All in a days Audax

Flowerdale Jaunt last Sunday was not without its moments. A small group consisting of Steve Xerri, Hamish Moffat, Ian George and myself were moving very nicely at around 35kph along Donnybrook Road when as described by Hamish a "kamikaze" kangaroo slid along the tarmac just a few metres in front of us. Then his desperate efforts to U turn and get to his feet it threatened to take us out on the return as well.
Steve pretty much set the pace for a lot of the ride after the first stop at Whittlesea where we separated from Ian and Hamish. I did a lot of following and admiring of Steve's smooth riding style in the hills around Kinglake and Flowerdale on his new stealthy looking Specialized.
The wind was absolutely howling in from the west when we returned along a now busy Donnybrook Road where our rapid heartbeats were briefly elevated even higher by a real yob in an oncoming car who thought he would overtake towards us on the relatively narrow shoulderless road . Ignorant bas......!

Finishing with Steve

The day proved to be a very solid workout and I think everyone would have had some lingering effects for a few days following.
Thanks to my wife Carol for assisting with organising the ride and to Hamish, Ian and Steve for doing the 200. Thanks to Heather for doing the 100k solo in the very  difficult conditions.

Hamish and Ian finish

Two more of the permanent kind

Well I did the Moorabool Mayhem 200k permanent last Sunday. This is one of the permanents I currently offer and it starts not far out of Geelong at Teesdale. The ride essentially is in and out and up and down the Moorabool Valley. As river valleys go the Moorabool is a fairly deep cut river with some steep sides.

The day begins as an undulating ride from Teesdale to Bannockburn. Once you cross the Midland Highway on Clyde Road you have a fast downhill to Russell’s Bridge where you cross the river for the first time before climbing past the Eagles Rise vineyard. It soon flattens out as you proceed onto Maude before turning into Thompson Road at Maude for another rapid descent, river crossing and a slightly harder short climb at 16%. After a few more k’s you drop down again and head toward the Geelong Ballan Road. Soon you are at the first checkpoint at the Anakie General Store at around 42km. A u-turn and a quick right into De Motts Road and the next climb arrives and the GPS again shows around 15% for a short while. You now find yourself in forested area that was hit by bushfires in January 2006. The road then dives down before recovering some elevation on the way to a high point just beyond Steiglitz cemetery before dropping into Steiglitz. The climb up and out of Steiglitz is not too hard before a fast sweeping drop down to the Moorabool for a one lane bridge crossing. Again you briefly hit around a 15% grade on the way out but it soon eases back and before you know it the road opens up just before the township Meredith. From Meredith you take the Ballan Road briefly before turning eatwards past the cemetery and along Slate Quarry Road that then dives down to the Moorabool yet again before a challenging climb out that exceeds 15% for a few hundred metres. Once you have conquered this section it is a pleasant ride to the Geelong Ballan Road at Durdiwarrah and a gradual climb to Mt Wallace.   Then its across to Ballark before a steep descent again into the valley but this time the climb out is more gradual as you set your sights for the half way stop at Mt Egerton.

Before a steep descent

Unfortunately the General Store in the town has closed so I had to rely on carried food to refuel.

The General Store is now closed

We might have to supply a little support for riders here on the audax ride next May. The last kilometre into the town is also a bit of a shock to the legs.  There are a few undulations along the road to Yendon but the road to Lal Lal is nice and flat. It’s a nice road to Clarendon where you ride down the Midland Highway for about a kilometre before turning onto Blue Bridge Road and follow back roads to Elaine. There is a general store at Elaine so I took the opportunity to get some real food as I was feeling a little flat. More back roads from Elaine to Morrisons and another dive in and out of the valley and onto Meredith.

Morrisons

 You now follow the same road back to Steiglitz that you had ridden in the morning but this time you head onto Maude. The climbs and descents do not seem as bad on the way back as overall you are losing altitude. At Maude you turn onto Pedrisat Road for the best descent and climb of the ride. I always seem to do this climb at the end of my rides when my legs are near dead and consequently I find myself walking some of the steepest section.

Best descent and climb

The reward after that is you don’t have to enter the Moorabool Valley again and have a basically flat to undulating ride of less than 20k through the canola fields of the Lethbridge area to Teesdale.

