Lama on Ice... and Wangaratta CC TT Sat 3rd Sept, 2011.

Blue sky for ski school!

The only reason I did Outdoor Ed in high school was for the week long ski trips in year 10 and 11, making it 16 years since I'd been skiing.... and now I feel old. Anyhow, I lined up for beginner ski lessons at Mt Hotham on the weekend with Von (a seasoned snowboarder trying skiing for the first time) and a handful of other girls..... Our female instructor was quick to point me out as the only guy.... pressure! 2hrs of ski basics, it all came back pretty quick. My parallel ski turns during our 'snow plough' exercise was quickly doused by the instructor with "He isn't anything special girls".... Ouch! I had a quick flashback to a few years back when I was told by the then Hawthorn CC president I was "No Lance Armstrong" and didn't deserve a club jersey for the upcoming team event... Oh yeah, feeling the love. Fist first.

Two hours was soon up and we were onto the real stuff, chairlifts and blue runs. I never thought I'd pick it up this fast after so many years. It was like riding a bike, but nothing like it.... I was spent by 2pm. Food, sleep, more food. Next time I'll see what damage I can do on black runs. Bring it on!

I drove over to Glenrowan on Saturday for the 36km TT held by Wangaratta CC. 18km out, 18km back. Pretty flat and a hell of a wind blowing. The only other rider to arrive early was the flying mullet himself, Ray Jarratt (Cobram CC). He pointed me in the right direction of the course and I went for a quick re-con drive. It was along one of those small country roads that you have to half-wheel in the car to pass oncoming traffic..... which means flying stones... which means a cracked windscreen on the Subie. Fark!

Subie windscreen on crack.

15 starters for the TT. A pretty good turn out given the Junior Nationals were on just up the road in Dookie. The organisers put me off last, chasing Tully Lyster (MMAS2 Vic TT Champ). I had a good ride for the first 8kms where I caught Tully, but struggled to keep the power down knowing we still had 28kms to go. I didn't manage to pull away from Tully until after the turn. It was only at 10km to go I could get into the right rhythm again and lift the pace as I started passing a few riders. I hit the line in 47:18. Such a different level of focus required for the longer TT events.

Top 10 Overall:
1.  Shane Miller       47min 18sec 
2.  Tully Lyster       49min 18sec
3.  James Boal         50min 27sec
4.  Rhys Lyster        51min 12sec
5.  Christian McDonald 52min 16sec
6.  Ray Jarrett        53min  07sec
7.  Jake Morgan        55min  35sec
8.  Tony Reeckman      59min 18sec
9.  Laurie Lyster      59min 21sec
10. Zane Douglas       1h 1min 05sec

It was an Oppy 1-2 for Tully and I.
Pic by Tony Reeckman (http://www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com)

Tony Reeckman has the full results and his race report over on his site: Here

Excellent event by Wangaratta CC. Timing was spot on, course was perfect, and everyone was up for a chat. I met a few guys who are just getting into TTs and who are already talking about chasing more speed for the next event. After presentations I drove back to Mt Hotham, knocking 17 minutes off the GPS arrival time by chasing a little Mazda 3 all the way to to the top.

Race loot, aka fuel money.

Heaps of snow on the top bits of Hotham.

2011 time trial number 27 next Saturday in Ballarat over 20kms. Looks like it'll be cold and windy, standard conditions for Ballarat all year round.

Random Visual

Spotted on a Hotham shuttle bus - Windows Vista. Just lol.