and I am now realizing how tough it has been on the old bike, I dropped almost a minute of my best time up the 120 climb.





Success we were at Skyhigh, Now let the fun begin. As we descended down into Montrose, fast. Only one drama as we left sky high and Jas hit a bend fast and was on the verge at about 60kmh. Nothing like testing how good your brakes are at about 70kmh coming into a tight right hander. He kept it vertical so no harm done.

My next adventure is riding out to Warburton where the family are camping whilst I have been working, so of course I will be taking the scenic loop through Yarra Glen, Healsville Donna Buang.

So we will see how that goes!

Alpine Ascent Challenge Baw Baw

Alpine Ascent Challenge

So I thought that I would challenge myself and see if I could complete the alpine ascent challenge. This is where you tackle the 7 peaks (you have to complete 4) by a certain date and you enter to win the competition. See more details here .

So I thought I would tackle the hardest one first. I had just received my new road bike, its a year old but looks new and after riding a 2005 OCR1 is just a sweet ride. Its my new Felt F1





So here is where I started its maiden voyage for me. 14 kms out of Noojee on the way to Baw Baw. It was going to be a hot day 35 deg so I got out early and started riding at just after 7am. The book says that Baw Baw is the second hardest climb in the world of cycling with an average gradient of 13% and a max of 20%.

I'll be up the top of that soon.

The ride out to the base of the mountain and the last 6 kms had plenty of climbing. I had done 800mts of climbing in just under 1.5 hrs of riding as I approached the gates to mountain. I had 6km to go and 718m to go up. The alpine ascent passport said the climb should take 35mins.

So 45 mins of pain later I saw this



The resort management office was open but all lights were still off as it was just before 9am, the lady stamped my passport and offered to shout me a powerade as I could not find my money, then I realized I had secured it in my shoe.

So after enduring the 45 minutes of pain and zig zagging over the road just to keep moving forward, I was down in 8 minutes.

Towards the end after 3hrs 30 mins and 2000 mts of vertical I took a photo of what I had just gone up.


and then realised

what a SMILE can do.

This is the first post on my first blog site. I am joining the blogger phenomenon as I enjoy reading other sites and hope that people will enjoy reading about my adventures.

I am 36 years old and have a wife and 4 kids. In amongst doing washing cooking and other household duties that you have to do in a busy house with 6 people I try and get out and enjoy the outdoors. This will generally be on either the road or mountain bike, running or paddling somewhere. This blog will be about those adventures.



Enjoying some sweet single track at altitude in New Zealand


I have a big sporting year planned with 3 races already booked in. The Otway Odessey 100km (21st Feb) MTB race, the BMC 100km (19th May) MTB race and the Dirtworks 100km (3rd May) MTB race. So my training will be based mainly on the bike for the first part of the year. I will be tackling some Adventure Races later in the year, but more on those later.

So there is a brief introduction to the site. I look forward to bringing you some interesting stories from my adventures this year.