Tour of Margaret River - November 2015

One of the things that makes the Tour of Margaret River a special event is that everyone has their own stories to tell. Four stages over three days, with 71 riders in the women's category and 448 in the open category - it is an epic event. And with each rider busy trying to recover and prepare for the next stage, many of these individual race stories don't come to light.

This is my story.

I had chosen not to register for the Tour of Margaret River, as it was close to the end of my road race season for the year, and I knew I would be ready for a rest by that stage. I was going to go and support my good friends in the Roues Chaudes Cycling Club, helping them out by cooking meals and anything else that was needed. Then two of their team members were hit by a car when participating in a charity bike ride in Esperance. They were unable to compete - this was less than two weeks before the race. So I decided to step up and fill in one of the places in their team. We had a team of five in the end (the teams are supposed to be six).

Finbar RCCC Women's Team, with RCCC President Dan O'Donoghue

Stage 1

The first stage was a prologue, a very short individual time trial. It was only 7.5km long, but included a lot of climbing up to the golf course at Augusta. It was an unusual format for an individual time trial - it was actually more like a team time trial, as each team started together, but each rider would be given an individual finishing time. It was a good format to start the race, as our team could suss out who was where in terms of climbing ability. One of the strengths of our team was that we were quite well matched. However, as I expected, I was the weakest in climbing ability. As soon as we hit the climb, I dropped off the back of our team and watched them ride away. I knew I would have to ride the climb at my own pace. 

I kept climbing, and about halfway up the climb I caught up with one of my teammates, Annie. We are fairly well matched - today, she stuck on my wheel as best she could up the climb. I just kept going at the fastest pace I could sustain. Then as it flattened out I eased off a touch to let her catch her breath, and she then took over some of the pace making. We also caught up to our teammate Jen not far from the finish, she had had some trouble breathing or we never would have caught her. The three of us finished close together. 

I was very happy with my efforts for Stage 1, and also pleasantly surprised to see that I was ranked third in my age category after the first stage. 

Stage 2

Stage 2 was the team time trial proper. It was 50km, undulating along Caves Rd from Augusta to Witchcliff. The team time was taken from the 5th rider to cross the finish line - so with only five riders in our team, we had to stick together. Stage 2 was held in the afternoon after Stage 1 in the morning, so it was a tough day. 

We agreed on some call words: "ease" if the pace was too fast, "up" if the pace was too slow, "on" - every rider to call when they got back onto the back of the paceline, and "off" if a rider dropped off. We also agreed on the order of riders in the paceline, to protect the slower riders from surges after they had done their turn, and try to position people behind riders they were comfortable to follow. This worked really well, as we all stayed together for the whole stage. I was one of the slower riders, so I did have to call out "ease" a few times, but the ladies were really good and kept a nice consistent pace up the hills. I also did shorter turns that the other ladies to protect myself and so that they could keep the pace up. 

One of the things that I took away from this stage is that I can push myself harder up hills that I think I can. It was really great training to force myself to stick to the wheel in front of me going up the hills, to manage my effort so that I could still recover but push myself harder than I normally would. I got to know Leila's rear wheel very well, as sometimes that was all I could focus on. 

Towards the end of the Stage, we turned into Redgate Rd. There was one hill on this road, it was tough work to stay with them up this hill. After the hill, I was third rider in the line. Then Margot pulled off and it was only Leila in front of me. I was thinking "please stay there Leila" - I didn't know if I would have any energy to do another turn on the front. Then Leila pulled off, and it was my turn. We still had 2km to go, but I knew I couldn't pull off the front as I would never be able to get back on. Leila had picked up the pace, so I just kept going as hard as I could. I know there was a motorbike cameraman taking photos at this point, but I couldn't even lift my head to glance at him. 

We were very happy with the outcome of this stage, as we finished 4th fastest women's team. 

