The View from Oz: The Great Victorian Bike Ride: Day Two

Beechworth to Tallangatta 42 miles (67 miles total).

On the second day of the ride we were up at 5:30 in order to get some miles behind us before the blistering heat arrived. We had a big bowl of musli with fruit, packed up our camp, saw the last kids off, and were on the road by 7:45. Our fst kids were on the road by 7:15.

We have a system: the fast kids arrive at camp around 10-10:30. They get our bags off the truck and find a spot to camp at the next site under a nice piece of shade. If there's no shade at least keep us upwind of the shit truck. The toilets, like the showers, are housed in huge semi-trailer rigs, and when they change the "resevoirs" it can be mighty painful to be anywhere near them.

Our first 50 minutes of the ride were cool and downhill and the flies were kept at bay. It was such a welcome change. We arrived fresh and happy at a little town and grabbed a coffee.

Our next stop miles down the road was lunch. A town park was the site and it was covered by bikers. We had our official badges around our necks and lined up under a little tent for our sausage sandwiches, fruit and cheese, and then filled up our water bottles. I am still amazed at the organization of this whole thing. everywhere we stop everything is ready for us, and when we leave it all follows.

We had a challenging up and down ride and arrived at camp at 12:15 in the full sun and the 90+ degree heat. Our camp was setup by the boys at a lovely spot next to some hills. It was too hot to be out so we went to the local town pool for a few hours. The pool was an oasis. It was like the pool scene from Caddyshack-a bunch of goofs land on a pool for hours. I doubt it saw this many people in it all of last year. Within a couple hours the water was murky from all the sunscreen that had been on all the bikers.

Ed and I strolled into town for a beer and watched a little of the Ashes Test.
(The Ashes is the cricket test series played between England and Australia every other year for the past 120 years. It is the most important match for both countries as it is effectively a game between the Brits who proudly created cricket hundreds of years ago and Australia, the former penal colony who have become the best team in the world. There is a good explanation of the Ashes here.) A Test Match in cricket last five days. There are five matches in a series. Yep-a cricket test can last for 25 days, with each day about 10 hours long.

Ed was patient in his explanation of the series and cricket in general. As a Yank who loves baseball (a combination of Rounders and Cricket) I actually enjoy watching the game. There's a hell of a lot more going on than one would think and there is a lot of strategy. There should be with all the time they have. I witnessed a batsman at bat FOR EIGHT HOURS in this test. Most baseball players are already on the plane to their next city by then. This guy had to focus on hitting the ball for EIGHT HOURS!

At about 9pm we were back in our tents. The boys were most likely roaming the grounds scouting out the thousand girls here as well. I fell asleep listening to a quitarist playing a brilliant version of Bad Moon Rising in the main tent. A good day.