Opportunity Knocks

A couple of years ago, when I was quite spritely and ready, I decided to tackle my tribute to the European spring classics. I had planned this route a few years earlier, but fitness and mental flimsiness had always undone me on it. This time I was ready.

The loop is one hundred and sixty kilometres from town, with two thousand, one hundred and fifty metres of ascending spread over sixteen climbs and innumerable small rollers. The loop itself is good because it's pretty compact, has numerous bail out points, predominantly quiet roads, shops in the right spots and has a nice easy last twenty kilometres. Where it's toughness comes from is the lack of flat and the constant short climbs. In the middle it loops around on itself to take in a variety of climbs in the Coatsville/Dairy Flat area. No climbs are repeated, and there's next to no riding the same piece of road twice.

It needs either a map, gps or a mind like a steel trap to remember the route. If anyone does want the route, email me and I'll send the file through.

I set off on this particular spring day in beautiful conditions, and rolled around the planned loop, finally making it home a content, but spent man. The final long descent from the top of the Bethalls quarry was pure bliss, knowing that there was no more climbing that day. The middle section with it's climbs that come one after another and pitch up steeply in places did tax me a little, but I was a man on a mission that day and the weather gods smiled on me.

Since then I have tried, in vain, to drag various parties around. Now that K2 is on the serious radar again I'm going to have another crack at it, but hopefully with company. I want to see some other spent faces next time.

Junior, you listening fella?