No Hunt = Time To Chill

Well, I decided that I wasn't fit enough, didn't have a large enough time window and didn't want to trudge through the ~1 foot of new snow that fell in the Snowy Mountains (good name, eh?) in the two days before the Hunt 1000.

So I bailed. 

Pulled the pin. 

Piked. 

Exited. 

But I don't feel bad about the decision at all. The weather was crap.... and I HATE the cold. And it doesn't get much colder than this in Australia, especially at the end of November!

Photo courtesy Pepper Cook. They left a day before the grand depart (24th Nov) on the Hunt 1000.

I was feeling tired and just not right in the lead up to the race ride, so I spent the week that had been set aside for the Hunt fencing for and catching up with my folks in country New South Wales. There is something therapeutic about making things with one's own hands so despite working pretty hard all week, I feel much rested and refreshed - more so than I have in the last two months where I felt tired and just overworked/worked over.

Of course, I took a few bikes on the trip down south. The new cyclocross bike came in handy for dirt roads and general exploration in the cool of the mornings.

It is fast and comfortable. The fact that there are exactly ZERO hills in the district certainly allow you to cover ground fast.

Golden hour was particularly sharp this trip as a day of rain had scrubbed the sky clean.

As always, I paid homage to the Vampire on the pole.

After riding each morning it was back to the reality of fencing for the day. Not that I minded though. It was good to spend some time with my Dad..... he is getting on a bit and finds it bloody frustrating not being able to do everything himself any longer.

I'm not sure it is as straight as it could have been but putting the finishing touch on a gap in the fence that has sat idle for ~30 years, waiting for the neighbour to do his bit, pleased Dad very much. 

Will being stupidly tall. Gotta stop feeding him.

After tidying up, the lad and I went for an evening roll around Lake Forbes. I wish I still had his youthful confidence....

Then we dug the old portable turntable out to show Will what an iPod looked like when I was a lad....

45 RPM fun...

The next morning was another chance for some golden hour pedalling. A visit to the place where I spent every spare second from 15 until 18 years of age was a must.

 Then a lap of town followed up with a morning coffee hit the spot.

Beneath the Newel Highway bridge, Lake Forbes.

After a few days at "home", we had to hit the road. We had a daughter to pick up in Canberra - a three hour drive away - who was going to boost her driving hours by sharing the drive with me back to Queensland. The fact that a visit to Canberra with mountainbikes would mean a lap of Mt Stromlo trails was just icing on the cake!

Chasing Will.

Mt Stromlo now has a cafe' on site - Handlebar Cafe' - so we caught our breath by blowing the froth off a cold glass of Bent Spoke brewing Pale Ale. Well, I did. Will settled for a Sprite but either way it was a great way to cap off the ride. Mt Stromlo keeps getting better and better, especially now that the tree cover is growing back to be reasonable shady.

Sunday morning we were up and on the road early. We were going to meet my brother, Chillertek, in Bathurst for lunch and I didn't want to be late. We would have a 16 year old "L Plater" driving for part of the way and that would add to the travel time, not to mention the stress level!! Along with that, I had never travelled the road from Goulburn to Bathurst before and wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Once on the road it was evident that a large dust storm was upon us. The wind would have been gusting over 30 knots and the visibility down to just half a dozen kilometres or so. Lucy drove just fine though, allowing me to relax a little.

The Taralga Road was a great piece of tarmac, very worthy of a visit on two wheels. I can see why Steve and his mates do this ride as a day ride from Sydney. The little village of Taralga has a great looking pub and I will return to check it out some more.

Arriving in Bathurst we went straight to the Mt Panorama motor racing circuit. A text came in from my brother just as we pulled up at the motor museum, so I replied that we were gearing up and to meet us there. The wild wind blew a cold shower of rain over us just as we were about to roll out, prompting us to seek shelter for another five minutes. 

