Alison

When my partner and I moved back to Australia at the end of 2012 he bought me a new bike, a Merida 93.   To start with I was mainly riding to and from work before I got involved with the Essendon Cyclery and joined their shop rides.  Gareth, who owns and runs the shop, first told me about the 7 Peaks after I told him about my rides on Mt Macedon.

Our first peak was Mt Buller, back in November. Going into this my only thought was that I didn’t want to walk.  Getting to the top felt great!  At this point I didn’t think I was going to do any of the other peaks… Come Australia day of this year, five of us from EC went and road up Lake Mountain. My goal for this was to beat my brother’s time of two hours, which I smashed, coming in at 1:30!

Having made it to the top of 5 of the Peaks, my mind turned to Dinner Plain. The night of March 18th my partner and I drove up to Mt Hotham to find it snowing as we reached the peak. I was feeling very nervous. On the Saturday morning he dropped me off in Omeo to start my ride in 8 degrees. He met me along the way for water drops and the moral support that he provided was more help than he could have realised.

When I got to the gates of Dinner Plain, the feeling that overcame me was intense. I broke down in an emotional mess. Completing Dinner Plain for me felt like I had finished, that I had accomplished the peaks. I knew that I still had Mt Baw Baw to go but I didn’t care any more. I had not walked on any of the 6 peaks I had completed. With this knowledge I had always said I don’t care if I had to walk the whole distance of Baw Baw.

The next day with Gareth I set off for Mt Baw Baw. I was able to ride from the starting gateway until the turn off. From here I walked, and I felt no shame. As I got nearer to the top and it flattened out I was able to ride the last km to the finish. I WAS DONE! I had taken on the challenge and I had done it. It wasn’t an easy journey but I had ridden all 7 peaks.