We had planned to do a 100km route I made up last year that took in Mt Clear and then the Clear Range, an ambitious ride with lots of climbing. On the day though, we decided it would be smarter to cut Mt Clear out and make it a little easier, short cutting around the mountain in the valley to the north via Horse Gully Hut.
The ride from Yankee Hut carpark was flat and very easy, we knocked out the 30kms in around 2 hours cruising at about 60-65% on the heart rate. At the Hut I gave the boys the choice, straight up the valley on Naas Valley Firetrail, or we head up the massive Clear Range and cruise it north. I was pretty tired and hoped for the Naas Valley choice, but Simon was keen to take on the Clear Range, with such an easy cruise to here, the boys were pretty full of energy and keen for a challenge, so south we headed...
After the short climb out from the hut, you get to the base of the short and sharp way up onto the range, it's a beast, 20% grade and even looking at it strikes fear into me, it's pushing the bikes all the way, and I've done my fair share of that out here before :) Instead we opt to head south, dropping quite a bit of altitude (which we would have to make up), to the south face of the range, where the climb is completely rideable all the way to the top, although, at 10% grade, I would rate it as pretty tough, but doable.
At the top everyone was still pretty chipper, I took advantage of the NextG network and phoned home, we'd been out 4 hours, and were halfway, so I figured 4 hours to go... boy was I wrong...
Simon had only brought 3L of water him and was starting to run low, with 35'C temperatures it didn't take long before he started to fade, running out of water about halfway along the range. Mark and I were getting low too, Mark shared what little he could and we tried to push on. The views from up here are great, to the west and the east at the same time, and everything is amazingly green for January, the recent rains have certainly helped there!
By the end of the range, Simon was starting to run out food and had completely run out of water, concerning stuff with 60km down and 40km to go out here in the mountains. We descended off the range to a hut in the valley below, the trail down is very rocky and rough, obviously not used often, making for a tricky descent rather than a fun one. At the bottom we came to a hut, I think it is part of Caloola Farm. Whoever owns it saved our bacon, as it has a water tank, and it was full!! Crisp clean water too, so we all topped up and headed off for Caloola Farm.
By Caloola Farm the water was low again, the day was getting hot and the boys were really starting to fade here. The farm manager was there and gave the boys fresh cool water, hopefully enough to get us home. I knew there was a huge climb out to Brandy Flat carpark to get to the car and hoped they could make it...
The trail from Caloola to Brandy Flat Hut has many a creek crossing, some deep enough to get the feet wet. Most of them had a lot of loose sand, which made steering, and sometimes, pedalling, a big challenge, especially when you are tired!
About halfway up to Brandy Flat Hut I noted we were at the 8hr mark, and the wives would surely be getting worried. I phoned home to let them know were were all OK and running late, it was nice to chat to Kylie, as that's where I wanted to be right then, back home with the kids. Rummaging through my camel back I grabbed my last bit of food (Sports Beans) and scoffed them down, knowing that was all there would be until I got out. Running out of food is scary and not like me at all, but we were now taking hours longer than anticipated.
Eventually the boys caught up and made the decision to get them to the Hut, where the last turn was, let them make the "short and steep" or "long and easy" route choice, and get them on their way while I made a run for the car to come and pick them up, cutting out the last 5kms for them. Short and sharp was the choice made by all, over a sip of some of the foulest tank water (from the tank at Brandy Flat Hut) I have experienced. Black bits of dirt and stick floating around my water bottle was not attractive, and Mark spotted some little bugs moving around in his (probably mosquito larvae), at this stage though, we'd drink anything ;)
Having no food started to show and I too started to fade here, finding the odd bit of energy to make a climb fuelled only off the whiff of the home stretch, it was hard in places, and I walked some of the climbs, trying to save what little energy I had in the tank... my insides felt like they were bunched up tight and I was going hollow inside, it was a bizarre feeling!
Before long though, I hit Brandy Flat carpark and bombed down to Yankee hut on the sweetest of downhill bitchumen, then cruised to the car and drove back to meet the boys at Brandy Flat carpark. Simon was happy for a lift, but to my amazement, Mark was disapointed, he wanted to push on!!! Most impressive :)
Anyway, a hard day out, certainly rideable all the way, but it was easy to underestimate the water required in 35'C. I'd hoped to finish around lunchtime, but we got into a vicious cycle of the heat slowing us down and making us need more water, so the slower went due to dehydration, the more water we needed due to the longer time frame. Luckily for us there was water from tanks at the northern base of the Clear Range, Caloola Farm, Brandy Flat Hut and Horse Gully hut, but that's probably only due to the recent rains we've had, so we got lucky!
The crew:
| Jason | Giant Trance |
| Simon | IBIS Mojo |
| Mark | Merida Dually |
The Stats:
| Distance | 102km |
| Time | 11:12 |
| Climb | 2935vm |
| Date | 13/01/2008 |