Through the canola fields

Overall the Garmin shows a little over 1900 metres of ascent making this a good ride to tune up your climbing legs. If you are interested in doing the ride as a permanent please get in touch with me.

Saturday 8^th of October and I headed out early to do another 200k permanent. I chose Eureka Dales this time with fewer steep grades than the previous weekend. I left at 7am and got around it in eight and a half hours. The ride was quite uneventful, cars were courteous, the weather held out and the only shock was the magpie careering into my helmet on a busy street in the middle of Ballarat. I must say daylight saving really helps to leave time to do a few things around home after a long ride before the evening.

Teesdale Trot

The inaugral Teesdale Trot was held on Sunday 18th September. Carol and I organised this supported ride from our home in Teesdale. Options of 50, 100,150 and 200K were available to riders. In total 32 riders started the day and 31 were to be successful in achieving their nominated distance.

 Being one of the organisers permitted me to do this ride in the days prior. I chose the Friday beforehand and copped a very stiff north westerly crosswind for much of the day but I thoroughly enjoyed the mild temperatures. I made a number of stops to record changes required om the course notes I would be issuing to riders.

The 200k  course headed down through canola, wheat and cattle country to Winchelsea where it crossed the Barwon River and looped around Wurdi Boluc Reservoir before heading back to Winchelsea for the first checkpoint then on to Inverleigh before a lunch stop at Teesdale.

The 200k course headed down through canola, wheat and cattle country

Near the Barwon River at Winchelsea

The second loop was the course that the 100k riders had followed. It travelled through Bannockburn before diving in and out of the Moorabool Valley on the way to Maude, Meredith, Morrisons and Elaine before turning back towards the finish.

Morrisons

Weather on the day was superb, light winds, mild with some sunshine.
Thank you to all the riders who attended including some new faces, some audax regulars, some of the Maryborough crowd and some members of the Geelong Touring Cyclists.

Two riders readying to roll after lunch

Spring into Seymour

No photos from this ride held about a fortnight ago. I spent much of the ride in the great company of Garry Wall and thoroughly enjoyed hearing about his experience at PBP. It was good to see Kirwan's Bridge open to traffic again and the weather was pretty good except for some annoying head wind at times on the way to Tatura. We completed the ride in a little under 9 hours.

A Sunday Jaunt through Greendale

Seven riders rolled up at Werribee for the Greendale Jaunt 200k. It was pleasing to have two ladies and two riders from north of the Great Divide come along. It turned out a perfect winters day. Topping out at about 20 degrees with sunshine and light winds. Feedback from riders was positive. Fewer rides tend to be run during the winter months and for some a 200k ride close to Melbourne at this time was convenient to keep a year rounder award alive or for others  just enjoying a long ride. This was an unsupported ride with check points in Bacchus Marsh and Meredith. It features a few short sharp climbs and some nice country through the Pentland Hills and Brisbane Ranges.

Fraser and Frank at the Bacchus Marsh stop

Around the dales again

So I spent a cool Saturday on yet another permanent ride. Eureka Dales is a new permanent that I first rode a fortnight ago. The key features of the ride is that it passes or can start at the Eureka Stockade and it passes through Scarsdale and Smythesdale as well as Teesdale where it can also alternatively start.

 I took my No 2 steed  today the Avanti Corsa Pro. Somewhat heavier than Oppy, particularly with the current interim wheelset incorporating a dynamo hub and too many spokes to count (actually36 front & back). Its original wheels with a low spoke count have reached the end of their useful life. I am just waiting on delivery of some new Fulcrum wheels for this bike which should help it move a little quicker. I must also say that the aluminium frame gives a harsher ride than carbon and you start to notice this towards the end of 200k.

Avanti Corsa Pro resting at Lal Lal

The weather was sort of OK for this time of year but I could whinge a little about the frosty start and cool air around Ballarat. Being the organiser of this permanent I am trying to find the optimum route for the 100 odd k from the westerly extremity of the ride to Teesdale. The major decision is whether to head down to Rokewood for a 150k checkpoint (Teesdale start) after leaving Scarsdale or continuing on to Linton for a 114k checkpoint after Scarsdale then heading straight across to Dereel, Mt Mercer etc for a little better scenery but no checkpoint for the last 86k.

