We’re away on time, me in the second group of twenty. Up and over the brick arch spanning the station and rail lines, a right and out to Darnum on flat roads. Little surges and knots and the pace settles and riders find groups that suit them.
I haven’t ridden group for so long. About seven kms out, I chase a small group and hang on. No point doing it all alone at the start. Save some energy in the bunch. We find a rhythm on the back road to Trafalgar where we hand a left and head north into the Great Divide.
The road undulates its way to Willow Grove, the ascents short and straightforward. Up to Hill End they get longer, steeper, until two long grunty drags split the groups up toward Fumina South. Over the top we’re into rain forest.
From here to Noojee there are two climbs, the second brutal, but a bag-piper pipes each rider up and over the top. Two rapid descents follow, the second hurtling me down the mountain at 79kph.
A rock-steady climb of five per cent follows on a car-free back road that winds up to Neerim. The legs are seriously wounded now and I’ve ridden on my own for 30 kms since the Hill End refreshment stop, buffeted by a north-westerly bringing in an afternoon weather change.
A final refreshment stop at Neerim Junction. I see fewer riders. Few pull in for cake, lollies, water. I mount up for the undulations back to Warragul, mostly downhill with a tailwind, but with a sad final insult: five kilometres into the breeze to come home.
The organisers say it's a 119 km course. I have it at 124.66kms, which I cover at an average of 26kph and four hours and 48 minutes in the saddle. We climb 1670 metres over the journey and the top gradient is 15 per cent.
It’s a beautiful, tough but fair ride through pasture, woodlands, forested foothills and the rain forest at the top of the range.
I drive back to the city, direct to Mick’s shop in Croydon. This is my last ride on a creaky Dura Ace system. Age seems to be getting the better of it. The SRAM Apex is to have a go.
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