Heart-swallowing Hoot of a Commute

This was supposed to be a photo of a 6 foot long tiger snake slithering away through the grass of the Yarra Flats after scaring the begeebers out of me.

Actually, it is a photo of a 6 foot long tiger snake slithering away through the grass of the Yarra Flats after scaring the begeebers out of me... you just can't see it.

As I came down off the drop from the freeway near Bourke Road on my way home tonight, I hit the sealed section touching 45kph when I looked to see a massive Tiger snake stretched out across the whole concrete bike track in front of me. A bit like this clearer picture just to give you a bit of a shiver...


I had nowhere to go and such little time to react that for a fraction of a second I thought I was going to run straight over the top of her.

I just managed to hop in time and this is about what I saw as I flew over the top...


Okay - not quite, but she was rearing big time and I thought she was gunna hit me. Fair dinkum... I'm still re-swallowing my heart.

Thank God the Wedensday night boys have taught me how to bunny-hop.

Yep - welcome back to the Hoot of a Commute.


2.5hrs MTB - 30 seconds over MHR

.

Will I really be sitting at the desk tomorrow?

The last mountain bike ride was not enough for me of course. I had to finish with one last road-ride as well.

I headed out on the Alpine Cycling Club ride this morning at 8am from Cyclepath in Bright.

It was great to catch up with a few old mates. I don't see Gary Meyland (left with beard) so much these days as he's always in Adelaide for the TDU when I spend my biggest chunk in Porepunkah. He made the point today that the number of 6am-ers at the TDU was an impressive sight fully kitted out and riding in a group nearly every day. Gotta get there.

It was also great to ride with Aaron (club pres) today. I see him a bit but due to a recent altercation he had with a wallaby whilst descending Buffalo, it's been a while since we've actually ridden together.

It was Aaron who I worked with on the front of the World Champs races which I discussed here. When we talk we still don't shut up about our experiences back in October.

We climbed Buffalo today. It was a beautiful morning and around 9.20 or so whilst staring out at Bogong from Mackies, I thought about the fact that I'd be sitting back at my desk about that time tomorrow... surely not!?!

This was a lovely relaxing role and we finished with a Breakfast Burrito at the Rail Trail Cafe in Porepunkah -


- a fantastic way to finish a fantastic holiday. I was actually in a little bit (lot) of trouble for my late return today since we were heading home. But nothing beyond the marital skills of the average cyclist!

Jack was rapt when he finished loading the car and we were
ready to roll to Melbourne by about 1pm

And here I sit, back in Melbourne and about to hit the sack for the daily grind tomorrow. Lucky I love my job as well as holidays!

.

From the top of the drop

Don't mind this shot of Guy and Brendan.

Taken from the top of the big drop in the return leg of the Bright 6 hour track a couple of nights ago.

Lovely section of trail.

Goodbye to Bright MTB for a while

I reckon I had a pretty good ride planned today for my final MTB ride of this visit. Meet Brendan at the shop at 4pm for a couple of hours of hard going. Then meet Guy back in town at 6pm for a couple more hours a little more moderate. Magic!

I managed to sneak this secret photo in the shop before we left. I don't reckon he'd let me touch it let alone sit on it or ride it... so this is about the closest I'll get to having a bit of fun with this brand-new full carbon Superfly 29er (dually, SRAM X-0, full Fox).

This is how it looks without me or all the other crap behind it -


- pretty nice.

This is how it looks going flat-knacker down Bakers Gully Road with Brendan on it
(not me unfortunately!) -


- pretty nice (except for Brendan of course... really, I don't think he looks nice... just the bike).





So Brendan and I had a great hit-out with some pretty serious climbing involved. But it was sort of like cheating for him coz his bike was so good.

And really... I had a genuinely wonderful time on my Anthem too. It's a seriously good bike and it's performance on these trails never ceases to amaze me. It puts up with some really significant shit.









And later, all of Bakers Bully with Guy and a trip up to Huggins for a hoot down the new section of downhill provided by Cal Britten.

Heading up the top end of Bakers Gully

Huggins Lookout - for the perfect view of Bright

Seriously good company and seriously good fun.

We finished with a lap around the 6 hour course and a survey with photographs of the possible proposal of some trails to be named in memory of Guy's brother Roger (which I talk about here).

Thanks guys for a wonderful few weeks of fantastic riding. Love your home.

While the cat's away, the mice will play

Karen has a new job this year and had to return to Melbourne for a day on Thursday. Hence the above title.

I knew I'd put the Yamaha FZ1 on the trailer this year for a reason so Jack and I fired it up on Thursday night and did a quick lap of one of my favourite pieces of bitumen.

