A protracted lay-off had creaky consequences, 4 days off the bike made legs rusty but gave the gluteus a holiday. The last 4 day repose was 30 weeks ago, so nowhere near WhisperingJack or BigMat retirement levels. Back aboard the goodship Bayerische Motoren Werke felt as familiar as settling into a comfy chair (albeit a narrow and firm Fizik), the 9 degree temperature had the 3/4 knicks in use, maybe the short ones will go into a lengthy hibernation soon? Sundays' lake was like glass with a fog topping, moisture in the air like a handbrake but a steady 30k's with Cougar may re-educate me to the art of self propulsion on two wheels. Even though there was no hurry, the right knee was protesting at cold and cadence (glad I'm not a racehorse). Several others were out and about on the course of Channel-Boundary-Ford-Wanganui & Rudd, weather slowly evolving into a perfect day. Legs loosened a little after 10 k, a slow squeeze on the accellerator in Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd without consequence was hopeful. Finding a sweet spot on Ford's tarmac (the smooth half metre width rolled flat by left wheels of cars and trucks) added 10% to speed and motivation, changed up a few cogs to take 10% off the cadence. A smooth and steady lap with a caffine fix afterward rebooted the reasons for this addictive obsession.
My heart-rate was slow to rise early Monday, not unlike me. Solo @ 110 bpm on a desserted Verney Rd was almost acceptably smooth in the car lane, engaged auto pilot toward the Emu with a slight southerly blowing at the starboard side. Negative thoughts of tackling a head wind soon diminished reflecting on the 54km/h southerly in early Feb, the inconsistent illusion of a distant tail-light passed off as a reflector on a white post. Lots of little piggies were squealing for breakfast at their Old Dookie Rd address, my progress reasonable @137bpm given the 9 degrees and lack of condition. The hint of tail-light again cresting the bridge swerved my previous opinion on mirages, into Boundary Rd there was clear evidence of a headlight, bike and rider attached too. Gradually caught and passed him at the fig farm, face unseen in the darkness but offered a good morning anyway. A half a k later the headlight beam had caught up and followed, so I edged up the pace to test the persuer, (150bpm now). A wobbling patch of light at my feet meant someone was trying hard or maybe the someone was Trev, hopefully the former. Peeled into Channel Rd, still with the trailing light following, so ramped up the knots again to test their resolve. Eased off a whisker after the S bend in the interest of my survival back to town, wobbles decreased proportionally. Almost made a speed bump of an early Easter bunny at the kinder turn, giving another little burst (161bpm) to Orrvale Rd still didn't drop the mystery man (decision to make my introduction when back under street lights). Finally to the Mexican Bonanza (with a distinct lack of Bonanza in my legs) I took a look back to find it was Fitzy in tow, appreciative of the draft and the subsequent yarn through town.
Tuesday's crystal clear morning was a crispy 7 degrees, a full moon lit the way to the Couldabeens start. Almost a full team attendance of Shane, PistolPete, Cougar, Temple, Jase, Kenworth, AvantiTrev, WobblyTrev, BigMat, FeltMat, SuperMario, Shorty, WhisperingJack, Rocket and Vince. We almost had the serial pest aboard at the start till one of his harem punctured. The lead turn with Kenworth was courteous, inheriting the number one draft from him on leg 2. A car at the kinder corner split the pack, the pause to regroup lengthened to retrieve a breakaway bidon, noted by some as a future stall tactic. The resumption of tempo was allegro con spirito, a few playing towtruck to close the opening gaps. The big guns had again grouped to drive the train to Boundary Rd, Shorty, Rocket and others braving shorts while others were more antarctically dressed. WhisperingJack did his usual boom and bust, BigMat playing a more conservative hand. Most of Mitchell Rd was heated with a 40+ pace, glad that traffic gave us a brief break at Melbourne Rd to regain some composure but fogged the specs. Volunteers for lead duty rapidly decreased at Arcadia Downs, BigMat & Pistol Pete both punctured on a busted stubby, I had half the field glued on my wheel as the gaps appeared in Conrod. WhisperingJack passed me with 400 to go but was spent and overtaken with 50 remaining, Rocket well clear in his usual style and position.
