Thistle and Rose

I got out of bed at the ungodly hour of 3:45am to get to the Thistle & Rose 200k ride from a fantastic base at the Drouin West Primary School. Ron McInnes and Frank Williams put on a great event that took in some wonderful country. The ride started at 8 am. The first 50k was a loop with some steep gradients on the way up to Neerim South, Jindivik and Labertouche. The second 50k went down to Drouin East, Lardner and back through Drouin. The 2nd half of the ride was out beyond Moe pretty much along the Old Sale Road with the 150k checkpoint at The Gippsland Heritage Park. The final 50k started back along the flat, but into the wind to Yarragon before heading for the hills again up the Darnum - Shady Creek Road.
Finishing at 5pm I was very pleased with my ride as I felt I had ridden quite strongly throughout the day.

Riders and organisers dig in