Those of you who know this lookout will know that a photo could never ever do this view justice.
Tawonga Gap at this time of night is just bliss and the blast on the moto had already put the smiles on our faces.

Jack and Rich on Tawonga Gap - looking across to the sun
setting across Bogong and surrounds

I'm not sure if it was a good or a bad feeling to see how much fun Jack had on the back of the bike. The Read genes are usually in much need of the adrenalin derived from such activities.

He has clearly inherited the genes.

Official times for Foggy's Alpine

Foggy's goal - 8 hrs

Foggy's time - 8 hrs 3 mins 12 seconds

Bugger those bloody traffic lights!


Bright (Start) 06:20:34 AM
Falls Creek 08:55:22 AM
Bright Football Club 10:49:46 AM
Mt Buffalo - Dingo Dell 13:22:20 PM
Bright (Finish) 14:23:46 PM

Morning Prayers

No matter who you think made it or how, there is no better way to celebrate the beauty of the earth than cruising across the top of Mt. Hotham on a gorgeous clear summer morning.

With Feathertop in the background and mist floating in the valleys you could be forgiven for not believing it was miserable in Melbourne.

Oh that's right, that's why I'm here!



So maybe it was the presence of Pastor Rod from One Community which drove home to me the glory of God's creation (hang on a minute, I'm not that religious!).


In any case, someone thought of creating this magnificent place so I'm going to do everything I can to enjoy it. Mostly on two wheels.

Three days after the Alpine Classic it was nice to roll the legs over with a cruisy ride and a good chat. Darryl (Elmer of the 6am-ers), Rod Clements (pastor Rod) and I headed out to Harrietville with a few locals who turned back early for work.


The day couldn't have been better and the cloud sitting low in the valleys added a mystical beauty to the place as we climbed.

The irony of the following shot became clear when, immediately after it was taken, Darryl jumped on his bike and snapped his rear derailer cable. Wow ! (my religious/Rod presence expression)


After a bit of mucking around we managed to lock him into the 18 tooth at the rear. 13% climb on a 39/18 - good luck.

Rod and I agreed we were too close to the top to turn back so we told Darryl we'd see him on the way down. As we topped CRB we turned to see that he was still there. Wow!

"Okay," I said, "That was pretty good but if you're still there at the top I'll put in a nomination for the Big Balls award."

39/18 - 13% for 1.5k then an average of about 9% for the next 5?... not bad.

So 6am-ers, here's our first nomination (that I know of) for the 2011 Big Balls award. Lucky, coz I was going to be looking for the HTFU cap for Darryl on our return to Melbourne after his stopping at the bottom of Buffalo on Sunday!

After those couple of climbs up the top on the way down we released Darryl's gear back to a 53/11 and smashed it down my favourite descent.

Well I smashed it anyway. I had my first coffee on the table in Harrietville before the other guys arrived. (humble as I am)

What a beautiful mountain village to re-hash the ride. A quick 30k downhill to Bright and we had 130 or so under our belts.

Great ride, great company and great creation Big Fella. Thanks!

The Alpine Classic - 23 January 2011

Beware!... we're a dangerous lot -

- or maybe they just mean "watch out" for cyclists. In any case, you can't drive very far along The Great Alpine Road on this weekend in January without quickly coming up behind those annoying cycling pests.

It's the weekend when thousands of cyclists descend upon Bright to ascend many of the surrounding peaks using only pedal power.

The Audax element brings out some of the eccentricities... folding bike Fridays, recumbents, retros, tandems and at least these three 6am-ers.


With Foggy riding his first 200k Alpine, our aim was to get him across the line in under 8 hours, a challenging but realistic goal for his level of fitness at present. Smithy, having ridden this ride close to 7 hours numerous times (but never cracked it!), was going for about 8 and a half considering his lack of prep this year.

From Delaney Avenue heading out of Bright I gave it my usual turn of speed knowing the difference some good pace in the first 15k can make to your overall time. Some help came from a fella who quickly identified himself as a mate of Gus's and Angles.

That was it though.

Each year, getting any help at all on the front prior to the Tawonga climb is one of the main challenges of the ride but it's one of the reasons I have always looked upon this as a really big time-trial.

The leading bunch just before starting the Tawonga climb.

Brad and I satisfied ourselves with tapping away our own pace up the first climb whilst being passed by all the lightweights. We pulled a few back on the descent and then found ourselves in a solid group for the Falls Climb.

The Falls descent was a hoot and it was great to get the cheers from those still climbing. Ad Ed, Smithy (6am), Nic, Elmer (6am), Bandit (6am), Steve Richo, Gav (Fatties) and later Mr. C (6am) on his coffee run all added to the motivation.

