Brevailed 400

That was... tough.

Pretty much straight away, I was trailing behind. Wet weather and some climbing meant my spirits were a little dim.

I just looked up at everyone climbing through Hallet Cove and gave up.

Luckily, I ran into Paul taking a breather and changing layers: he was keen because it was his first 300.

We chatted amicably until we reached the veloway, and some how we got a little split.

Paul & I cruise down the sea and vines rail trail

I mean I say somehow, but the climb up Penny's Hill is exactly how.

If you have never met Penny's Hill; think about 2.6km at around 7.4%. Tough enough when you have 350km left in the day you feel absolutely no shame taking it easy.

Paul was a vanishing memory by this point; and where I thought I would catch him over the Range... I clearly did not.

I caught one of the other riders at My Compass bakery, and quickly turned everything around with a fast control.

We'd been warned there was no water/supplies at one of the controls, so I had a hydration pack with me. In retrospect, that was an extra 2kg of fluids I didn't need to haul around at all.

I was surprised to find a few new roads and hamlets; Yundi and others on the way to My Compass were something really quite nice - descents, that dense kind of plantation forest and cow paddocks.

Finally the course joined back onto familiar territory, and the run to Victor Habour was fairly smooth. I found myself alone again, and given how slow I was; decided to skip eating before the control.

How I remembered the course and how the course was actually shaped turned out to be two vastly different things.

I remember finishing the very pretty - if you look behind you- climb up to Waitapinga; only to run across the two Matt's at the pointy end of the course.

I didn't realise it then; but it would be almost an hour before I reached that point and we were barely 140km into the ride.

The control itself was very scenic: I descended down, knowing I would have to reverse everything. A testament to Paul's strength, he was in third, apparently without much effort, when I saw him last.

When I got back to Victor - after white knuckled fear at hitting 70-80km effortlessly on the descent - I gave in, stuffed fast food in my face.

Everyone had left by this point, and it wasn't until the other side of Milang that another rider came across me - they'd taken a wrong turn. I remember laying on the ground at the 200km mark, hearing my spine crack as I breathed in and out, stiff and sore from not having ridden in a long time.

I slowly trudged on, and despite riding above the time limits, I nearly ended up in some severe trouble.

Retort Hill is only a 10% average climb for 700m. Easy, right? Except the stats lie to you, because what really matters is the 17% section. I just gave up and walked. Didn't care.

I got into Meadows proper as dark had set in, and the food control was preparing to close. If I'd been 15-30 minutes slower, I would have had no food available at all; as exhaustion and cold crept up.

I set off again, slowly, the full pizza I ate was helping; but my legs and skin were chafing. I didn't realise it, but I had been burnt to a bright shade of lobster red, and every pedal stroke caused the sunburn on the back of my knee to sting.


I got closer and closer, on the way to Mount Barker, climbing in the dark in an area I grew up. It was at that point, I heard the sound of panting and paws; and a farmer yelling helplessly for his dog to come back. This was maybe a 6% climb, I was exhausted and suddenly having to spin like mad to outrun this dog.

For a solid minute, I couldnt see it, just heard the barking and the paws, with the owner frantically calling it back. It scared the hell out of me.

Finally, the darkness peeled away to reveal Mt Barker. Not a control, but I had to stop to load up with food - nothing else for the rest of the ride would be open.

I think there were only four controls total; they felt too far apart, and a lot didnt have anything open, so most of it was stuffing food into storage everywhere and having to stop at interim places; which meant I was burning too much time.


As I crawled through Tungkillo in the dark, the fears of another dog were ever present. I could hear every sound in intimate detail.
Couple that with extensive roadworks happening while descending, with loose shale all over the road, I felt really unsafe.
By the time I hit Birdwood, I was scared, alone, and just wanted it done. It was 2am by this point, and I cant see them, but someone was breaking into the school - kicking the hell out of a door. They must have finally noticed me, as it all went quiet, so got to stop and call that one in to the police.

I was finally on familiar ground; just wanting to ride Birdwood -> Gumeracha, only to consult the course notes: Oh god its taking me to places named Martin Hill Rd, that doesn't sound good (It actually was okay, just unknown, cold and descent).

Overall; there was a lot of this ride that I didn't like due to my fitness

Retort Hill, near Meadows - unneccessary.

Headwind all morning - unneccessary.

Amount of verticals vs my high BMI - unneccesary!

I am really glad I did not choose the 600, would have found it hard to get 390km in, sleep, and get moving again.

I think I finally finished after around 23-24 hours; sat in a bus stop and called an Uber max to take me home, shattered and hungry. The only upside was having been able to finish at all after so very little riding.