Not A Mid Life Crisis, Just An Extended Tour (Part XX) - The Sydney Contingent Arrive

DAY 26

We tucked into the complimentary hotel breakfast with slightly heavy hearts. Today was the group’s last day in Tassie as we would board the Spirit of Tasmania and be spirited back to the mainland and thus, reality. Mt Owen put on a spectacular farewell for us.

The Victoria Divide 550 - Day 4

My alarm went off again at 6am. That seemed like too soon but was another decent seven and a half hours sleep. I jumped up, got dressed and packed my sleep kit away. I wasn't feeling hungry so just drank the coffee milk I had carried and got pedalling just on first light. The trail was fairly pleasant, gradient wise but I took it easy to allow my weary body to warm up a bit. 

I soon came to a stupidly steep section of track that I just resigned myself to walking. It wasn't a bad morning for a walk.

They never look as steep in photos.

The Victoria Divide 550 - Day 3

I woke with the sun this morning, not opting to set an alarm to get up too early. I figured I was only about 40km from Mt Buller which equalled lunch and a resupply. I ate the other salami sandwich from the general store in Jamieson and washed it down with a big coffee milk. No need for a refrigerator out here!

Crappy low light photo of the camp.

The Victoria Divide 550 - Day 2

My alarm went off at 0630, waking me from a somewhat fitful, yet refreshing sleep. It is hard to sleep peacefully when your legs are yelling at you but I did feel pretty good. As soon as I got up I noticed that my phone and cache battery  lights were not lit, indicating they were not charging. I wandered over to flip on the light and ...... nothing! Ahhh, the power was out! Oh, well. There was still hot water so a quick shower to wake up, then pack everything back onto the bike.

I rolled out the door at 7am and coasted down the chilly main street to find the Foodworks, hoping they would be open as the power seemed to be out for the whole town.

The Victoria Divide 550 - Day 1

The Victoria Divide 550 bikepacking route is the brainchild of 2018 Tour Divide winner Lewis Ciddor (Great interview with Lewis HERE by Ross Burrage on his "The Hidden Athlete" podcast) who was the first Aussie to win the iconic Tour Divide Race.

The route basically divides the state of Victoria in two by arcing north east out of Melbourne, carving through the high country before undulating across the rolling countryside of rural northern Victoria.

So, how did I become involved in this crazy endeavour? Well, I watched the inaugural race last year online and read the subsequent blog write ups about it. I sort of know the country down there and I love being in any of the Australian Alps, be they located in NSW or Victoria. So when the race popped up on my radar late last year I tagged it with "Interested" on FaceBook. 

Then I forgot about it.

What Have I Got Myself Into ??

I had typed an informative post but my stupid iPad somehow ate it just as I was finishing up. I can’t believe how fcuking shit Apple products are to actually use and interact with other websites. Millions have been drinking the cool aid and I just can’t see it. I might have to look at a small pc to use at work instead of the company issued iPad.

So, the short version -
Basically I am heading off to have a crack at the Vic Divide 550 today after I get home from work. There is a LOT of bush/singletrack and a SHITLOAD of climbing in this route!! I am not sure how I will actually go but I am going to give it a crack.

Looking across Mt Buller (1805m - arrowed) back southwest towards Melbourne. Mt Buller is 331km and a HEAP of climbing along the route!!

The Route is here on Ride With GPS. (and below)

My Spotwalla page is here. Not sure if it will work....

If the Spotwalla isn’t effective then my Spot page is here.


Wish me luck. I'll bloody well need it!!

Cheers.

Hunting For Inspiration Plus Some Island Magic

Well, October went in the blink of an eye and here we are at the pointy end of November! My 2018 Great Cycle Challenge sort of fizzled into a piss-weak effort due in part to a lack of mojo and a fairly busy work schedule. To be totally honest, every time I got on my bike to ride I would think "WTF am I doing this for?" It just felt like work. The usual joy of riding just simply wasn't (and still isn't) there. I am guessing I probably finished near the back end of the fundraising list. (edit: fark! Of the 13265 riders registered, only 5636 rider actually raised any money! I didn't do too bad then at 4516th place.....)

I can't blame motorcycles for this lack of enjoyment as I haven't really felt like riding them either, so I am not sure what is going on.

I thought I had a cunning plan to use October as a big kilometre training month to help me build fitness for the Hunt 1000 bikepacking ride being held near the end of November. I certainly doesn't feel like that has worked out and to further rub salt into the wound, our rosters were delayed by four days over the weekend and I note now on the Hunt website that registrations have closed. 

FUCK!

Melbourne Meandering

My work took me to Melbourne for an overnight last week and we were lucky enough to stay in a city hotel rather than the usual airport version, so I got to have a stroll around the city streets for the morning.

The most obvious thing that you notice about Melbourne streets are the trams.

To the motorcyclist's eye though, you see the footpath parking. As far as I know this is the only place in Australia that it is legal to park on the foot path.

I can only speculate that this leads to higher rider participation rates as bikes just aren't as evident in other Aussie cities but that may simply be because they are hidden away.

Elizabeth Street hosts some large motorcycle dealerships and they also park some of their stock outside for the passers-by to ogle.

It is Melbourne, so coffee shops abound. You can park your steed right next to you while sipping a latte' or in this case, munching a meat pie.

Alas, my stay was short but I must say that I really like Melbourne as a city. It has great food and a real get-out -regardless-of-the-rubbish-weather attitude.

It was soon time to go dodging thunderstorms again.

Not much else going on around here at the moment but if something happens, you will be the first to know! ;)

Cheers.