Week 41 : The love of labor

Post 416
7/10 Sheepish Saturday.

A succession of red lights turned the Couldabeens commute into interval training on Saturday, the perception of running late making an early workout for Wozz, Merida-not-AvantiJohn and I.       Nev, AvantiAndy, MeridaAndy, Trav, Temple, TatMat, TatPaul, BassoDan, BigLen, Jase, Lucy, Jen, HBK, Tina, The Godfather and PistolPete rolled south at 6 into 5 degrees, the horizon already hinting at a scenic start to the day. TatMat and TatPaul captained a cruisy start, much discussion during the week in favor of taming tempo to 35 for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (so that winter hibernators stand a chance of staying aboard)
 Earlybirds Troy, Bo, Pelly, Kel and Rocket intercepted the bunch in River Rd, a fraction of a SSE'er of little consequence toward Boundary Rd.  A super sun-up made the launch from bed worthwhile, I finally reached the front from the Pub to Old Dookie Rd to share the drive with Lucy then Temple.  The breeze carried the piggery pong to our nostrils in Old Dookie Rd, a sure sign summer's soon to assault our olfactories.

Up to the church and over the rail line, a caution went out for a distant creature ambling the roadway, Cats rounded the bend to baulk (as we did) as a spooked sheep ran left and right in search of escape.  It soon scampered north as we wheeled west and Cats steered south.  The sun rose to light our way, many of usually quick character at great pains to conform to the constraint.

Ford Rd's profuse pot holes created complex chicanes, the promotion forward putting me into the working class for Wanganui Rd's sprint.  Way too early at the front (and with little hope of a placing) it was full gas to make a winner work, but I was soon swamped by Troy, Rocket, Pistol, TrackStan and Nev as they hit their straps up and over Wanganui hill.   There was a greedy grab for oxygen in Rudd Rd then the drive on the Boulevard toward breakfast, eighties music, cycling signatures and Tuesday's thrash jabbered the jaws, the Lemontree's menu and heaters taking the edge off 6 degrees.


8/10  Sunday serendipity.
A brief shower and a brisk northeaster would cancel a solo lap but obligation drew Ralphy, Car and I to congregate at 6 Sunday for a longer lap (such is the motivational magnetism of a bunch ride).  A camel lap was chosen for it's headwind-out-tailwind-home merit, but pushing 23 k's into 25 km/h worth of headwind meant hurt  (thank heavens others were to share the suffering)   A scenic sunrise letterboxed through the clouds, a mild 15 degrees giving some comfort in our battle to reach the quarry, turns long and longer (whether to prove one's worth or set a standard to lengthen the rest).

We lapped up 2k's of respite southbound to Kellows Rd then took on the final 3k's into the wind to the camel farm.  Today was all about distance (a tune up for the Tat200), the speed ignored with the wind favoring the cruise south toward Caniambo.  The rough and skinny Bells Rd became slightly tolerable with wind assistance westward homeward, socially sweet with a yarn to divert attention from the rutted road tormenting the toosh. Bells became Armstrong and the surface smoothed, Mitchell Rd soon appeared to urge the drive home, although some encouragement was poured onto the Raftery route to town in pursuit of kilometers.  Back to base camp and 75 done, coffee and toast was the compensation (next week, a little further, to convince the cranium the distance is do-able)

9/10  The train of peace...till the tailwind!

A mild Monday (17 degrees) trimmed the time to kit-up, it felt foreign to leave arm and leg warmers home and cruise to Friars to catch the train of peace.  Gradually the endangered species emerge, Dippa and Phil joining Coggo, Sandy, Heady, Jen, Hommy, Spartacus, Belly, AvantiAndy, Tina, Speissy and Sly for the Goat roll of repose.  A northerly niggled on Old Dookie Rd as Phil re-aquainted himself with his Giant, Tina was tuning in for holidays and Hommy sought navigational guidance (weekend cocktails to blame).

Sly started saddle babble, Heady joked he was unacustomed to bunch riding (oft OTA), Jen was recovering from a weeks worth of birthday bashes and Coggo eased off his hillness (Sunday in the Strathbogies).  The appeal for calm low 30's was thrown out of court as we steered south on Boundary Rd, all had found fast form with the breeze up the backside.  It was a different story stacked across River Rd sheltering from the northerly, but the pace was still primed. Groundhog day reaching Rivers' end to take my leave, a headwind home was hardly fun but I was pleased I could cut through it at a reasonable rate of knots.

