Now whether this was a good choice in timing is still under debate given the mountainous route of the two days....
Day One: Cooma to Jindabyne.
The start was set down for a 10am rollout and as seems to be the norm recently I was running late. A combination of under estimating the drive time from Canberra and dumba$$ drivers meant we how into the Macca’s carpark at 10.05am. So after quickly sorting all my gear and bike out, I started to re-pack the car with everyone else’s overnight bag. Wifey had graciously agreed to pull sag wagon duties for the two days and also do some sightseeing as well.
So eventually we got rolling at 10.20am only 20 minutes behind schedule, and it was quick start with tail/ cross wind I eventually found myself up front with Andy, Gaz, & Thomo sitting on a good solid 40kph without much effort. From having previously ridden most of the roads for the first day so I knew what we were in for. But was surprised at the speed we were covering the ground. Having ridden from Cooma to Jindabyne before I remember dead alpine roads that just sucked all the life out of your legs...but not today.
With the high speed first Gaz then Andy were spat out the back leaving me at the front with Thomo for company till we got to Berridale and into the rolling hills. At the top of the long drag there was a regrouping and we were back to a group of four with no sign of the others. We set a moderate tempo for the remaining 10kms into Jindibyne.
We stopped at the servo there and didn’t really get the best of service...the woman behind the counter who reminded me of the crazy cat lady from the Simpsons, pissed off and made a 5 minute phone call when we walked in. So after we eventually got served it was a case of topping up the water bottles and hitting the road again.
We made the call not to wait for the others but to re-group for lunch at Thredbo.
Jindabyne to Thredbo
Knowing that the first climb on the road to Thredbo is long and steepish, I settled into something of a rhythm and watched Andy & Gaz ride off up the hill (which would continue to be a pattern for the weekend). The heat at this point was getting into the low 30’s so I made a point of trying to keep hydrated and just ride at a manageable pace. The road up the valley was a real trudge with the tar on the road melted and reflected heat making it more of baking nightmare.
Because the weekend was about training, I started to relax a bit and take in the scenery a more while slowly the km’s ticked over.
Eventually after about an hour and a half I made it to Thredbo. I kept riding past the first entrance and took the second straight to the bakery. Having spent a good chunk of my $20 I had thrown into the back pocket at the start of the day at Jindabyne of drinks. I was shocked when my H&C croissant and 2x cans of solo came to almost $13!
So I sat outside in the shade took my shoes off and slowly tried to eat the croissant and not skull the two cans of drink! I phoned wifey to find out where she was, and also sent Big Jase a text message to see how far away he was with no success.
After about ½ hour I rolled out to the garage on the main road where I found the others waiting and after 10 minutes Jase’s group rolled in and it was back to the bakery for another ½ an hour for more eating.
Thredbo to Khancoban
Once everyone had finished we hit the road again at about 3.00pm I muttered a prediction to wifey about what time we would be in at the finish for the day knowing I would be pushing it. The climb to the top of Dead Horse Gap reinforced that my legs were about half cooked and as the three other road away in the space of about 5k all I could do was watch.
At the top I settled in for the fun part! The descent down dead Horse is a 1km drop in about 12kms so makes for some very fast descending. Throw in sweeping corners and it’s enough to put a smile on anyone’s face. I managed to catch back up to the others on the way down and drop them by pushing harder into the corners and taking a couple more risks. And in a flash it was all over and we were out at Tom Groggins.
From here it was off into the unknown..well for me at least. The road from here consisted of initially a series of rollers (about 7-8) with a kick of about 20m to each one. At this point I was back riding with Gaz & Andy till we reached the last couple and I took my foot off the gas and dropped the pace back down.
It was a good thing too as there was a really sting in the final climb that went up about 500ms through a series of cuttings before eventually peaking at a dam /power station. This really hurt coning at about 155kms into the ride. Descent wise it was 7kms back down into the valley floor before the final 3kms to town.
Khancoban
Small town in the middle of the back of beyond.....Rolling in I almost decked myself on the ruts in the road along the left hand edge which were hiding in the shadows. The town centre was off to the right, but our accommodation was out the other side so I just kept going. I had been allocated a cabin close to the road so it was easy to spot the car.
Sitting down I started the re-hydration process with coffee milk and powerade happy with completing the first day but knowing there was a lot more to come tomorrow.
Data for the day
So first day over and the stats were,
Ride Time 6:22hrs
Total Time: 7:50hrs
Distance 171kms
Climbing 3075m
Normalised Power 243w
TSS 367
IF 83.9%
Dump from WKO
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