We were soon heading out onto the track for a “standard” anti clockwise direction lap. Motor racing has been conducted at Mt Panorama since the late 1930s when cars and bikes hurtled around it’s challenging dirt. I can’t imagine how dangerous it must have been back then because it is certainly challenging even today. 

Lucy turning onto the cicuit as Uncle Steve "sneaks" up behind her.

We pushed into the wind along the start straight as Steve motored past us.

Mountain Straight was going to be the first test. It is an almost constant climb, into a quartering headwind for us today.

Lucy was feeling the climb as she hasn’t done much riding at all this year. At least she wasn’t grumbling about it, which was good. We could see the previous rain shower waaay off to the east. The wind sure had whipped it quite far away in no time at all. 

 About half way up the mountain Steve cruised past again. He ribbed us for doing 6km/h so I upped my pace to 16km/h for a bit but all that did was leave poor Lucy behind, so I rode circles for a bit, letting her catch back up. 

 Cresting the cutting we were on more or less level ground, with a big tailwind, so we quickly motored over to “Skyline” where Steve was waiting for a few photos.

 Dropping off the mountain via “the Esses”, “the Dipper” and “Forest Elbow” we were spat out onto “Conrod Straight”. 

Aero positions were adopted and before we knew it we were rounding “Caltex Chase” and passing Steve who had stopped for a photo. 

 The lap had taken us 30 minutes to cover the 6.213km(4mi) lap (it has 571ft(174m) of vertical as well!) but that included some standing around taking photos and generally looking at the views. After changing out of our riding gear we had a look around the motor museum that is located at the entrance to the circuit. Steve posted up his pics here, so I will just do a photo dump below....

 Heading into Bathurst we grabbed lunch at the Oxford Hotel. The Oxford is quite funky for a country pub and we were soon enjoying huge burgers, washed down with a craft beer. 

 We waved Steve off toward Sydney as we loaded up the family truckster, pointing it for Sofala and several other backroads, taking in the Bylong Valley Way, a new road to me which will also need exploring on two wheels in the future. 

 We arrived home 24 hours later after another overnight in the Top Pub at Uralla. (Highly recommended for food, refreshments and accomodation). It was a busy week but we got a lot done, with some riding, driving and hanging out with both my kids, my bro and my folks.
A very nice time was had by all.

The route was a lazy 2570km (1596mi) and looked like this.

Cheers.

Snowy Mountains TD Training Ride - Day 2

DAY 2

 I slept pretty well, in spite of the cold night, being woken a few times by herds of wild horses trotting by on all sides of my tent and more worryingly, wild dogs howling on the distance. I awoke feeling quite refreshed despite what I would estimate to be a 6/10 quality sleep. 

Upon emerging from my tent I was greeted with a stunning sight. All of Long Plain was laid out before me, shimmering in it's covering of frost. My tent also got in on the party, being frozen solid!

 While my sleeping gear aired on a nearby branch and my water boiled for my quick oats, I set to sorting out my front tyre-gear clearance issue.

On the last service where I had the aerobars installed, I had requested that my bars be lowered by one spacer, about 1cm. This 1 cm(just under 1/2in) was enough to lower my clearance. I loosened off the bolts and raised my bars by that one spacer again. Hopefully this would do the trick. After trying to dry my tent in the bright, weakly warm sunlight, I looked at the time and it was almost 8:30am! Time to get going! I stuffed the still wet tent into it's bag with the plan to air it out when I was resupplying in Cabramurra. I should have thought of this half an hour earlier! Curse that mild O.C.D. and my need not to put gear away wet!

 Bumping along Long Plain road my legs were feeling pretty good. 123km(77mi) and who knows how much climbing(3100m or 10 200ft it turns out) was less than I had hoped but I did get a late start yesterday........just like today......d'oh!

 I soon passed the turn off for Long Plain campground. It looked to be sheltered in the trees and hence, from the frost but this is the direction I could hear the dogs howling from so I was happy with my choice of camping spot. 

