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.