Hume and Hovell – 2 Great 300’s

An ominous northerly breeze was blowing through the leaves in the trees out the front of the Melbourne YHA for the start of the Hume 300k from Melbourne to Wangaratta. Ten riders had turned out for the ride on a very cool Saturday morning. During the first 50 odd K on the gradual climb to Wandong into a moderate headwind my pace was matching that of Jim Chant. I kept the first bakery stop to a minimum whilst Jim had left a little earlier I was able to link up again about half way on the to Broadford. I took a considerably longer stop than normal at Seymour and really felt in no hurry as I was aiming for a relaxed weekend on the bike. Jim and I set off after a half hour. Jim chose to head direct onto the Goulburn Valley Highway from Mitchellstown Road at the road construction works whilst I added about a K by following the gravel south to get onto the highway. We had a pleasant walk across Kirwan's Bridge before our third bakery for the day at Murchison. The wind was lighter on the northern side of the Divide but it was still against us. Jim did a lot of the leading saying he was looking after me for the Sunday return trip which he was making in the car. After we left the Shepparton checkpoint it was west towards the finish but not before the sun had set and an interminable climb and bitterly cold descent over the Warby Ranges before Wangaratta. Thanks for great company on the ride Jim.

At Tooborac on the Hovell 300k

The second day only had about 5 of the riders from the previous day make the return trip on the Hovell 300k. It was a cold but fortunately not a freezing start to the day. I did a 10k ride out along the Greta Road after which the plan was to link up with the other riders who had stayed at Chris’s place at Killawarra. Either I had missed them or they were running behind time because I waited at the nominated rendezvous point for a good ten minutes or so before I decided to push on. I eventually crossed paths with Simon and Joel who were about 5 minutes behind me at the first stop at Benalla. Euroa was the second stop then on to Seymour for the afternoon break. The wind was a light south westerly for much of the day. It was just enough to be a hindrance and play on the mind as one wondered why maintaining a decent speed was difficult. After Seymour it was a grind through the hills to Tooborac and then on to Lancefield in rapidly fading light before Romsey and the penultimate control. It was very cold and on leaving Romsey I thought my steerer was loose as my front wheel wobbled as I shivered for the 5 minutes or so till I warmed up. Finishing the second 300k for the weekend was very satisfying. We had been fortunate not to cop any rain that required a raincoat and that the winds, although generally against us for the weekend, were for most reasonably light.

Thanks must go to Chris Rogers for two great routes, organising the ride and supporting the riders.



The Power of the Pie (and Soup)

Stephen Rowlands run a new version of the the Wild Wild West 300k on Saturday 9th June from his new home base at Little River. The weather forecast early in the week was for light winds and no rain. By the time Saturday came around south westerlies to 20kph and isolated showers were the promise.
I was entering the ride with some trepidation. I had had an infected tooth extracted earlier in the week but the infection had not cleared up in my gum and I still had pain that I was supressing with medication.
Misty rain was falling when we set off. A lead group of about 8 held together until Geelong. I was first to drop off and the traffic lights through the town  delayed me further so other riders were soon out of sight. Climbing up into the Barrabool Hills I set my own rythem and caught up with Steve Xerri as we turned south towards Moriac and the first checkpoint at the general store. A light headwind greeted us along Cape Otway Road before we turned towards Bambra for the pleasant ride through the slopes of the Otways. We took a brief stop at Deans Marsh then headed on towards Forrest. As we climbed towards the second checkpoint it became wetter and decidingly colder. Steve was having a bit of a flat spot but to be honest I wasn't firing on all cylinders either.
I couldn't resist the lure of a hot meat pie that has become a bit of a staple food for me on Audax rides. Steve on this occasion was also tempted and followed suite.

Nice pie Steve ?

After the break we headed on towards Colac through some lovely forest, timber lots, very lush fields and some prime dairy country. After Colac it was left and right several times before being greeted at Warrion Hall by Stephen and Tim ready to feed us with some lovely hot soup. We had hoped for some wind assistance from this point but it was getting later in the afternoon and the wind was dying away. I was dying away a bit too and Steve was getting stronger.

Shelford was the next checkpoint which we hit just after it had got dark. Merrryn and Rhys were manning this checkpoint and more lovely soup was on offer. My wife Carol had also popped down to greet us as we live only about 5k from the checkpoint.

The ride then took us on a constant grade to Meredith, over the Moorabool in Slate Quarry Road with its pretty severe climb out. I had laboured to Meredith but a gel had me feeling better and some more pain killing was a help.

Just after we turned onto Geelong Ballan Road there were flames and a vehicle on the side of the road. Had there been an accident? What I thought was a drunken yobbo was trying to flag us down. As we got close we realised it was Stephen at the secret control with Tim ready with more soup to get us to the finish. This time I chose the muffins and before long we were on the road again descending towards Anakie Junction.

Richard on his recumbant had missed the Granite Road turn and he soon joined us for the final kilometres. We all seemed to be riding strongly now in the knowledge that the finish was close. It had been a long, damp and cool day and I was personally very happy I had seen it through to the end.

Once more Merryn fed us with some fine food at the finish.

Thanks for riding with me again Steve I thoroughly enjoyed your company. Thanks to the Rowlands for yet again putting on a great ride and Tim Taylor for his support of the ride also.