Audax Alpine Classic 2012 - ACE250

It didn't seem that crazy at the time but maybe it should have. It was 4am in Bright and I was standing around with more than 300 cyclists about to start on the longest ride of my life. Somehow Michael managed to find me amongst the crowd. I wouldn't see him again until I was having a beer over 15 hours later.

4:00am Bright 0km: We're off. Its a long snaking trail of headlights, tailights and flouro vests. It's a time to be very cautious and I settled in with a reasonable bunch. I soon realised
a) Don't look over your shoulder. Modern bike lights are *very* bright. Ayups seem to be the light of choice (I think Jumbo Jets use them).
b) White bar tape reflects a lot of light. Very distracting.

4:53am Harrietville 24km 53mins riding. The road heads up towards Mt Hotham. My strategy is to spin my way up the hills so I can finish the day. The crowd has now spread out a bit. The lights of people climbing behind me are swaying side to side - I'm feeling "seasick". The Meg seems easier than New Years Day (less champagne on board). Looking back down the mountain is a slow moving line of lights - a memorable sight. As the darkness lifts - birds are singing and the Alpine views are very speccy. I have my first break after 2 hours of riding. Back on the bike - past the ticketbox and the Dargo turnoff - it's the snowline and a change of scenery. The early morning views over Mt Hotham make any complaints about the ridiculously early start invalid! I'm working pretty hard up CRB Hill, huffing and puffing, and there's 2 guys chatting behind me like they're standing at the bar enjoying a drink! That's just not fair.

7:10am Mt Hotham 53km 3h10m (+2m stopped). Have to take a picture. Wow.

It's the first downhill - I'm doing 60km/h rather than 11km/h. Hooray.

7:35am Dinner Plain 66km 3h33m (+4m stopped) The first food stop. It's a 10 minute break for checkin, banana's, bread with jam and a coffee. I grab an extra banana to take with me. The road to Omeo is generally downhill. I set my max speed for the day down into the Cobungra Valley - 86.8km/h.

9:15am Omeo 110km 5h02m (+15m stopped) Lunch stop. Yummy food - a salad roll, banana's, orange quarters, plunger coffee and an icy pole. I fill my water bottles up and apply some sunscreen. It's hotter now - so I remove my undershirt. The flouro vests also seem to trap some heat in. It's all new for me out of Omeo. There are volunteers at a plank bridge over the Bingo Munjie Creek. The organisation and volunteer effort is *amazing*. I take my time on the first climb out of town. Then it's a delightful flat section running next to the Mitta Mitta River. There are pockets of people camping out for the long weekend.

10:55am Anglers Rest 140km 6h23m (+34m stopped). Great spot for another quick break. There's a pub but I order a soft drink. In retrospect, I probably needed something stronger - anabolic steriods!!

11:32am Bogong Hill Plains Rd turnoff 150km 6h52m (+42m stopped). Whisky Tango Foxtrot Hill (ok, let's call it by it's real name "What The Fcuk Hill". Yep, that's exactly what you say when you see it. I had ridden easy just to get up the next 8-10km. It was hot and tough but I got up the first 1.5km to the water stop. A quick break to fill the water bottles - then up we go. For about 1.5km before my temperature went way up. I looked for some shade and stopped and sat on the guard rail for a few minutes. Time to move on - this time 500m before the shade looked to good to pass by. I took my flouro vest off, poured water over myself and sat on the guard rail considering my options. The was another guy 30m up the road. I walked my bike up and sat with him. He kindly offered my a lolly. May as well sit and eat. A short walk around the corner (too avoid the steeper bit) and away we go...for 350m. Based on this effort - I'll still be here next week. And I'll be cooked like a chicken. It's damn hot.

12:12am Somewhere in Hell 154km 7h18m (+46m stopped). Time for a long walk. Even walking isn't easy - but 3.5km/h is better than stopped. Holy shit - thats another 2 hours on this stinking hill. WTF is wrong with me - cyclists are crazy - who would want to race on something like this!! A water tank!! Audax think of everything. Fill my bottles and squirt some water over my head. St Johns Ambulance rolls up next to me.
Ambos:"You OK?".
Me:"Got a bike rack on this thing?"
Ambos:"Nope. Need anything else - water?"
Me:"Any Ice?"
Ambos:"No ice but we have icy water."
Me:"Yes please". It was one of the most delightful things I had all day.
Off again - 2km this time before a stop and a soaking from my water bottles. Then another 3km ticked off. I'm starting to weave all over the road (on purpose) because it really does help lessen the gradient. Also there seems to be a bit more tree cover now and without the direct sun I'm no longing "roasting". Woohoo - some down hill - back to my natural environment. But, it's the work of the devil - WTFH2 is just around the corner!! No way I can climb that. Add another 400m to my walking total :(