10/10 Tenacity Tuesday.
The season swung Tuesday, 12 degrees colder and a fresh southerly dragged the arm and leg warmers out from a very short retirement! The weather didn't hamper KillkennyPaul, Cate, BamBam, Ralphy, Pelly, Tina and Avanti-not-MeridaJohn from the roll up, Hamish (new to the 5:45'ers) and mega-long-time-no-see-Gazzagrasshopper forming ranks in the carpark.  Guess what!? I had the first shift again!  CatCol cranked into Channel Rd and joined onto the tail for my ergotropic effort eastward, working the old engine hard 'cause there was a long break between shifts.  BamBam, Cate and Tina cranked it to the Kinder, Ralphy and KillkennyPaul to the cypress trees.  I was off the Fizik before the corners ready for the whipcrack of acceleration, a glance back to see we hadn't dislocated the caboose as Pelly powered toward the S bend.  Intern Hamish put in a solid turn, but Gazzagrasshopper galloped into Boundary Rd scattering the pack (a V8 among the formula V's?).  CatCol cranked a long turn in River Rd, handing me the drivers seat for the billiard table ride at the kennels, that competitive curse in my cranium setting a target long before the limit was reached (blind optimism?) How swift the signals of stress start when flogging the forties, legs, lungs, heart and head competing for immediate attention (but which would pull the pin?)  The lungs had enough at the dip and there was still the last wheel to grab, or face the ride of remorse going OTA!  Fear of failure is a great turbo boost to catch the caboose (those gutteral gasps were me and not a bear being poked), a relief to be finally in the tow.  Great to have the girls grinding out their goes, Avanti-not-MeridaJohn's new Di2 Corsa tears along the tarmac though KillkennyPaul doesn't need a new bike 'cause he's tearing along as well.  No signs of Hares on our tails on the peek back in Mitchell Rd, and that pumped the pace toward the highway, kudo's shared (as always) some compensation for the hurt at the end of each shift.  My turn from Arcadia Downs to Conrod's first dip left little to respond to the sprint, BamBam, KillkennyPaul and CatCol's tanks emptying as Gazzagrasshopper let loose from the box seat (his Conrod speed similar to Sunday's on 4 wheels)  Crossing the line I glanced back, Hares a distant half k back as we wallowed in the team victory.

11/10  Troy tanking?

The promise of a speed limited lap magnetised the masses to the carpark Wednesday, The Godfather, Wozza, Troy, AvantiTrev, BamBam, Shorty, Nick, GTCraig, Goose, Car+Mel, BBgun, Grumpy, Ralphy, PistolPete, Pelly, Rocket, Nath, SuperMario, Cate, Temple, Hamish and CatCol filling the grid. A long single line eventually paired down Archer and turned into Mitchell,  PistolPete dapperly dressed in yet another cool kit,  Hamish back for a repeat peloton prescription, GTCraig clearing cobwebs from his GT, SuperMario unseen but heard from the confines of the caboose, Car chasing k's (and dragging BBgun back on the bike), Goose and Nick tense on the tempo and AvantiTrev and Nath taking time off bike shop building.

It seemed an effort into a light easterly ( the bureau said nil) on River Rd but the tempo conformed to the rules, an ambling dog near Rivers' end caused a call for caution, the news relayed to the Goat train o' pain working west (Sly well and truely OTA in Boundary Rd).  Velocity remained behaved up to Channel Rd, enthusiasm sneaking up the speed as we neared the cypress trees.   I could see Troy and Wozza at the pointy end scheming the sprint, an early attack squeezing the bunch skinny as we hurtled to Hopeful corner.  The Godfather and Grumpy tucked in for the tow, my spot at 6th wheel a prime position.  Wozz and The Godfathers' peak had passed, Pistol shot by but he soon ran out of ammo, I was glued to Grumpy's wheel but swapped sits as CatCol hit the boost button.  Troy eased off the gas with 50 meters to go (tanking?) so I'd scored 2nd as CatCol got the chocolates.