7.3 degrees on Wednesday shows the winter spiral has begun but ten lined up on the starting grid, all single filed behind me casting doubts on the Rexona, thankfully Rocket paired up as we taxied out Kialla Lakes Drive. All agreed that we do the right thing at Archers' roadworks traffic light, at least to respect our own bank balances if not the law (fail to stop at red/amber traffic light = $361ea. Times 10 = one 1959 Grange Hermitage), Almost good timing to get the green, plenty of loose stones to rallycross across. Cougar, Rocket, Shorty, AvantiTrev, WobblyTrev, Trav, Nick, SuperMario and Temple were all treated to a sunrise scenery worth getting out of a warm bed for, rows of trees rooted in low fog, silhouetted against an orange horizon with a slowly blueing sky above. Hurtlockers, Supercats, 51, P&W's and a Breakaways bunch were all clockwise on course, just us against the grain. Rocket ramped up the pace in Boundary, but then i'll share the blame in matching his pace for the 3k haul to Channel Rd (over-riding the internal defeatism and a strong desire to draft) A solid return to town, Temple's flouro socks spinning, AvantiTrevs' pushing out a good pace (despite his self proclaimed "past it" status).
Managing to absorb bite sized pieces of the Roubaix replay before gravity overpowers the eyelids at night, inspiring stuff, but the 5am alarm isn't. Carpe Diem echoes through the cranial cavity to tap out a quiet 25k on Thursday morning under the anaerobic redline (23,000 steps at work and 50k with the library bunch after will deplete the resources of this old bloke). A soup of 99% humidity to push through on Channel Rd, just 2560 crank revolutions in Zone 2 & 3 on the well worn track with Cougar via Boundary & Old Dookie Rd. Nice to witness another postcard sunrise (better than the inside of a wooden box) and enjoy a little dip into Zone 5 to finish.
Not a lot of punters at the library Thursday evening, Easter commitments keeping a few away. WillierTony, Darren, Harpo, Dalton, Clive, Juzza and Luke the only ones out to play, savouring the aromas of everyone's dinner as we rolled out of town. 18 degrees and rapidly cooling had me hankering for armwarmers, no doubt pace may warm me up on the circuit. The usual big guns were nowhere to be seen on the way to the Emu, a refreshing change to have just a steady tap around minus the carnage. We'd found Chris A at the Boundary Rd turn as the tempo picked up a whisker, Darrens' chain begging for oil under load. Plenty of bonfires lit up the path to River Rd, Chris & Luke in for a long shift on the front, the new surface has at least been swept but the coarse stone is a drag on speed. A few more turns to do at the pointy end with low numbers, good training I guess. The troops were getting restless as Conrod opened up before us, into the fourties (and with a perfect sit at 4th wheel) I jumped hard on the 13 sprocket to throw in some excitement with 300 to go. Managed to put some space to the bunch but my 37 year gap to young Luke in hot pursuit was too big, made my 53km/h look ordinary to take the win easily. A bit of road rage between Mr Hyundai and Mr P plate ute at the traffic lights entertained us on the roll back home.
The annual Good Friday Appeal ride brought out a good crowd, a big queue for caffine and racks full of bikes for an 8am away from Friars. I'd hung about with known villans rather than face the uncertainty of unknowns, assembling in a team with Rocket, Jase, SuperMario, Cougar, Temple, PistolPete and FeltMat. Numbers swelled on the Boulevard warm up of a clockwise Toaster loop, Axel, Juzza, JB (nearly unfamiliar aboard a new Pinarello, his ubiquitous Cannondale sadly fractured), Col, Coggo, SpecialisedTony (aka WillierTony) BigBill, and Clive, with a couple of "intriders" (see last weeks blog) out of their depth. Into a light northeaster toward the Emu had one intrider go kaboom in the attempt to match Pistol, but the bunch finally settled into a good rhythm. Felines Kelvin, Sprinter, Burlsey & co put some pace into the southerly trip to the Toaster, the wind swung northerly to oblige. Lil'Tony, Walshy and others of similar calibre joined the front (after a pause for shortcutters in Boundary) to throw petrol on the fire, lengthening the bunch with numbers and speed. The tail end became quite a shambles with some hanging on for grim death (pride predjudiced), course confusion at River Rd then back on track to Mitchell. The change to clockwise rotation for the north westerly in Mitchell Rd needed an instruction manual for some, the back end of the bunch now ugly with close calls and confusion. Backed off the bunch, the decision for self preservation overruled, Cougar, me and a few others content to keep a smooth mid thirties out of harms way. A gaggle of Goats rounded us up at Archer, but we plugged on over the highway, picking up the crumbs of those discarded by tempo. Crossed the line with half a dozen in tow, cruised through town (some short on road sense invoking honks) back to Friars coffee. A good chin wag to finish the ride, the week finished extracting busted beer bottle from a Michelin.
Week 16 329km YTD 4,479km
Word of the week "Blinguist" (noun)
One who's conversation relies solely on expensive equipment, components and technical specifications.
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