After the euphoria of yesterdays 24HR win Team Locke had a lazy morning catching up on social media and packing up to leave Canberra. I had been essentially offline for a couple of days and it was great to start reading all the well wishes and support I had during the race. Sharon was passing them on during transitions but to read them all was a bit humbling I must say and I read every single one of them but it took me a couple of days to get through them all.

The plan was to do one last lap of Stromlo before we left and head to Torquay after an overnight stop along the way. We arrived at Stromlo to some sprinkles and amazing as it sounds my legs were pumping along just fine the day after the 24. Adz told me I would feel like superman for a couple of weeks and then it would hit me but as I write this blog a couple of weekends later it has not hit me (yet). After dropping Sharon at the start I sensibly sat behind her and took it easy for the rest of the lap. About half way around at the top it started to rain quite heavily and blow hard. We got back to the car and popped the bikes on top and hurriedly ran down to the change rooms and got out of wet bike gear.

We headed off down the Hume and stopped for lunch and fuel at Yass around 3:30PM in the afternoon. We made it as far as Albury in the driving rain for our overnight stop. Next morning we stopped at Seymour to look at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and a rest before getting to Torquay after lunch some time. Adz had kindly offered his guest room for us for a couple of days and what a place to spend a few days. You could see the ocean from Adz’s living area and it was a short distance to the beaches and only a 30 minute ride along the cliff coastal trail past Bells Beach to the local mountain bike tracks. We were set for a few days.

The weather wasn’t perfect but we managed a few rides, a walk / explore on the coastal trail and a visit to the National Surfing Museum which was really good if you are ever there looking for something to do. Plenty of testing of the local cafe’s for breakfast and lunch made for a really relaxing wind down from the Scott. Wednesday night we even headed out to Adz’s mountain bike boot camp at the You Yangs where I got a bit excited after somebody said I was “sandbagging” at the back and went a bit harder than I should have been! Sharon had a good time there as well and it was all finished off with a social night ride but made for a late evening by the time we drove back to Torquay.

Sharon was loving 5 month old Toby he was such a cutie. After a fantastic few days we had to again cram the bikes into the back of the Outlander for the boat and headed off into Melbourne to find an Ikea and visit Sharon’s brother in Kew before catching the boat home. After much stressful navigation and traffic we managed both and got to the boat in plenty of time. The crossing was very smooth this trip but they roused us out of bed at 4:45AM due to a day sailing leaving but we still didn’t get off till 6:30. We stopped at Christmas Hills Raspberry farm for a great breakfast as the last thing on our trip. Home to unpack, wash and prepare for Sharon to race tomorrows 4HR at Elverton.