Beaufort Bomber

An Audax 200k permanent  ride from Ballarat to Halls Gap in the Grampians.
Intermediate checkpoint controles at Beaufort, Streatham and Ararat.
The ride was undertaken 5th November 2013.

 Near Beaufort

 Arriving Beaufort. It was a chilly start to the day

Arriving Streatham. The day was warming.

Cresting Carroll's Cutting after Ararat and the Grampians come into view.

Breaking the Silence

Its a funny thing but I haven't been motivated to write about my cycling of late. This is not due the fact that I haven't been cycling. In fact since my last blog I have:

• Ridden 5 100k permanents
• Ridden 4 200k permanents including a great ride with Tim T
• Ridden 3 200k calendar rides
• Ridden and organised a 300k ride
• Ridden the Gran Tourissimo Series of rides in South Australia (600, 400,300 & 200k)

 It brings my Audax season total to 12660k with a few more weeks to go.

Here's a few pics of some of the riders I have had the pleasure of their company during that period

Rick H -Teesdale Trot 300k

Roy J, Tim T & Sarah C Teesdale Trot 300k

Tim T - Eureka Dales Permanent 200k

Matthew R atop Old Willunga Hill GT 200k

Ben D GT 300k

Andrew B GT 400k

Roger H GT 600k

Richard S GT Series Organiser on GT 600k

Andrew K GT 600k

Caroline W GT 400k

Climbing Old Willunga Hill with Michael J (right) GT 200k


More GT Series photos are at:

GT Series 400k

GT Series 300k

GT Series 200k

GT Series 600k

Fit for a Queen

The Queen's Birthday long weekend provided me a great opportunity to log up some kilometres towards the goals that I have set myself for the year.

So on Saturday a group of seven of us undertook the Eureka Dales 200k permanent from Teesdale.
Mark, Leigh, Brian and  Jack along with Myra and Steve joined me on one of my favourite routes that headed up to Elaine then on to Ballarat, Smythesdale, Linton and Rokewood. The ride provided around 1500m of ascent and for the most part it was on quiet country roads. The day was cool but fine and the wind was light. We finished the ride in under 10 hours just after dark with it starting to get somewhat colder. Carol had prepared us some hot soup at the conclusion of the ride that soon warmed all of us up. All in all a great day was had by all.

Quiet country roads on Eureka Dales 200

On Sunday morning Carol, Kelly and I traveled to Horsham and I rode the Natimuk Knockout 100k permanent in the afternoon. This ride travels predominately through grain growing country to the west of the town and the highlight of the ride are the views of Mt Arapiles as you loop around to Natimuk on the return to Horsham.

Mt Arapiles on Natimuk Knockout 100

On Monday of the long weekend I rode another favourite ride of mine from Horsham. I have ridden Wimmera,Wool and Water 200k both as a calendar ride and as a permanent a few times. Riding as a permanent a long stretch of 125k to the only opportunity to buy food at Balmoral requires you to carry ample supplies yourself. This ride provides great views of the Grampians and at this time of year the lush pastures are grazed by finely bred merino sheep.

Views on Wimmera Wool and Water 200

Hundreds and Thousands

You could say its been a bit of party time as I have sandwiched in some hundreds and some  thousands into the past month or so since the Oppy.

On the weekend following the Oppy I was undertaking the Wangaratta Wahine 1000K (volunteers ride) in the company of ride organiser Chris Rogers and Jim Chant, both of who were doing the 1200k option. The weather was great, quite mild during the days and nights which was fortunate as severe winds had done considerable damage in some nearby areas only a few days before. The ride was a series of loops out of Wangaratta. The only issue I had on this ride was that the sealed bearing in my Kysrium front wheel started to fail and emit all sorts of grinding and squealing noises every time  I built up a little speed when the road angled down. It could only be suppressed by slowing down to about 5kph before resuming normal speed. It held up sufficiently to complete the ride in just under 66 hours

Chris and Jim at Yarrawonga

I then rode a 100k permanent on the next weekend to keep things ticking over.

Then good mate Steve Xerri's Rock to Lock 200 was on up at Lancefield. This was a ripper ride. I spent the bulk of the ride in the company of Steve, Leigh Paterson and Frank Zgoznik. The weather was great, the company was great and  course was great.

I followed up with the Blackgate Saunter 150k from Geelong which was toughend up by a fair bit of wind and plenty of climbing around Torquay and in the Barrabools.

Finally a trip over to Victor Harbor SA where I got in one training ride then moved on to Belair for a few more rides in the hills before the start of the Geelong Flyer 1000 from Blackwood on Anzac Day. 21 starters was a good  turn out for Peter Donnan's well planned ride.  The first part of the ride was foggy and damp but the day cleared before we reached the first checkpoint at Milang. Then a strong westerly wind was pushing riders along up to 40 kph at times on the way to Wellington checkpoint which was then followed by the ferry crossing of the Murray River.

Joel on the ferry crossing the Murray River at Wellington

It was tougher going for the rest of the day as the wind shifted more southerly and even a bit more rain greeted me around Kingston on the way to the sleep stop at Robe. The second day was warmer and a little humid but Millicent, Mount Gambier, Nelson and Portland checkpoints came and went. The traffic for me was the more challenging part of this days ride. I found myself more mentally than physically tired when I arrived at Warrnambool a bit after 9 pm.

Arriving at Nelson on Day 2

Morning light at the Bay of Islands on Day 3

The final day had stops at Port Campbell, Beech Forrest, Apollo Bay before the finish at the 24 hour cafe in Geelong. Again it was warmish and humid and a howling northerly was a real challenge atop the Otways.

I pulled in to the finish with an elapsed time of 63 hours and thoroughly enjoyed a pizza and a good chat with Howard Dove who had finished just before me.

Special thanks to my family who traveled with me on the Flyer, be it they were in the car.

Modus Oppyrandos

The Fleche Opperman is an all day team cycling event where 3,4 or 5 bikes (and their riders) constitute a team that is required to cover a minimum of 360k in 24 hours. To be successful at least 3 of the bikes must finish and the overall average speed must be at least 15kph.

 I had previously ridden the Oppy in 2008, 2009 and 2011. This year after some brief toing and froing I accepted an invite from Steve Xerri to ride with the Lairs. What a great bunch of guys. Lots of humour, a great course (I like it flat) and support that would be the envy of a pro cycling team!

The team was really well balanced as each person seem to have their particular talents that they brought to the group. Starting with Steve whose meticulous organisation meant that there was no surprises and we all knew when, what and how things would operate. Ken was strong and rode a steady pace all day and night. I learnt that Dave could put on and take off his rain jacket whilst on the move but at times is prone to drop things and Andy is kind of like a wise man, experienced in all aspects, always cool, calm and confident. Bill and Pete on support were simply magnificent. They had a feast laid out at every controle and the variety of great food meant that it was so easy to refuel for the next leg. I think I might have even  put on weight on this ride!
Thanks Steve, Andy, Ken, Dave, Bill and Pete I had a wonderful time riding the Oppy 2013.

Modus Oppyrandos

Bling

 For me  2011/12 was a pretty big Audax season and a step in my progression as a randonneur. One of the nice things I like about participating in Audax Australia rides and permanents (do it yourself rides) is the awards that you can earn for those long days in the saddle. Aside from the medals for individual rides the ones that I think are pretty neat are those that represent a series of rides or an accumulation over a year or more. The folk on the National Committee have done a fantastic job with the new award structure and in particular the design of the new awards. I was fortunate to receive a couple myself to sit on the shelf  alongside my 2010 Woodrup Award.

2012 Awards

2010 Woodrup