Jindabyne Training Camp

After a few weeks off the bike due to business trips and the like, I headed off for the annual Randwick Botany CC training camp in Jindabyne. The 3 day camp includes rides up to Dead Horse Gap (and up the other side for those that are keen to do what is arguably Australias toughest climb), Charlottes Pass, and the Dalgety loop, and there is the warm-up ride for those that arrive early.

Having enough of work and the hectic travel schedule, I headed down a day early and prepared for the days ahead. Driving through Cooma in the late afternoon, I was confronted with an awesome thunderstorm. And the winds had picked up considerably over the last 100km or so. Arriving in Jindabyne, the storm had quickly passed, thanks to the wild winds.

Day 0. Warm-up Ride: 1:50 ride, 45km, 600m climbing
Waking up early, I was hoping the winds from the previous night would have abated, but unfortunately this was not the case. Winds up to 60km/hr and gusts much higher than that (up to 90km/hr were recorded at the local weather station) were the order of the day.
Finally, people started arriving at about 11:30am, much later than the expected time. By the time a group had assembled, it was a late start, about 1pm, as we started up the road towards Perisher Valley. As the winds grew stronger, we turned around and Rennix Walk, about 6km short of Perisher. Decending was tricky as gusts blew everyone over the road. It wasn't consistent from any direction, making it even worse. Still, a good first ride after 3 weeks to get the legs warmed up for the weekend.

Day 1. Dead Horse Gap: 3:15 ride, 82km, 1400m climbing

With almost everyone now assembled at the base camp in Jindy, todays ride was to take us up to Dead Horse Gap, and for those inclined, take on what is arguably Australias Toughest Climb. The winds were still blowing, and sometimes felt stronger than the previous day, maybe due to being a bit more exposed on this route.

The assembled masses.
On the way out, we were somewhat protected from the winds until we came to the summit of Crackenback, where we were almost blown off our bikes. Climbing was hard because you are going 13-16km/hr and gusts almost stopped you dead or blew you over.
Here the bunch waits for stragglers at the top of Crackenback
Finally at the top of Dead Horse Gap (about 8km beyond Thredbo), the winds were pretty horrendous, so I, along with a few others such as Chris White, gave the decent and climb of Dead Horse Gap a miss for this year. I was disappointed, but also realised that 3 weeks off the bike, and the prevailing conditions would probably mean the next couple of days would be a real struggle if I had done it.


Decending was a real headache and quite challenging when you are being blown all over the road. On the return run, some of the big gusts confirmed I made the right decision, but I was still able to crack 80km/hr on some of the smoother decent sections. When those that did take on the extra climb returned, all but a few indicated they wished they had taken the early return option.

Day 2. Charlottes Pass: 3:15 ride, 82km, 1700m climbing

Finally, the winds have dropped, and it turns out to be a picture perfect day with clear blue skies, so I wasn't as nervous on the bike, and my legs felt much better. I dropped my bunch on the way out about 25km from Charlottes Pass, solo attack of course. About 5km from the top and just after I passed solo through Perisher Valley, 3 riders bridged across to me, and we finished about 5 minutes ahead of the next riders and about 10 minutes on the main bunch.
Decending today was a lot of fun - the long sweeping decents made it pretty easy going. I was chasing most of the way after I had to stop at Perisher Valley to get a wasp out of my helmet - little bugger wouldn't come out and was crawling around. At least it didn't sting me, unlike the one on Marie Blanc in 2006.


Day 3. Dalgety Loop: 3:15 ride, 83km, 1200m climbing
Another special day. Very little wind, sun shining, and today would be a much flatter day, with generally rolling hills.



The main decent was probably the steepest drop I have ever ridden - and that includes the Forclaz. Unfortunately, Bucko and Knuckles set up a rolling road block so I couldn't get around them, but I'm not sure I wanted too anyway. I don't remember it being that steep the last time I was down here, but I would hate to go the opposite direction. The rolling hills on the ride were not as hard as the previous days, but taxing on the legs nonetheless as there were so many of them.
So, another training camp over, and about 290km in the legs, things are starting to come back together after a few weeks off the bike.

