Bouncing Bobs and Birthday Cake

Start with good ingredients ... 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

Recently my sister asked me if I could make a christening cake for my new niece, and of course I said yes! Any opportunity to make cake is a good one! However, this cake required decorating and as a scientist, I don't do "pretty" very well. But, I thought I ought to give it a go for my sister and therefore, I needed to practice!

Apply liberally ...  
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

 


I had a rough plan in my head what I wanted to do for the proper cake, but for practice I decided to make a double layer flour less hazelnut chocolate cake. Except I couldn't find hazelnut meal, so I used almond meal. And I wasn't confident of the cake holding up, so I might have added a quarter cup of flour. So maybe it could be called a mostly flour less chocolate almond cake! The scientist in me loves a good experiment.

Dust ... 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

The cakes were made (seriously, this was the easiest part of the whole process) and ready to be decorated. I'd read somewhere that you can attach fondant icing to a cake by covering the cake in melted jam or butter cream. As I really wanted the fondant to stay put, I used both! I also used cherry jam and chocolate butter cream between the two cakes. One very important lesson learnt here was that cakes should be trimmed and squared prior to putting a layer between them. Let's just say things started to get messy from this point onwards. 

Smother ... 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

The next step in the process was to cover the whole thing in that awful white icing. I maintain my stance on that icing, it tastes awful and detracts from a beautiful tasting cake, but it is what is used to decorate, so I thought I'd give it a go. Driven by my desire to reduce the impact of the icing as much as possible, I had rolled it quite thin, which as I found out, was a bad idea. The fondant seemed to dry and crack, and while we got it over the cake, the corners were a bit on the messy side.

Layer ... 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

Still, the icing had one advantage, I could use it to cover up these errors. Carl decided to join me at this stage as we tried out some some different icing dyes. Soon both our hands and the bench were multicoloured and there was icing sugar everywhere! But we did have a pile of different coloured fondants, and Carl was soon crafting letters to decorate the cake. Meanwhile I was crafting what I thought of as "racing stripes" to cover the corners!


As it turned out, Carl and I were due to race (in a completely non-competitive manner) the next day and had decided to take the cake with us to share. We had decided to decorate the cake in honour of the 5 Bobs, who I race with. This turned out to be a brilliant stroke of genius as one of the Bobs was having his birthday over the weekend!  

And begin to decorate! 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

Cake in tow, the next day we headed up to Bird in Hand winery to participate in Port Adelaide Cycling Club's second Pyscho Sportiff of the season. The course would definitely live up to it's name, with two sections of gravel road and some nasty hills. But there would be coffee, cake and sausages after!

Cover ... 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

The Bobs had planned a team of six, however our resident hard man, Chewie, had decided to take a well earned rest. The day before he had just completed the Ride for Repat, a 7 day, 930km fundraising ride for the Repatriation General Hospital in Adelaide. Have to say a big congratulations to him for completing this ride successfully for the second time.

... and voilà - Birthday Cake! 
(photo c/ Carl Purczel)

That left 5 Bobs, well actually, 2 Bobs, Brett, David and myself, but we all count as Bobs. I was Captain on the road, which turned out to be a good idea when our actual team captain, Rob Cannon had to pull out after one lap due to a sore back. But this was all to come and prior to the start I waved the cake under everybody's noses as motivation for a strong race. Personally, I think I need to come up with new motivation as I think most of the Bobs, including me, were feeling pretty second hand for one reason or another.

Still we lined up, with Recon Bob 1 (David) leading us out so we didn't get lost immediately (or detour up to the winery). David had previously provided us with quite a detailed route breakdown, however all I remembered was the word hills, and I was pleasantly surprised when the road to the first turn seemed fairly reserved in the up department. 
 
This wasn't to last. Directly after the first turn the road headed up and it was here that I discovered just how poorly riding my recent mountain biking adventures had prepared me for road racing. I also regretted not being able to get on my road bike prior to the race as I struggled to remember how the gears worked. Not the best thing heading up a hill.

Ready to Roll 
(photo c/ Tina's Cycling Photos)

Apparently I wasn't the only one struggling, though I sure couldn't tell at the time. Both Brett and Rob W flew up the hill, dancing on the pedals and in Brett's case, swinging that suitcase he calls a saddle bag from side to side! Soon I was yelling at them, telling them to come back and push the rest of us up if they had that much energy!

We made it up the first couple of hills and managed to stay together fairly well. Our second turn for the day put us on a scenic gravel road, however there was no time for photos! The road soon headed back up and the gravel added an extra dimension to the climb. It was necessary to gasp for breath and watch where you were going at the same time, it's amazing I remember to turn the pedals!

It was at this point in time that the Boss, Rob C, started realising that maybe a dodgy back and bumpy dirt roads weren't the best combination. Soon he was twisting this way and that in the saddle, trying to ease his discomfort as he valiantly struggled on. We kept an eye on him and it was soon decided that the Boss would not be accompanying us for our second lap.

