Saturday 30 January 2010

The Start of a New Year - Out of the Naughties and into the Twenties

OK!  Well in spite of setting myself rules about knitting lace and when I should and should not do it - broken them already!!  Not so much the black lace which is difficult to knit at the best of times but any lace knitted after 10pm seems to defeat me at the moment so the rule is:
  • NO lace after 10pm - which ever time zone you're in!
I have just returned from Bright, Victoria where DH rode in the Alpine Raid - a two day version of the Alpine Classic run by Audax Australia.  This is a particularly interesting form of torture involving 250km (this link shows you the profiles and distances travelled)  on a bicycle from Bright, up Mt Hotham, to Omeo (the Raid overnights here) then to Falls Creek, Mt Beauty and around the Tawonga Gap back to Bright.  After riding this, DH then cycled off up Mt Buffalo to finish the afternoon off - about 70km round trip.  All in all, he rode 675km and climbed over 10,000m up various mountains and hills - some more than once - over the week and a half we were there.
Needless to say, I didn't participate in this.  I was at the finish and took some pictures (to follow) but I only had one ride during the week, on a hired mountain bike - like driving a Mack truck after riding my hybrid.  I walked most places and was driven around the course in air-conditioned comfort, gasping at the gradients Sir had had to ride up.  He assured me that "...it was easy!  You just have to change to the right gear and keep pedalling."  Yeah, right!  It only took him one hour and forty minutes up Mt Hotham which made him quite proud as times vary from an hour and a half to well over two hours.  At no time did he walk the bike I have to say.
I did plenty of knitting and was totally chuffed that I could knit happily on the plane ride over to Melbourne without being viewed as a terrorist.  Still looked at as being not normal but I'm used to that!  Who needs to be normal?  It's over-rated!