But the Yankees, with their never-ending quest to win yesterday, have found themselves saddled with a long-in-the-tooth roster that is highly unlikely to hold up over the grind of a 162-game schedule.
More ambitious riders grindover the same route (which also includes a 500m climb over Tawonga Gap) in a single day during what is regarded as Australia's toughest cycling event, the annual 3 Peaks Challenge held in March.
Given the enormous debt as a backdrop, the most recent jobs report, where only 88, 000 new jobs were added, and the seemingly unending political grindover the issue of the role of government, a robust economy may not be a near-term event.