Starting to head up 
(photo c/ Tina's Cycling Photos)

The gravel ended without us having any major mishaps (a lot of teams seemed to be having all sorts of trouble on this section) and we turned onto a flying down hill. I think we were all grinning as we hit speeds in the order of 50km/hr heading down the hill. What we didn't know at the time was that we had to turn left onto more gravel about halfway down the hill! After some careful braking we all made it around the corner and onto the pot luck pootle!

Actually, it was fairly difficult to pootle down this seriously potholed road, the gradient meant you ended up picking up speed and trying to dodge pot holes all at the same time. I wasn't all that successful at this and I coped some fairly heavy blows along this section, but at least I remained upright. I think the boys also took a bit of a beating, though I think the Boss pulled out all his mountain biking skills and missed them all! It was ridiculously fun though, something about flying down a slightly sketchy road trying to dodge hazards just makes me grin!

Powering down the finishing straight!
(photo c/ Tina's Cycling Photos)

This put us on the home straight, so we went into the big chain ring and powered home. Rob W wasn't all that keen on another lap, however he decided to stick with us as we dropped the Boss off and headed out for another pounding. It was more of the same, however a few mechanicals challenged us with David's chain dropping off a couple of times and my bike getting stuck in the big chain ring halfway up one of the major hills. Suffice to say, I plan to have words with my bike.



We made it back to the finish, narrowly avoiding being taken out by a caravan that decided it required the whole of the dirt road. Garmins switched off, we proceeded to consume coffee and sausages as we waited for everyone else to finish.

Once everyone was in, envelopes of recognition were handed out, as well as a few bottles of wine. We'd let slip to club president, Marky G, that Rob W was having a birthday, so everyone sang happy birthday. This seemed a fair exchange for a piece of cake! I was pleased to have a lineup of people wanting cake and from the feed back I received, it sounded like it was a winner!

The day was nicely rounded out with coffee at the Bird in Hand winery, overlooking the vines, followed by some wine tasting. Any race is awesome that ends in wine!

A big thanks to everybody who helps host these events, without the volunteers, none of us would get a chance to have this much fun! Now, onto the Christening Cake!

Ah, the serenity (photo c/ Carl Purczel)

Strava Data Here

Stone Hut Road - Take 2

 


There are a lot of things that inspire me to get out and ride, glorious weather, beautiful scenery and good company just to name a few. But what really inspires me to challenge myself on the bike are the people who are willing to have a go despite circumstances being less than ideal. A mate of mine, who resembles a rugby player much more than a cyclist, recently rode to Melbourne, another mate did something like 400 km in a day. These people come across as ordinary people yet to my mind, they do extraordinary things. 




 
Strangely the person I take a lot of inspiration from is someone I've never met, a lady by the name of Jill Homer, who has written books and keeps a blog about her adventures. In many ways she comes across as just someone you might meet on the bus, or work with, who struggles with the same problems that we all do in life.

 
But she's also someone who knows how to slog, who tackles multiday endurance events not because she wants to win, but because she wants to know if she can do it. That's what inspires me, and that's part of the reason I've been challenging myself to go solo and tackle some things that put me a little outside of my comfort zone.



My challenge this past weekend was Stone Hut road. I was disappointed in myself that I was so ready to give up on a road, that a road had beaten me. So I made up my mind that I would find my inner Jill, and have another go at it. I knew that I was going to suffer, and thought that this might be a ride I should attempt by myself. There's nothing like having no one around to help you to see how hard you are willing to push.

 

Stone Hut road is part of the Mawson Trail, the part that takes you up into the Adelaide hills. It's a dirt road that doesn't see a lot of traffic, in fact for most of my ride I was the only one on the trail. The surface is predominately loose gravel and it is often rutted where water has flowed across the road. It is a difficult road to traverse, it is also one of the most beautiful I have ever ridden.

Stone Hut Road

I think what bothered most last time I attempted this road was actually the descent. When you're trying to wheel your bike down a hill and you have to feather the brakes to stop the bike without fishtailing the backend, you know it's steep. To avoid being in this situation again, I'd organised Carl to pick me up from the winery at Fox Creek on his way home from a race. This also provided an opportunity for pizza, as the winery does some of the best wood oven pizzas I've ever tasted.


 

Saturday dawned bright and clear, perfect Autumn weather and hardly a breath of wind. Carl left early for his race and I leisurely organised myself before heading out. The first part of the ride was easy, back along my favourite path, Linear Park. There were a few people out enjoying themselves, which was good to see. I ended up stopping and chatting to a guy from South Africa, who was looking for a place to take his grand kids for a ride. He'd been up at Fox Creek and decided it was too technical, but thought Linear Park was just about perfect. Personally, I couldn't agree more!
 

