3 Days in Canberra, Part 3

When I last left off on our #humanbrochure adventure; we'd just fed a red panda and Craig was rockin' a mountain size hangover. It's a good thing that we were mountain bound. We boarded a bus and headed for our next excursion at Stromlo Forest Park.

In 2003, Canberra had devastating bushfires. Much of Canberra's forests and Mount Stromlo Observatory burned. Five hundred homes were destroyed and four lives were lost. Bushfires are a sad fact of life in Australia. The fires are really popular topic with Canberra locals. They came up frequently throughout the weekend.  

The upshot of the fires, if there can be one, is that in the aftermath Mount Stromlo has emerged as a  mountain biking facility which locals and visitors frequent. It is just a short drive out of the city, and it seems everyone in Canberra owns some sort of bike. They also have a cross country track and criterium circuit. 

I wouldn't class myself as a biker, but was really excited to give mountain biking a go. I owned a BMX bike as a kid, but grew up in flat America. In my small town we had one hill. It was known as The Hill.  We bravely steered our GT's and Huffy's straight down The Hill's asphalt  It was a challenge then, but nothing like what we were getting ourselves into today. 

Since my youth, I've only ridden on road bikes which I sold around 2004. I've hired bikes for urban tours on holidays, but it's been about eight years since I've truly ridden. 

I had no idea that my height caused me so much anxiety, but it seems that it does. I'm ashamed to say bikes kept me up at night along with the zoo. By 39, you think the nerves would have stopped, but I've often struggled to find a good bike that fits my 148cm (4'10" body).  With road bikes, I can't standover the standard tire. I can fit on kids' bikes, but they usually lack the bells and whistles that allow me to keep up. I took this in, swallowed and accepted that there was a good chance that I'd show up and there would be no bike to fit me. Or that I'd show up and would be riding a pink daisy number with training wheels...

How wrong I was! Not only had the bike outfitters had bikes ready and labeled for us, the Trek that I rode was perfectly adjusted to my tiny frame. On the planning side of things, I have to say that I was impressed with how well the #humanbrochure team and bike outfitters handled our arrival at Mount Stromlo. Shuffling 50 people off a bus and onto bikes is no small feat. It's a strange marker to judge a town on, but being able to hire a decent bike in my size is a win in my book.

At this point, Craig and I decided to split our adventure. He joined the intermediate/advanced team that pumped their way to the top of Mount Stromlo and then back down again. I stayed closer to the bottom of the hill with beginners.  I don't have pictures of myself or Craig riding, but I should have some professional shots to share in a couple of weeks.  I felt like a pro, but probably looked like a goob.

I said beginners right?  Should we really be tackling planks and moguls? Through support  and encouragement our team pedaled hard and gave them a go. We were given tips and pointers throughout the day about pedal position and gear changes. A guided tour and guided lessons - exactly what I needed. We started on smooth pavements, but by the end of the day our bikes were pointed down the hill hoping our brakes would hold out.

Craig's group was far more adventurous from the sounds of it, but some of them came home with scraped chins and bruised egos. I loved mountain biking at Mount Stromlo, and it's something that I'd like to try again. I hadn't been home more than a few hours when I started pricing up a bike. I can't vouch for the mountain quality, but my experience was tops.

We rounded out the day watching BMX pros tear up some jumps, and then made our way to the top of Mount Stromlo for lunch at Scope. By then Craig's hangover had subsided and I was completely beat...

I'll be posting more about my #humanbrochure journey later this week. If you're a Sydneysider, look out! I'm getting a bike. Clear the path, I'm coming through! Ding ding!