The Festive Season

The Mountain Bike Australia Nationals were postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to an anti global warming trend – it was snowing. Wind chill got down to –10C and even the air temp got below 0C. A wonderful weekend it was if you were not expecting summer. The flies packed it in and moved to Jindabyne. Actually all insect life seemed to take a rest as white stuff fell and settled on the upper slopes. Alas the snow did not last for long but the general ambience of Thredbo was more akin to winter than what we have been told to expect from our rapidly increasingly hot planet.

With only one week to Christmas, warm hats, gloves and jackets were the order of the weekend. While the beaches of Sydney may have been deserted there was quite a crowd of shivering contestants and supporters for mountain bike races. The rain and hail and snow that fell generated a good deal of mud that was plastered over both body and equipment.

Santa was on duty again in the village square today – luckily he had a few knee sitters to help him from losing weight in the cold conditions. Thank you Roger.

Midday Saturday - fresh snow on Anton’s

Watch out for those trees - Sunday race day

Another contestant wanting to get out of the wind chill

The flower line has lifted about 100 vertical metres

Ducking and weaving through the trees

The wind chill must be bad for the faster riders

A merry & peaceful Christmas to all

I will be in Sydney over Christmas so it will probably snow but I will be back in time for the O’Donnell brothers to welcome in 2006.

In case I don’t get another report in before then, thank you for your support during the last year. Baring a health mishap, road trauma or unexpected visit to a southern beach in Sydney, I will be back in 2006 for a little more irreverence and cold and icy conditions.