Numinbah Nuked -- 100 UP!

Actually, it didn't quite happen there, but that was the biggest climb of the day. Ladies and gentlemen, I have finally completed the vertical century in 2005. It was bloody hard work in the heat today (35 degrees C). I actually had some company up to the top of that particular climb, there were a group who were out training for an ironman event of some kind.

I swear I didn't start it, but a couple of them fancied themselves as climbers, so what else is a vertical centurion supposed to do? I took the KOM points at Numinbah Gap (pictured above), but not by much. Then I continued on into the Tweed Valley after they went back. That was Okay for a while, but it was warming up. By the time I hit the climb to the John Hogan rainforest, it was 34 degrees C. This can be a tough climb, but at least there was a bit of shade today. It was also here that the milestone came up "officially".



The rainforest at the top provided some relief from the heat (it was only 31C there), but it didn't last long. I was soon on the way to Bilambil. There aren't many climbs I hate, but that's one of them -- it's totally shadeless. I didn't want to unzip the jersey because I'm absolutely frightened of skin cancer, so I just had to spin in the heat and try not to bring up those muesli bars I'd eaten during the ride. Bilambil was slowly and painfully overcome, but I'm going to really attack it for revenge during the cooler months.

After that, the last 30km or so is through flat and rather uninteresting suburbia. The problem here, of course, is my usual desire to get it over with as quickly as possible -- I couldn't. A combination of headwind and heatstroke meant it was 21-22km/h all the way home. I couldn't even raise a victory salute at the end of the ride (note, it was nothing that couldn't be fixed by a cold shower at home).

So there it is -- 161,376 metres of climbing, or 161.376km, which, I believe, makes 100 miles. If there's any doubt, I still have another week to really make a bird of it. Now I need a new challenge -- I think I'll quit cycling forever and take up ballet.

One other thing to note from this ride: the town water in the village of Chillingham is crap, but it should be OK after boiling. Fortunately, in these conditions, boiling it just means leaving it in a water bottle for about five minutes.