There’s not much left to be said having read the great reports already submitted. Suffice to say a great weekend, no-one left anything out on the road and everyone dug equally deep both for themselves and the wider collective. Precisely what ER is all about.
So my perspective:
- text from Drastique, 5.15am Saturday “Problems, BT’s car has run out of vegetable oil, he’s getting it towed”
- arranged for Drastique to awake Lady WBA to get keys to my car instead (which was at WBA’s)
- WBA couldn’t contact Lady WBA; grave concerns for both Drastique’s and WBA’s safety
- Kudos Lady WBA for taking all in good humour, BT and Drastique now on their way
- team ER relieved as Drastique on dinner duty Sat night (which was again sensational)
- started at what turned out to be the back of Wave 3
- Ivan and WBA pulled up just over the start line, yelled out to them, all sounded OK, headed onwards (will let Ivan tell the story there; bulk kudos Colette for her assistance here)
- went past the 10km mark that brought me unstuck last year
- caught up with Simba up Tawonga, rode the descent together, jumped on a group, gathered in Phantom, all good
- Buffalo climb was good with the “softer than Thredbo” gearing I had on
- aim was to try to gather in as many ER brethren as possible up the hill
- and anyone wearing Sydney-based kit (with the hope of saying “we’re just a bunch of casual commuters”)
- lunch stop, NNNick departing when I turned in, still 10 minutes to the good….
- quick bite with Pink, Gav, Bill, Drastique, Wilson
- good train out to Ovens with Drastique, pulled in Wilson who had gone 2-up up the road
- stopped with Drastique who needed more painkillers, headed off before him as he needed his seat fixed too
- tough hit out towards Mount Beauty, difficult to find a group as many crystal cranking, workshy or too quick for me
- hot but thankfully not windy
- Drastique returned favour by turning up on my wheel…”Get going….here’s a bunch” (our boy had about 20 behind him and had hauled them back onto my wheel…..champion)
- that lasted about 10km, split up on the Rosewhite climb
- rolled into Mount Beauty, 30km to go
- game of two halves
- didn’t read the instructions, missed the detail that second 15km was tougher than first 15km
- hammered first 15km, felt good
- then struggled in that last 15km, felt ordinary
- finished
- but no jersey unfort…..
Credits:
- ER. Period.
- everyone who participated and contributed to the weekend making it what it was, everyone rolled up their sleeves and didn’t need to be asked twice to assist with food, clean up etc etc
- WBA, NNNick and Ivan for their company in the WBA’s car there and back
- NNNick for grabbing the BBQ tongs for Sun night meal
- PD for the Thredbo weekend, many lessons learnt, unlikely I would have finished 3P had I not have learnt those lessons 2 weeks before
- VD; soulmate following our respective Thredbo disappointments
- those who texted, emailed, followed on Latitude etc
And for those considering next year:
- it’s all within our reach
- manageable with limited weekend ride time
- let’s do it.
Thanks all
Mark/Satnav