Emma’s Christening
We got Emma’s early in order to catch her getting ready for her big day. Mum was being tended to by the hairdresser and makeup artist, Dad was busy getting handsome, so we got to play with, and of course photograph Emma before she got dressed up.
Of course, it didn’t take long for her to get all dressed up and ready for her Christening, cute as a button!
As I was packing gear in the car to head out to Kyneton for stages 2 and 3, the air was cool and crisp, with a smattering of stars lighting the sky. Packed and ready, I left, heading up Eastlink where almost instantly the starry sky was replaced by a heavy shroud of fog. The fog lightened a little along the Monash and through the city, but as soon as I was on the Calder, the fog was back, thicker and heavier than ever, with dawn doing little to combat the fog.
Over the ranges and on towards Kyneton, all of a sudden there was a glorious sunrise and the fog and cloud had disappeared leaving a bright day.
Heading out to Stage 2′s time trial course, the first thing I noticed was how misleading the profile of the course looked. Far more undulating and far less ‘down hill’ than it appeared on paper. The second thing I noticed as soon as I got out of the car was the strength and direction of the wind. A strong primarily tail-wind could mean minimal time gaps over the 6km course.
I picked out a spot a few hundred meters from the finish, and waited. A few riders came out early, warming up and checking out the course, but before long the stage was underway. Nathan Elliot, race leader and wearing the #1 bib, came through first followed by a procession of riders. 4 mens grades and 2 womens were all completing the same course, leaving the start with a 30 second time gap and racing towards the finish.