Linton Piggoreet Rd - A bit of sun and nice scenery

I am not sure whether it was me or the bike today but things were definitely a little sluggish, the hills hurt and I was about 15 minutes slower for the overall time from a fortnight ago. As I sit here and write this I am sneezing and now have all the symtoms of a head cold. Maybe I should be pleased with completing the ride as well as I did. I think tomorrow will answer that question.

And yes the magpies were circling today but there was little agression - yet!

Cadel

Preparation, Concentration, Determination and GUTS.
The only way to describe the way Cadel Evans has ridden the tour this year.

Congratulations Cadel!

Eureka!

Yesterday 23rd July I rode a new permanent. Eureka Dales takes in locations such as the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat as well as dale towns, Smythesdale, Scarsdale and Teesdale. It is by no means a flat course and a lot of the climbing on this one is gradual. Steepest sections include the rise out of Morrisons on the road to Elaine, Furness and Eastwood streets in Ballarat, the climb out of Rokewood Junction and my favourite climb out of Shelford. In comparison to my previous permanent a fortnight ago the conditions were excellent. Foggy around Meredith and Elaine, sunshine by Ballarat, and just a light headwind and a little chill on the way out to Smythesdale. The undulations on the ride had my legs tiring a little towards the end. My past month of training aside from the Wandong Winter Wander and Greendale Jaunt permanent have been indoors where it is hard to replicate hill climbing. I finished the ride in 8 hrs 44 mins.

Foggy around Elaine

Blue Bridge Road

Sunshine at Eureka Stockade

Greendale - What a blast!

10th of July I rode Greendale Jaunt permanent. It was one of the harder days I have spent on the bike for a very long while. The wind out of the west was gale force for most of the day reducing my speed to a mere 12kph when it was in my face. I was drowned in an hour of torrential rain towards the end of the ride. As the ride drew to a close in sodden clothes I was chilled to the bone. This ride is reasonably challenging in good conditions as you climb through both the Brisbane Ranges and the Pentland Hills but the conditions really toughened it up. Finishing was most satisfying. I will remember that 10 hrs 10 mins for a while.

The wind was blasting across the Werribee Plains

Wandering out of Wandong

A sizeable group of riders entered the ever popular ride series "Wandong Winter Wander" organised by Lorraine Allen. It was very brisk with a chilly breeze as everyone registered for the rides. I had risen at 4:30am to get to this ride and for some reason was extremely tired on the two hour drive to Wandong. So much so that Carol was not happy as she had to stay awake on the drive rather than catch up with some sleep herself. Clearly I couldn't be trusted.

As riders left Steve Xerri and myself were soon leading the pack on the road to Broadford. Soon though to be joined by three new faces and the irrepressible Leigh Paterson. The bunch pretty much held together to Broadford. I was yo yoing off the back every time the road went up and had to ride hard to catch up on the downhills. This was a pattern for much of the way to Seymour. Leigh had headed off into the distance and  the new faces were strong riders and pulled away a little as well. Steve dropped his muslei bar and that gave me a chance to catch up and we rode to the first checkpoint together.

Steve, Jimmy Chant and myself left Seymour together. Steve took the lead and virtually didn't relinquish it till just before Nagambie and the second checkpoint. He certainly demonstrated some strength as he drove on at the front without let up. I was hanging on for grim death and cursed every rise in the road as I had certainly left my climbing legs at home and the ones I had brought were laden with lead! Leigh powered past on this leg after his usual longer stop and so for fun I surged to catch him a couple of times from about a 30m deficit. What an idiot I am! What was I thinking? I didn't have energy to waste on senseless acts like that. Jimmy supported that theory.

We took about 20 minutes on the stop at Nagambie where Steve and Jim were trying to convince me that my meat pie, which I had flooded with sauce and the 600ml strawberry milk was not the optimum  food I should be having. But hey it works for me. Leigh was a late arrival having punctured on the way into town.

A detour off the normal route on the way to Longwood was required but the front runners failed to take it and they added a few extra k's as they arrived at Longwood after Steve and I. Jim was tiring a little and pulled in to the pub shortly after us followed by the quick men.

