3 Day Tour 21-23 November 2011 - Colac to Apollo Bay ... and back !!

This is just my second bike tour and this time we decided to do it fast and light. The main aim was to ride Turton's Track in the Otways.


The sculpture at Gellibrand - We are Still at the Low Bit on The Left...

For Sale

Still lying around at home.... a TRANZX stationary trainer, in very good nick.

Up Mt Donna Buang

I'm now officially crazy. Rode up Mt Donna Buang today with Justin. Great ride, beautiful day.

It was a bit windy but the view was good....

Touring Trip from Warrnambool to home via the Great Ocean Road.

I made my touring debut last week with a ride from Warnambool/Port Fairy back along the GOR to Melbourne. It was great fun in conditions that included everything from solid SE head winds on day 3 from Warny to Port Campbell, chilly SW winds and rain all day on day 4 to Lavers Hill, and a variety of much nicer days thereafter.

Here's a few more pics from the trip....

Pre-Ride - Great Ocean Road Tour October 2011

Tomorrow I train to Warrnambool to catch up with my pal justin and ride to Port Fairy then back along the GOR to Ocean Grove by next Thursday. Today I got the bike back from its first free service and loaded it up and took it out for a 'shakedown ride' around the 'the Hills....' i.e. Box Hill & Surrey Hills :)

Here's a photo to prove I actually rode it up some hills for practice with a load on board.

Next Thursday we will ride to Peter's place at Ocean Grove for the night. It will be great to catch up with Pete, who I met on the trip to the Tour de France in July.

2011 ATB 50km Ride

Kevin and I completed the ATB 50km ride last Sunday.Very windy both ways but what a difference the tailwind coming back made ! Also hit by a squall inc hail as we re-crossed the WGBridge - whoo-hoo !!

Great fun again, but really felt for those flogging down Geelong Rd into the stiff SW breeze. Kevin survived OK, I think, and hopefully will get some more riding done soon.

CAADX with Spare wheels and 25c road tyres

3 pics of my new(-ish) Cannondale CAADX 105, with my spare set of 'road' wheels on board.

Stockholm Sunday 24 – Tuesday 26 July, 2011

First impressions of Stockholm are very good. Within one hour of landing at Arlanda Airport (45 kms north of the city centre) we were already in the city and bording the metro for the short journey out to our apartment. The Arlanda Express is fantastic, a 150kph direct link to/from the airport. We settled in and did some shopping (500m to the supermarket). We had dinner 'at home' then went for a bit of a walk down to Fridhemsplan and Kronobergsparken. First night in a new town, and it's always a bit of a relief to relax and unwnd after the day's travel.

Copenhagen 17-24 July, 2011

I guess most of us know that certain European cities take a different approach to things in general and urban planning in particular. Well Copenhagen is a Melbourne cyclists dream come true. There were bikes and cyclists everywhere throughout the city...

Maybe I should have come to TdF sooner ....

In 1986 my wife and I travelled O/S to Europe and I sat in my brother's flat in Holloway, London, and watched as Greg Norman won his first British Open. Of course I thought he would win a few more majors than he did but I remained big fan of the way he played the game and the fact that he failed gloriously a few times just made him more likeable to me. I don't judge his private life - couldn't care less - because he always played fair and square on the course and showed his emotions and gave credit to the guys who beat him.

As it happens I don't play much golf these days and our Aussie road cyclists have become my new sporting favorites. I'm sure they all have their good days and bad days, public and private, but they play the game fair and square and a great ambassadors for the sport in Australia and reflect well on all of us through their sporting efforts and achievements and the way they go about it.