Three of us set off on a drizzly morning for a mountain bike journey toward the national parks of Kinglake and Mt Robertson. It seemed a good thing that we were heading north as the sky to the south grew darker and blacker. The initial 15km was undulating dirt road toward Strathewen that seemed easy and ordinary going, until a 'roo joined the party... I was second wheel to Pete as the kangaroo launched itself road-ward from the high scrub alongside. Peter's reaction timing was immediate, his back wheel locked, the startled 'roo lost its footing, and from where I was sitting it looked like there was going to be a meeting of the beasts. Contact was avoided but Pete did suggest he had spotted a perfect place to aim the front wheel such that the bike shouldn't fall over.

From Strathewen we faced a 7km climb that took us through 445 metres elevation gain to get us up to the Kinglake-Whittlesea Road. Fortunately the day was not too hot so the climbing was too taxing, but it was noticeably cooler as we reached the top, Greg noted it was 6 degrees according to his onboard info.

The weather remained stable as we did some asphalt distance, before turning right to Mt Robertson NP for some longer downhill roads complete with water bars and the odd puddled, 4wd rutted section of track. Generally the tracks were in good condition with some of the steeper descents a little loose and bouldery, but nothing that seemed too nasty.

There was a bridge to cross, but the bridge had been burnt out by the 2009 bush fires leaving two tree trunk rails left for us to balance along as we crossed the over the creek below.

We were mostly clear of any danger but the last puddle we needed to edge around lured Greg in. Ahead of the problem area I heard the first sound of water moving and then the ensuing splash, and maybe even some cursing, and turned back to see Greg lying sideways in the flooded wheel rutt. I don't think he could've been able to get any wetter. After being sure there was no harm done we regained our composure and continued on, onward for a 12km climb back to the Kinglake Rd. The first 7 were a steeper grade to get out of Mt Rob NP then it was back on the bitumen to retrace our steps.

The descent back to Strathewen took us rapidly down through the area previously devastated by the 2009 fires. The regeneration of the bush land is dense, there is still a very eerie feeling throughout the area but the vegetation's comeback is amazing.

From there we continued back along the roads we used as our initial approach, only the tempo setting climbs became fast descents and the those early downhills had become those last grinds back to the top.

Just over 5 hours saw the completion of our 80km epic, a great way to burn off some of the festive season excesses!