With our only mechanical of the trip over and done with quickly, we were on our way, barreling for the Tallanganda, we climbed Mt Cronin at a solid pace and had time to take in the views and some much needed food. The bush around here is so green and lush, it's a great way to start the ride.
The fire roads through here very smooth and it's easy to hold over 30k/h and just cruise along in top gear and take in the scenery. Before we knew it, we hit Captains Flat Road; it has taken 2 hours to get here, last time (via the Tinderries), it had taken 5 or 6 hours! This way has no where near the climbs of the Tinderries and it's all public access, so no redneck farmers coming out to abuse your use of their private roads.
Revved up by the amount of ground covered in such a short time (compared to previous trips), we hammered for Majors Creek, skipped the town and got straight into the meaty descent for Araluen down the side of the Great Dividing Range. This downhill is awesome, but common sense was forced upon us on the 3rd blind left hander, when a 4WD came around the single lane corner and the three of us locked up at full speed, bikes going sideways straight for him... heart in the throat stuff, so we pulled over at the lookout for a photo and decided to take the rest of the descent more carefully ;)
Safely at the bottom we kept the pace on for Araluen, and to my amazement we rolled into the pub there after a mere 3 hours of riding. We were so early infact, the pub was not serving up my favourite hamburgers in Oz, and we would have to set sail for Mogo to get my hamburger fill instead...
I shoveling in some Easter buns and we set off for the base of the Knowles Rd climb, it's a long way there from Araluen, mainly because of all the undulations, and the day was starting to warm up pretty good. A quick stop at the bottom to eat and drink and it was soon obvious how warm it was, were we all almost out of water, and miles from Mogo.. with a huge climb to do... and it was in the mid thirties... hmmm
Up the climb and Ed Hood was on fire, middle ringing most of the way up Ed Mc and I chose a more meager approach of spinning up in granny while we watched the muesli bar kid dissapear into the distance. The heat was really getting to me here and I found the climb much harder than last time, and last time I was pulling a 30kg bob trailer! I was shocked how much the heat knocked me around and at one point in the climb, we all stopped for a break :|
We made it over the other side, but we all ran out of water, the Knowles Rd sweat fest had cost us pretty good in the water department; so we rocketed for Mogo, where fine Burgers, Hot Chips, Coke and Powerade awaited...
A solid refueling later and we off again, up Dog Trap Road and onto Ridge Road above Surf Beach, where there is a lot of single track. We were all starting to feel the effects of the heat though, so we opted for a shorter single track run, then down Ridge Road and into Malua Bay, for beer, pizza and a well earned swim.
A top day out, and we'd managed the whole trip in under 7.5 hours. I could see one could make it from Canberra to Moruya in 6 hours going that way... and that sounds like a future time trial challenge to me... :)
The crew:
| Jason | Giant Anthem X |
| Ed Mc | Voodoo 29er |
| Ed Hood | Niner 29er |
The Stats:
| Distance | 152km |
| Time | 7:21 |
| Climb | 2370vm |
| Speed | 21km/h avg |
| Date | 24/01/2009 |