bikes

The Col de la Croix de Fer is unlike any other climb in the French Alps. It goes up and down, the road winds through forest then open high meadows, the gradient changes from steep to relatively easy back to steep in the space of a few kilometres... in other words, it�s a temperamental bastard. The Croix de Fer is a 'hors category' climb, thirty-one kilometres of trying to find a rhythm when the road varies so dramatically.  All this is good enough reason to indulge over breakfast. Anita is a willing host, loading the table with croissants and baguettes, home-made jams and local honey, all washed down with as much coffee as any tight fitting lycra-clad bladder can hold. It�ll be my excuse for frequent stops today while climbing. Jean-Louis wishes me �bonne chance� as I cycle down the gravel driveway. The sky is cold blue as I cruise along the valley road, a quick wave to the folk at La Cascade. I�ll be reporting in there tonight for a few recurperative glasses and perhaps some e...

After a few days away from the mountains, today I rise early and drive to Mansfield to tackle Mt Buller, the fourth in my Seven Peaks Challenge. Mercifully, the heatwave conditions of previous days has dissipated. I set out from Mansfield for the thirty kilometre 'warm-up' to Mirimbah where the serious climbing begins.  In my humble opinion, thirty kilometres is a ridiculously long way to cycle to get to the start of a mountain climb. And, as most riders will descend the mountain as well as climb it, that means I'm facing sixty unnecessary kilometres. The road is up and down through bone-coloured hills of tussock and dead logs. And this morning, there's an unpredicatble wind that threatens to push me off the road, which for the first ten kilometres doesn't have a bike shoulder.  Enough moaning.  I pedal faster and enjoy the view of clouds scudding across Mt Buller and Mt Stirling in the distance. The road from Mansfield vaguely follows the Delatite River, a pretty s...

For the third day in a row, the temperature is expected to peak at over 40 degrees. Which is why on Sunday at 7am, when all good poets should be in bed, I'm unloading the bike from my car at Mount Beauty to begin a 32-kilometre ascent to Falls Creek. It's very quiet this morning - an old lady walks her two pug dogs, three parrots flutter in a pine tree and I cross the bridge over the West Kiewa River. The road climbs past a terraced golf course and a swish new ski development on the hillside overlooking the valley. Meanwhile, this bogan is cycling to Bogong, an alpine village fifteen kilometres up the road. As a child, I was always thrilled by the story of the Bogong Moth, a night-flying brown stealth bomber of an insect that diverts to the bright lights of Canberra on its yearly migration south to the Bogong High Plains. Sidestepping the issue that anyone (or anything) would be attracted by the bright lights of our nation's capital, I longed to go to the mythical high coun...

With the temperature predicted to peak at 42 today, I set out early this morning to tackle Mount Hotham. At 7.30am, I start from the pretty village of Harrietville and the first hill ramps up to punchy 11% for a few hundred metres to welcome me to today's mountain. It relents to a friendlier 7% for the next eleven kilometres, except at the hill known as The Meg where a road sign advises motorists to engage low-gear. I guess that means granny-gear for me? The rigours of yesterday's sauna-ride have taken a toll and I'm pedalling slowly. Only 27 kilometres of climbing to go! It's shady this early and I'm enjoying the intoxicating aroma of a eucalyptus forest mixed with altitude. The perfume clears my head and makes breathing just that little easier. The parrots are out today, poking their heads over native grasses as I churn past.  At the eleven kilometre mark, a false flat begins. My Garmin tells me I've climbed 700 metres and descended precisely... zero. With the...

Day One of my Victorian Alps challenge dawns hot and humid. Cathie and I ride along the pleasant Rail Trail path out of Myrtleford, which I'll blog about next week, for thirty kilometres to Bright. Instead of a light morning tea, befitting this early hour, I chow down on a baguette of pork and salad. I figure I'll need all the energy I can muster to tackle Mount Buffalo. It's 10.30 before I leave Cathie in Bright and already the temperature is passing 35 degrees. The last time I climbed Mount Buffalo, my ascent was accompanied by the melodic and restful sound of running water. It was as though the mountainside was leaking.  Today, with the crackling heat, I half-expect the gums to self-combust as I reach Eurobin Creek at the four-kilometre mark. The leaves of the trees are drooping, others are slowly drifting to the ground aided by a gust of parching hot wind.  The birds are still out though. I see King Parrots, Kookaburras and Green-eyes and hear the familiar whip-call of ...

The Seven Peaks Challenge is, and I quote,  an at-your-own pace cycling challenge which takes you up winding mountain roads, around steep turns and past spectacular views right to the top of Victoria's Alpine Resorts. The challenge, should you choose to test your legs and lungs, is to take on the toughest road climbs in Australia, many of which rival some of the famous Tour de France peaks. Count me in!  Regular readers of this blog will know I've cycled a few Tour de France mountains, so I'm keen to put the claims of the organisers to the test. The mountains I hope to cycle over the next week are: - Mount Buffalo - Mount Beauty to Falls Creek - Mt Hotham - Dinner Plain - Mt Buller. Unfortunately, I'll have to leave Mt Baw Baw and Lake Mountain for another time, as they are a little further afield.  In a crafty move, the organisers have provided all entrants with a small passport/booklet, giving comprehensive details of each ride. And to enter the draw to win a very ...