Northern Hills 300km - Viva Pepe

A couple of Saturday's ago I took off for a leisurely 300km with the Audax club. We did the Northern Hills ride. This ride is a real beauty in that it crosses at least 4 serious hills. Kinglake, Junction Hill, the Switzerland Ranges to Highlands and the Great Divide on the way back to Lancefield from Seymour. There are also innumerable smaller climbs to blunt the legs. The total elevation gain for the ride is around 3,700m.

The route is an old fashioned Audax ride in that it covers a wide loop of the state, passing through some lovely country on largely quiet roads. No loops, no out and backs, no contrivances to make a distance. A lovely ride, wonderfully supported by Bob and his assistant.


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As the weather in July is want to do, it turned on a bitterly cold and windy day. Thankfully the rain stayed away save for a few drops on the way into and out of Lancefield.

For most of the day I rode with Pepe who was suffering with an ear infection and complained of not having much in the way of miles in his legs. Pepe was a joy to ride with for the whole day, and while in obvious discomfort, rarely complained or lagged along the way. The 8km climb into the Switzerland Ranges was a real brute, straight into the bitterly cold wind and Pepe's suffering was at its worst. He battled up to the corner where I'd stopped for a bite to eat, smiled and pedalled on.

Throughout the day I kept thinking how tough he was in these conditions. Two days later, I received an email from Pepe, telling me that he'd been to the doctor with his ear infection and found that he'd suffered a punctured eardrum from all the pressure changes on the ride. Thanks for your cheerfulness Pepe, it would have been a way tougher ride without you there. I am "the boy who is Nancy".

The final 40km was a total hoot. Running with a howling tailwind, we flew at 50kph for a large part of it. At least we got a tailwind once for the day. I am "the boy who is Nancy".

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