Hell Ride

Saturday saw Jase and I head off to meet Ash for a nice roll out along beach road with 10,000 of our fellow cyclists.

After a sleep in by my riding mate we had to smash it down to the beach to make it on time, a short cut was taken so we would not miss the bunch. So we made it and enjoyed the pace of the bunch humming along at 50kmph.

Bumped into Neil in the pack and we chatted as we slowly fell towards the tail of the bunch. It was then decided that we would head to the front so we rolled to the right and worked our way to the front of the bunch.

Now I have never rolled turns on this ride normally just struggling to keep in the bunch, so I wanted to give it a go. There were from what I could tell about 15-20 guys taking there turn on the front, this lasted about 15 minutes until we reached Frankston where no one rolled through, funny that. So as we hit the base of the climb I dropped back until someone decided they wanted my piece of road and I had to brake and came to a standstill.

As we crested the top of the climb most of the riders around me just rolled to the other side of the road to wait for the bunch on there return. I chased along with one other guy, we were only about 150 meters back which proved about 100 meters too many, as we kept them in sight but could not bridge the gap. Next time I will definitely ensure I climb that pinch faster so I don't have to chase back on.

So it was a long solo ride most of the way back to Black Rock, watching the hundreds of riders rolling out the other way.

I missed all the action of the sprint which sounded like a good thing for a change.

New Yarra Glen Loop

In the past year or so we have a "regular" Sat morning loop which takes us around Sugar Loaf Dam. It is what we call a road ride on the MTB's.

As I have plenty of spare time at the moment I headed out on Thursday to do this loop and add a few extra bits. I had done this a few weeks before and found some single track out at Yarra Glen and was now trying to loop it all together.

So it was an early start at 6am and on the Virtue I knew I was in for a nice plush ride as we normally tackle this ride on the hardtails. The first part of the ride went well with me putting a nice loop together, it was when I was "searching" for a track I used to ride when I lived in Yarra Glen that things went south, or actually west.

This track was impossible to find as the fires had been through this area, so I rode down the side of a hill where I thought the track used to go to find the track in the valley. Yep not my best idea as the re growth in the valley was alot more than on the ridges where I had been riding. So it was hike a bike for about an hour over 3 ridges before I finally got to the fire road I was after, then smashed it down the fire road to St Andrews, and linked in the Smiths Gully tracks.

Bumped into my neighbour from Yarra Glen who now lives in Smiths Gully, such a small world, considering I was riding tracks he had showed me about 6 years ago.

So after the sweet trails of Smiths Gully it is a slog back home for food. I arrived home to a bit of a worried wife who had started the search for the lost mountain biker. I guess I need a mobile phone when I ride, but that's another story.

Ride About Tour

So as I said before we came to the top of Coombs road and there were 4 girls sitting down having a snack. We asked where they were headed as they had trolleys and panniers etc.

They answered Cape York!

So a bit ataken back we aksed how many and the answer was 6 plus the baby. Yep a 7 month old baby was in tow.

So after more questioning we found out they were Kiwis, so it made a bit more sense now.

Anyway check out there tales at ride about tour for the interesting stories about there travels.

Ride About Tour

http://rideabouttour.com/

So as I said before we came to the top of Coombs road and there were 4 girls sitting down having a snack. We asked where they were headed as they had trolleys and panniers etc.

They answered Cape York!

So a bit ataken back we aksed how many and the answer was 6 plus the baby. Yep a 7 month old baby was in tow.

So after more questioning we found out they were Kiwis, so it made a bit more sense now.

Anyway check out there tales at http://rideabouttour.com/ for the interesting stories about there travels

A Wednesday Morning Ride

I had loosely arranged a ride with Steve who works 4 days a week and has Wednesdays off. The plan was meet at Kangaroo Ground at 8am and then head to Kinglake and see from there. I thought that would be turn around and roll back down, 2 hours and we would be done, so I rode out to Kangaroo Ground (about 20kms).

Well when we got to the top Steve said lets drop down into Whittelsea and do the climb Cadel Evans used to train on. Steve is reading the book, says its good, so why not.