Brad and I rode the undulating section of the Falls descent like the Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte 6am-er hard hit! Again, as much as it takes it's toll, there is time to be saved if you can ride that section hard and fast.

Brad still has a smile on his face as he tops Tawonga on the return.

I only just managed to get this kind-of smile out of him as we rolled out of
Bright with the thought of Buffalo in the forefront of our minds!

The first half of the Buffalo climb hit us really hard and we both suffered from some cramping and exhaustion which made for a slow climb. Brad found it particularly difficult when his quads and hammies both cramped at the same time! What can you do apart from stop and endure?

The heat and humidity of the day was most challenging in the valleys and the lower slopes of Buffalo were bathed in full sun. Other riders measured the temp on those first hills as 37 plus degrees so it's not surprising it hurt.

To me it seemed to hurt more than the 44 degree day of a few years ago but it's always the most recent agony that has the greatest impact!

We got there anyway - Top of Buffalo at Dingo Dell

As we left the top of Buffalo it was touch-and-go as to whether or not we'd crack the 8.

A massive cheer from the Read and Fogg families at the bottom of the descent was fantastic to hear and gave us at least an additional 10 watts of power each for about 200 meters but it wasn't enough to take minutes off our time.

A time check of 7 hrs 43 min at the ticket box diminished any thought of under 8hrs but we rode home as hard as we could anyway.

Home in 8 hrs and 8 mins - can't help thinking about that time we spent at the
roadwork traffic lights on the way up and down Buffalo!?!

Steve Richo at the end of his 200k - First Alpine Classic

and longest ever ride - top effort Richo!

Go 6am-ers

It was a great day for the 6am-ers (and a heap of others of course) with some fantastic results:

• Foggy (6am) and I (6am) - aimed for 8 - pulled off an 8 hr 8 min
  
• Angles (6am), Cath and her sister, starting at 4am, completed the epic 250km loop through Omeo and back of Falls - what an effort
• Nic, a friend of the 6am-ers, pulled off his first 200k
• Smithy (6am), in his unusually unfit state, still pulled out an 8hr 22min - bloody freak
• Mr. C (6am) with a couple of mates, took it nice and easy over to Falls and back with a coffee on the way and a coffee on the way back
• Lumpy (6am), still nursing his knee back, took a cruise up Hotham and back on his lonesome (Question: How do you ride Hotham whilst nursing a knee? Time to come back I reckon)
• Craig Johno (Melb), who I rode pretty much the whole ride with a few years ago until his saddle fell off, powered past me going up the first Tawonga and I never saw him again - I reckon he probably rode about a 6:45hrs
  
• Elmer (6am) pulled out of the 200k just prior to the Buffalo climb with significant cramps having ridden a pace which looked like achieving his best time to date
• The Bandit (6am) completed his first 200k with his brother-in-law and had a massive smile on his face when I ran into him at the waterhole later on
• Gav and Cam from Fatties both did the 200k - Gav got through it and Cam was crippled by the cramps of Buffalo (one of many)
• Brendon (Bright) rode the 250k - don't know his time yet but it will have been good coz he's strong as an ox at the moment
• Derm (Bright) enjoyed the river after battling through the 130k and looks forward to getting back on a real bike (MTB)
  
• Adam (Melb) completed his first 200 in about 8 and a half I reckon - a hard day in the saddle but good prep for the Three Peaks
• Pastor Rod (Melb) cracked last years time by 5 min to come in at 9 hrs 15 min - back next year with an aim to crack 9
  
• Richo (Melb) smashed out his first 200 in his best ever time and will be back next year to set some serious goals
  

And that's what it's all about. Goals. The Alpine Classic to me is what got me interested in cycling in the first place. It's my big time-trial and I love riding it every year with a particular focus in mind.

As a bonus, it's conducted in the best place on earth.

This was my recovery ride yesterday -

Me sitting on Readie's wheel

Recovery pizzas at the Alpine (aptly selected) and guzzling beers like Enduras.
Bright bliss!
(The Brewery was a bit busy Scotty!)

Solo Heaven

Sometimes I long to get out there all alone. Tonight was one of those times. Two and a half hours on the trails of Bright. Not another mountain biker in sight.

I'm a poet - and I didn't know it.

Not often you see Morses like this in summer.

All of Bakers Gully both sides - Odd Frog stuff - Huggins - Pines - Rambo - 6hr - Morses. This rivals anything in the world I reckon!

As much as I love it... maybe I really do need that EPERB for my birthday!

Now to rest until Sunday for the Alpine Classic.

