Barracudas Blog

The weekend of 8th-9th of November saw a group of us ride the Grand Ridge Rd from its start near Willung Sth to its end at the Korumburr-Warragul Rd , though some of chose an alternative longer route at the end as you can see by the track below. Day 1 was 90k to Mirboo North with an overnight stop at the Grand Ridge Manor. The riding group consisted of Johnny ,Paul ,Mal ,Rick and with Joanne and Thierry on their tandem. We were very fortunate to have Lily , Denise and Carmel driving in support and stopping with supplies at various meeting points.

I told the guys that the profile indicated the ride was mainly downhill , I guess they were soon cursing as we crawled up the strting climb of 8% at < 10km/h. The route starts out on bitumen and soon gives way to pleasant compressed unsealed track . The bitumen returned just before our first stop at the 18km mark at Tarra Bulga .The tea house here is the last piece of civilisation till Mirboo North so with weather closing in it was hot chocolates all round.

Back outside we were greeted to a howling sou’wester with ice cold rain. I was cold on the descent I’m sure I would get hypothermic but a climb arrived just in time. The route had now become a mixture of mud and rock and I was soon looking like my son after a downhill race on a wet track. We regrouped at English’s corner where the Grand Ridge Rd sign had been turned the wrong way till we corrected it. A snap was taken of the Englishman under the sign.

Lunch was had at Ruyton’s junction and we made a further stop at Boolarra Sth before rocking up at Mirboo North in the late afternoon. The Manor turned out to be the perfect place to stay for a large group and there were copious supplies for breakfast including enough bacon and eggs for 50. A few beers at the Brewery and a large serve of fish and chips I think replaced more fat than glycogen.

We got underway on Sunday just after 8 , with the weather being much kinder , and soon a continuing pattern of riding emerged with me rolling down hills behind the tandem and climbing back past to the top of the hills . ( Oh to beat Thierry up the hills !) We made a stop at Seaview briefly before completing the ride .Joanne Thierry and I hit the Warragul-Korumburra Rd which we assumed was the end and thought well what an anti-climax and where’s Mal ? After a further 7 km we met the rest of the crew at the true end ( though the support crew went past us also on the wrong route !)

A recommended ride for all .  Gallery here (and pics onmap below).

Our unblemished record of no incident on a Tuesday group ride finally came to an end on a descent of the Gorge , ie the Dalyston Glen Forbes Rd. Taking one of our usual routes out through Archies Ck and right up the Glen Forbes Rd we regrouped at the top of the climb. We must have been down this descent 10 or 12 times at least in the past 2 years. A light drizzle was falling and we had all clearly decided to take it easy rather than hammering down as we do usually. We came round one of the easier corners and I suddenly found my back wheel slipping out on greasy patch on the road , and there was no stopping my fall .It all seemed to happen in slow motion and I was able to look around while sliding on the bitumen and sight one of my riding partners as she came off trying to avoid me , hitting the road a lot harder than I.. Another rider had veered left then broke and came off figuring the bitumen was a better landing place than tumbling down the side of the Gorge Anyway Gav managed to capture some of the gore on his mobile phone and no one was serioulsy injured ; unfortunately my bike will cost more to repair than me.

Rick

 Of course I have a new coach namely - Gav. And have to send him a diary .
So I used the workout plugin and I think this link will now show my current weeks training ( think it will just change to the whatever the current week is)
Except it is in German .
May be the plugin can be edited so we can understand it .
It’s here for everyone to use .

<?php wol_currentWeekStat(); ?>
When you login click manage then workoutlog to enter details.
E-mail me and I’ll give you the code to display your stuff.Rick