This year I drove down with Brad and Tab in his trusty Forrester, an easy drive through beautiful country and a bloody warm day - a sign of what was to come. We stayed at the caravan park in Porepunkah which was just past the roundabout on the way up to Buffalo, so a perfect spot right on the ride route, with a great cabin and a swimming pool. We were a tad oversubscribed with the three of us, plus Geoff, Pommy JOhn and Dave Doyle - and None of the boys fancied snuggling on a very small doube bed - so Dave took the fold out and I grrabbed the couch. Not ideal, but I wasn't expecting the Hilton anyway! What was cool was that PEte and Garth, both doing the new ACE 250km ride, pitched their tent at our caravan park too, so we had quite a posse.
Anyway day of. Conditions were identical to last year - cool brisk, clear morning, warming up to a scorching mid 30s day. The Tawonga climb felt a bit easier than last year (it took me ages to warm up last year) and I got to the top with Brad and rolled straight over because I knew they'd all catch me on the descent. Going down the other side was slightly better than last year - I do feel my descending is improving - but I still got passed by every man and his dog. Dave blew by me, but I made it to the bottom before the other guys, waited and then rolled out with them.
The Falls Creek climb felt really good. I found myself solo for a while and wasn't pushing hard, but managing a comfortable pace and trading spots with a few punters who kept passing me on the short downhill sections, then I'd catch and go round again when the road tended upwards.
Brad caught up to me after I stopped for a piss and we rode the top half of the mountain together. We put on a cracking pace actually, but after a while I just felt he was too fast for me to comfortably hold on, so I let him go. Funnily enough though, I regrouped when we got to the steep, hsarp switchbacks in the deep forest just before the toll gates and from him being out of sight, suddenly I was beside him again. We stuck together from the gates to the top and now I was feeling happy and ready to just grab some food, fill the bottles and get right back on.
Dave had been in front the whole climb and he took off shortly ahead of me. I wanted to get some space on Brad because I knew he'd catch up on the descent and I was hoping it would be closer to the bottom, so off I went. It was hairy as usual and I spent a lot of time braking, but knowing the road a little better after last year I relaxed into it a lot more and wonder of wonders even passed a couple of people (while being passed by a hundred or so...)
Waited at the bottom, but after a while I thought I'd better just push on and just regroup on the back side of Tawonga Gap. Apparently I rolled out about 2 minutes before Brad, John and Geoff pulled in, but sometimes your brain doesn't work too well at these times!
The climb back up Tawonga was where the sun really started to bite, but my climbing legs were on fire and I scampered up it in what felt like no time. Still hadn't resorted to the 27 which I'd put on this year especially, but was trying to keep in reserve for the upper reaches of Buffalo.
Again the descent went well, there was absolutely nobody in front of me or passing me at this point, so it was a bit weird having a completely solo ride down. The farmland vistas were beautiful though and I was again in a very happy place. Coming to the t-junction I was finally passed by a guy who I tucked in behind and let him drag me fast all the way into Bright. I went by him at the turnoff and thanked him, giving him a wheel, but after dropping off a couple of times he waved me on. It was only a km to the oval for lunch anyway, and suddenly Brad came roaring past me with 3 guys on his wheel! I grabbed on and took the tow right into lunch.
Again we moved a lot more quickly than last year, doing the essentials of sunscreen water and food and getting ready to move on. I was busting for the loos and the queues looked a bit daunting, so I told the guys I would catch them up at our cabin and rode off by myself, leading a big train of wheel-sucking riders out of town towards Porepunkah, before I abandoned them at our Caravan park.
After my courtesy stop, I saw Tab pull in after her 130km ride over Tawonga (which she smashed, amazingly for a girl who'd only learnt clip-in pedals and first sat on a roadie about a month before!) and as I was getting back in the saddle all the other guys pulled in and we hit the road out to Buffalo together.
We worked with a small group until the carpark, then Brad, Geoff, John and I pulled away. Up the first few hundred metres Geoff and then John decided to let us go and climb at their own pace, and Brad and I started getting stuck into the climb.
Like last year, it was damn hot, exposed and tough. We passed swathes of people and managed to keep a high cadence and pretty good pace. The test was always going to be the water stop halfway up. This was the place where last year I really suffered and barely dragged my carcass up the mountain, legs burning, for the rest of the hill. This time however I felt strong which was really exciting. We pulled away and kept spinning nicely, legs feeling fatigued, but still working well and able to hold the pace.
My favourite part was when Brad and I swept past another group of riders struggling along. I went by first and one of the guys said "Take it easy mate, you'll blow up before the top". Brad rolled by a second later and said "Don't you worry about him mate". Those top sections I managed to find a decent gear (I think 25) which my legs felt happy with and drove the cadence, dropping Brad by a couple of hundred metres. I nearly fell off my bike at that stage - dropping Brad? I don't think it's happened before and probably never will again, I think he was just letting me have a few minutes of glory bless him, but it was undoubtedly good to be feeling so strong on a section where last year I experienced the worst suffering I've ever had on a bike.
There's not much more to tell - that top half of Buffalo was my Graceland. We only stopped briefly at the top and I rolled away first to get a head start on the descent. Again, an absolute cracker, much better for me than last year and I was on such a high at that point anyway. Of course clear skies and incredible views over the valley certainly helped. Brad caught me on the final sweep into the car park and we dragged each other at a cracking pace into town, both absolutely stoked with our finish, significantly faster than last year.
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