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.