So what has Ash been up to?
Some of you might have noticed that Ash has been away for a few weeks working, (haHA, you can't get rid of me that easy!) he has managed to send this in for you all to read.
Hi all,
Just thought I’d throw a little content the way of the blog, as there is nothing worse than a stagnant blog, although I hear Jack is doing a great job keeping it going. Since the S.H.I.T.S race, I’ve once again returned to the real world of work, this time up at Dinner Plain near Mt Hotham. Now I must be the only person in Australia not wishing for rain, as all I’d like is a fine sunny day, but today being a Sunday and our day off means that it must rain cats and dogs. Sitting here in front of the fire, music playing and rain pouring down on the roof is doing nothing to help my craving to be out riding big hills, so we’ll wait and hope for a break in the weather today for a pedal.
Maybe we should have taken it as sign (derrrr) that it was going to be a little dark when we rode back up the hill, given the sun was setting as we left the top of the hill... I think maybe we just got a little carried away taking photos of the pretty sunsets. (there is a few different days of sunsets there, not all the same day)
Alive at the bottom of the hill, slowly defrosting after burning the brakes off our bikes through the awesome lower section of the hill, racing the cars and beating hell out of them.
Enlarge this photo and you can see the rain coming down... Remember that stuff, rain?? Well its wet, and generally cold.... But gee its nice aboard my F1c, and with the new Felt carbon forks, it soaks up the coarse alpine asphalt super well.
And wasn't this a pleasant day to go riding- 5 degrees in the cloud is nice, its a bloody sight colder when the cloud lifts, down to 1 or 2 degrees. Lucky there are hills to ride up to keep warm...
Oh, and riding up hills in the dark is a) a bad idea and b) bloody hard to see the lines as not to fall off the ridges. Next time, lights... *shrug*
----------------------------------------------------------------
During the week we’ve been working dawn till dark on site, which means that training has been taking place in the dark, and I’ve been getting a sneak peek at winter! This is how it seems to go; pack up at work in the headlights of the truck, come back to the lodge and throw some food down. Gear up to ride in all the clothing that I have including booties, wind gloves, both wind vests, rain jackets, thermals and lights. Head out on the road and freeze for the first 20-30 mins as its all downhill. Living on the top of the hill sure does have its up and downsides! So, by the time we are totally freezing with blue lips and ice blocks for feet, its time to turn around and ride back up the hill, which generally takes about twice as long as it took to descend. Grinding the lowest gear on our road bikes, we ride as hard as our lungs and cold feet will take us, and head back for the top of the hill. The hardest part of it has gotta be the monotony of riding in the dark. There is no visual stimulation at all, you can’t see anything other than the illuminated 4 sq.m in front of the bike, and reflectors down the road. There are precious few animals to speak off, cars are an exciting rarity, and the road just goes on and on. And on. Anyone who’s walked home after a hard night on the cordial’s, knows that it always takes longer in the dark (with exceptions… Sometimes all sorts of fun things happen in the dark)
On the plus side however, there are some brilliant points to life up here. Being free of distraction like news, tv and internet is very refreshing (although the Luddite life isn’t for me), the air is so clean and pure that you feel like you can fill your lungs more than ever before, and the ‘altitude’ whilst not huge, certainly makes a difference in the long run. The first ride we did up here a few weeks ago, was like breathing through a straw, but the more we ride the better it gets. Early on, we were able to ride right on dusk and see some amazing alpine sunsets which made it really worthwhile, whilst now we see more of the dark than anything else.
Today was due to be a big ride down the hill and around the locale, but with this pouring rain means that getting sick would be a big concern, so it looks like it will be an inside day. I’ll say this- to the US guys like Martin, Kerkove and Bishop that train in the snow during winter, much respect! The cold is tough, the dark is tougher, but in the end we’re all still pedaling around and doing it because we love it.
Hi all,
Just thought I’d throw a little content the way of the blog, as there is nothing worse than a stagnant blog, although I hear Jack is doing a great job keeping it going. Since the S.H.I.T.S race, I’ve once again returned to the real world of work, this time up at Dinner Plain near Mt Hotham. Now I must be the only person in Australia not wishing for rain, as all I’d like is a fine sunny day, but today being a Sunday and our day off means that it must rain cats and dogs. Sitting here in front of the fire, music playing and rain pouring down on the roof is doing nothing to help my craving to be out riding big hills, so we’ll wait and hope for a break in the weather today for a pedal.
Maybe we should have taken it as sign (derrrr) that it was going to be a little dark when we rode back up the hill, given the sun was setting as we left the top of the hill... I think maybe we just got a little carried away taking photos of the pretty sunsets. (there is a few different days of sunsets there, not all the same day)
Alive at the bottom of the hill, slowly defrosting after burning the brakes off our bikes through the awesome lower section of the hill, racing the cars and beating hell out of them.
Enlarge this photo and you can see the rain coming down... Remember that stuff, rain?? Well its wet, and generally cold.... But gee its nice aboard my F1c, and with the new Felt carbon forks, it soaks up the coarse alpine asphalt super well.
And wasn't this a pleasant day to go riding- 5 degrees in the cloud is nice, its a bloody sight colder when the cloud lifts, down to 1 or 2 degrees. Lucky there are hills to ride up to keep warm...
Oh, and riding up hills in the dark is a) a bad idea and b) bloody hard to see the lines as not to fall off the ridges. Next time, lights... *shrug*----------------------------------------------------------------
During the week we’ve been working dawn till dark on site, which means that training has been taking place in the dark, and I’ve been getting a sneak peek at winter! This is how it seems to go; pack up at work in the headlights of the truck, come back to the lodge and throw some food down. Gear up to ride in all the clothing that I have including booties, wind gloves, both wind vests, rain jackets, thermals and lights. Head out on the road and freeze for the first 20-30 mins as its all downhill. Living on the top of the hill sure does have its up and downsides! So, by the time we are totally freezing with blue lips and ice blocks for feet, its time to turn around and ride back up the hill, which generally takes about twice as long as it took to descend. Grinding the lowest gear on our road bikes, we ride as hard as our lungs and cold feet will take us, and head back for the top of the hill. The hardest part of it has gotta be the monotony of riding in the dark. There is no visual stimulation at all, you can’t see anything other than the illuminated 4 sq.m in front of the bike, and reflectors down the road. There are precious few animals to speak off, cars are an exciting rarity, and the road just goes on and on. And on. Anyone who’s walked home after a hard night on the cordial’s, knows that it always takes longer in the dark (with exceptions… Sometimes all sorts of fun things happen in the dark)
On the plus side however, there are some brilliant points to life up here. Being free of distraction like news, tv and internet is very refreshing (although the Luddite life isn’t for me), the air is so clean and pure that you feel like you can fill your lungs more than ever before, and the ‘altitude’ whilst not huge, certainly makes a difference in the long run. The first ride we did up here a few weeks ago, was like breathing through a straw, but the more we ride the better it gets. Early on, we were able to ride right on dusk and see some amazing alpine sunsets which made it really worthwhile, whilst now we see more of the dark than anything else.
Today was due to be a big ride down the hill and around the locale, but with this pouring rain means that getting sick would be a big concern, so it looks like it will be an inside day. I’ll say this- to the US guys like Martin
posted by Jack Lamshed at 7:40 pm
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