Terra only 2 weeks away!

The past 2 weeks have been spent in the alpine region of Victoria.

Coincidence really, chance training for the up and coming Terra Australis 7 day stage race which starts in Falls Creek.

Norm left with the Forrest Jnr boys to head to Adelaide for the National XC Champs on the Wednesday and I left to go to Bright on the Friday, 25th Feb.

As I drove off from home, the sun was shining, hinting at the coming of Autumn. Brisk morning, sun shining, no wind, golden leaves...just divine.

Solo road trips are soul enriching, reminding me of all the happiness I have in my life and how lucky I am to be in the car driving to a really awesome destination for a 4 day riding jaunt!

Bright BootCamp is held twice yearly and this was my first time as a support rider.  Not so bad as I was more interested in getting the miles in the legs rather than the intensity right now.

Day 1 - Buffalo climb to sort out groups.  I decided to spend my time from the back of the group of 40 riders and just ease my way up having chats and giving any hints or assistance along the way.  I did not catch the front group but made my way up to the back of what would be group 1.  Nice warm up, nice day and a fun descent.

Day 2 - Bright-Tawonga-Falls Creek and back again.  This is about 120km and a whole lot of climbing. It rained for most of the morning but everyone stayed safe with total respect for the descent into Mt Beauty.  At this stage after sitting at the back for the whole ascent, it was my turn to go first and rip down the mountain.  Then my turn to get up Tawonga Gap as fast as I felt like which on this day was 32 mins. No idea what a good time is but it was fun to work into this one and finish feeling a bit breathless!
Then came the next fun bit of descending the other side and really pushing it hard to Germantown.

Day 3 - Hotham return. Back of group 2 again today, easing my way up, talking people into suffering just a bit more than they would like to, chat about technique, keep them climbing hard all the way to the top!
What a beautiful day it was, we got to the top, and I got to talk the whole way! sorry boys.
Had a great time getting John to descend a bit smoother, a bit faster and have more fun doing so.

Day 4 - Thankfully for me I got to escort a bunch of 5 to Myrtleford for a coffee.  A flattish ride of 25km with a head wind, but we just tapped out an easy ride, grabbed a coffee and rode back along the rail trail which is paved to avoid to morning traffic.  Back by 9am, showered and in the car heading home by 10am

The same beautiful day as my arrival, sweet sunshine but this time it was Autumn...desperate to get home, but tired eyes forcing me to have a road side shut eye for 45 mins.

Home on Tuesday 1st March, loads of work to be done, Wednesday more work, Thursday a quick ride, Friday travel to Mt Buller and settle in for the weekend.

Bike Buller event is a 3 stage, 2 day event, held in Autumn every year.  There is a 25km XC race, a new event called the Brake Burner with a very fun descent to finish with and then on Sunday a 50km mtb marathon.

Can I just tell you if you have not ridden the trails at Mt Buller, then DO SO NOW!

The network of trails is ever improving with the 2 current standouts being the Stonefly trail at Mt Stirling and the newly refurbished and improved River Spur trail that takes you to the park at Mirimbah.  Log bridges are an awesome feature here.

Norm and I shared our lodge with 40 odd people and raced the weekend away in beautiful sunshine.
Thank you Rapid Ascent and Resort Management at Buller for a great event.

The last 2 and a half weeks has been total mayhem with racing and riding and driving such long distances...and this week is no different as Norm and I head off to Mt Buller for our final Womens MTB camp for this summer season.

After that there is just one week until Terra.  I have told Brad I am thinking I will be riding into form for this one, getting some good training in, but its been a bit too sporatic to actually make a big difference and the stress of travel and work has and does take its toll when you are trying to train and do big things on the bike.

I will keep doing my best, having fun and most importantly keeping healthy right now.

Will be back online after the Womens weekend, with the final week lead up report to post.