The
Challenge : DAY 6 : CANBERRA
Thursday
18 October.
Head down and bum up. Day
of the big carrots.
Greetings from blowey Canberra. I have just unloaded bike
and gear. I have had a day of dragging my mates over the
last 100km. Does the hotel have hot water? No.... I hate
that. Did my erstwhile mates offer to let me use the
facilities first? (when the water was hot). No again....
I hate that as well. Bug Gers.Well
a big cold, wet, long, blowey sorry as*sed day for the
Bandits. The wind howled. The hail blasted. And the rain
fell in buckets. It was a day to to get down flat as a
lizard over the crossbar. In case the wind ripped your
head off...
THE STATS
Trip 220km, Av Speed 28.8kmph, Max speed 82kmph , Height
climbed approx 1000 metres, 8.1 hours effort.
Elapsed Distance : 820km
{nb: av speed up to Jindabyne was 36kmph...until we hit
the wind...that gives you an idea of the head wind}
Dead Kangaroos : approx 20
Dead Sheep : approx 10
Dead Wombats : approx 5
THE RIDE
Ahh what a ride. A real test of the character and a lot
of other bits. They didnt call this ride THE CHALLENGE
for nothin folks. Nearly four thousand metres of hill
climbing followed by 220 kms in the hail, wind and rain.
Thats a challenge by any standards.
The Bandits set out at 6:30 in the
morning. We somehow missed the hail but luckily caught
the rain. Big steep downhills in pouring rain seemed a
good chance to start racking up some good prangs but only
one casualty fortunately. We have this great memory of
caning down the hill from Thredbo with the rain and wind
howling up our dates. Spray from the back wheel pluming
up 10 feet and then being flung over the top of our
heads. The Perfect Storm.
The ride down to Jindabyne heralded an
easing of rain and the wind assistance was terrific.
Tea at Cooma was one of the best we
have had. However that was the last good luck of the day.
We turned 90 degrees to go North. And the wind turned 90
degrees from the West. We now had a howling gale in our
teeth. It was carrot time for the Bunnies....
From the below you will get the picture
that we were already pretty stuffed. The gale was the
last straw. There was a very big handing out of carrots.
Every hill ensured the absolute bottom gear was engaged.
We looked quite pathetic really....
The worst moment for mine was trying to
stand up on the pedals during the up hill section and
getting blasted back down onto my sore bu tt by the wind
and the rain. When we hit some of the ridges, the wind
nearly took our helmets off.
We also has the constant olfactory
support of dead wombats, sheep and kangaroos.....
However the kilometres did fly by
fairly rapidly. The tea breaks were life and morale
savers.
Sitting back after some beers and a
good meal at the Canberra restuarant, we decided it was
definitely worth the grunt.
COMMENT OF THE DAY
"The only consolation of the ride was getting it up
the ass"
[a pithy statement from Al Presidente regarding the
strong tailwind whacking our rear ends on the way to
Jindabyne]
...Another classic from the Pres below
"Did you see any wild life today guys"
EP "Yeah, a tortoise"
"Where do you see it?"
EP "On the road..... It overtook me as I was going
up the hill"
THE PROTAGANISTS
APB
The Punisher was seen at the start. Then the finish. In
between those times he was on the bike. Said he had a
good day..
AL PRESIDENTE
A man in pain. His back hurt. His legs hurt. His neck
hurt. When he tried to think, his head hurt. Most of all
his knee hurt. Came good as we got into Canberra and
cracked open the beers.
CLIVE
The Scarlet Pimpernel arose groaning. Would he ride
today? He did... Did he ride well? Like a champion. He
was often observed jumping off the front of the peleton
to pursue errant kangaroos. Many unhappy comments
regarding his bot. Wins the rear end award for the day.
PHIL
Nuggety again was solid. Does this man ever have an off
day? Actually ha ha (i shouldnt laugh but too late i
typed it) he nearly had several offs. Rain or wind
Nuggetty had several cases of the handlebar shakes. We
all paused on his first. And in a moment of soilidarity,
tightened our headsets in sympathy. It did look rather
funny from behind...a man who looked like getting the
gravel tattoo....
WAZZA
Yep. The legs that lit up a mountain were called up for
duty today. The handlebars were carressed like a lo ver
in a vain attempt to present a low profile to the howling
wind. A day with one period of discomfort. At tea at
Michelago, a chocolate brownie fueded with my intestines.
Judging by someone presenting us with the technicolour
yawn a few kays up the road, I was not alone. ....
The weather also got the better of me. I must have
changed clothes about 10 times during the ride.
My puncture was a marriage in heaven. I had no sooner
fixed the durn thing when .... psssssssssssssssttt ...
the presa valve did an Apollo on me. I heard it tinkle
somewhere down the road .... Had to wait for The Young
One to get me another. Big delay. Actually rode alone for
an hour with no one in sight as far as i could see both
forward and backward. Have a look at the picture to, er,
get the picture... verrrry desolate
STEW
The young one is getting bored ...he has been keeping his
mind in shape by argueing with his dad. Today Stu got all
my prizes. He was there just as I got hot. When I got
cold, he appeared. When we needed a drag, he appeared.
When I got my puncture he appeared....
Unfortunately the young one leaves us
today !!! He will be replaced by his Mum Kerith. This is
a disaster as far as Im concerned. The chances of hearing
his MOBY album hammering out of the Porsche window as we
ride appear to be very very very slim....
BANDIT GUEST INTERVIEW
[We will be trying to provide a guest interview on
each remaining day....]
Today we feature WALTER. A Medico from Me Le Bourne.
Walter is definitely a gear man. Apart from the de jure
ultra spiffy lycra gear, Walter had the best rainsuit. A
head to toe goretex NASA style riding outfit for all
weather. We got it today so Walter hit the bulls eye.
HOWEVER Walter has got one of the best bikes on display
and hence has drawn the first straw for our interview.
Take a look at the pic. A top spec Specialised fully
suspended MTB. Walter came whipping past me on the way
down to Thredbo. The man who knows no fear. I nearly
browned out just looking at his swoops down the hill
before he disapeared....
Tomorrow we away to Bundanoon. ONE
HUNDRED AND SIXTY KILOMETRES. Oooochamawhoosha our bots
can hardly wait for another pummeling on the pommel. We
have to be up at 5:30. Again..... hells bells I can hear
those funny voices again...
ps : to see the latest news and pics go
to
http://au.oocities.com/bbchallenge2001/index.html
or go to the Bandits Mega Site
http://www.baysidebandidos.com
Click on the images below
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