Boulder vs bicycle - a cycle up Mt Buffalo

Bright is a lovely town nestling in the valley of the Victorian Alps, a perfect base for cycling some of Australia's admittedly few mountains. On Friday afternoon, the only sunny day of the week, I pedal down the tree-lined Great Alpine Road towards Mount Buffalo. I've wanted to climb this mountain for yonks!

The serious climbing starts thirteen kilometres into the ride where the gradient reaches 6% and remains steady for the next twenty kilometres. Sure, there are patches of 8%, but nothing really scary. With all the recent rain, the one constant of this climb is the sound of gushing water. It's as if the mountain is slowly melting from the top down, a granite ice-cream cone in the sun.

Just as I'm getting into a rhythm, a Council ute stops beside me and the driver says the road is closed ten kilometres ahead - a landslide with boulders bigger than a truck. I can't bear the thought of turning around, so decide to take my chances. It'd need to be a big boulder to stop me squeezing through on my bike. I'm hoping the workmen on site take pity on a cyclist and let me pass.

After eleven kilometres of climbing, I reach Mackeys Lookout. Wow! That's some view down the valley. And a kind soul has planted a bench seat on the rock for quiet contemplation. But I'm eager to reach the boulder blockade and chance my luck. There are no cars on the road. Everyone has heard of the road closure but me.

And sure enough, up ahead is a semi-trailer and earth-moving equipment. And a big boulder. A very big boulder. But it's not on the road any longer. After multiple blasting attempts, the crew have moved most of the giant-sized pieces off the bitumen. I ride slowly through, nodding cautiously at the grader driver. He smiles. No-one says a word. Once past, I sprint as fast as I can up the hill, just in case he has second thoughts.

I now have the road all to myself. It's wonderfully liberating. I weave from side to side, looking down through the forest to the creek rushing below. On each switchback corner, I can see how high I've climbed. Robins and parrots are my only companions.

In the afternoon light, the snow gums look like pale skeletons, fringed at the bottom with giant ferns. It's weirdly ethereal. I don't want this road to end.

But after one more hairpin, it's a sudden short downhill to Crystal Brook and Mount Buffalo Plateau. I ride onto the visitors centre, closed of course and then backtrack up to the Chalet road. Two more kilometres of climbing and the historic chalet, ghost lonely, is abandoned for the season.

I am the only person on the mountain top. I walk to the lookout and feel immense gratitude that this is all mine, alone, until it's time to descend.

The descent? Fast. No traffic, naturally. But, I'd rather climb than speed through amazing landscape. The workmen have finished for the afternoon, but the road is still closed. To everyone, except one very lucky cyclist.