A few days ago, I set out on what has become a common routine for me here in Canberra. It basically goes like this: head south on my bike while it is still dark, ride through the city dodging the glass and drunks at Civic, coast on the bridge over the lake to enjoy dawn over the water, ride under the Australian Parliament House, ride past the The Lodge (Prime Ministers House), eat a banana, and 45 minutes after departure arrive at the Bike Shed where at 6 am cyclists are swarming like Aussie flies.
On this morning it was the Hour of Power. Fast forward through some crazy hard riding and then we were at the coffee shop, which is actually the store front of a bike shop in this case. Then, I followed some guys on a trip they were referring to as “The Wet Lands.” We ended up riding on dirt, sand, chunks of pavement and then the bike path around the lake, all of which was an adventure in bike handling. I had my sights set on doing some climbing repeats, which would be a monumental effort given the thrashing my legs just received during the Hour of Power. I hadn’t chosen my mountain yet though. Much like the Rome, the seat of political genius in Australia is surrounded by distinct hills, except that there are 5 instead of the 7 of Rome. There is Red Hill and this offers a 5 minute hard climb; however, in the Hour of Power we tackle a side that includes about 4 steep digs that blow apart the remaining survivors of what starts as a fairly large bunch. Then there is Mt. Ainsle, which is about 10 minutes of climbing and very steep at the end. There is Mt. Majura, which has a lot of mountain biking trails, but the paved road has a gate over it that says “authorised vehicles only,” so I haven’t tried hopping it for fear I might lose my visa. There is Mt. Stromlo, which has the observatory and is about a 8-10 minute shallow climb that locals like to big chainring the entire way. Stromlo also has the MTB trails and the criterium track at the base. Then there is Black Mountain, which is about 10-12 minutes of relentlessly steep climbing. This one has the signature tower of Canberra at the top.
I ended up choosing Black Mountain to try to knock out 3 repeats. I must have been in a somewhat delirious state. I stopped to fix my water bottle cage at the bottom and then hit it very hard. I was climbing rather well, and remember a car passing, but all the way in the other lane. I thought, “That is very courteous of the driver, but may be a bit dangerous for oncoming traffic.” A minute or so later, an oncoming car came down the mountain, but it was in the wrong lane and coming right at me. Fortunately, he gave way to me, but I would describe the look on his face as somewhat confused. At that point, perhaps 1 k up my climb, I realized I was riding on the right side of the road. . .as in not the right side of the road. I quickly rectified the situation. After 5,000 k riding here, I finally made a mistake. I ended up taking out a couple more repeats, but the last one wasn’t pretty.
Then, about a week ago during the morning bunch ride with the now-famous Mick, I witnessed another piece of wrong-way riding. He decided to open up on us but did it Euro-pro race style, completely to the other side of the road. I was a few riders back and got to see the most hilarious look of horror on a lady rider who experience Mick’s speed coming directly at her, swerving to avoid her just in time as one would expect from a international pro racer. This attack was timed to perfection, just after someone at the front hit a bird, sending feathers billowing through the rest of the pack. I didn’t get confirmation if the bird was alive or dead before it was hit.
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