Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
The St Bernard Snow Clearing Depot, which is immediately followed by a section of road that plunges downwards at about -20% grade, which makes it a tough little interruption to the descent on the way back to Harrietville.
Immediately after the above depot, another Mt Hotham challenge awaits: CRB Hill, a 10% grade over 1.1km (0.7mls).
Here's the view of the top of the same hill.
About 25km (15.5mls) from the Harrietville start of the climb, a saddle provides panoramic views on both sides of the road. On this day, sunlight broke through the clouds intermittently, colouring the hill sides with a mixture of light and shade.
Getting near the Mt Hotham village, you can see it from nearby hills.
The view from Dannys Lookout, a spectacular (and very windy) part of Mt Hotham. I was starting to have trouble holding the camera steady, due to the incessant strong wind.
When almost there, another cyclist noticed me clicking away with my camera, and offered to take a photo of me. So here I am, with my Specialized Roubaix Expert SL4 road bike, a perfect mountain-climbing bike. I think I'll switch to a smaller saddle-bag, though, because that one just looks ridiculously big.
Behind me is The Diamantina, another part of The Great Alpine Rd given its own name. Again, I don't know the origin of the name, despite searching for it.
The Diamantina, closer this time, with some mist closing in on the Mt Hotham summit. While I was approaching the summit, the temperature dropped down to about 14°C, even though it was about 30°C down in the valleys.
The Diamantina, looking down hill this time, at some other cyclists grinding their way to the top.
The entrance to the Mt Hotham Alpine Village, also known as The Hull Skier Bridge.
The view from the village, a nice reward for 30km (18.5mls) and 1300m (4260ft) of climbing.
After a brief water-stop in the village, I then reversed my course and rode (mostly) down to Harrietville, then on to Bright, arriving in Bright just before 1pm. So the total elapsed time was about 7 hours, as I stuck to my plan of taking it easy and saving my legs for the even bigger day ahead, the Audax Alpine Classic 200km ride.
(To be continued in part 3... )
Immediately after the above depot, another Mt Hotham challenge awaits: CRB Hill, a 10% grade over 1.1km (0.7mls).
Here's the view of the top of the same hill.
About 25km (15.5mls) from the Harrietville start of the climb, a saddle provides panoramic views on both sides of the road. On this day, sunlight broke through the clouds intermittently, colouring the hill sides with a mixture of light and shade.
Getting near the Mt Hotham village, you can see it from nearby hills.
The view from Dannys Lookout, a spectacular (and very windy) part of Mt Hotham. I was starting to have trouble holding the camera steady, due to the incessant strong wind.
When almost there, another cyclist noticed me clicking away with my camera, and offered to take a photo of me. So here I am, with my Specialized Roubaix Expert SL4 road bike, a perfect mountain-climbing bike. I think I'll switch to a smaller saddle-bag, though, because that one just looks ridiculously big.
Behind me is The Diamantina, another part of The Great Alpine Rd given its own name. Again, I don't know the origin of the name, despite searching for it.
The Diamantina, closer this time, with some mist closing in on the Mt Hotham summit. While I was approaching the summit, the temperature dropped down to about 14°C, even though it was about 30°C down in the valleys.
The Diamantina, looking down hill this time, at some other cyclists grinding their way to the top.
The entrance to the Mt Hotham Alpine Village, also known as The Hull Skier Bridge.
The view from the village, a nice reward for 30km (18.5mls) and 1300m (4260ft) of climbing.
After a brief water-stop in the village, I then reversed my course and rode (mostly) down to Harrietville, then on to Bright, arriving in Bright just before 1pm. So the total elapsed time was about 7 hours, as I stuck to my plan of taking it easy and saving my legs for the even bigger day ahead, the Audax Alpine Classic 200km ride.
(To be continued in part 3... )
