Rendezvous Creek - 19 June

This was a ride of discovery and imagination. Namadgi National Park bookends the southern part of ACT and guards the way through endless ridges and valleys to the Snowys near Adaminaby. I always wanted to explore this little known route - home to the fearsome Fitz's Hill (10 degrees plus grade)and several other longer, steep climbs up to 1400metres. Today time and light defeated my larger ambition, but I still used the late afternoon to fit in 2hrs10min and 950m of climbing. Great country to ride in. Enough to whet my appetite til next time. My ride metrics are captured on Garmin Connect. Follow the link by clicking on 'Details' below. Look for the 'Player' button in the top right of the first page to re-play the ride.

Bald Hill - June 14

The road from Bungendore to Tarago, NSW features the massive Bald Hill wind farm and skirts the eastern edge of Lake George. The rolling hill country suits long, recovery rides enjoyed in solitude. My dose lasted 72kms, 3 hours and 540 metres of climbing.

Beach Rd Blitz - 5 June

Thanks to my old riding buddies (Ian and Alex) and some new riders (David and Marco), this week's highlight was a blast down Beach Rd from St Kilda to Mt Eliza and back. On the way, we did some avid climbing to the top of Humphrey's Rd, Frankston. A good hit-out at 3hrs 25 mins and about 95 kms - and sometimes cracking 40k/hr. Lots of bike traffic on the way down. Blew out a little at the 80k mark and got a puncture right near Brighton Baths. Great to see my riding buddies again and swap some stories about the upcoming tour. Good for a laugh at the Frankston Comfort Station!

Fitz & Honeysuckle Creek - 22 May

When Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, the scientists at Honeysuckle Creek were freezing their butts off in the high country behind Canberra and relaying his radio signal to NASA. Not to be outdone, I retraced their steps (the scientists, not Neil's) up the 7km steep incline (10% plus) to the forest clearing where radio reception is said to be ideal. It was cold (about 2%), the climb steep but the radio antenna is long gone and only story murals remain to tell the story. Boy scouts camped nearby were going over the story in great detail when I arrived. Alas, I had to peddle on, down the fearsome ascent and on up to Fitz's summit. By this time the legs were working overtime, because this was just as steep although not as long. Then on home. All up a 115 km hit-out, over 5 hrs 15 mins in the saddle and just over 1300 m of climbing. Another small step towards Le tour!

Assault on Kosciusko - 15 May

Climbed Charlotte Pass (1850m) with return from Jindabyne - a total of 76km, 1206 metres of climbing, out and back in about 3 hrs 15 min. Backed up after a lunch stop with a climb towards Thredbo as far as Crackenback resort for another 34km and 450m of climbing. A good hit out of 1650m climbing in all in freezing conditions (around 5 degrees at Charlotte and wind chill very biting). Good riding except one freaky part on first ascent where I hit some black ice - luckily I was climbing, not descending!

TDF 2010 - My ride plan

Depart Paris on 11 July for Annecy and join the first high mountain stage of the TDF in the French Alps.

The stages
P Prologue Saturday 3 July Rotterdam > Rotterdam 8 km
1 Plain Sunday 4 July Rotterdam > Bruxelles 224 km
2 Hilly Monday 5 July Bruxelles > Spa 192 km
3 Plain Tuesday 6 July Wanze > Arenberg Porte du Hainaut 207 km
4 Plain Wednesday 7 July Cambrai > Reims 150 km
5 Plain Thursday 8 July Épernay > Montargis 185 km
6 Plain Friday 9 July Montargis > Gueugnon 225 km
7 Medium mountains Saturday 10 July Tournus > Station des Rousses 161 km
8 High Mountains Sunday 11 July Station des Rousses > Morzine-Avoriaz 189 km
[I join the tour here - something crazy about starting in the 'high' mountains!]
R Rest Day Monday 12 July Morzine-Avoriaz
9 High Mountains Tuesday 13 July Morzine-Avoriaz > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 204 km
10 Medium mountains Wednesday 14 July Chambéry > Gap 179 km
11 Plain Thursday 15 July Sisteron > Bourg-lès-Valence 180 km
12 Hilly Friday 16 July Bourg-de-Péage > Mende 210 km
13 Plain Saturday 17 July Rodez > Revel 195 km
14 High Mountains Sunday 18 July Revel > Ax-3 Domaines 184 km
15 High Mountains Monday 19 July Pamiers > Bagnères-de-Luchon 187 km
16 High Mountains Tuesday 20 July Bagnères-de-Luchon > Pau 196 km
R Rest Day Wednesday 21 July Pau
17 High Mountains Thursday 22 July Pau > Col du Tourmalet 174 km
18 Plain Friday 23 July Salies-de-Béarn > Bordeaux 190 km
19 Individual time-trial Saturday 24 July Bordeaux > Pauillac 51 km
20 Plain Sunday 25 July Longjumeau > Paris Champs-Élysées 105 km
[Finish the tour here with a grandstand seat and sore bottom!]

Kangaroo Valley - 11 Apr

A truly spectacular early morning ride from near Fitzroy Falls to Kangaroo Valley return over the feared Barrengary Mtn escarpment. Only hazard on the way down: nearly crashed on Hampden Bridge, with its famous stone turrets. Flat as a tack, but unsafe timber slats! The return ride up the 9km climb was 6-9% incline all the way with four switchbacks - awesome. Ride took 2hrs 45 min over the 50km return. Ride was all the more remarkable in that I woke at 0600 with a rising fever which turned to raging by mid morning and struck me down for 72 hours afterwards. What a reward for effort!