Easter in Australia means a four-day long weekend — so you’ve got to find something to keep yourself busy! Perfect timing, because there’s a whole series of BRMs (300, 400, 600, 1000 and 1200) starting out of Holbrook (about a three-hour drive from Canberra). Ibi’s keen for the 600, and that settles it — I’m going with her.

We head off Thursday early arvo and get there with plenty of time to settle into our rooms before heading over to the Riverina Hotel, where we catch up with the “Somewhere Sometime” crew. I run into Scott again (he’s signed up for the 600km), who had been driving support on Sydney–Melbourne — he was the one hauling our bags from checkpoint to checkpoint. Marea, the local organiser, gives us the lowdown: don’t count on many cafés or bakeries being open on Good Friday. David shows up a bit later with the route sheets — slight confusion about the start time (5am or 6am? The email and the Audax site don’t match!). We go with 6am: it’ll be David, Marea, Doug, Ibi and me. Walking back to the motel, there’s an absolutely stunning full moon.

So, Good Friday at 6am, we meet up in front of the Holbrook submarine, and off we go for the first loop — just over 350km. Marea and Doug are doing the 400, while David’s tackling the full 1200! First (quick) stop in Thurgoona to peel off some layers — the sun’s well and truly out. Then Marea takes us along the shared bike/pedestrian path across the Lake Hume dam — saves us about 3km (not that it matters, the 600 ends up being 622 anyway!). We roll into Victoria, and around 10:30 we reach Wodonga for the first proper stop: coffee (not great) and brekkie. David hangs back a bit longer, so the four of us roll on towards Albury, back into New South Wales.

A short climb up to the WWII Memorial, then we split — Doug and Marea head off their way, and it’s just Ibi and me from here on. It’s about 11:30. Quick loo stop after Walla Walla, then we reach Henty (km 190) just before 2pm. We detour slightly off route to find an open servo. We bump into Simon there — he started at 5am doing the 1200. He rolls out just before us while we take our time to eat, drink and refill bottles.

Next stop: Lockhart (km 250). As we arrive, we spot two riders in the distance finishing their lap of town just as we start ours — probably other BRM riders (we later find out it was Jo and Simone). The town is completely dead — nothing open — but the public toilets are spotless. A bloke who’s just moved to the area and is looking for riding mates stops for a chat. We gear back up — it’s 6pm, already 12 hours in the saddle. Beautiful sunset, night’s closing in, and not much open before Holbrook.

Actually — there is something open in The Rock (just before 8pm). We spot three cyclists sitting outside a café still trading: Simon (from Henty), plus Jo and Simone, both doing the 600 like us (but they started at 5am). By Mangoplah, the sun’s fully down. We’ve ticked over 300km, with about 45km left to finish the first loop. Fairly flat day overall, with thankfully pretty mild wind.

Another incredible moonrise, and Holbrook comes into view. We roll in just before 11pm (353km done): shower, feed, and well-earned sleep! Plan is to roll out again at 6am the next morning — shorter distance, but more climbing, especially early on.

So, Saturday 6am, back at the submarine for loop number two — but this time it’s just Ibi and me. Still properly dark. We get overtaken by a rocket — Steve, on the 1200 (he came in the day before at 7:30pm, more than three hours ahead of us — but he did start at 5am!). As expected, it’s a string of climbs (and not many descents!). Morning goal: Tumbarumba (km 82 / 435 total). We get there around 10:30 — coffee, brekkie, then back on the bikes in the sunshine.

We decide to top up bottles at the next stop, Rosewood. Between Tumbarumba and Rosewood (about 20km), there’s a great rail trail — an old railway line converted into a sealed bike path. The upside of old railways: the gradients are nice and gentle! After Rosewood, there’s not much until Wagga Wagga — or more precisely Lake Albert (km 540), just south of town. We catch up with Neil there, also doing the 600. We stop at an open supermarket for something other than sugary bars. About 80km to go, no more planned stops.

We rug up again and get the lights sorted — we’ll be finishing in the dark.

Quick loo stop in Mangoplah right on sunset, just before 7pm. About 45km to go, and the pub shuts at 10pm — we’ll have to move if we want a beer at the end! Good news: we’ve got a bit of a tailwind. The moon’s stunning again, and the stars are unreal. We put the hammer down and roll into Holbrook at 8:58pm — just in time for that beer. Perfect.

Final tally: 618km, 3500m of climbing (yeah, pretty flat overall, especially day one) in 39 hours including stops — BRM pending validation. Next morning (after the clocks go back for daylight saving), we meet up for brekkie — not easy finding a café open on Easter Sunday, but the one by the submarine is. We hit the road just after 10am (passing David, who’s started his third loop), and roll back into Canberra under a beautiful sunny sky.

Massive kudos to my mate Ibi — she absolutely smashed it! Probably a good thing I had to take it a bit easy though 😉