Me leading our team (briefly) in the team time trial 

Stage 3

Stage 3 was the longest and hardest stage of the tour. It was a little over 100km, a circuit starting in Nannup, heading southeast to Greenbushes, Marrinup Ford, Balingup then back to Nannup. It was very undulating, with two long and challenging climbs. The first climb was only 2km into the race, but luckily for me the women didn't race up it too fast, so I could stay within contact of the peloton. However, they punched out the last 200m and over the top of the climb, so me and a couple of other women had to work together to chase back onto the peloton. 

The race organisers set off the women's teams first, in two groups with 30 sec gap between groups. Then the men's teams set off, with only 30 sec between the slower women's group and the fastest men's group. As expected, it became somewhat of a handicap race - when the fastest men's group came past our peloton, less than 10km into the race, the women's peloton merged with the men's and those that could hang on, did. 

I stayed with this group for only a couple of kilometres. I was towards the back of the group, which makes it harder as the pace fluctuates more. Plus, every time they went up a climb it was a hard effort for me to maintain their pace. Keeping pace with my team in the team time trial in Stage 2 was good training for what I had to do in Stage 3! 

So about 10km into the race, I dropped off the back of the women's peloton. I was then riding solo for a while, trying to catch my breath and happy to be riding at a strong but consistent pace, rather than the surges I was experiencing in the peloton. Then the next fastest men's group came past. They were too fast for me to catch onto solo, so I let them go. But when the third group came past, I was ready and I got into their group. Unfortunately, after I'd been in this group for a little while, a couple of the guys to my right and in the front of the peloton when down. I could see it happen and I braked hard and looked for an exit to the left. But by that time guys behind me had come around me and crashed in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I tumbled sideways, but luckily I didn't have any serious injuries or bike damage. My knee was a bit grazed and I was a bit shaken, but after a couple of deep breaths and a quick check that my bike was in one piece, I jumped back on and took off, to minimise my time losses. 

Most of the rest of the race way spent riding solo, getting caught from behind by groups, and sticking with them as long as I could. I felt like I did a lot of riding by myself until about halfway along South West Highway towards Ballingup. Thankfully a group caught up with me on that road, as it was quite hairy riding along the major highway by myself with only a narrow shoulder to ride off the carriageway. I stuck with this group until we left Ballingup and headed up another hill. I had been working pretty hard and I just couldn't stay with them up the hill. 

I found myself with two other guys, one of whom was riding at a perfect pace for me. We stuck together and swapped off turns as best we could, playing leapfrog with the other guy whose pace was fluctuating a lot more - he would power up a hill and then slow down. After a while, the three of us were caught up by another good-sized group of about 10 riders. This was a terrific group for me as they were riding at my pace, and there were quite a few strong guys driving the group. The terrain was also a little more forgiving, as the hills in this section were quite short, so I could power up the hills with the group, then recover a bit on the downhill. I actually found I was a stronger climber than a lot of the guys, so that was a nice change for me. 

Breathing hard uphill

It was a relief to be in a peloton that was riding at my pace, finally. However, I was getting hungry and it was hard to find a chance to eat anything on the undulating terrain, so I was getting a bit grumpy. I really wanted this stage to be over. I managed to get in a gel at about the 80km mark, which was a good move. As we got closer to Nannup the hills started getting longer and steeper. I managed to stay with the front guys from our peloton for a little way up the hills, but then I couldn't push any harder and I got dropped. I found myself in no man's land, faster than the slow climbers but not fast enough to keep up with the front guys. Riding by myself again, I couldn't see anyone else nearby so I just stuck to my pace up the hills. Some of the hills were so steep I ran out of gears, and I was mentally telling myself "just pretend it is an SE training session", with a cadence of 60rpm. Then on the downhills I would aero-descend, trying to catch my breath and give my legs a rest. 

I didn't know exactly how far this stage was, but I started to see more farmland and homesteads, so I figured we were getting closer to Nannup. Thank goodness! I finally finished, in a time of 3:20:30. To my surprise, I was only two places behind the lady who was first in my age category, and I had jumped ahead one place on the General Classification, to be second in my age category. 

