The lofty heights of Stromlo in Winter

4 hardened Valkyries (me, Deciana, Leonie and Jane J) hit the slopes of Stromlo this morning for an "E2" session (which is basically just above your endurance threshold) training, which was a combined session with the Vikings V-Max squad. It was actually quite warm this morning (I think around 6 degrees!) which was a welcome change, although the first rep in particular was very foggy. I had a few incidents with my lights unplugging themselves on my first rep, but then found a spot on my frame where the battery pack wouldn't slide and rode without "light" incident from then. I did have a near miss with a large kangaroo towards the top of Stromlo on my first rep. It was quite disconcerting to see such a large creature appear almost without warning through the fog, nearly hitting me. Needless to say I took the descent very easy on my way down from that rep!

As I was on my way down, I saw the rest of the V-Max squad making their way up for their first rep. It was quite a cool sight to see so many "trails" of headlights in the fog coming towards me, and nice to know that we had such a large crew out there doing similar training.

At the bottom of my first rep I found Leonie who was setting off on her first rep. Talk about hardcore! She's only had her bike for a month or so, and there she was ready to take on Stromlo as one of her first proper rides in the middle of Winter! V impressive! Leonie and I rode up together on that rep and spent pretty much the whole time commenting how stunningly beautiful the scenery was from the lofty heights of Stromlo. The fog around the top of Stromlo had pretty much cleared by this time, but the fog in the valleys below was still thick. Even the Molonglo subdivision / Cotter roadworks looked beautiful from up there! Just stunning.

Leonie and I waited for the rest of the VMax squad at the top and then descended together. We took it pretty easy again, as the roads were a bit damp from the fog and we thought there was not much point pushing the descending boundaries in such conditions. We passed Jane on her way up for another rep while we were on our way down. Jane was practically straight off the skiing slopes and was looking v strong (so much so that she did her last rep with a flat tyre and didn't really even notice the extra resistance!).

We all did one more rep after that to complete the session, before Leonie and I hopped into our cars and the rest of the crew headed back to Deakin for work / coffee. It was a great morning all in all and hopefully we'll see a few more Valkyries at the next combined training session.

Brrrrrr...........

Leonie, Eleanora and I toughed out the freezing conditions this morning to take on Mugga Way. The fog was thick, which created a somewhat eerie atmosphere, particularly when heading over Commonwealth Avenue bridge. Unfortunately the fog left us damp which made us all soooo cold. It was -3 when we started riding, and apparently the temp increased while we were out although I didn't feel it at all. I've ridden in colder conditions than this morning, but I can honestly not remember ever being as cold as I was this morning. Just in case anyone was wondering, it's definitely Winter! Brrrrr!!!

We cruised down Adelaide Ave to Hopetoun Circuit, and then up Mugga Way. It was both Leonie and Eleanora's first times up Mugga Way and they both excelled, rolling through the undulations and then getting some climbing practice in when the gradient went up (not to mention some descending practice on the return journey, with Eleanora commenting when we got to the bottom of Mugga that she'd barely touched her brakes and was right down on her drops for most of the descent). We then headed down into Deakin and then up around the embassies before returning to the ANU for well deserved coffees.

Big high 5 to Leonie and Eleanora for not only making it out in the freezing conditions, but for completing their first Mugga Ways. Go team!