It was 5:30am on a cool and crisp Saturday late October morning when riders started to gather at the Melbourne GPO for the first ride in the Victorian Gran Tourissimo Series run by Chris Rogers. Inebriated night clubbers passed by making smart alec comments
The first announcement made by Chris during his briefing to riders prior to the 6am start was that we had to depart via Elizabeth street and not Bourke St Mall as if we chose to ride down the mall there would be a $250 fine issued by the authorities. I think some of the ride participants were fortunate because that was they way they had come!
The route out of the city was straight forward but as one might expect it was marred by a plethora of traffic lights that punctuated the first 15 kilometres. The faster riders gradually moved away into the distance as I settled down into a conservative pace and it wasn’t long before I settled down into a rhythm that matched that of Henry De Man. Together we made the gradual climb into the dividing range and our first checkpoint for a brief stop at a Wandong Service Station at 8:30 am. We then proceeded through some very scenic country side, greened by September rains, before we pulled into another servo that served as our stop at Seymour for a little food and a sunscreen application. Around 11 am I climbed the last hill before Avenel with Henry on my wheel and began the descent into the town. At the bottom of the hill I glanced behind only to glimpse Henry pulled up on the side of the road some 500 metres back just as he passed out of my sight. I pulled up and took the opportunity to phone my wife to update her on my progress as we would be rendezvousing in Bright at the end of the ride. I then rode back and found Henry almost ready to roll again. Henry was also having some trouble with his speedo as it had reverted to miles per hour and refused to indicate kilometres per hour. The result was that Henry seemed to feel we weren’t travelling quick enough so he started to set quite a challenging pace that carried on through Nagambie. A walk across Kirwan’s Bridge over the Goulburn River required considerable concentration to avoid losing your bike or worse still yourself through the gaps in the longitudinal timbers. At the end of the bridge a check of the pressure in the tyre that Henry earlier replaced resulted in the tube failing at the valve stem. While repairs proceeded Steven “Whatto” Watson stopped for a bit and chatted a while before moving off again. Henry and I then rode on to the checkpoint at the Murchison bakery at the 169km mark. Several of the quicker riders were still there but by the time we sat down to eat lunch they had set off. After lunch we set off for a few hundred metres down the wrong road but quickly corrected ourselves and were soon grinding our way to Rushworth. Here we turned towards Tatura and picked up a good tail wind. The temperature was also rising so a 5 minute stop in the shade at a Waranga Basin picnic area was welcome before the next checkpoint at Tatura. A third puncture for Henry occurred just as we made it in to Tatura. As we were moving out of town we hooked up with Alan Baker who was down from Queensland to do the series. Together the three of us rode on to Shepparton and a noodle shop that had been an important refuel stop on my last two Oppermans. The ride from Shep to Wang had us donning reflective gear about mid way before the sun set. A solid climb into the Warby’s before a rapid descent in to town. Alan and Henry had been discussing the merits of various coffee blends and machines so that’s what we sought out at a hotel/restaurant. My stomach had started to cause me some serious difficulty so I passed on the coffee and made the mistake at this point of failing to eat anything.
Out of Wangaratta on the last stretch to Bright I was in poor shape and had to stop frequently and my pace had slowed to a crawl. I was not thinking to clearly, feeling quite cold and tired. Finally with about 20 k to go I managed to eat a muesli bar which as it reached my bloodstream lifted my strength and spirit We rode into Bright a bit after 3 am. Thank you to Henry and Alan who could have made it to the finish earlier but refused to proceed without me. For this I am very grateful.
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