I was amazed to find that I had finished only 20sec behind my teammate Leila, and my teammate Annie was only 50sec behind me. These time gaps seem so small over 100km, but I certainly didn't see these ladies on the road once we split up. I was amused to learn after the race that Annie had seen me crash, and actually stopped and asked me how I was. Quite a few people were asking me how I was, and I guess my focus was on checking myself and my bike over and getting on with finishing the stage, so I never even looked behind me to see who was asking. Maybe if I had, we could've ridden out the stage together and had a much more fun day! 

Stage 4 

Stage 4, thankfully the last stage, was a 64km road race from Yalingup to Witchcliff. This was another undulating stage, heading down Caves Rd, but thankfully there were no really long climbs like we had in Stage 3. 

The organisers had changed the start order for this stage, the women's groups started behind all the men's groups. I guess they didn't want the women drafting off the men; instead we had men drafting off the women. We passed a couple of slower groups of men and a few of the riders tagged onto the back of our peloton. 

This stage started with a climb out of Yalingup. I got tailed off the back of the peloton on the climb, but I wasn't too far back and I quickly rejoined the main group. It was such a relief to be able to ride with the main women's peloton for the majority of this stage. It was also interesting to witness some of the race tactics. There were 2-3 teams who were stronger than the rest of us, so there were a few breakaways who were then dragged back by the other strong teams in the peloton. At one point, one of the riders from the team who was leading the General Classification came down through the peloton and asked if any of us wanted to work. I thought that was pretty cheeky, considering we were working hard enough thank you very much just trying to stay with them. Everyone was pretty tired by this stage, particularly after the grueling Stage 3. 

Riding at the tail end of the peloton

The organisers had brought into the race a few pro riders, which various teams had bid to have riding on their team. On Stage 4, we ended up with Luke Durbridge riding in our peloton for about half the stage. He was riding with one of the slower men's teams so when we passed them early in the stage, he and a few guys from their team sat in with our peloton. I was thankful to have him there, as on one of the tougher climbs when I had been dropped from the back of the peloton, he towed a lady from his team back into the peloton, and I sat on her wheel and got back in as well. It's not every day that you get to sit on Luke Durbridge's wheel :) 

My legs were too tired to get out of the saddle and power up the climbs on this stage, so I was climbing in the saddle and using a high cadence to generate more power. On the last climb on Redgate Road before the finish line, the peloton pushed hard so I got out of the saddle and powered up the climb as hard as I could. I stayed with the peloton up the climb, but I didn't have anything else left to give, so they dropped me as they crested the climb. I also knew it was less than 5km before the finish, so I figured I could manage that on my own. Then a few other riders came past, and we worked together for a couple of kilometres, but as we were all so stuffed by this point, we couldn't push hard to hold the wheel in front. Our little group splintered, and I finished the stage solo, only 45sec behind the main peloton. I didn't realise I was actually the first woman in my age category across the line on this stage, beating the lady who was 1st on GC by almost 2 min. 

In the end, I finished 2nd in the General Classification for my age category, only 2:06 behind 1st place. I was very happy with this result, particularly considering I hadn't actually planned to do this event. I was in good form but I was also still a bit tired from doing Cape to Cape less than two weeks prior. Funnily enough, after the final stage, my teammate Annie and I had exactly the same time in the General Classification. She managed to stay in the peloton on the final stage, so that offset the time that I was in front of her on Stage 3. I finished 23rd overall in the women's category, out of 68 finishers. 

Podium for my age category 

Pretty chuffed with my rather large medal! 

Cape to Cape Day 4 - 25 Oct 2015

Final day of the Cape to Cape today. Only two phrases needed to describe today's ride: road pedaling and forest singletrack. Two very different facets of mountain biking.

We started today at Colonial Brewery just east of Margaret River, and finished in Dunsborough. So we had quite a lot of ground to cover. The stage was 65km all up, by far the longest distance of the four days.

The weather today was relatively good. No rain, which was nice, and not too hot. There was a strong wind but luckily it was a south easterly so mostly it was a tailwind. However, it was very cold waiting at the start line for our start. Being in the last group on the road (Gold Class!), we don't start until about 8:30am as there are five minute time gaps between all the groups.