1:46pm Raspberry Hill Water Stop 170km 8h43m (+1h05m stopped). So 20km took me 1h51m riding/walking + 23m stopped = 2h14m. Audax have been doing this for a long time and they know some tricks. A volunteer with a garden sprayer sprayed my face with water to remove the salt. It was cool and refreshing to say the least. More bananas and some lollies. "It's just undulating from here and once you can see the water, it's all downhill". I assumed he didn't mean the Pacific Ocean. It was also cooler on the Bogong High Plains. I have never seen this part of the world. One day, I'll *drive* back for a better look.

2:45pm Falls Creek 187km 9h34m (+1h13m stopped). A couch. I made another mistake and sat in it. Comfy..in the shade...cool...feeling tired. If it wasn't for the coming downhill - I might have stayed.

3:51pm Mt Beauty 218km 10h26m (+1h27 stopped). If it was on the other side of Tawonga Gap, I'd rename it "Mt Fcuking Beauty". But it's on the "wrong" side so I decided to have a rest, a coke and some gatorade before hitting the hill.

4:30pm Tawonga Gap with 6km to climb 222km 10h48m (1h44m stopped). It's extremely hot again. More water over the head.

4:38pm Tawonga Gap with 4km to climb 224km 11h05m (1h45m stopped). The Audax water stop with *ice*!!! Extraordinary *ice*. Lovely *ice*. Cold *ice*. Gotta have some of that *ice*. PLUS the garden spray was out again - this time with *ice* water. It's hard to explain how great it was.

5:20pm Tawonga Gap 228km 11h27m (+1h55m stopped) The climbing is all done. I'm off downhill. Catching a few on the descent - I know I can make it. My legs are enjoying the change and it felt great to finish "strongly".

5:50pm Bright 248km 11h57m (+1h55m stopped) Total Time: 13hours 52 minutes.

Cathy was at the end with a great big hug. What a supporter. Thanks.

7:00pm Bright Hotel. The MDBC crew was together again. Michael Gass had a great ride (His 18th Alpine Classic - he's forgotten more than I know), Andy and John also completed the 250 (much faster than me). Michael Burmeister broke 8hours for the 200 and Steve Rath completed the 200 on a single speed and just missed 8 hours (I still can't believe he does that!!). There were many others (RobV, RobP, PaulF, GrahamP ++) who completed their rides on a day when just finishing was something extraordinary. Congratulations.

I'll say this again - the organisation and support provided by Audax and the volunteers is absolutely amazing. We could not do it without you. Thanks so much.

Sunday 29th January- Alpine Classic

He made it!!
David rode his longest ever bike ride today - 250km over Mt Hotham, Falls Creek and Tawonga Gap. He started at 4am and finished about 5.50pm. It was amazing considering the heat. If he ever talks about doing it again though, we are to put an immediate end to that thought!

Saturday 21st January - A Day at the zoo

It was years since Cathy had been to the zoo. This visit was prompted when Hanneke, a friend from the Kimberley, was showing her foster daughters Tyleisha and Sheena around Melbourne. There were lots of favorite animals but here is Bong-su the elephant and the Giant Turtles.

Friday 6th January

David excitedly jumped out of bed ready for his big ride over Tawonga Gap and up Falls Creek. Just as Cathy was heading out to join him for part of the ride, the phone rang to say he'd broken a spoke half way up Tawonga Gap. Cathy didn't let him off the bike that easily though - she gave up her front wheel so he could keep pushing up and over the Gap. By the time he got to Mount Beauty, he had devised a plan. The lady in the bike shop took a bit of convincing to hire just the front wheel of a road bike, but Cathy pointed out it was one less bike for her to clean at the end of the day!
Departing from Mt Beauty tourist info centre, Cathy was the bunny leading David up the hill. Although the battery on the e bike was showing low from 15km to go and empty from 9 kms to go, Cathy pumped hard on the pedals and nursed it up to the top.

