JohnJ and I said yes. The rest of the Valley Wheelers remained silent.
We agreed to take the Riverstone train leaving Redfern station at 5.25am. JohnJ and Lizanne were on time, but I used the classic ‘dog-ate-my-breakfast’ excuse and missed this train. I set my alarm without realising I forgot to adjust the time to accommodate daylight saving changes 3 weeks earlier. I was an hour late.
The weather was magnificent. Bit on the chilly side but very pleasant, sun was up, no wind and traffic on the back roads were non-existent. In other words it was bliss.
On the road from Riverstone to Wiseman's Ferry.
An early lunch break along the Hawkesbury River.
Waiting for the ferry .... still happy
We knew the climb up the Mountain Lagoon Road was steep. It is a Category 2 climb, but was confident because we were told it was a good quality hardpacked dirt road. A climb on 23mm, GPS 4000s should not be a problem.
The first 500m of the Cat 2 climb. JohnJ and I knew we were in trouble. Could barely stay upright.
Normal road surface of Mountain lagoon Road. Large sections were worse than this. One 4WD driver, travelling in the opposite direction shouted, "wrong bike mate".
Three-quarters through the 17km cat2 hill climb, JohnJ found Marc dead on the side of the road. His cold hands clutching his DHBC bidon next to his dead heart. Being the Easter weekend, he was easily resurrected.
After alternatively riding and walking the route, we finally reached the summit.
Met up with Lizanne again. This is how she felt .....
..... and this is how we felt.
My SPD SL cleats were destroyed
However we never, ever contemplated taking the easy route
However recovery was quick aided by Lizanne's hip flask containing a strong but sweet magic elixir and we were back on the road. Traffic was heavy and jammed up on the way into Richmond. Tiny 2-lane highway for about 30km.
We got back into Richmond after dark. Stopped off at a pub for more elixir then managed to immediately catch a train back into Sydney. Overal the ride was great. Strava recorded 141km not including my commute to and from the station. JohnJ and I have no regrets, although I wouldn't attempt a reclimb of Mountain Lagoon Rd on a road bike again.
Seconds anyone?