Eventually we headed off. The first 15km were road-based (tarmac and good gravel roads) before we got to the singletrack. Our plan was to ride at a good pace to warm up, then stop and eat something before the singletrack so that the more technically confident riders could get back in front of us. This plan worked well, we warmed up within about 5-10 min and we were passing pretty much everyone. We weren't going flat out but we sat at a good tempo pace.

After our little stop for a picnic (homemade muesli bars) and pit stop, we got into the singletrack at Middle Earth. I had been a bit nervous about this section, as I'd heard that Middle Earth was quite technical and had some challenging / scary obstacles. However, it was not as bad as I'd thought and just about all of it was rideable. The really tricky stuff had "B" lines around it. There were a couple of steep rocky drops that I walked down but otherwise I was brave enough to tackle most things.

The trail had lots of whoopdies, particularly sand ramps constructed over logs. Also quite a few berms and table tops. It was also quite twisty and narrow in places, weaving in between tight trees. Narrow bits of track are not my most favourite thing but I definitely got more confident at this today, just by doing it. Four days in a row out mountain biking has improved my confidence a long way, so I'm more willing to try stuff, and then I improve my skills and have more success at the things I try. Positive feedback loop.

My skill level is on par with riders in approximately the bottom third of the last group. There were definitely some riders who were slower and less skilled/confident than me through the technical stuff. Not many riders, but there are a few!

After almost 10km of fun at Middle Earth, it was back onto the roads. The next approximately 35km were pretty much on roads. Gravel roads, sandy roads, tarmac, bike paths, and a few short sections on grass. It was not much fun, and by the last 15km I was starting to get a bit tired. We stopped and had some more food, then continued to press on towards the promise of more singletrack near Dunsborough.

Well, there was more singletrack but it was only a few kilometres. The last 2-3km went through the mountain bike skills area at Dunsborough. This felt like the trickiest piece of singletrack in the whole four days - maybe cos I was pretty tired by this stage. It was quite twisty, and the trickiest bits for me were the rock gardens and the really narrow track between trees. I walked a few bits, but I also tackled some "A" lines that I wouldn't have done previously - a narrow bridge and a couple of small log overs and ramps. I also was really pleased with how I rode the narrow winding trail, I'm getting the hang of keeping my weight back and steering lightly. The downhill section was pretty fun too, although I was taking it at my sedate pace.

Finally, we reached the finish line. And none too soon as they were starting to collect some of the track signage. My hayfever kicked in straightaway after we finished in the grassy golf club, so we didn't hang around long and soak up the atmosphere and achievement of finishing.

I'm really happy to have completed this event, to finish safely, have no major mechanical issues, no concerns over fitness or nutrition, and to maintain a happy friendly attitude through the event. My preparation was good, and it was definitely ideal to ride with a buddy and stick together the whole way. As a bonus, my mountain bike skills have improved a lot and we got to experience some of the best trails in the south west of WA. This event looks like it will be on the calendar for next year!

Cape to Cape Day 3 - 24 Oct 2015

Three phrases to sum up the third day of the Cape to Cape: drizzly rain, berms and whoopdies, and forest singletrack.

Today was a super fun day. We started en masse from Xanadu winery and all 1100+ riders formed a peloton for a procession through the centre of Margaret River. Bussell Highway was closed for an hour on a Saturday morning, and the locals were all our cheering us on. Terrific experience.

We stopped the other side of Margaret River and re-started in our speed groups with gaps in between. I was very happy to be at the back today, knowing there was a lot of singletrack coming up.

The rain had started before we left the winery this morning and didn't really let up all day. It was just a matter of whether we had heavy drizzle or a few spots of rain. Hard to see through glasses, which were covered in muddy rain drop, and fogged up when we were going slowly uphill. But glasses are important for eye protection when mountain biking.

