Playing in the fire.

2024 Peaks Challenge - The Back Of Falls

It’s approaching 2pm and the tree cover is starting to thin out.

We’ve just rolled out of Anglers Rest where I smashed a warm, flat Coke, a banana, and some water.

The bike computer is flashing 190km.

And we’re now only 10 kilometres of flat riding away from the turn.

People roll along and the energy starts to shift.

Some are buzzing — trying to lift themselves for what’s ahead.

Some are going internal — searching for whatever they’ll need to get through.

Because once we go left…

It’s us versus the back of Falls Creek.

And the backside of Falls Creek (coming from Omeo) is notoriously… fucked.

So much so that the first corner is known as “WTF” — because that’s exactly what most people say when they see it.

The climb starts with a leg-zapping 15% ramp that goes just long enough to properly drain the battery.

Then, after a few hundred metres…

You’re greeted with another 9 kilometres of almost all uphill at around 10% average.

After watching all the Peaks Challenge footage over the weekend — and as a self-proclaimed 9-time veteran of the event — I can say this mountain has genuinely changed me.

The first time I rode it, the anxiety and intensity were overwhelming.

I cramped — which is fairly normal.

But my god, I carried on like a pork chop.

I still reached the top.
I still finished the ride.

But I wouldn’t exactly say that I nailed it.

Then I signed up again.

And again.

More moments.
More pain.
More overcoming.

Eventually — with enough repeated exposure — I started to work out how to cope.

I had thrown myself (and more specifically my legs) into the fire that is the back of Falls Creek enough times that I gained one of the most valuable things these challenges can teach us.

Self-trust.
The ability to handle the heat.

And that’s the exact reason I keep searching for the next challenge.

Because when you’re in the thick of it — when there’s no option but to keep moving forward — something shifts.

It changes you.

And that change doesn’t just stay forever.

You have to tune it.
You have to train it.

It’s a muscle.
A belief system.
An attunement to your inner voice and what you’re actually capable of.

And that…

That’s what the NEVER DONE is really about.

Not how many laps you do.
Not who’s the fastest.

It’s about playing in the fire.