The second leg of the series promised to be a challenge. I had done a reconnaissance by car of the Mt Hotham climb the day before. In the exposed areas of the climb near the summit the wind was howling and icicles were hanging from the roadside signage. The car said it was 1 degree outside, there was a high wind chill and the hanging cloud shrouded the top of the mountain in fog. Witnessing this caused me a change of plans on how I would approach equipping myself for the ride the following day. I had been thinking of “going light” to aid climbing but I decided to attach my rack and bag as I would be wearing additional “keep warm” clothing knowing I would be wanting to stow it away as the day warmed.
Another chilly start greeted the riders on the Tuesday morning. A peloton formed and stayed together until the first serious hill. Reaching Harrietville with the 30 km Hotham climb about to begin and the temperature now beginning to rise a little I shed the undershirt, skull cap and legwarmers. The climb was awesome and the views were just so spectacular. A chat or two with Stephen Rowlands and Barry Moore helped pass the time and keep my enthusiasm in check. There are a couple of very challenging sections on the Hotham climb where the grade turns ugly. The Meg comes early in the ride, CRB Hill and then last push towards the summit all very much focus you on the job at hand. I had 39 x 27 as my low gear and would suggest this as the minimum requirement to undertake the challenging sections of this climb. The weather at the top contrasted the day before as it was quite mild at about 16 degrees. There was a real sense of accomplishment among all riders when they reached the top of the climb and much admiration from a busload of elderly tourists who were having their morning tea.
A short stop at the summit for a chat before the descent down through Dinner Plain, some long downhills then on towards Omeo. On a brief stop to remove leg warmers and windbreaker I managed to find an ants nest to stand on so I spent the next 5 minutes brushing them off. Frequent undulations followed with a solid climb before Omeo then a well earned lunch at the bakery. A steak and onion pie, a salad roll and flavoured milk never tasted better. After lunch the weather had warmed to the mid 20’s. Stephen Rowlands passed me as I was loafing along between Swifts Creek and Ensay. We both stopped together at the general store at Ensay, we both had a very welcome ice cold coke and some food. I rolled out just in front of Stephen and feeling invigorated I pushed on with a stronger effort than earlier with the picturesque Tambo River on my left hand side. Before Bruthen there was another solid climb and some great sweeping descents through some lovely forested areas. Turning towards Bairnsdale my legs were starting to tell me that they had done a solid days work and the final hills were a real grind but being almost home the confidence was high. I pulled into Bairnsdale at about 5:50 pm. Nearly 12 hours to earn a 200k brevet was probably one of my slowest but I would have to say I think this is probably one of my most enjoyable rides ever. The ride showcased some of the best landscape Australia has to offer.
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