Week 51: The speed souvenir

Post 375

 

17/2

As the alcohol afflicted stagger from the nightclubs homeward I joined a different genre congregating for entertainment in the early hours.  With Wozz, Car+Mel then Rocket to spin south to the Saturday start, BigMat phoned for Rocket roadside assist on a matter of being caught short (valve stem length), a puncture preventing progress.

The car park became a waiting room for Boof, TatPaul, Cougar, Jase, Pistol, Shorty, Weapon, Nev, TrekTrev, Bruce, Jen, Temple, The Godfather and AvantiTrev to patiently pause for the pit stopped pair.......but seven minutes didn't ruin the weekend agenda. With all twenty finally present and correct, the launch sent some scurrying from pole position to a protected place ; hallelujah! I'd inherited the front yet again! The early energy expenditure to Orrvale Rd (4 k's away) got the heart started, but the Garmin suggested it was on holiday at 127 bpm. (monitor malfunction?) Many seemed relieved to ride, maybe escaping the pre-Christmas pressure ; a peloton panacea possibly? The rare and endangered Fisky (Giantus hyperboli) appeared at the Fig Farm, quickly taking up permanent caboose residence, BigMat moved forward in the ranks on Old Dookie Rd suggesting he was the race favourite (carrying top weight).  Jase dished out the Cougar cajolery as we rounded Emu corner, an assisting (arse-isting?) northeaster encouraging her rare visit to the drivers seat.  (Funny how foremost phobia is often cured by cognition and co-operative co-drivers). Reaching the pointy end, Boof and I gently turned up the wick, massed oncoming Cats (50) on their Christmas ride (and socks ceremony) had a fully kitted Santa hurling out the ho ho ho's.

And so rolled our rotations toward town, Shorty shortchanged (again) on placement, predicting he'd be at the business end at DECA.  I was perched in perfect position at the back (cruisier than Frank Ocean's 'Pink+White') as a chorus of chains clicked down the cassettes, nudging the mid 40's in the tow and keeping a keen eye ahead on Wozz and Pistol poised to pounce.  Bums off seats was my signal for full noise, rounding up 3, I caught Wozza's wheel as Boof bolted by.  We hit the hill in the 50's, Pistol faded and Wozza's head shook "no", hope finding me a few more watts to crest the hill in 2nd.  But Bruce had caught my draft and powered past, my last desperate cranks making him earn the place (content he could only keep a wheel ahead), 3rd was an early Christmas bonus for me. The Lemontree's table tattle on Christmas catering, kids careers and nutrition was a fitting finale.

19/12
The spice that is variety put life into Monday's lap, base layer and armwarmers again dragged from retirement as the temperature dropped to 7.  A Cate collaboration set a course for a reverse Tuesday lap, a brewing northeaster promising a push for most of the circuit (the "no pain, no gain" philosophy rules).  Pelly, Bruce, BamBam, Pistol and Troy were working west, we travelled a memory lane of the full length of Mitchell Rd (recalling several chases of bikes ahead....which turned out to be white posts or rubbish bins).  It was burning the vastus lateralis pushing the 15 into the breeze (65 rpm), not a lot better in Boundary, but the thought of the tailwind home spurred the speed.  Goats on a pacy peace train hollered a hello, the headwind reprieve in Channel Rd put to purpose with a charge at the ChaCha.

20/12

A stormy sky but a clear radar inspired an early 30k Tuesday morning, out to the Pine Lodge church and back putting in a bit of effort (predicting a pedestrian pace with the Goats at 6)  A race with a rabbit at the main eastern channel was within my pace, the dramatic evolving sunrise warranting a stop and snap at the Toaster.  The benefit of a breeze back to the 'burbs motivated the muscles, and ignoring the odd drop from the heavens arrived back at Friars to a mixed menage of Muppets and Goats (Joe, Hommy, Belly, Coggo, HG, Dipper, Snow, AvantiLeigh, Phil, Tina, Sandy, AvantiAndy, Manny, Heady and a helmetless Speissy) assembling for a Christmas cruise. 

Calm and chatter was the order of the day, a relaxed roll on Old Dookie, Boundary and Channel before breakfast and bullshit at Mandy's.  Rooster Roscoe was found lurking in Channel (does he ever start with the bunch?), Hommy's half wheel habit uncontrollable when he reached the front (Coggo's special sprint stage served as a payback.) A good feed of fruit and breakfast wraps topped off coffee and conversation on Zwift, annual goals and bombing diets before the hard core Goats started on the sparkling red!    

