Tough ‘hotdog’ track to test bike champion’s skills

by Pip Read - Champion cyclist

In my last article I mentioned I was conducting another training camp based in Bright, in North East Victoria. I also mentioned that I hoped the weather would be better that the Bright Boot Camp a few weeks earlier. It wasn't and in fact, it was much worse!

We arrived on the Friday and headed straight out to complete the climb to Mt Buffalo, in the sunshine. I was thinking to myself 'better mention to keep an eye out for snakes' and not more that 10 minutes later we watched a large black snake slither across the road ahead of us. Nothing like a close encounter with nature!

The second day saw us heading to Mt Hotham with a support car bring up the rear. It started raining on the way to Harrietville and we had intermittent showers until we reached the toll gates, just as the climb starts to get serious. The weather then turned against us and we experienced rain, fog, wind and even more fog. We couldn't see the poles on the side of the road. I didn't even see the tunnel until I noticed a light above as I entered. I was really happy that we had continued to the top of the mountain, especially as we saw most of the club elite camp participants turn before the top. That night I noticed the weather report which said that Mt Hotham had 110mm of rain for the weekend. I think most of it was while we were having coffee in the café! I can't remember the name of the cafe but the coffee there was well worth the climb.

The descent, on the other hand, was something quite different. Everyone but me (silly aren't I) elected to get a lift down in the support car which followed me on the bike. By this time the fog by was getting worse. I was having trouble seeing the lines on the road. I passed some other riders on the way down and didn't even see the toll gates. After a few more kms the fog lifted and left a very wet road. We regrouped at Harrietville and headed back to Bright for some much needed coffee and food. I must admit I enjoyed the descent despite the weather, forcing me to concentrate on my lines and technique.

Day three was originally planned to be a ride up to Falls Creek, but by the half way point at Towanga Gap the heavens opened and we decided to turn around at Towanga and call it quits for the weekend. We were all soaked to the skin.

All the camp participants had a very successful Tour of Bright, which was the point of the training camp. The climbing and descending skills they learnt were put to good use in the Tour.

The unseasonably wet weather in the past few weeks has also reminded me of how easily water gets into all the different parts of the bike. I needed to remove the freewheel on my bike and was surprised at the amount of brown gunk I found. My right hand brake/gear leaver was not working as well as it should, so it received a thorough inspection and clean over the weekend.

My next event is going to be the Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat in January. I will be contesting the time trial and the criterium so wish me luck, as I suspect that I will need it for the criterium is a tough uphill downhill hotdog course in the middle of Ballarat.

I hope you all had safe and happy Christmas and your New Year brings you health, happiness and many miles of safe biking.

Talk soon.

Pip