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