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.