After a ham and cheese toastie and rest out of the saddle, it was time to venture down. David handed out some helpful advice then sped down the slopes, stopping every now and then to make sure Cathy was still following. Despite one major wobble which she managed to correct, Cathy made it down alive. We both felt we'd earned a coffee and cake at the aptly named "Treats cafe". What a great final day to our holiday in Bright.

Thursday 5th January

Sometimes you just need a day to hang around doing very little at all and that is what we did today. We eventually got ourselves down to the Bright twilight market about 4pm and stocked up on chutney, farm fresh fruit and other delicacies before heading down to the Bright Brewery to taste some more ales and people-watch. The evening was spent out on the balcony with Darryl, Vickie and Ebony eating Thai food - simply delightful!

Wednesday 4th January

At last, relief from the heat as thunderstorms moved through in the morning. We watched the rain falling from the veranda at Smoko Shed - with coffee and cake. Once the rain cleared, we got on our bikes for a 76km return trip to Gapsted winery. The Gourmet Platter was huge and delicious.

By the time we got back to the ice cream shop in Bright, David was ready for a choc vanilla smoothie whilst Cathy just wanted cold wet water.

Tuesday 3rd January

The heatwave was in full swing. David got up early and rode Mt Buffalo before the sun kicked in. Cathy did her normal morning run then basked in the morning sun in the hammock on the balcony. We spent the afternoon dragging our feet in the Ovens river attempting to keep cool, whilst other folk drifted by on lilos. Darryl and Vickie taught Ebony to throw stones in the river whilst David was fascinated by the ducks.

Monday 2nd January

Up for a walk in opposite directions. Cathy headed uphill and found 2 reservoirs. David went downhill to fetch the newspaper and some bread. We had breakfast on the balcony before the forecast top temperature of 40 degrees had us hiding inside for a while. We shared a Bright Brewery pizza and some amber ale for lunch but Cathy wouldn't share her peanut butter and chocolate ice-cream!!

Daryl, Vickie and Ebony arrived shortly after dinner and brought some wine to share.

Sunday New Years Day

David got up early to start on his 9000km cycling goal for 2012. Cathy had her first real ride on our new e-bike. There were big smiles as we met at Harrietville. David needed food - Cathy had lamb sandwiches in her backpack. Happy campers. We powered back to Bright as the temperature hit 38 degrees. It was a quiet afternoon of recovery.

Saturday New Years Eve

A month ago, David cycled from Omeo to Bright but it was too foggy to see anything. So we decided to drive to Bright via Omeo. We were organised enough to leave early, stopping for Eggs Benedict in Traralgon. David recalled delicious vegetable pasties in Omeo - so it was Omeo for lunch. Cathy thought our next trip should be on a pink tricycle!!

It was an very scenic drive up and over Mt Hotham. Cathy was treated(?) to lots of boring stories regarding the Alpine Delight.

Friday 30th December

The Christmas celebrations continued as Chris, Katrina, Sarah, Emma, Angus and Lilly arrived for "Christmas Brunch". This meant lots of homemade raspberry jam on toast, a glass of milo and coffee for the adults. We spent most of the day working in the garden. Cathy did a flying visit to the sales before we got organised for our trip to Bright.

Thursday 29th December

We couldn't leave Wellington without checking out the views from the Cable Car and walking back down into town through the Botanic Gardens. We had just enough time for a refreshing shower before checking out and heading for the airport. Life is a lot easier when you fly Business class. We were fortunate enough to get a points upgrade to our flights. We sat back enjoying beer, champagne, a better meal and plenty of legroom. Cathy's car survived the Melbourne hailstorm without a dent. It's always special to get home.

Wednesday 28th December

It was sad to farewell the family in Nelson but we hope it won't be too long until we meet again. We flew to Wellington to check out Queens Wharf, the shops and Te Papa museum.

David managed the first two before falling asleep, but Cathy found her way to Ta Papa to learn about earthquakes and a whole lot more about NZ.

Tuesday 27th December

DJ had the day off so the 6 of us were able to head off in 2 cars through winding mountain roads to Pelorus Bridge. Dad and David ventured off fly-fishing whilst the rest of us went bushwalking to find some waterfalls.

We met up for lunch but there were no fish to be fried.

The Boat Shed provided the superb venue and menu for a final fling in Nelson. Trina wore her matching set (earrings and necklace). We were blessed with a superb sunset.