On the second day of 2019, my loving (and ever-tolerant) partner Sarah and I embarked on a two-week road trip that would see me attempt something entirely new. Following a night in our beloved Grampians where we hiked up to The Pinnacle for amazing views, and a night camping in High Country, it was time to begin a challenge that had only very recently crossed my cycling radar. It was time to try my luck at climbing one of the infamous 7 Peaks cycling climbs in one of Australia's toughest mountains, Falls Creek. At 29.5kms long at an average gradient of 4%, this is no amateur climb. After weeks poring over the 7 Peaks website and endlessly combing my eyes over the elevation map, wondering how on earth I was going to complete this climb, the time had come. Sarah and I drove to the nearby, aptly named town of Mount Beauty, where we ate some pre-ride snacks at the local bakery. I was nervous, as I had no reference point for what was ahead of me, and the roads were wet, the air h