I came into the ride feeling very undercooked due to a considerable number of other commitments over the last few weeks. I had managed to get in a 200km training ride the week before but it was almost pancake flat and I was pretty destroyed after it so needless to say I was a little worried at how this was going to turn out.
Leaving home shortly after 5am I made my way up to Hornsby via Brown's Waterhole. When I reached the start I was to discover that I was the only entrant in the ride. Initial thoughts were one of a little bit of despair as I was really hoping that in my undertrained state I would at least be able to draft behind people for some of the way to save the legs. Dave the ride organiser discussed the weather which was looking pretty ominous with some huge grey clouds rolling in! I departed Hornsby at 6:11 for a solo 300km epic!
I knew that in my current form I was going to have to be very careful to preserve the legs or else face the very real possibility of DNFing and being stranded in the Hunter Valley, neither of which seemed particularly appealing. My mantra for the day was Durianriders "Spin to Win" or usually in his colourful language's case, "Spin, to F**king Win". Every time the road turned even slightly uphill I repeated this to myself and switched down a few gears.
The first part of the ride was relatively uneventful until reaching the climb up to Mount White. The clouds opened up and it started to drizzle. Towards the top of the climb I was passed by two riders. I repassed them at the top as they were standing on the side of the road. Finally they caught me again as I was nearing the Calga Interchange. I asked them where they were off to and they said Somersby and then having seen my Audax "endurance cycling" jersey asked me the same question. I told them I was off to Cessnock at back. They both laughed and said "oh so just a short one then". The rain started to increase and they decided to turn back, Soft ;)
The next part of the ride was relatively straight forward. I stopped at Kulnura for a muffin and chocolate milk and then proceeded down towards Wollemi which is a real highlight of the route. The scenery in the valley is absolutely stunning and made for a really enjoyable run. I filled up the bottles with ice cold water at the Wollemi pub and then settled in for the cruise across to the lunch stop at Cessnock. Fortunately when I arrived there the whole town was no longer underwater and it was an absolute no brainer choosing a lunchstop. How could you possibily go past 'Old Mate's Bakery'? With 155km in the bag I savoured a can of coke and an apple pie before remounting to commence the return journey.
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| The beautiful scenery of the Wollemi Valley |
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| How could you go past it :) |
I absolutely love the next part of the route. The town gives way to rolling farmland and the views down to the Watagan Ranges to the south are always fantastic. The climb up Sandy Creek Road is a real treat and I got the phone out a couple of times to take a few snaps. From the top of the climb I hammered it down the descent and finally made the proper turn south and towards home onto Branxton-Toronto road.
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| Sandy Creek Road Climb |
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| Stunning view South towards the Watagan Ranges from the Sandy Creek Road climb |
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| Almost at the top of the Sandy Creek Road climb |
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| Finally at the top and enjoying the scenery across the valley |
As soon as I turned south I was instantly hit with a fierce headwind. My heart sank, I was starting to feel pretty buggered and was not sure I was capable of the 150km return to home with a headwind the entire way. It had rained the entire way from Mount White to Wollembi but since then it had been really nice overcast conditions but there were some serious storms raging near Watagan Gap which I was heading straight for. Its a tough climb with a long section about 10%. Unfortunately I could 'spin' on this one so I just went as easy as possible. Cresting the top I plummeted back down the other side and continued south. I was extremely pleased to discover that the headwind was only localised with strong wind currents flowing through the gap in the mountains at Watagan Gap. The rain started to fall heavily for about 5 minutes and then stopped. This was the start of a very frustrating weather pattern that would last for the rest of the ride. It would seem to wait just long enough for me to dry out (maybe enjoy 30 minutes of being dry if I was lucky) and then piss down for 5-10 minutes just resoak me.
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| Looking South towards the storm over Watagan Gap |
The journey south towards Wyong was pretty uneventful and despite the large traffic volumes everyone bar one truck was very courteous leaving me heaps of space as they overtook. I still felt surprisingly ok and the back and neck weren't overly sore which allowed me to get down on the aerobars on the flat sections and tick the kilometres off that little bit faster. After the short section through the Yarramalong Valley it was onto the Pacific Motorway and I absolutely hammered it down to Ourimbah for my next food break with 239km in the bag. I desperately wanted some salty food after all the sugar so went the staple salt and vinegar chips and then remounted for the big climb up Dog Trap Road.
This was another fantastic section, the road is quite rainforesty and the lyrebirds where chirping away. It was reasonably light at the bottom but by the time I reached the top it was almost fully dark. I pulled over on the side of the road and put on my reflective vest and then started the rest of the grind up to Peats Ridge. This was the final stop with 261km covered. I was pretty quick here and back on my way within 5 minutes or so for the mostly downhill run to the Mooney Mooney Bridge. The stars were now out in force and I was having a total blast. It doesn't get much more epic than riding down a pitch black country road with millions of stars overhead and Ayreon's Amazing Flight pumping through your earphones!
I crossed over the Hawkesbury river and absolutely crawled up to Pie in the Sky. I made it but not without some strong words to myself throughout the climb. Lucky it was night time and no one was around or there could have been some strange looks. The final run into Hornsby is undulating and I stuck to the mantra on each of the little uphills. I ticked off each train station along the way and finally rolled into the Hornsby Police Station at 9:05pm for a time of 14 hours and 54 minutes!
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| Celebratory Grandma's Favourite Chocolate Custard |
I didn't waste a lot of time, only enough to savour a celebratory Grandma's Favourite Chocolate Custard before jumping on the bike one last time. The cruise home was nice but I sure as hell was happy to get home and power down the Garmin with a total of 333km and a pretty respectable 3,924m of climbing for the day. Although a little slower than previous attempts at this course I am really happy with my effort. I was completely solo the entire way so I had to earn every kilometre. I was also very undertrained for an outing of this magnitude so I am really please with the way I managed to pace myself almost perfectly. I certainly need to hit the hills over the next two weeks but I feel like the Jenolan Caves 400 at the end of the month has gone from impossible to doable :)
Strava GPS Data:
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| The trusty steed finally about to get some rest after another 333km epic! |
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| Excellent choice for a post ride beer :) |
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