Category: 2016

Oak Brand Cookies N Cream: The local loop

Sunday April 17, 2016, 11 miles (18 km) – Total so far: 202 miles (325 km)

After two weekends in a row being away for most of my four-day weekends, I had a fair amount of things to catch up on this Sat/Sun. I also wanted to hang around the house while Nigel was using the chainsaw to do some tree work. Ambulance response times here aren’t all that flash, so should he need emergency assistance, it would be quicker for me to drive him to the ER in Albury than wait for an ambulance.

While all of this didn’t allow me to put down any good miles over the two days, Read more →

Molesworth to Euroa via Caveat and Creightons Creek

Sunday April 24, 2016, 45 miles (72 km) – Total so far: 1,288 miles (2,073 km)

I spent most of the week trying to figure out a plan for this weekend’s ride in the Strathbogies. I pondered routes, where to leave my car, where I might be able to camp, how to avoid truck traffic and how to avoid long weekend traffic, and where I could get water and food. For some reason, I just couldn’t get it to come together neatly. So I finally decided on a general plan by Friday evening. On Saturday, I headed south in the car and the plan fell apart immediately. But… the weekend was pretty perfect anyway. Go figure. Read more →

Euroa to Molesworth via Strathbogie and Merton

Monday April 25, 2016, 54 miles (87 km) – Total so far: 1,342 miles (2,160 km)

About 375 million years ago, things were a lot more exciting in what is now Euroa and Violet Town. The earth was very active and readjusting its stores of magma. Today we are again going to ride up into the remnants of that activity.

Yesterday we rode up and over the Strathbogie batholith – a blob of magma that hardened underneath the earth as it cooled. Today we are going to ride up into the adjacent Violet Town volcanics as we traverse the long-collapsed cauldron of a volcano. Batholiths and volcanoes often go together, and here they butt right up against one another. Read more →

Jindera – Mt Granya State Park via Wymah

Saturday May 14, 2016, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 1,382 miles (2,225 km)

After two weeks of not much riding, due to other commitments and adverse weather, I had a really great plan for this weekend. But alas, it was not to be. However, I want to record something here so I don’t forget to include the loaded miles in my total goal tally.

Nigel agreed to go camping on Saturday night, so that meant figuring out a route that would incorporate Cottontree Campground at Mt Granya State Park. No worries. I devised a route that would give me a bunch of new roads on Sunday and Monday after riding up to the campground on a well-trodden route on Saturday. There would be 7,000 cumulative feet of climbing over the 2.5 days. Just great! The weather forecast was pretty great, too! Read more →

Jingellic to Burrowa-Pine Mountain NP via Munderoo, Tintaldra, Cudgewa North

Saturday May 21, 2016, 56 miles (90 km) – Total so far: 1,438 miles (2,315 km)

We’ve got two days to work with this weekend. It is supposed to rain on Monday, and Tuesday the bike goes to the shop for a ‘comprehensive’ service. The Wizard gives me so much joy, sometimes I feel like I must return the favor. So the bike gets a new chain, new rear brake pads (you would not have ridden in front of me downhill for the past couple months if you’d seen them), and a full-on tune-up on Tuesday. The headset has been grinding for awhile now and the bottom bracket has started to click, so it’s time…. Read more →

Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park to Jingellic

Sunday May 22, 2016, 18 miles (29 km) – Total so far: 1,456 miles (2,344 km)

I’m dreaming that I’m in a dental chair being treated for a cavity, but the chair is at the base of a mountain range and there is a cold wind making me shiver. WTF?

Then I wake up. It’s cold and damp and my head has slipped from my makeshift pillow so that my upper cheek is mashed into the hard ground. My jaw and teeth hurt. I scoot down further in the bag, get my head back up on the pannier, then pull the top of the sleeping bag tight around me to cut out the cold air. I fall back to sleep quickly – the dental chair does not reappear. Read more →

Jindera to Lockhart via Rand

Monday May 30, 2016, 66 miles (106 km) – Total so far: 1,522 miles (2,450 km)

So the end of May is in sight. And thank goodness for that. I will not be sad to see the backside of this month. It has been one of frustration in all aspects of life.

On the bike side of things, rain, wind, other commitments, plus more punctures over two weeks than I’ve had in two years, kept me from getting many miles in. Then, on Saturday afternoon, the bike came back from a routine service with the chain rubbing in the easiest gears. Argh. Luckily, with the help of some crazyguys, I was able to get that mostly fixed on Sunday. I’d hoped to do a three-day ride Sunday-Tuesday, but true to form for May, that wonky derailleur means we lost Sunday. So much for tallying up some big mileage this weekend to make up for our woeful May. Read more →

Lockhart to Jindera via Henty

Tuesday May 31, 2016, 75 miles (121 km) – Total so far: 1,597 miles (2,571 km)

We need to go east this morning to start our route home. This means I’m in no real hurry to get going, since I want the sun to get high enough in the sky so that I’m not hidden in sun glare for drivers approaching from behind.

Sunrise is at 7.15am. It doesn’t rise directly to the east, but I wait until 8.30am anyway before I head out. I can’t wait too long though, because I need to get 70-80 miles done today before it starts getting dusk-ish around 4.30pm. Sunset is at 5.03pm. Read more →