HopeStreet Ride To The Top - 2006 - Ride Diary

“Farewell to Sydney”

After good fortune in 2005, we were expecting surprises to come our way in 2006. No sooner had the church gates opened, when Scott arrived with a splint on his arm and skin missing, courtesy of flying over the handlebars, in mid-February. We now had seventeen riders, four support crew and a 'King Of The Mountain' trophy, that will be going straight to Roger's pool room.

Rather than risk Cumberland Highway, the riders proceeded slowly west to the M7 cycleway, catching up with stories and events from our lives, since last year's ride. A quick morning tea at Camden fuelled us for the first climb, Razorback, to separate those who spent Christmas on the bike from the holiday makers. Another climb out of Picton, and onto Bargo, where Phil greeted us with a plethora of cold-cuts, salads and rolls.

Another hard sixty kilometres riding to our overnight stop at Bowral Baptist Church, where we were greeted by a rock-band practising for Sunday's youth service. An evening meal of Alison's 'Chinese' lasagna was enjoyed with David and Jenny, who joined the riders for one day, from their home in Jervis Bay.

“Level 5 Water Restrictions”

Sunday in Bowral started an hour earlier than normal, when Kevin forgot about daylight saving and chatted away an hour before we were scheduled to wake up. We were thankful for clear weather through the southern highland towns of Moss Vale, Bundanoon and Exeter, to a morning tea of rider-supplied cakes and slices at Wingello. (Once again, Ray deserves a prize for his muesli slice.)

For the climb out of Bungonia forest, bus driver Ron swapped into his cycling gear and showed us how to climb hills with big gears, whilst Colin and young Mark kept a close eye on each other for the 13km father vs. son battle to the summit. The final result went unnoticed, as we searched for water, on a very hot afternoon.

Sunday afternoon at Goulburn saw us farewell the founder of RTTT, Dave, who had to return to Sydney for work commitments. The public pool was closed and the church hall was in use, so we had to make some hasty plans for showers and dinner. A local gym came to the rescue, and the worker's club provided refreshing change from trying to cook for twenty people in a church hall tea room.

“Early Start, Late Finish”

Predictions of another hot day saw us all wake an hour early, and head off at dawn, while the rest of Goulburn was still asleep. A team time-trial saw us reach Lake Bathurst and Tarago ahead of schedule, before the deceptive hills on the way to morning tea. Thankfully, morning tea included bags of party ice, to cool us and our drinks down.

A fast downhill run sweeps us into Bungendore, across the plain and seven hills to Captain's Flat, before the drop into Queanbeyan. The hot cross-wind became a hot head-wind as we headed west to Kings Avenue bridge and Canberra Baptist Church, at Kingston. The water at the eighty year old Manuka Pool had never been so refreshing.

This year, it was our turn to host the BBQ for Herve, before the riders retired for their final night on airbeds. (At Cooma and Jindabyne, we have the luxury of bunk beds.)

“Monaro Highway”

With predictions of head-winds from Canberra to Cooma on Tuesday, a few riders thought they'd get an early start on the group. Those who waited and helped load the support vehicles were rewarded with personal orders of Starbucks coffee, delivered to them after an hour of riding.

At the rest stop, we made Joe stop this year (rather than ride to Cooma in one go), and he got to spend time with the rest of us, talking to caravanners. The two groups of people swapped cakes and slices, along with many stories about the time on the road, and getting away from the bussle of Sydney.

Our final destination was Pacific Lodge, on the northern side of Cooma, with a slight change this year. The presence of a school excursion meant that we could not use their commercial kitchen, but had to cook for seventeen in one of the self-contained units. John made a phone-call to his mum, a trip to Woolies and whipped up four pasta dishes in no time. He was ably helped by Gerry, who we are convinced carries Italian ingredients in that ever-present backpack.

“Short Day, Many Hills”

Once again, a perfect start in Cooma, but most riders were still wary of how the weather can change in mountains. The long climb out of town got us warmed up quickly, then Joe showed us how they used to ride fifty years ago, heading the team over the rolling hills to Berridale. The riders are now hooked on mid-ride coffee, and dropped into the local art-gallery/coffee-shop, rather than more of the same 'slices and soft-drinks' in the park.

Berridale marks the transition into 'real mountains', with a long climb out of town. This is later followed by a downhill sweeper around Lake Jindabyne, which hides many short uphill bursts over the fingers of land, that reach into the lake. The large hill on Barry Way was soon forgotten as we struggled to keep control on fresh tar, just short of our destination of Carinya Lodge.

“Not happy Jan”

Not since the original Ride To The Top have we seen weather like Black Thursday. The smart riders stayed in bed, and sent a proxy vote with a 'room representative' to the 6am decision forum. After delaying the decision for an hour, it was decided to hold the final ride in better weather on Friday. So DVDs, leftover pasta and fruit pies were the order of the day.

Two particpants had work and soccer commitments for Friday, so they were going to attempt the final leg. A couple of others wanted to survey parts of the next days ride. Rob, Gary, Ron, Chris and Rev. Phil hopped on their bikes, accompanied by Bruce, Phil and Kim in the support vehicles. All made it past halfway, and Rob and Gary made it to the summit at Charlotte Pass. (The others were shocked to watch Gary and Rob being blown around on the bike. The weather bureau said there were gusts up to 100km/h at Perisher that day.)

“Groundhog Day”

Traditionally, Friday is 'walk to the top' day. This year, we had to attempt the postponed ride from Jindabyne to Charlotte Pass. Rev. Phil was trying two attempts on the big mountain in two days, but got off to a bad start, when Ron drove off with his helmet in the bus, when he went to get petrol. Tired legs and a 30 min delay was not going to make it easy for him.

The ride went like clockwork, around Lake Jindabyne, then Sawpit Creek, Wilsons Gap, Sponners Hotel, Daniers Gap, Smiggins Holes and Perisher, to the goal of Charlotte Pass. Colin, Mark and Roland traded places at the front of the 'early-start' team, who looked like they could hold-off the riders in the 'fast' and 'extra-fast' categories. With a mighty effort, Colin claimed 'King of the Mountain', and got the pleasure of watching his colleagues finish the gruelling climb to Australia's highest road. (Note. Roger officially gets 'King of the Mountain', for the fastest time to cover the 44km distance.)

Special mention must go to Rob, Chris, Ron and Rev. Phil for taking on the mountain twice in 24 hours, and a big thank-you to Phil and Scott (and Bruce) for driving back and forth, looking after our clothing and drink needs for the desolate ride(s) up the mountain. Our reward was a fast ride back down to Jindabyne, except a few uphill bits that really hurt around Spencer's Creek, Sponners Hotel and the park gates.

“Home James”

Three days of wonderful hospitality at Carinya Lodge were courtesy of Michelle, Farley and super-chef Susan, but now it was time to leave. After early wake-ups at the start of the week, the sleep-ins at the end of the week meant that we were going to be late back to Sydney.

Dwight, Chris and Roger decided to ride home to Sydney, with minimal clothes and equipment. Luckily, the others drove home via historic Dalgety, then encountered Dwight just south of Cooma, with a broken gear cable. After seven days without a problem, Colin finally got his tools out to show us his bike mechanic skills.

Seven hours later, we were greeted by loved ones at Parramatta Baptist Church, to take us, our bikes and our stories home for the 51 weeks until RTTT-2007.