21/12

A motivational giddy-up for Car on the Couldabeens commute Wednesday, a little polish needed for the button that's nearly always bright as.   Wozz, Mel and Cate keen-as as always, parking to prepare the peleton of Chops, Kenworth, Pelly, Grumpy, Troy, BamBam, Rocket, AvantiTrev, Pistol, AvantiMat, Nick, WhisperingJack, Shorty, Boof, Nev and Trav.   Wozza took the first shift on Archer Rd, as usual volunteers were as rare as entertainment on television, so somewhat out of sympathy, I paired with him at Kialla Lakes.  The first hundred metres was hopeful, hell thereafter as the headwind and heartrate percolated. Almost to bursting point at the Sanctuary roundabout, I needed to dig new depths of desperation to match Pistol Pete to the truck route, 800 metres seemed an eternity on the rivet.   Over occupied overdosing on oxygen to Mitchell Rd, the kudos from BamBam and Trav helped ease the pain, by Pistol's place normal vision had returned and the guttural gasps had made way for social sentences with those headed to the energy end of the bunch.  A HurtLocker foursome hammered south in Central Kialla while Nev's almost ceremonial disrobing of the gilet was performed with aplomb.  51 and Cat trains whistled by westward as we made the most of the southwester toward Boundary Rd.

At the back of the bunch at Channel Rd's S bend seemed a safe site amongst two orderly rows with shadows stretching starboard, but the rotations rolled rapidly ( proportional to the pace), finding myself back at the pointy end at Hopeful corner with the throttle wide open to get by Chops against the headwind.  Full steam to Prentice Rd with a long wait for BamBam to roll up and over, almost the whole bunch blasting by as the oxygen intake took precedence again.

 

22/12

The choice of solo, Goats, Turtles or Hares bounced around the skull at 4:15, what to do? Aiming for three out of four, I set off solo on the old Cat lap (Old Dookie, Boundary and Channel) expecting to toil south and west (SW'er at 15 km/h) but soothed the spirit with a fair pace spinning like an old record (78 rpm) and racing rabbits on the ChaCha.  Turtles SuperMario, Hoges, Nick, TrekTrev, AvantiTrev, BigMat and Jase appeared as I arrived at Kensington, loose hare ChrisA on a warm-up escort. BigMat seemed to be suffering when I drew alongside at the Kinder, so played fair until Jase was my co-driver at the cypress trees (40 to the S bend dialled up the duress)  Nick and AvantiTrev returned some respite to the bunch as we headed south to River Rd, BigMat skipping sequence to hang off Jase's wheel.  Beside Hoges for River Rd's smooth second k and with Jase to Trevaskis Rd was more equitable and even, Jase complying with the BigMat handicap for the next turn.  The lights of Hares in pursuit closed in near Central Kialla, the opening metres of Mitchell had Troy, TrackStan, Boof, Pistol, ChrisA, Nev-bro-Kev and Bruce round us up.  Tempo temptation got Hoges, Jase and I to jump ship, off the saddle and pound pedals to catch their draft at 45 clicks, braving their rapid reputation as a personal yardstick of endurance.  I'd almost climatised to the velocity when a sudden slow for an meandering family of ducks avoided a quackastrophy.  Back on the gas down Dave's dip was a test of   mind over muscles, ChrisA and Bruce taking a break from driving duty relieved me from the gatekeeper role.  Raftery hearlded the end was nigh, would it be the head, heart, legs or lungs that pulled the pin as the speed built for Conrod? Cresting the first dip, I lost Bruce's wheel, asking the legs for more got the reply "I'm givin' 'er all she's got Capt'n!" Back into town we found Weapon idling, most headed for Kialla caffiene but partnering Boof on a workplace Christmas breakfast mission kept my legs burning.  Most of the morning at work the 'been-kicked-in-the-thighs' feeling was the speed souvenir. 

23/12

A pitstop on the rendezvous with Jase, Cate, Car+Mel Friday morning, Mel's Continental as flat as an Aleppo streetscape.   Twas tough prizing the tyre off the SLR, two levers needed to refit it after swapping the staple skewered tube.  Almost 6 and 5k from the grid, the plan to intercept the Couldabeens via the truck route shortcut got underway Indian file on Archer, mindfully watching that I didn't stretch the four shadows behind.   Jase took the turn from the Sanctuary roundabout but Mel's Conti was cactus just 200 metres into the truck track. Car+Mel urged us on as they waited for hubby's roadside assist, Jase, Cate and I swapping turns in the hope of catching the pack.  The turn into River Rd sank the heart seeing the bunch a k ahead, but Churchill's  "never ever ever ever give up" issued the challenge to pursue.  One k turns seemed to be the physical and logistical limit, hard to say if we'd gained by River Rd's end but the arrival of the Goats pain train seemed to be on cue. The southeast breeze was fading with our hopes of catching the Couldabeens, but a decent workout seemed to have hit an accord.   I thought we'd all reached our limits till the ChaCha inspired a burst from Jase, a relief to get back to town and idle home on hammered hamstrings. 

Week 51     275km.        YTD 16,478