Category: 2016

Cross-training: Bushwalking at Mt Granya

Saturday February 13, 2016

The man is on a rebound. After more than a year of not wanting to go camping, or finding excuses about why he couldn’t go, Nigel wants to get out of the house on the weekend. It is a good sign. When he is at his lowest, he has no interest at all in any of the things he normally enjoys. Most of his depression is expressed as anger, but some of the classic symptoms are there, too.

So I suggest we head up to Mt Granya State Park. I was there just a few weeks ago and discovered that the campground doesn’t feel quite so much like an open field in someone’s back paddock anymore. The campground is close to home and the nearby pub has reopened, so we can just go there for dinner instead of hauling up cooking equipment. We can just throw in tent, sleeping bags, lunch and beer and go. Read more →

Granya – Jindera via Wymah and Bowna

Sunday February 14, 2016, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 448 miles (721 km)

I have planned out two options for today’s ride. I could head over Granya Gap again, then down to Eskdale and then back up over the hills to Wymah and home. Or I could just head back toward Wymah then head north and west to Culcairn. Either option has me returning Monday afternoon. I want to get in more climbing before the 10-day tour since I won’t have a chance to ride next weekend. But we’ll see how I feel – I’ve been low on sleep again this week and my asthma is still giving me grief. Read more →

Tawonga Caravan Park to 3 kms north of Anglers Rest via Falls Creek

Saturday March 19, 2016, 52 miles (83 km) – Total so far: 817 miles (1,314 km)

Yesterday, as I was driving from work to the caravan park, the familiar sense of excitement and anticipation started creeping through my veins. I had packed up all of my gear the night before, took everything with me to work, and then tried to concentrate all day in front of the computer.

Then, at 4.30pm, it was time to go. And there I went – driving over the river, across the plains and up the valleys toward the mountains in my work uniform. It made me feel like I was 20 again and heading off for mountain adventures with the boys right after classes ended for the week at university. Read more →

3 kms north of Anglers Rest to Victoria Falls Historic Area via Omeo

Sunday March 20, 2016, 34 miles (54 km) – Total so far: 850 miles (1,368 km)

Not a whole lot of planning has gone into this trip, so today I’m not quite sure how far I’ll get along the route. The camping and water resupply options between Omeo and Dinner Plain are rather sparse, so it seems like the day will be very, very short (15 miles to Omeo), pretty short (30 miles to Victoria Falls) or long (all the way to Dinner Plain).

I’m not worried, however. One of the things I love about bike touring these days is that I am pretty content to just let the days unfold as they may. I plan out the water, or at least note where I can get water, and where there is public land for camping, then I just let things go. Read more →

Victoria Falls Historic Area to Bright via Mt Hotham

Monday March 21, 2016, 59 miles (95 km) – Total so far: 909 miles (1,463 km)

I bundled up last night – thinking it would be cold overnight at 1000 metres of elevation. But the clouds came in, and it was never very cold at all. Of course, we will be riding into those clouds as we get higher, but at least we are starting the day with a very reasonable temperature.

The road continues up the valley, partway up the side of a series of grassy hills. On the opposite side of the valley, the national park is a natural fence of trees strung along the upper reaches of the hills. Read more →

Bright to Tawonga via Tawonga Gap

Tuesday March 22, 2016, 16 miles (26 km) – Total so far: 925 miles (1,489 km)

Day 4 – over the hump between the Ovens and Kiewa valleys – that is all there is to it today. It’s about 9 miles to the top of the hump. The first four or five miles are gentle. The road wanders along the bottom of a narrow valley past green and grassy pasture, a walnut farm and then a chestnut farm. Then it turns a corner and starts climbing a bit more seriously. We leave the flat valley and follow a creek upward. Read more →

Oak Brand Caramel Milk: Jindera-Burrumbuttock-Brocklesby-Howlong-Moorwatha-Jindera

Sunday March 13, 2016, 55 miles (89 km) – Total so far: 55 miles (89 km)

Each year, the Bicycle Life Challenge is run (in 2018, it will become the Cycle Life Challenge). Participants must follow a few rules.

The rules are very simple:

1. You must go on a ride with a bike at least seven (7) times between March 12 and May 1, 2016.

2. You must contribute to the local economy through which you ride by some sort of purchase.

3. You must write accounts of your rides with photographic proof of rules 1 and 2. Read more →

Kiewa Country Iced Coffee: Walla Walla Loop

Tuesday March 15, 2016, 44 miles (71 km) – Total so far: 99 miles (159 km)

There is something outright wrong when you go for a ride and the high temperature is 32C (90F), and you think it feels ‘pleasant’. That was today. The humidity moved out, the winds moved in and the temperatures dropped. We just set records for number of days over 30C in February. We also just broke a record for number of days in a row in March over 35C (95F). We did 11 – the previous was 4. And so, my internal temps are so screwed up that 90F feels ‘pleasant’.

The day ride we do today is very local. We won’t get more than 25 miles from home at any point. This is my most-frequented loop when going for a short ride from home. Read more →