There was a short section of gravel at the start, then into the singletrack. We were in a long line of riders and I was happy to stay at the back - until we got to some uphill sections. Then we started picking off the riders in front of us until we were at the front of the line with three other women. A few comments from the guys about "girl power" :)

So it was all going great at the front of the line, then we reached some tight twisty trail. I was just taking this easy and trying to stay smooth and not brake too much. Then we got to the first proper obstacle of the day, a log roll over. As it had been raining, the logs and roots were a bit slippery so I got off and walked this one. Then I decided it was time for a break to have something to eat and let the line of riders past. We have become known amongst our fellow riders as the picnickers :)

After our picnic we continued on our merry way. More twisty singletrack between trees in the forest. Then we got into The Pines proper. For anyone who rides a mountain bike in WA - if you haven't been to the Pines you must get out here. Some of the most fun trails I've ridden, and they won't be around much longer once the logging starts. Lots of berms and whoopdies and flowing trails. We did a recon out there a couple of days ago and I was a bit grumpy and freaked out. But after the last two days on my mountain bike my skills are improving and I loved it. I was brave enough to ride most of the berms without braking and whoopdies are my new friend, super fun.

After the fun non-technical trails we did a few of the more technical trails in the Pines as well. Rock and Root (yep, there were lots of rocks and roots) and the Chimney Trail (including a nasty short steep climb with rocks at the top). I walked the tricky obstacles but didn't feel too bad about that as it was still damp and slippery and hard to see out of my glasses.

We then left the Pines and rode some sections of rail trail and bridges to connect to the next section of singletrack. It was all so much fun it's hard to remember which bit was where. Some downhill twisty bits where we had a guy on our tail. He asked to get past when we got a chance to move over. Next thing we heard "bang, crash" behind us and "nevermind about that passing". He was okay, he did come past later on. Then we passed him on an uphill section. Leap frog :)

The last 10km were quite undulating. Three longish and toughish climbs, they were rideable but required a bit of pacing and in some places the riding line was quite narrow. One of the steep points was at least 18% gradient. Of course with all the uphill there was also plenty of downhill. Most of it was flowing downhill and around sweeping corners. One section was quite straight and fast with a few little roots and rocks. Normally I would take this type of track at a safe sedate pace. But after three days in a row on the mountain bike my body position, skills and confidence are improving. So I went "flying" downhill (relatively speaking) and fully got some air off one little obstacle. I also didn't even hesitate to jump over a couple of logs.

On the last hill, we caught up to and passed another lady. We called to her to join us and kept a steady pace up the climb so that she could keep up. She stuck with us til the end and we had a sprint finish through the grass at Colonial Brewery to the finish line. She was very happy to have our company for the last few kilometers to pick up her spirits and her pace. This is what it's all about. It is great seeing the same riders each day and we get to see them multiple times, as we pass them uphill, then get passed on the downhill or when we're stopped having our picnics (mmmm homemade muesli bars).

Today was a great confidence boost as I had been nervous about the singletrack. Tomorrow is lots more road riding plus more singletrack so a bit of a mixed bag.

Great to finish with a gourmet burger at Colonial Brewery - a terrific atmosphere with lots of riders and spectators still cheering for the last few riders coming in.

Cape to Cape Day 2 - 23 Oct 2015

The second day of the Cape to Cape - forest singletrack, limestone rocks and more sand.

We started towards the back of the 6th group, I think there was one other group behind us. First up was a longish steady climb on tarmac then fire trail. Again, being road riders we passed a lot of people going uphill. Annie's legs were working better today so I had to work to stay with her.

Then we reached the first singletrack section, Sam Hill Downhill. This was a bit hairy and being the first section of technical track of the day I was taking it easy. A few guys behind me weren't too impressed with this and they were yelling to let them past. This is all very well and good but it's hard to let guys pass when you're going downhill on technical singletrack with no places to pull off.

After the brief section of singletrack we were back on roads with some more climbing. We tried to take it easy and let some of the boys with big egos pass us.

