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!