Canada! In January?

After a good break over Christmas and New Year, and plenty of not-so-secret miles, I returned to work to discover I was to be sent off to visit a supplier in Canada. In the middle of our summer, meaning the middle of their winter.... And training and ALL social activities would be temporarily suspended. Bugger!

The days leading up to my departure were 35C, 38C and 41C respectively out at the Office. Flying out on the Thursday, Sydney was a respectable 25C again, but I wasn't looking forward to the minus 20C (-20C) I was going to be greeted with just east 160km of Toronto. Hamster, enjoy your winter, mate, you can keep it! Although it was fantastic to experience just a few days of it.

View from my hotel window

Workwise, it was a very successful trip, and one made even the more worthwhile with the hospitality of the suppliers staff, which was truly fantastic. In fact, I'm hoping I get the opportunity to go back one day soon, perhaps when the weather is a little bit warmer.

Picturesque Lake Ontario - the serenity!

Returning home, I was greeted by +30C temperatures, which I'm still trying to aclimatise too. I'll get there.

The day after arriving home, I was off to the Upper Hunter Valley for a mates wedding. Great weekend, great wedding. Good luck, Sean & Brigid.

Now, where did I leave off...??

Jamberoo Classic

Sunday 4th January 2009 saw the 6th Annual running of the Johnny Warren Jamberoo Classic ride, a charity ride for the Sydney Cancer Foundation. Starting at Sutherland, the ride is broken into 3 stages:
Stage 1: Sutherland to Otford
Stage 2: Otford to Wollongong
Stage 3: Wollongong to Jamberoo
Click for a larger image

Stage 1 (28.9km, 59:53 secs, Ave Speed 29.0km/hr)
Fair going. A bit of cyclist traffic to navigate along to Waterfall and into the Park until clear air meant some faster turns, particularly on the climb out of the Royal National Park. Was the first time I've been involved in a paceline on a climb - interesting experience. Regrouping at Otford Cafe was a good chance to refuel and take on extra fluids.


Stage 2 (30.3km, 55:58 secs, Ave Speed 32.5km/hr)
Taking the drop from Otford was great as always - quick, and very few riders around to slow us down. I got away with two other Randwick Botany riders and I held the front pretty much all the way to Wollongong (yes, I was on the front and driving - unusual but true). I actually eased up a little at one point to stop dropping riders from our small select group of about 12 riders. Stopping at Wollongong to regroup, the sun was now out in full force, and a tailwind was starting to pick up.
Willy recovers in the shade ready for the final stage
You can tell I'm having a good day - I'm smiling!



Stage 3 (37.2km, 1:06:09 secs, Ave Speed 33.7km/hr)
This was awesome! I got away with the front bunch just behind the safety car. In amongst these guys were some A Grade riders who really drove the pace. The course was fairly flat, but unfortunately, there were lots of traffic lights heading south, but the general speed was between 40-45km/hr when we were rolling. And I even got to do a turn on the front. This was tops, and the bunch kept getting smaller and smaller. From Albion Park, the course turned inland via "Swamp Road". Unfortunately, the safety car led my bunch the wrong way and we missed the turn-off. As we backtracked about 200m, I lost the stronger riders and had to make my own way, stranded between the lead bunch and the next group - no-mans-land. I expected this to be a shocker, but instead I was powering along this gently undulating valley road picking up riders that had dropped off the lead bunch. The tailwind had really kicked in by now and sitting on 40km/hr was comfortable all the way into Jamberoo.
Finish Line - the Jamberoo Pub - no ananas here unfortunately.

The only unfortunate part of the whole day was BTi having to pull out on the morning of the ride due to ongoing issues after his crash. The intention was always to get the train back to Sutherland. This was a bit of shambles, and I ended up getting a courtesy bus back to Albion Park Rail and having to wait for about 90 minutes for a train, and then stand for 2 hours with my bike due to the train being full.

All in all, this was a great ride. Sometimes it was a bit hard to find directions, but the weather and tailwind certainly made for a good day on the bike. I'll do it again, but I'll make sure I have definite arrangements at the finish.

Smarty