Well this is the first blog of our Sunday rides and also the last for 2009. It was a clear warm morning with the promise of temps in the low 30's. Steve, Tony, David and Rod headed off just after 8 for a ride to help work off the extra pounds we were carrying from too many serves of Christmas pudding. It was a nice casual start up Faugh A Ballagh Rd onto the fence track along Diamond Gully Rd and then we picked up Old Murrays to take us out to the Sandhurst Res. What has become known as Tony's Crossing ( because of his ability to ride a tricky exit out of a gully)got one back this time with Tony nearly going over the bars when his front wheel refused to lift over the tree root waiting at the top.
From the res we followed the extended track on the left hand side of the Coliban Race. A few ks along we intersected a road that we thought would take us in the direction of the Big Hill/Mt Herbert range. We decided to explore to see where it would go but with no intention of climbing all the way to the top of Mt Herbert. We followed the track up hill and then up hill some more before coming out at the fence line on top of the range. To our right we could see a very nasty looking climb to the top of Mt Herbert. Steve was keen to give it a go, Tony and David werent so sure having climbed the Summit Rd to Mt Herbert the previous week and Rod was a bit quiet not having ridden for 5 weeks. On top of that his cranks were a bit loose but after some reassurance from Steve that every thing would be OK we decided to give it a go. The path we chose was to follow a graded fire break with a detour at the start to avoid an unnecessary up and down. There were 2 steep uphills followed by short flatter areas with great views back over the Mandurang Valley before a final steep push to the summit. We all made it to the top but Rod's time off the bike took its toll and he needed a cool drink to recover (see photo).
After a rocky decent along Summit Rd to the res we took the most direct route we could find back Faugh a Ballagh Dam and called it a day.
Distance 41.32kms Pedal time 2 Hrs 26 mins
From the res we followed the extended track on the left hand side of the Coliban Race. A few ks along we intersected a road that we thought would take us in the direction of the Big Hill/Mt Herbert range. We decided to explore to see where it would go but with no intention of climbing all the way to the top of Mt Herbert. We followed the track up hill and then up hill some more before coming out at the fence line on top of the range. To our right we could see a very nasty looking climb to the top of Mt Herbert. Steve was keen to give it a go, Tony and David werent so sure having climbed the Summit Rd to Mt Herbert the previous week and Rod was a bit quiet not having ridden for 5 weeks. On top of that his cranks were a bit loose but after some reassurance from Steve that every thing would be OK we decided to give it a go. The path we chose was to follow a graded fire break with a detour at the start to avoid an unnecessary up and down. There were 2 steep uphills followed by short flatter areas with great views back over the Mandurang Valley before a final steep push to the summit. We all made it to the top but Rod's time off the bike took its toll and he needed a cool drink to recover (see photo).
After a rocky decent along Summit Rd to the res we took the most direct route we could find back Faugh a Ballagh Dam and called it a day.
Distance 41.32kms Pedal time 2 Hrs 26 mins
is Mt Herbert next to Big Hill?
ReplyDeleteYes it is. Its on the left as you go over Big Hill on the way to Melbourne. Look for the hill with the shed on it.
ReplyDelete