Day 1 Albury to Mt Hotham

 

Watching the news the night before the ride the forecast was 40% chance if snow showers at Hotham when we arrived and temps ranging from 1-6C. We started out at 7.30am with a wrong turn! Yes Coby did get an appropriate award that night!! Then we had some great riding into the valley that leads towards Mt Beauty. Fair to say Cobby and a few lads were smashing themselves for sprints at every opportunity but even action has a consequence and a lot of those guys were talking to the King later that Day. Just before Mt Beauty we turned off the road to go through a place called Tawonga Gap. 7km pretty cool climb at 9%. The decent on the other side was just the best then we had lunch and the rain started to fall and the cold set in. From lunch it was 20k to Harrietville then 30k to the top and 12k to Dinner Plain our accommodation. The climb sorted most out with many past riders saying it was the toughest day they had ever had on TDK. Well I wouldn’t go as far as that but it was up there, they all seem to blend after awhile but the hot day out of Melb airport in 05, the day from Dorrigo to Armidale in 06 and of course the Dead Horse Gap day in 03 were in my top few with this right alongside. The climb is nasty at the start 10km of serious hill. I hung back with the last group and had some bits where the guys needed to hop off for awhile just to get their legs back. The next section was a little flatter 10-16k then we went past the rangers hut and it got really nasty 16-20k with some fog just starting to come in. After the 20k was just as bad with the person I was with needing to walk – he would not give up. One of the other guys chucked up lunch and was right after that. Then the last 10k to the summit Tim (a Virgin) and Angelo and I kept crossing paths and summitted together. Tim walked some of the steep sections – I push a far bit but on the steep stuff hard to keep the front wheel down. Visibility was down to about 5m so it was pretty eerie and it was little cold!! We go to the top then started the down hill to Dinner Plain. We had a few small rises which pushed the guys to their absolute limit but eventually arrived at 4.15pm with a nice ski lodge and open fire. Awards that night were very funny and a few beers and stories told. 170km 2900m of climbing