So we headed over and down, then did a sharp left before we hit Whittlesea township and headed up Coombs road or the Humevale climb. The road was deserted and it was a steady gradient climb not unlike Chum Creek.

So after the climb we stopped at Pheasant Creek bakery, I had the BEST hot jam donut I have ever had the thing was the size of a football. It was then a furious ride back to Kangaroo Ground as Steve was running late for an appointment.

So as I rolled into my street I had clocked up 126km, not bad when I thought I was doing an 80km ride.

Now the highlight of the ride was the riders we bumped into at the top Coombs road, but more on that later.

Dinner Plain

So the road to Dinner Plain drops about 300 meters in elevation from Hotham but the road rolls up and down a bit over the 12 kms.


So my timings were starting to tighten and I realised that dropping all the way to Omeo would be a long slog and would be more like 170kms than 150 so as I flew past many of these signs





I pulled the brakes on at Cobungra, which was about 20kms down from Dinner Plain, this left me with 30kms to climb back up to Hotham and then the 30kms of downhill on the other side, and lunch. I knew I was getting tired as I was thinking about lunch alot and I could not eat another Recovery bar, normally the mint does the job but not now.

Cattle grazing at 1400 mts, reminds me of a movie I saw as a little tacker.



Almost done 12kms of work left and then some downhill to enjoy.


Looking back to Dinner Plain as I arrived back at Hotham.


The view to Mt Feathertop the highest peak in Victoria.

So now for 30kms of downhill which I knocked off in about 40mins. Saw a few riders at the base starting their day and was glad mine was over.

Got back to the car and had a lie down in the Ovens river which was cold but really refreshed me up for the drive home.

The day was 120kms with 2600mts of vertical, to make the two day total 232kms with 5300mts of vertical.

It was a fantastic experience and one that I will definitely repeat as the riding is just awesome.

Hotham

So after alot of food for dinner and a restless nights sleep it was an early start as I had a bit of riding to do. The plan was Harrietville to Omeo and back roughly about 150kms.

I took this photo on the way down as I was not sure where I was heading but this is Hotham in the distance.





It was a cool start and I was well rugged up with a merino singlet, my jersey, wind vest and a rain jacket. No rain just needed it for warmth. The ride started sharply as I had 300mts of flat then bang straight into the climb. The legs were heavy from the 2700mts of vertical the day before.

Yep the road is steep!!!!!!!!!

The climb up Hotham is steady climbing at the bottom, then you hit "the meg" and then after the meg is flattens out a bit and is a false flat for about 3 or 4 kms. It then points skywards and has a few pinches like CRB Hill which was tough.







The views from the road on the way up were awesome, and it was cool in the shade and at the top not much better in the sun as there was a breeze that was cold. It was about 8 deg at the top at 8am when I got there.

So it took 2 hours to climb up to Hotham with about 1500 mts gained. It was now the "mental side" of the ride continuing to ride to Dinner Plain and then down the mountain to Omeo all the while knowing that it was a U turn at Omeo and back up to Hotham.

Falls Creek Ride 2 Day 1

So after a quick lunch and a drive from Bright over to Mt Beauty it was time to tackle Falls Creek.

In some weird twist of coincidence the two riders I saw that had just come down Buffallo when I started going up were coming down Falls as I was going up, did not think anyone would be out doing the same 2 mountains as I was, but there you go.

Falls is an interesting climb as about 3 or 4 kms in the road flattens and its up and down, which I enjoyed at the time as the legs were heavy after Buffallo. But on the other hand I knew that I would have to work on the descent on the way home.




This creek signifies that start of the last 14kms to the summit of constant climbing. I kept waiting for the road to steepen but it never really does. I overtook one rider towards the summit when it does get a little steeper, but she was about 65 and had double front and rear panniers, that is what I call hard core.


I noticed that all the resorts had work going on as I guess there are only so many months when you can work on things before the snow comes.


There is quite alot of evidence of the fires from 2007 that went through this area and alot of the trees have just now grown back. In alot of areas there are new trees but the burnt trees have no new growth on them.


So at the end of this ride I had clocked up 112kms for the day with 2700mts of climbing. I guess I will have a big dinner and a solid nights rest before I attempt the 150kms I have planned for tomorrow.