We had a forecast that promised rain by about 10 am so we set off very early , about 7am – some were up at 5 am preparing to do battle. We had been promised a ride from hell with a huge hill called Hercules just not far from the start. in fact it turned out to be a nice climb but not as bad as we had anticipated. Climbed for a few Kms then began a fast and furious descent – tight switchback turns – hard on the brakes. I went hard as we had a stock truck descending behind. Ali was following enjoying the madness. A halfway lull then another full on steep grade down. I followed Ali as we took the full road and went hard. A double s bend proved our undoing with a particularly rough patch that coincided with some braking. I saw Ali’s bike disappear under him , sparks were flying and big Red was sliding. I nearly joined him narrowly managing to stay away from the carnage. Now I seen a few falls in my days , but rarely as spectacular as this . The Robinson boys all came out of a mould with the letter T for Tough – none of the moaning , whimpering that sometimes happens when striders riders fall. ” I’ll be right – keep going ” was what he said to me.

After a shower and a bit of patching up at Fox G

The rest of the ride as wet wet wet. rain started falling hard and we all battled the elements as best we could and tried to keep the engines going as it was very cold. From Fran’s Joseph G there was a very hard section – about 16 Kms of hills – a long way up and back down. We were all a bit more careful on the descents with the wet and vivid memory of Ali’s off.