Steve about to head off from Longwood

Reflective gear models - Yours truely and Jim

The leg to Seymour and I was starting to tire myself so Xerri-jet pulled away just after Avenal and I settled in to my own rythem. A quick stop for me at the final checkpoint at Seymour had me leaving with Steve again before the others. I was carrying a little extra weight now  as Leigh had given me my gloves that I had left on the bench outside the Longwood pub.

It wasn't long before I started to fall back as the undulations began. Steve pulled away, the quick riders flew past and Leigh passsed me as well before Broadford. Steadily on I rode taking time to relax a little now in contrast the first three quarters of the ride where I was really under the pump.

I finally pulled into the finish at about 4:45pm tired but satisfied. The day had been a really good workout. Thanks to Lorraine and George and their assistants. It was a great day. Lorraine had promised sunshine and the afternoon had had plenty of it. Thanks to Steve and Jim for company (and breaking the wind) during the ride. Special thanks to Carol for driving me home.

Queens Royal Tour - 3 Days in Seymour

Well the Queens Birthday weekend was an opportunity to get in some solid cycling during June. Ride organiser Stephen Rowlands devised 3 great 200 km loops each with different characteristics, the one common denominator was that they were not without some solid climbing.

Stephen is unable to ride at the moment so Carol and I took on the role of getting the rides started each morning from the rotunda. The traditional starting point of rides out of Seymour. Conditions over the weekend were generally cool with periods of sunshine and the winds were rarely ever more than moderate

Stage 1

This ride had 17 starters and for me it ranked as the hardest. The ride started at 8am and travelled up to Broadford and then headed to Strath Creek for the first control. It then turned and headed up to Kinglake West before again turning to the lunch time control at Kinglake. Then north along the Melba Highway to Glenburn before turning into Break O'Day Road which then turns on to the Junction Hill climb. Once this is  negotiated you then sweep down towards Yea for the third control of the day. Soon after Yea you turn into the Ghin Ghin Rd and have a very tough long climb to Highlands before you can set your sights on the finish. For me the finish was just after dark at around 5:40pm.

Stage 2

There were 14 starters that set off on the second day. I considered Day 2 the easiest of the three rides. This was largely due to the fact that most of the climbing was undertaken in the early part of the ride. This ride headed across to Pyalong before heading over the hills to Lancefield for the first stop of the day. From there the ride headed along the Burke and Wills Track for some more elevation gain. Once the high point of the ride was achieved it was pretty much downhill and a tailwind to Mia Mia. After that it was undulations to Heathcote and the lunchtime stop. I spent a few minutes chatting to Carol who had stopped in town also. Then it was a nice flat run to Nagambie where I could make some good speed. Fraser Rowe hooked up with me on the last leg back to Seymour. We pushed on solidly into a head breeze and reached the finish in daylight this time, at a few minutes after 5pm.

Stage 3

It was a chilly start with 5 official  riders only on the third day. This ride climbed all the way to Wandong before heading down and across to Wallan. Then it was a very tough trip across to Woodend into a pretty cold breeze and some tough grinding hills along the way as well. Then back tthrough Lancefield and the climb up to Kilmore for the third checkpoint. From there it was pretty much downhill to Broadford and Seymour with a fading tailwind. This time I finished at around 5:20pm


All in all the weekend was great fun. Thanks Stephen Rowlands for organising the rides. Thanks Carol for helping at the start each day. Congratulations to Ian George and Steve Atkins who joined me in completeing all three rides. Well done to all the other riders.

Ian George, yours truely and Steve Atkins

A balmy day in Bendigo

Peter Searle organised some great weather this time of year for Balmy Bendigo. After a drive of a few hours I was greeted wuth a cool but not too cold start to the ride.

Peter briefing riders at start

I have done this ride a few times before and thoroughly enjoy it each time I do it. The main features of this ride are the climbs of Mt Alexander and Mt Tarrengower. For a bloke who doesn't like hills that much and who struggles with an ordinary power to weight ratio when the road inclines I do somehow enjoy certain climbs. These two are in that category.  They feature in the early and mid part of the rides so getting to them relatively fresh is a big help. The ride started at 8am and I finished at 5pm which wasn't too bad as the second half of the ride was into a solid headwind for much of the way. Thanks  to Peter for organising the ride and the weather.