 I was well pleased to see Rules Point and the sealed Snowy Mtns Hwy. I was due to ride along the highway for a while before turning off onto Wallace's Fire Break. Steve Watson,the organiser of the Monaro Cloudride and evil genius behind the route had told me that the fire break can be soggy if wet and I was seeing plenty of water in the table drains alongside the highway. Wallace's was just a way to keep me off the highway and seeing how I was behind schedule I saw little point in flogging along a muddy, slow fire trail for several hours just to cover 17km or so when there was a perfectly good, quietly trafficked highway alongside. 

 I was soon at the Kiandra turn off to Cabramurra. Kiandra was a gold rush town back in the 1800s where many a prospector lost his life in the harsh winter conditions. Today, almost nothing remains of the town.  Cabramurra on the other hand was built to house workers on the mighty Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric scheme that began in the 1950s and was finally complted in the early 1970s. It is also Australia's highest town.

 I climbed for a few kilometres before rejoining my route with a left turn onto Kings Cross Rd toward Mt Selwyn. Here I crested 5000ft above sea level for the first time.

My brother and I have ridden our motorcycles across these mountain roads many times but as road bikers, we were unaware that these dirt roads even existed. It was like discovering these alps for the first time and my spirits soared again! 

 A few easy kilometres and I was rolling down into Cabramurra.

I spread my tent out over one of the picnic benches to dry then strolled into the shop to fill up.

In hindsight, I should have ordered first, then spread my tent as I was now caught behind four elderly folks who couldn't decide what they wanted. Tick, tock, time is distance to me. What didn't help was the fact that the bloke behind the counter looked like a deer in the headlights and would have been more at home twirling spanners on a dozer in the bush. He was totally flustered when I also ordered a coffee, taking his order book to five! I tipped him over the edge by asking if I could fill my Camelbak from his tap which was right there in front of me. He told me to wait while he dealt with all these orders....... 

 Finally refilled with coffee, juice, pies and muffins and my tent nicely dry, I rolled out(well struggled back up the hill actually) about 50 minutes after rolling into town. Not a bad turn around after all. 

 As I began to descend toward Tumut Pond Dam, one of the Snowy Scheme dams, I noticed that there was still frost on the roadside in the shade. It couldn't be more than 5C( F) at midday. Thank god it was a calm, stunning day!

 I bombed down the next few kilometres, dropping about 1200ft down to the dam then slowly grinding 1200ft and more up the other side.

 I soon came to my turn off, Manjar Rd.

This is part of the Bicentennial National Trail and I spotted the blazes nailed to a tree some distance off. Goodby tar, hello rough, rocky dirt.......and wilderness. 

 This was the section of the ride that I was most apprehensive about. It is pure wilderness and before the advent of sat phones and EPIRBS it was designated remote area for us aviation types, just like the scorched heart of Australia is, only these mountains lie between the most populous areas in Australia.

 Travelling alone, I REALLY didn't want to break me or my bike in here. 

 Bouncing along the trail, it alternated in passing through open countryside, then tall stands of gum trees via short pinch climbs followed by rocky, rutted descents. 

This was hard going as my bike runs a rigid fork. This is suited to it's intended purpose, namely the Tour Divide Race but this ride called for front suspension at least! 

 Somewhere here I managed to lose my rain jacket off the back of my bike!  I would perish if stuck out here overnight without that! So, turning around, I tore back along the track to find it some 2km back. An extra 4km added to the total! 

 Stopping at the intersection of Manjar and Black Jack Rd I took in the vista across the plains to the west of the alps. 

My goal tonight, the town of Batlow, was to the west of the ranges and I began climbing Black Jack rd that way. West or Left. How smooth was this surface? Luxury! Then I looked at the gps screen. I was heading in the wrong direction! Of course, the trail went the other way, the rocky, rough way! Oh well, another 1/2km added to my total. 