 
With Linear Park and Gorge Road completed, I turned right onto Batchelor Road and the beginning of Stone Hut Road. The first 20m or so of this road are actually slightly downhill, but it turns up pretty shortly after that. With loose gravel underfoot it was only another 20m or so before I decided that I'd better get off the bike before I fell off! Thankfully, there was a conveniently located photo opportunity, and while I had forgotten to put my memory card in my point and click, I still had my phone.

 





This really set the tone for the ride, pedal, push and photo. Given that I took about 70 photos in total and Stone Hut Road is only about 7km long, it works out that I was stopping for a photo (read: gasping for air and needing a break) on average every 100m. Actually, I was going a little further, most stops involved multiple photos. In my defence, the views were amazing!


 


I remembered the first hill from my attempt at this road last year. In particular I remembered trying, unsuccessfully, to start pedalling on the climb. This time I just marched up the hill, gravel crunching underfoot as I pushed Contessa to the top. Eventually the road levelled out for a bit and I managed to get pedalling again. I made the mistake of looking at my Garmin, which told me I had traversed all of 200m.







Riding wasn't to last, and as I left the vineyards and entered the bush, the road deteriorated and headed back up. I'm not the most confident mountain biker at the best of times and combining that with jelly legs meant that I ended up walking probably more than I needed too. But at least it was forward movement, albeit slow.



 

The road crested and dipped slightly between two peaks and I resolved to use the downhill speed to help me up the next uphill. However I was not prepared for the site that greeted me as flew down hill. Looking to my left I glimpsed a huge lake, glinting between the trees. It was such a stunning sight that all thoughts of speeding up the next hill left me and I stopped to take in the view. I realised shortly that I was looking at the Kangaroo Creek reservoir, however the perspective was such that you couldn't tell at first glance that it was a man made structure, it just looked like a beautiful, calm alpine lake and for a minute I forgot I was in Adelaide.


 



I took photos, though they hardly seemed to do it justice, and resumed my ride. Well ride, walk, let's just say I resumed moving towards Fox Creek. Soon I had reached the place where we had turned around last time and I stopped to let Carl know I had made it this far. It's a bit odd being surrounded by bush and not being able to see a single person yet still being able to contact the outside world so quickly. 



 

I had it in my head that where we had turned around previously was pretty much the high point, so you can imagine my surprise when I turned the corner and there was more up. I didn't know it at the time, but this would pretty much be the situation for the rest of the day. Each time I crested a hill, around the corner, there was another. However, I was blissfully unaware of and as I reached a power station with a road sign I thought I had made it to the top!


 

 


Obligatory photos ensued, then I cheerfully took off down a road I figured would allow me to have a relaxing pedal to Fox Creek. I managed a couple of hundred meters before the road headed back up and I started to get the idea that the rest of this might not be as easy as I imagined. After more pushing I reached another peak. 

 




My legs were jelly and I was starting to talk to Contessa, a sure sign that the slog was getting to me. Still, I promised I wouldn't leave her behind and I'm sure she agreed not to throw me off if it got too technical. Still, we were about to traverse a ridge line, and I really didn't trust my bike skills so the Countess and I trudged nervously between the steep drops on either side.



Soon we reached another peak, and I had lost count of how many we had crested. But the road headed down so I bravely mounted the Countess and rolled down the hill. I even let go of the brakes at one point, especially when I could see another up approaching! 



 



 

As I got closer, I realised that I had little chance of riding up this hill, the road was steep, gravely and rutted, worse than anything I had yet encountered. This section, I later found out, had a gradient up to 30 percent and I could only stand there and stare at it in horror. I almost wanted to turn around, but the thought of trying to get down what I had just come up was enough to force me up that hill.



 
I think there were a few more ups and downs after that, but the Countess and I kept going and soon we were rewarded with a sign telling us we were close. It was also at this point in time that Carl called to let me know how he had gone in the race (he was shattered) and to let me know he would be there soon. It was all the motivation I needed to get moving.





There were more ups and some amazing views, but soon I found myself on a graded road with the smell of pizza in the air. As I rounded the final corner, the winery came into view and it was the best view of the day! 



 

Thankfully they are used to riders and didn't bat an eyelid as I parked my bike and downed a couple of glasses of water left graciously at the bar. Soon feeling more myself, I ordered a pizza and a beer as I waited for Mr Carl to arrive. He was pretty happy that I'd only eaten half the pizza by the time he turned up and I shouted him a beer and a pizza as thanks for saving me from having to ride back down.

 

 




Stone Hut Road was an intimidating ride but it was one of the most scenic rides I have ever ridden. Even as I was bent over the handle bars, gasping for breathe, I couldn't work out why I was the only person up there, because the beauty of the ride far outweighed the pain. Would I ride it again? Most definitely, at the very least, the pizza at the end makes it all worth it!

Strava Link Here