Morses Creek (photos on the Blackberry, not so flash)

Ride for Roger

Finally out with the Bright boys again. The Wednesday night mountain bike cruise. I love it -



I was a bit nervous after a week of feeling very flat (and ill) after my disastrous Alpine Assault last Sunday but my energy seemed good and I was pretty much riding back in the zone.

Ten minutes into the ride we stopped to regroup and reflect on the loss of local mountain bike stalwart, Roger Packham. Pete said a few words and we thereafter dedicated this Wednesday night ride to Roger.



Stalwart: Synonymous with strong. A loyal, reliable, and hardworking supporter or participant in an organisation or team. Having or marked by imposing physical strength. Firm, steadfast, and uncompromising. Physically and morally strong.

Sometimes people make a large impact on your life in a very small time frame. Roger was one of those and despite the relatively few times I had ridden with him and met him, I felt honoured to have known him.

Every word mentioned at his funeral this morning at Bright Lawn Cemetery reflected his strong, reliable and friendly nature. His mountain bike standing by the grave, his loved brother, best friend and cycling mate dressed in one of his favorite jerseys and the many cycling identities from around town confirmed his dedication to mountain biking.

But the words expressed by people from many other walks of life and the two hundred plus people in attendance was testament to the impact Roger had in so many ways.

So see ya later Rodge. It was an honour to be there to say goodbye and an honour to ride your trails this afternoon.

I look forward to riding one named in your honour in the very near future.

My thoughts with Jenny and your beautiful children. With Guy and his family who loved you so much.

Doogs, Cal, me and Brendon on Huggins Lookout overlooking Bright. Magnificent!

Caution for Alpine Classic Participants

Mt. Buffalo has changed in many ways over the years but none more so than after the flooding of September and December last year.

There were at least two days in September where Buffalo received rainfall of more than 160mm within 24 hours. This is what it did to the road!...

About 6k from the top (just below McKinnons Corner) - Less than a lane of bitumen left. The creek on the high side was never visible. Now it's a rocky wide open bed like Eurobin (not a bad thing!)

This section is just a couple of k from The Gap. Some serious road rebuilding
will need to occur to make this all wide and safe again.
The power of the water here was pretty full on.

I'm not sure how they're going to handle this in the Alpine Classic but I'm positive it will be with significant caution. So those descending... have a good look at those photos. There's only one lane for both directions at three spots.

Assaulted by the Alpine

(The Alpine Assault is a 100k marathon mountain bike race starting in Falls Creek, traversing the high plains of the Victorian High country and finishing in Mt. Beauty.)


The Alpine Assault could be seen as quite an ambiguous title for a mountain bike race but most would conclude it assumes the rider will launch an assault on the Victorian High Country.

I went for the other option.

This morning the assault came in the opposite direction. I was seriously assaulted by steep climbs, relentless rocky descents, deep river crossings and unrideable river beds. To the point where, for the first time ever, I was a DNF (did not finish) for a mountain bike event.

It wasn’t so much the fierce terrain of the race that got me but the frailty of my tiring body… sob, sob. The significant pain in my upper abdomen (no idea what it is) of the last few days killed me on the first climb after the start at Falls Creek.

My lungs refused to expand and my legs refused to provide power. I hoped it was just a warm-up thing but within 10 minutes I was considering getting on the phone to my support team (Kel and Amanda) to let them know I’d be coming back down with them in the car.

I persisted for a while but soon found myself as the back-marker. It was all over for me within 15 minutes. I made a few more attempts to power on the climbs but it hurt too much in the chest and there was just no power there.

I had wanted to do this race for one reason though, the magnificent scenery of one of the most beautiful places on earth.

So I decided to role across the high plains and soak up the wonders of the beautiful Alpine morning. After all, it’s all down hill to Mt. Beauty… isn’t it?

Well, no… there’s 3800 metres of climbing in this race but that’s not the least of it. The downhill sections are long, fast, very rocky and relentless. They have you screaming for a break, another climb.

I made it into Mt. Beauty at the 67km mark and as much as my mind was telling me to continue with the other loops, I knew my body was saying otherwise.

I sensibly pulled the pin, refueled at the Mt. Beauty Bakery and now live to fight another day.

My condition today has me wondering about my ability to back it up for the Alpine Classic next week.

At least the title is not ambiguous.

Porepunkah

It's always an epic effort getting us all up here but we did eventually -



It didn't take us long to get to the Riverdeck -




And Eurobin Falls is flowing stronger than I've ever seen it before.



There's nothing easy about climbing Buffalo with Kel Boers but I still appreciated our brief respite of four hours without rain yesterday when we managed a Wandilagong loop and a trip up to The Gap. The rain of past months has completely wiped out a few sections of Buffalo Road and I'm surprised it's still open to be honest. I'll try and get some photos next time I'm up there.