Another 200k Permanent

This ride began at the South Geelong Railway Station. I was accompanied by John and Geoff who are regular Geelong Touring Club riders. We left at 6:30 am. The forecast was for strong north winds and temperatures in the mid 30's. The ride out to Moriac then on to Winchelsea was quite pleasant.

 John and Geoff - Wichelsea railway crossing

It was on the leg from there to Teesdale that the gale force northerlies started to blow across the Golden Plains. We used my place at Teesdale as the first checkpoint which was at about the 75k mark.

 

My place at Teesdale was the first checkpoint

Fed and watered it was time to move on towards Meredith. It was already very hot and the wind was gusting upwards of 60 kph. The heat, wind and long gentle climb had me slowing to a conservative pace as these are conditions I generally seem to do poorly in. After the Meredith stop the climbs and descents of the Brisbane Ranges were helped by the tailwind that we had worked so hard to earn throughout the morning. By now the heat was taking its toll on me and the first signs of cramp were apparant in my legs.A few short stops then a longer  stop in the shade before climbing the Pollicksford Road hill. Geoff had been riding strongly all day so he was first to the top, I was next and then we waited for John but he did not appear for some time. He had got in a bit of a tangle with his recently acquired recumbant which he was taking on its longest workout to date and had toppled over. I  welcomed having another break while Geoff helped John to adjust his steering that had gone a bit awry. It was pretty much down hill to Moriac again and after some refreshments we set off on the last 20 odd kilometres. My cramping was increasing in intensity and I could put very little pressure on the peddles. Twice a stop was required for me to relieve them. Turning into the final straight 300 metres from the finish the fluid in my stomach said it would rather be out than in so I had to stop for another 5 minutes to compose myself. Finally I pulled into the car park where Geoff who had finished a good 20 minutes earlier and John were wating with my wife Carol wondering where I had got to.

 Finally finished

Clearly the heat took its toll on me again so I am looking forward to some cooler riding weather in coming months. A big thanks to John and Geoff for their company.