We then rode back into the singletrack and soon came to a quite long climb that had a long line of people walking. It was perfectly rideable but there were guys on handcycles tackling the climb and they are a bit slower uphill. Annie and I managed to ride at walking pace all the way to the top of the climb, which was an excellent test of our bike handling skills. Got quite a bit of kudos from our fellow riders too :)

The next 15km or so was lovely flowing singletrack interspersed with connecting tracks. There were a few little jumps that I may have even got some air on, or at least gone over at speed without freaking out! The uphills were rideable and the downhills were fun without being too technical. Plus we'd found ourselves in a good zone without too many other riders. One fun section, called The Tunnel, had lots of low hanging branches and forest close on either side, with a few twists and turns. It was fun and a little bit technical without being too hairy. 

The track then headed west again out to the coast. And you know what that means - more sand. By this stage my confidence had improved and after all the riding on sand yesterday I decided that sand is my friend. Plus I was determined to stay on the bike and ride as much as I could. I did pretty well, staying on the bike and weaving around the guys who were walking. There were just a couple of sections of deep sand a few metres long that I had to walk through.

Then we came into the limestone rocks, first uphill then downhill. I discovered the benefits of full suspension over the rocks, helped tremendously to even out the ride and let the bike do more of the work. 

After the sand and limestone sections there was another long steady hill climb along the coast. Great views. And I had time to appreciate the view as my riding partner was hampered by stomach cramps, she eventually figured out it was something in her drink.

The last 15-20km were relatively straightforward, mostly fire trail and non technical singletrack, and the climbs were not too steep. There was a fun short section of singletrack with some "whoopdies" (not sure if this is the correct technical term - where the trail goes up and down like a BMX track). These usually freak me out but today I was brave enough to tackle them.

Then we got to ride through some more farmland on the edges of the vineyards. Quite fun pushing up the hills and flying downhill. Then back onto fire trails and bitumen before the turnoff to Xanadu winery and the finish line.

Today we rode 57km. Our average speed was around 13kph and it took a little over 4 hours. Could have been faster had we not been held back by stomach cramps, but this event for me is not about racing so I wasn't concerned about the time. Just about enjoying the ride and riding with friends.

Cape to Cape Day 1 - 22 Oct 2015

Day 1 of the Cape to Cape can be summed up in three words: dust, hills and sand.

We started at Cape Leeuwin lighthouse just after 12.30pm. It was great to see the long line of riders waiting to head off. Very classy by the organisers to have a jet fly around the headland, timed exactly with the start of the elite field. Something special to start the event. 

We started towards the back, as I knew my technical skills wouldn't be as good as most people, and I was already getting annoying at guys with big egos passing us heading to the start line. 

Not long after the start we headed uphill on tarmac then on gravel. Our ride plan was to enjoy it and not race it, so we rode a good tempo pace up the hills - and still passed lots of riders. Then we headed downhill on a fast and very dusty section - and all those riders passed us again. I have this crazy notion that I actually like to see where I'm going, so I was trying to ride slow enough for the dust clouds from other riders to settle. That was definitely not fast enough for most other people! 

Then we got to a sandy bit with lots of people walking, which turned into an endless sandy hill with lots of people walking. Me included. It was so tough I had to take a break partway up and take some photos. This was Heartbreak Hill.

This pattern continued for the next 20km or so. Ride down some dusty and sandy hills. Get passed by a bunch of people. Get to a tough uphill and ride as far as you can then walk the rest, gasping for breath with calves burning. Get back on the bike and ride some more.

I was very happy to be able to ride up some of the steep sandy hills and I got better at going down them as well. I was feeling pretty confident ... then we reached the pre-dunes before the beach. They were properly steep with deep sand. Impossible to ride up. So trudging uphill and downhill in shoes filling up with sand.

Then ... the beach. One of the most anticipated parts of the whole course. And we were in luck - apparently it was the firmest the beach had been for all the years of this event. I knocked the sand out of my cleats, clipped in and headed off. It was great fun! I was passing everyone, timing my speed to avoid most of the waves, and with some good momentum I managed to pedal through the boggy bits of sand. I rode the whole way along the beach, then got some photos of Annie as she approached the end of the beach.

We had some more food - then more trudging uphill through deep sand. Eventually I got to some rideable sand so back on the bike. Good thing I was getting better at riding on sand because there was still lots of sand, downhill at speed and uphill at a snails pace riding around people who were walking.

