Saturday morning training - the 90km Stockdale Loop

 After completing numerous training laps of the RAAF base in Sale and the more recent stints on Melbourne's Beach Rd, it was good to do a completely new ride with a new group. Today I ventured out with the SEMC (Sale Early Morning Crew) on the 7am ride leaving Sale through to Stockdale, stopping for a coffee at Stratford before rolling back into Sale.

As the Wellington Cycling club has its criterium championships on Sunday, I was told the pace was more subdued than normal. The key sections of the ride are Sale to Chins bridge (friendly), onwards to Munro and Banana Hill ( faster), downhill back to Stratford (fastest) and finally back to Sale (friendly again). Once the fog lifted, the day turned out to be a stunner with joyous times had by all. Banana Hill turned out to be a slight disappointment as I had already completed it without realising.

This is a great ride I'd recommend to anyone with a good amount of undulations on virtually car free roads. If this wasn't enough, here is my full Garmin summary of the ride http://connect.garmin.com/activity/70090739