Goals

Setting yourself a goal in the things we do can be a great motivator along the way to achievement. Sharing that goal with others provides even more incentive to complete what you have set out to do. I love my bike riding and enjoy the philosophy behind the rides that Audax provide through both organised rides and permanents (do it yourself rides or rides with other members).

In past years I generally have set myself an annual riding goal. From complete Around the Bay, to achieve a Percy Armstrong award (50,100,150 &200 k ride) in a year, complete my first 600 then in 2009/10 it was complete my first 1000 and 1200k rides. Last year I didn't set a goal and it seemed my riding lacked a bit of purpose with the only rides that gave me a real sense of satisfaction were two long weekend series of 3 x 200k that challenged me to back up and ride well on consecutive days. So when Audax introduced a single season cumulative award I thought here's a chance to stretch myself. Previous years I accumulated around 6 or 7000k of audax riding so I thought 10,000k would be an admirable goal and so my target was set. I then mentioned it to anybody who would listen so after that there was no turning back. The other self imposed aspect was that I wanted to achieve it before riding the Great Southern Randonee as I didn't want to rely on the last ride of the season where anything might happen.

So yesterday on a cool but clear spring day I achieved my goal with a 300k permanent through some delightful country in the Otway region. Barwon and Beyond roughly traverses the Barwon River from its bottom reaches around Geelong then extends beyond its upper reaches in the picturesque Otway Ranges. The countryside was green and lush, the traffic was light and the weather ideal for a long ride. I strongly recommend the Otway region for some great bike riding.

Green and lush

 

Deep in the Otways along Turton's Track

 



High up around Beech Forest

 

A walkabout weekend

I spent the recent weekend in the lovely rural city of Horsham. A few days leave from work allowed relaxed travelling to the Wimmera on the Friday and the same for the return on Monday. The rides Carol and I were organising were the Wimmera Walkabout rides that I developed some time ago to fill in a bit of a gap as in all my time in Audax I hadn't seen a ride organised from the Horsham area. The closest being Mallee Routes to the north and the Grampians challenge from Halls Gap. On day 1 the 200k skirted the west side of the Grampians before heading through sheep country to Balmoral and then a return to Horsham. The 300k required riders to additionally undertake an out and back to the wheat town of Dimboola where an information control required them to determine when the post office first opened their doors. Any guesses? Sunday's 200k had a great climb over the Grampians to Halls Gap and then on to Stawell for lunch. A long stretch to Murtoa followed and a bit of rain had the riders donning wet weather gear for the final leg to Horsham. This was the first real section all weekend where the wind rose above a negligable level and had riders working harder. The appreciation of the riders for the support we provided was very satisfying. The rest for me from riding was probably beneficial although I must admit I was as tired at the end of it all as I would have been if I rode it. Thanks to Carol(and Kelly) for supporting me in putting on the weekend.

Ian and Leigh discuss progress at the Noradjuha checkpoint on day 1

Riders (Jim, Joel, Arno and Leigh) dig in at the Wartook checkpoint on day 2

Spring has arrived!

Spring has arrived! It’s been great to get out and spend more mid-week time on the road. Winter from a cycling viewpoint for me means many hours on the indoor trainer, spinning away whilst watching LeTour and other European cycle races. This is interspersed with Audax calendar or permanent rides on the weekend. My rate of accumulating Audax kilometres lessened but my goal of 10,000 Audax kilometres in the season is almost achieved. At 9650km I can move my sights to the Great Southern Randonnee 1200k ride (volunteer’s version) which I plan to undertake towards the end of October. 

On the weekend I did the reconnaissance for one of my Wimmera rides. They are coming up on the weekend of September 15^th and 16^th.

Day 1 ride skirts the west side of the Grampians and passes through some lovely countryside on the way to Balmoral before a return to Horsham. The 300k adds an out and back to Dimboola.

Heading to Balmoral

 

Day 2 heads to Wartook to begin a climb over the Grampians to Hall’s Gap with a lunch stop at Stawell. The second half has a long haul to Murtoa and a final leg to Horsham.

Climbing from Wartook

Hope to see a few of you there.