ANZAC Day

A pre lunch 100k on Anzac Day. It was cold and winter gear was called for. There were wreaths laid at the monuments in all the towns I passed through. Veterens were gathering at Winchelsea Oval for a function as I passed.  

Lest We Forget

Storm clouds over Wurdiboluc Reservoir on Anzac day

Wheels to Dereel

An easier weekend was called for so I set off at around 7am for a 100k permanent that inclines gradually for 30 odd k across the plains towards Mt Mercer. The negative to this was a headwind of significant proportions slowing my pace to 20 kph and below. A few undulations and a gradual loss of elevation through Dereel and Rokewood Junction before hitting the main road for a glorious and rapid downwind 50k back to Teesdale. On reaching home my cool down consisted of a gentler 10k ride with Carol around the town. This brings my Audax tally for the year to 6300k.

Mt Mercer

A ride with Steve

An invitation from Steve "The Tooborac Terror" to ride his Rock to Lock permanent was too much to pass up when it arrived mid week. Yes, I had just ridden 3 x 200k the previous weekend, had already entered the 100k Blackgate ride on Saturday and the garden is in need of manpower but opportunities to ride with a great bloke like Steve on a beautiful near windless Autumn day don't come often. An 8am Lancefield start required a 5 O'clock wake-up followed by a 2 hour drive north. Carol and Kelly came along for the drive and they spent the day researching in cemeteries whilst Steve and I were on the road.
The countryside was spectacular, Lake Eppalock was looking great and Hanging Rock and Mt Macedon added to the stunning landscape. We had a great day, it got reasonably warm but not too hot and I think we both felt we had earned our brevet by the the end.

Steve

Googy55

Blackgate Saunter

Saturday 14th April and the 100k of the Blackgate Saunter seemed like a good idea. A flat and fast 100 (actually 106k) in the form of a loop from Grovedale to Moriac then a loop to Ocean Grove in the tracks of Cadel on a warming day was most enjoyable. Only a pesky westerly wind on the return leg prevented what would have been a very quick time for me over the distance.

Riders arriving before the start

Young, Younger, Youngest at Easter

A brilliant Easter weekend of cycling through the South West Slopes of New South Wales. Three 200k rides in the great company of several of the ACT Region members. The weather was great and the routes varied from flattish for the first ride to a consistent variety of hills and undulations for the following two.  It was great cycling with Kerri-Ann, Michael, Don, Russell, Alf, Kevin and Tom

Kerri-Ann briefing riders

Refuelling (Photo credit: Kerri-Ann Smith)

Undulations

Grinding the Granite

Virtually no wind and cool to mild conditions are just perfect for riding from my point of view. This was my experience on Sunday when I rode “The Granite Grind” permanent for the first time. The ride travels from Teesdale to Little River then Anakie and Meredith before returning to Teesdale. Its  a not too difficult 150k with only a few climbs of any substance and a lot of flat. Elevation gain only approaches about 1000m over the distance. The ride travels through granite  country and goes around the You Yangs before heading over to the Brisbane Ranges. It made for a pleasant Sunday morning and afternoon with no stress.

I am now looking forward to Easter and 3 X 200k in Young NSW

Return to Spa Country

Today I returned to Hepburn Springs to do Greg Martin's new permanent Spa Country Reel. This ride is leg 2 of his annual Spa Country Flings ride. Each time I have done the flings ride I have faded badly in the conditions on this leg and so have not been able to appreciate the great scenery nor enjoy the challenge of the constant undulations. You head out and down to Franklinford before turning and climbing past Mt Franklin and back towards Daylesford. Then off through Glenlyon before turning at Drummond and on to the the mid point at Kyneton. Then its due south till you hit the Tylden Woodend Road. Through Tylden then onto Springhill Road with some nasty pinches, beautiful views down toward Lauriston Resevoir, then again rejoining the Daylesford-Malmsbury Road. Turning right when you hit the Midland Highway its a fast  ride till you hit the turn for the springs, a little uphill then straight down a fast descent to the Spa centre and the finish.  The GPS said about 1400m of climbing in the 102k so its no picnic but just a great ride.

