I know some of the girls will be up around 6am to begin their preparations, so I’m up at 5 to eat and shower so I can stay out of their way on race day. I don’t know if I’m expecting some highly strung monsters, but the girls are the opposite.

So Ballarat is not on the top of the list when it comes to many people's 'must' travel destinations... but I'm here to persuade you that as a cyclist, it should be.

A couple of weeks ago, I packed up the car with two bikes, my wife and two young kids to try and achieve the holy grail, a cycling weekend away... with family in tow. Is it possible?

The Cycling Australia Road Nationals event is quickly becoming a must on any self respecting cyclist's calendar. Standing on the side of Mount Buninyong Road during the road race you get pretty close to the experience of standing on the side of a climb in the Tour de France... to make it even better though, the riders keep coming around and around.

And even better than that you can take the opportunity to ride the Gran Fondo on closed roads and experience what it's like for yourself... combine this with five days of cracking racing and riding and you're getting pretty close to a dream cycling adventure.