Annie was struggling a bit with cramps in her calves and quads by this stage, so I found a good shady spot to wait and empty the buckets of sand from my shoes. Annie had caught me up on the downhills though so she was there in moments.

The next section was The Farm. This was quite fun, riding along ruts through grassy fields with sheep in the next paddock. It was a little undulating but I was still feeling pretty good so I set a good pace. 

Then we came to Hamstring Hill. I started trying to ride up it, but it was sandy and steep and I was getting tired. Plus I knew Annie wouldn't be able to ride it. So we trudged some more up another long tough hill. 

Finally, back on the bike for the last downhill section before the finish. I got stuck behind a guy who had broken his chain (he was using his bike like a scooter) and a guy on a handcycle. I was super impressed with how fast the handcycle guy went downhill - much faster than me, and he would've been eating loads of dust!

I got round those guys and re-joined Annie and we finished together. Very happy to reach the finish in Hamelin Bay. Today was 42km. I don't even know how long it took, my Garmin was so dusty at the finish that I couldn't read it. We were given a sticker for Group 6 for our seeding for the rest of the event.

Today I felt strong almost until the finish. I was very happy to improve my ability to ride on sand and extremely happy to be able to ride the whole beach section. The weather was also awesome. A great tough day on the bike.

Munda Biddi - Days 7-11, 16-20 July 2015, 220km

Start of the ride - smiles all round

16 July: Lake Brockman Tourist Park to Yarri Campsite

We set off from Lake Brockman at 11.30am. My bike rack was rubbing on the rear tyre so we had to stop and fix that after only 5km. We didn't re start again until 2pm, after Annie the mechanic worked some magic with a lot of patience and some selective use of scissors. 

Mechanic Annie

The trail was beautiful, nice trees, lots of small bridges over creeks.

Bridge over a creek

Emma walking / pushing her bike up
 a steep rutted hill

There was one steep section coming up and down to cross Harvey River - I had to walk up one rutted section but managed to ride the rest. 


The trail was not very technical - mostly on single lane vehicle tracks. Even the single track was not technical. Beautiful and we were able to go relatively fast to make up for lost time. Got to Yarri Campsite at 5pm.

Average speed 12 kph, 3:40 riding time for 45 km. 

Annie riding an uphill section of trail that I'd just walked up

17 July: Yarri Campsite to Honeymoon Pool

We left the campsite at 9.30am. First stop was after an hour and 8km of riding for morning tea. Before lunch there were a few hills, we crossed a railway, and we rode along powerlines in a few sections. 

Riding along powerlines

Crossing the railway

LARGE tree trunk

The weather was mixed with a few spots of rain and lots of sunshine. We stopped just after the turnoff to Collie for lunch. After lunch we found ourselves on a section of singletrack which was quite rutted and loose in places. Not much fun. And we somehow missed a sign so we spent a lot longer on the singletrack than we were supposed to. We finally got ourselves back on track by following a dirt road along a railway then taking part of a bitumen road to rejoin the trail. 

Rutted singletrack through lovely bush

Then there was some more nice trail and a narrow singletrack section through some very overgrown spindly shrubs. This section was quite undulating and by now I was getting tired. 

Narrow singletrack through spindly shrubs - lots of ducking! 

Then we got to a "hard" section. It was quite steep uphill and downhill along the side of a ridge. I managed to ride all the uphill and most of the downhill, but on the downhill sections there were lots of hairpin bends that I dismounted to take. By this time it had started raining in earnest and it was about 4pm and getting darker. Not much fun doing hairpin bends downhill in the rain and low light. After about 2km of the hard section we found River Rd, where we turned to ride to Honeymoon Pool campsite where we spent the night.  

Average speed 10 kph, 5 hours riding time for 51 km. 

18 July: Honeymoon Pool to Donnybrook

Mist / fog at Honeymoon Pool
before we set off

It rained all night but by morning the rain had stopped. Everything was wet and it was very misty/foggy. 

