It feels a little weird for me to be writing about the Terra Australis – although I was in a team of three with Dean and Katherine, and one of the event Ambassadors, I have to confess straight-up that I didn't actually ride any of the stages. I was, boringly, too sick to race, so I spent my days wandering between bed, the Mount Beauty medical Centre, and enviously watching the event from outside the bunting.
I can't pretend to have insight in to the experience of racing this event, therefore I've borrowed a few words from the rest of the Torq team – these are included towards the bottom of the entry. Happy reading!
The Terra Australis Epic was master-minded by Finishline Events, an event management company which comprises three guys from the local area – Iain Moore from Mount Beauty, and Clayton Neil and Paul Fitzgerald from Beechworth. Their vision for the event was for a race "in the true spirit of the Trans Alp, Trans Rockies and Cape Epic". Put simply, they wanted to create a race that was as tough, as challenging, and most importantly as rewarding as the best mountain bike stage races in the world. How hard could that be?