No, of course, the trail is to the right here.....

 The next few hours consisted of pedalling up and down through huge eucalypt forest, the road covered with bark and sticks. They were extremely thick in some places.

My concentration was through the roof as I tried to maximise my speed on the downhills while trying to dodge roots and derailuer eating sticks in the mottled sunlight that was managing to filter in through the massive gums. At least my gear wasn't rubbing on the front tyre any more. I however,  felt like I was stuck on an exercise bike and I wasn't making any progress.

 I checked my overall position on my map and I was less than half way to Batlow with the sun starting to sink in the western sky. Bugger! There was a section where this never ending rough fire road turned onto a sealed road, before turning north again onto forest roads.

I thought "screw this, I am going to follow (the much longer) sealed road as I can't take any more of this beating". Then I started questioning why I was going slow. I was carrying extra survival gear that I wouldn't be carrying on The Divide. I questioned my legs next. "Ok guys, with all this gym work you are as strong as you have ever been. What gives?" The answer to what gives was that I had been holding back, spinning easily on the climbs and generally saving my legs in case I "blew up". Well, no more. I cracked the whip and began to power up the climbs. Not ragged-arse xc style but solid, purposeful pedalling. The road even helped out with sections of smooth gravel.

 I was pleasantly surprised that my legs responded and responded well. I kept this pace up until the sealed road then thought "lets take a look at what the road through Bago Forest looks like". If it looks snotty, then I will take the seal but if it looks good the 30km(19mi) to Batlow shouldn't take long.

 At that turn off the road looked excellent. I fitted my headlight, a Lezyne Power Drive that I was trialling. I stretched a bit, then headed into Bago Forest. The next 20 or so kilometres were on excellent smooth clay road and I made great time. This is the sort of road the BNT is made for!

 Exiting the eucalypt forest and entering pine plantations just on dark, the road turned to cobble stone rock that almost rattled my teeth out. The last 10km into Batlow was a misery as I was tired and being pummelled by the road. Add to this some brake searing descents where I had the levers pulled back to the bars and you get the picture. I had done so much braking today that the pads on my BB7s needed adjusting several times but I wasn't stopping to give them one more tweak now! 

 I had a funny experience just out of Batlow. I was belting down a hill, staying well left to try and find a smoother line amongst the cobblestones when a rabbit came belting up the hill, straight at me! I don't know if my lights confused him but he zipped by at full tilt, going the other way and missing my front wheel by less than a foot. Almost a perfect head on smash to end my day! 

 Rolling into Batlow, population 1700, I was going to treat myself to a bed inside tonight. I soon found the appropriately named Apple Motel and was checked in by a friendly and inquisitive lady. "You are on a bike, ...now?!" meaning why was I riding in the dark. To which I replied the obvious "well, you just have to keep pedalling. You can't just put your foot down a little more". 

 Next door to the Apple Motel(an excellent little motel actually) is the Batlow RSL. I rocked in, strutting my bike gear and proceeded to order half the items on the Chinese menu. Hole filled, I wandered back to my room for a shower and stretch. I also caught up on 2 days worth of messages as this was the first mobile coverage I had had since leaving Canberra. 

 I had covered a respectable 148km(93mi) and who knows how much climbing.(another 3000m or 9800ft apparently)

 My bike was performing flawlessly and the new 2.2 tyres, a Specialised Fast Track Control up front and a Maxxis Ikon, this time with EXO sidewall protection, out back were providing some much needed volume to help smooth out the ride. I think I was running them at too high a pressure(30psi) though for these trails. Mid 20s might be a better pressure to try so I let a calibrated finger full of air out of each end after the pummelling I took today.

 I went to bed setting my alarm for first light with the intention of getting on the road by 7am. I wanted to make Wee Jasper tomorrow and I wasn't quite sure what lay ahead of me. One thing that was certain, on this Cloudride route, expect it to be harder that it needs to be and you won't be far wrong.......