The first 4km today were tough - long hard climb (15%+) then switchback descent then much more climbing. We stopped at Nglang Boodja campsite after 4km to replenish water stocks then another 2km of climbing. By the time we left the campsite the sun was out and it turned into a beautiful day.  

Bush affected by fire

Today was a day with numerous long steep climbs interspersed with seemingly never ending flatter but still undulating roads. The scenery was beautiful, particularly in the morning - rolling green hillsides with black cows and white sheep. There was also a fun section of singletrack right before lunch at Crooked Brook Forest but by that stage I was tired and needed food. We had a mega feast for lunch which gave me some energy. 

Rolling hillsides

Lunch was at a picnic table in the sunshine where we spread all our wet clothes out to dry - much to the amusement of picnickers who came by while we were eating. It was so sunny I applied two coats of sunscreen for fear of getting burnt. 

Part of the trail - non-technical gravel road

Most of the afternoon was on bitumen through small towns - an excellent road surface which helped eat up some miles and increase our average speed from 7kph (first hour of the day) to an average of 12.5kph for the whole day. However, it was a hard slog mentally and it was a relief to get to Donnybrook by a record early time of 4pm. We then cleaned the bikes, had our first shower in three days, and had a lovely meal at the Apple Tree Café.

Enjoying the ride

Average speed 12.8 kph, 4:10 riding time for 53 km. 











19 July: Donnybrook to Nala Mia campsite (Jarrahwood township)

It started raining while we were in bed this morning contemplating getting up. We packed up and headed off to the Apple Bakery for breakfast - bacon and egg roll, coffee and apple slice to get through a few hours of riding! With rain forecast all day, our plan was to snack throughout the ride but not stop for a meal until we got to the hut. With only 45km of "easy" riding to do, we figured this would be achievable. 

Breakfast of champions at Donnybrook Bakery

Annie crossing a large puddle / lake

Thank goodness it was easy riding today, because it wasn't so easy with the trails so wet. SE training up gentle slopes through boggy wet sand. LOTS of large puddles to cross - one that had a boggy bottom that I almost fell into (had a bit of a paddle up to my shins). And as the day got later and the rain got heavier, the trail became more like a river. 

In spite of that, it was quite a nice day. A section of bitumen to help eat some miles, some riding near farms and through a pine plantation. And the singletrack sections were fun without being too technical. Quite twisty, and the first section was so new that it was marked with flagging tape. 








We reached the Nala Mia campsite by 1pm. A bit of an odd hut location as it is in the middle of Jarrahwood townsite - although the town is pretty tiny and there didn't seem to be many people about. Just lots of rabbits feasting on lush green grass and bird life.

Average speed 11.4 kph, 4:00 riding time for 45 km. 

Bike covered in dirt and making odd grinding noises

Gear and panniers covered in dirt and mud
- a good test. They are water proof even
when partially submerged in a large puddle! 

Emma covered in mud but still smiling
- happy to be under shelter and soon to
be in warm dry clothes. 

"Picnic" lunch at Nala Mia hut in the bed area - as the tables were in the rain

Our awesome tent set up a Nala Mia campsite

20 July: Nala Mia campsite (Jarrahwood) to Nannup

Another great day for a bike ride - intermittent heavy showers. Although we were lucky and had mostly dry conditions and sunshine for our ride.

The trail today was entirely on a rail trail, relatively flat and consolidated. The trail was slightly elevated from the surrounding land so it didn't have too many puddles. However, in one area the trail wasn't elevated and there were some large puddles - one which was quite deep and a bit soft on the bottom and I lost control and half dropped the bike in the water. Lucky my shoes were still soaking wet and muddy from the day before, so it didn't matter that they got another soaking in muddy water. 

As the rest of the trail was straightforward and we were keen to finish up and get home, we pushed the pace quite high and worked hard. Our average speed was 18kph - flying! - and we did 27km in 1:30. Done by 11.30am.

Finished in Nannup after 5 days on the trail,
and still sort of smiling! 

Lunch in Nannup - we earned it! 

The completed section of trail (blackish squiggly line)