Fire relief ride

Saturday saw Craig (on his 3rd ride back in 2 yrs) and I tackle the Fire Relief Ride in the fire affected area of Marysville and Lake Mountain. It was a fundraiser to help stimulate the area post the Black Saturday Fires.
Words cannot describe the devastation of Marysville and the surrounding towns of Granton, Narbethong and the valley's in between these towns. Sure I had expected to see fire damage but when you see the obliteration of a town it is gob smacking. I know Marysville really well and was almost brought to tears when I saw the 3 or so buildings left out of 500 or so. The left hand of the main street is completely gone and you can see out the valley. Not much was spared. Places I had stayed had been vapourised, and my beloved ski shop owned by Nat Morandi was a bare block of land. The forest surrounding the town was eery in the dawn light and mist.
We were greeted to a cold morning (4 degrees) but the sun soon shone and we got ready for what would be a long day in the saddle. Full winter kit was required as the the sun was warm but once you were rolling you were soon cold. We kicked off the day and headed out on our short loop of 70km which was to take in Buxton, Taggerty and back through Marysville and up to Lake Mountain with 1500 other riders.
Craig was quick off the mark but I chose to take it easy as I new the climb to the top of Lake Mountain was going to sort the men from the mice. We headed out through the rolling hills of the valley and noted how the fire had not spared much including the tree lined roads, paddocks, fences etc. The surrounding hills were scorched in places where I doubt the forest will re grow with out human intervention and re planting.
After the first 20kms of rather fast riding we did the u turn and headed back towards Marysville. Once back at the start area we quickly restocked with water and some much needed snacks for the 25 km of climbing ahead. We headed back into Marysville and took the road towards Lake Mountain.
The climb just kicks from the turn off and I could see the surprise on the faces around us indicating it was tough. On this first climb is the guest house Kerami. All that was left was a few walls and a chimney. The street light had melted into a molten ice like glob hanging over the road. Roofing iron could be seen wrapped around tree branches like tin foil in the surrounding trees.
We continued to climb and after about 2 kms or so the road kicks into a 10% pinch for around 1-2 km's. It was nasty.... I have never seen so many people hopping off their bikes to walk or chewing their handle bars climbing. I admit, I pulled over to have a break up the pinch. Remember that there is still 17 odd kms of climbing, although none is as bad as this pinch. I know Trent Lowe loves heading out on this road to train and now I can see why.
After getting through this pinch we continued the ascent and checked out the view of burnt, moonscapes and match stick like trees. Craig was suffering and kept saying he didn't think he would get to the top. I coaxed him along. After the pinch the climb just ticked away, and I started feeling OK.
Once on the Lake Mountain road past Snowy Junction I was climbing at a nice tempo, and soon realised that I had gaped Craig. I pulled up and waited for him and at times gave him a helping hand to get to the summit.



We rolled into the main carpark after some 1.5 hours of climbing and through the finish. I was amazed to see the main building still standing. The surrounding trees had been badly burnt and the out buildings had been wiped out. The reconstruction was underway with portable buildings ready for the up coming ski season, which I am looking forward to.
Snow was present on the ground and gave me a different experience as I have never ridden through snow lined roads. We hung around for a bit and stretched, grabbed a quick drink and then descended back down the 20+ km climb past other riders climbing with all manner of pained expressions. It was a awesome descent that seemed to last forever.



It was a brillant day, we were lucky with the weather. If you get the chance get out and ride these roads as they are fairly quiet and are full of quality riding. I know I will get back out there despite those nasty hills.
Happy trails!