Checkpoint activity on Spa Country Flings in February

A "rash" of injuries

If you ride a bike one day will have a crash. I seem to come to grief about once every couple of years. Analysing my last 5 crashes I find that two have been caused by gravel when cornnering, one by a dog, one by a car failing to give way and one by a pedal failure. Three weeks ago I hit the deck after losing my rear wheel in a corner on little blue stones. I lost skin off my fingers, forearm and thigh. Not having time to put my hand down probably saved me an injured collarbone. Everything has healed except the thigh which has an ugly collection of fluid over an area the size of my hand. I count myself very lucky that I have not experienced any great pain and have been able to continue to ride since. Lucky too that I was on my training bike and not the more fragile carbon bike.

I rode the You Would Have to be Crazy 200k ride on Saturday from Lancefield to Bendigo and return and was pleased with  a time slightly slower than last year but among my quicker rides over that distance.
Anyhow my injury was put in perspective when I met Steve at the finish of the ride. He had been hoping to do his first 600k ride but he too had had a crash. He came off somewhat worse than I did when he crashed a week ago.
Read about it at:
http://lancefieldlairs.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/just-what-i-thought-it-would-feel-like.html

Anyhow I think there is a message in all this spilt blood and general carnage. I think the bike jersey I am wearing in the picture below says it all.

Ho Hum

What have I been doing of late?

Just riding my bike.

Hello TeamSky

I rode a modified version of the Moorabool Mayhem as a permanent on Saturday 7^th January. I have had to change the route to achieve a suitable midway checkpoint for this ride as the Mount Egerton General Store is now closed. This has reduced the difficulty of the course. The ride no longer visits Anakie so the challenging Thompsons Road and DeMotts Road climbs are out. The new midway checkpoint is the Gordon General Store with Meredith providing checkpoints for the outward and inward legs of the ride. Elevation gain is about 2000m so it is still not a cakewalk particularly with the Pedrisat Road climb towards the end of the ride. I managed to complete this brevet in just under 9 hours and it was a real highlight to have TeamSky riders in the form of Mathew Hayman, Chris Sutton, Richie Porte and Mick Rogers pass me in the opposite direction as I headed south near Lal Lal. They were out for a roll near Mount Buninyong before the National Road championship the following day.

 One of the many Moorabool crossings on the ride

On Saturday 14^th January I rode Eureka Dales once more. Starting after 9am was quite a late start for me. I made good progress for the first 120k but the rising south easterly wind became a nasty enemy from about Linton on the leg back to Rokewood and the stretch from Mount Mercer to Shelford. I didn’t have much punch to fight the wind and finished the ride a little more tired than normal.

A good day for camels

My cycling goal for the current Audax season is to ride 10,000 kms in club rides and permanents. A pretty bold goal as my highest tally to date is 7650 kms in the 2008/2009 season.  My approach is to make the most of opportunities provided by good weather in the warmer months recognising there will be weekends where I wont accumulate any mileage for whatever reason. Today was a day where the 200k didn't come easy and was hard earned. The first real heat of the summer approahing the mid 30's and the clear sunny skies combined to wear me down despite my best efforts to stay hydrated. I was pretty much toasted at the end of the ride. I am sure the camels I passed earlier in my ride faired better on the day.

Back to Back 200s

Two more pemanents over the public holidays for Christmas and Boxing Day. The first day saw me riding up through Ballarat and following an anticlockwise route. The second was the energy sapping Moorabool ride crossing the steep sided Moorabool Valley multiple times. Thousands of butterflies were present on both rides

Rest break at a ford near Happy Valley on Day1

Past Stony Creek Reservoir on Day 2

Butterflies were everywhere