12/10  Make the hurt go away Mum!
The hurt homeward harrassed the headspace just rolling to Thursday's grid, plenty of westerly was going to torture legs and lungs on the way back to town.  Ralphy, Pelly, Cate, KillkennyPaul, CatCol and Softa were the protagonists of pain poised at the carpark at 5:45.  It was tempting to turn up the wick with a tailwind out of town but keeping the bunch bonded at this early stage is key for repeat appearances.  Softa's ride rarity hampered his horsepower but Ralphy's ripe!  The little train of 7 zig zagged its way the through the orchards and vegetable plots of Channel Rd woo'ed by the westerly, CatCol delivering his draft to One Tree Dam, a slingshot for my turn to River Rd (but his elbow cue is as subtle as Baum's welds).  Shorter drives into River Rd's headwind would be an OH&S directive but Pelly and KillkennyPaul pushed out torturous turns, Ralphy cranking up the pain threshold to almost unhook KillkennyPaul while Softa clung to the caboose.  Cate courageously keeps the fast femme flag flying, Central Kialla done and into Mitchell Rd the Hares were still scarce but so was Softa (OTA).  The climb out of Dave's dip cooked CatCol but he doggedly (Pussycat pun intended) drove to the highway (or did I miss that elusive elbow?)   And so we all shared the love of labor in Raftery Rd, tempo and heart rates rising as the end drew nigh.  I was handed the helm out of Conrod's first dip and put the head down for hurt in the final fling, but a feeling of isolation found I'd stretched the bunch early when I glanced behind.  Gently off the gas to regroup only baited Ralphy to attack for the victory, but the team holding off the Hares yet again was sweet enough. (a Hares double puncture however had elevated our ego).

13/10  Bunch jumpin'.
A rare day off handed me an opportunity for a long lap to break the habit of work-a-day 40k's.
Part 1 : Rip into Ralphy.    It was on from the get go at 5:30 from the Kialla Lakes shop, FDC's Troy, Grumpy, Bruce, Ralphy, PistolPete and Rocket (along with k craving Car and BBgun) were quickly in an Indian filed flogging of Kialla's southern loop.   Ralphy's ribbing remarks put Troy in payback mode, it made a PB for me for the Raftery Rd leg and a 2nd fastest for the Archer assault as we pushed the forties for 16k.  The Godfather joined on the northbound to town, my legs lamenting an early beating but the more sedate speed to come was a lifeline.
Part 2 : The cast of Couldabeens.  The carpark was copiously crammed with Couldabeens (Kenworth, Mel, Shorty, Lenny, Cate, Hamish, Goose, Lucy, Trav, Jen, WhisperingJack, Nick, CatCol, Avanti-not-MeridaJohn and Temple) for the speed limited circuit, setting off southbound in a long line of led's.

The limit was generally adhered to (depending on who paired with who and whether the westerly aided or abetted), a big bunch promising just a single shift for most, and that found favor with WhisperingJack, Goose and Nick.  Kel joined the bunch as we entered River Rd, promotion forward seemed to take forever as Cats, '51 and Goats cranked clockwise.   It was up Boundary and into Channel before I felt the work needed to slice the air at the bunch front,  Jen kept me silent from the S bend and Hamish extended my effort to the cypress trees, the ChaCha off my breakfast menu if I was to top a ton today.

Shorty drew the lead-out straw as the pack pushed toward the Kinder, he gone from first to last by Prentice Rd, the victors invisible among a sea of cyclists hell bent on breaking the sound barrier.  Lax legs were thankful for the stroll back to suburbia.

Part 3 :  Calm with Car.  Driving for distance, Car was keen for k's to climatise for the forthcoming Tat200, a quiet loop of Verney, Ford, Central and Old Dookie Rd's to round up the numbers.  Smooth and steady was the ethos, discovering Ford Rd is now patched (just the loose gravel to watch for instead of wheel consuming craters)   A cruisy crank of Central Ave then Old Dookie Rd home, nice to soak up a rare one-on-one and savvy a cycling supporter. 
Part 4 : Quick cafeine.  Back to suburbia, a solo spin to the south of town made a small time window for a short black at Kialla Lakes cafe, a boost to the bravado to face the final chapter.
Part 5 : Alarming Adams.  Barnsey, Norm, ol' Ron, Jimbo, Gawny, Chilly, WobblyTrev, Pat, lil' Jodie, Don, Beery and The Pom had assembled in Adams Rd and I clicked the caution control to 9.4 (how quickly we climatise to a regular crew and find fault in foreign parts!)

I'd chosen Norms wheel (the benchmark of smooth) for their single filed crank to the truck route, the pairing up thereafter starting the socialising toward Mitchell Rd.  Old mate Barnsey still on the old mate DBR (12+ years), Beery getting the Cannondale out when shifts allow, WobblyTrev nurturing his nickname (and making an artform of slicing across wheels), Gawny as wise and wirey as ever, ol' Ron a navigational nightmare and the The Pom commiting the cardinal sin of wearing lycrack  ("lai'kraek" : noun - aged synthetic cycling apparel that has become partially, unsettingly translucent ; see also lycringe, lycreepy, lycrass)

Pass the hat around for some new knicks!  Double digit degrees and daylight was relished along River Rd, shifts of varying speeds and lengths up Boundary Rd began to pickle Pat, and by Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd a calm had been called as Beery towed the pooped Pat back to the caboose.  A headwind had delivered a serious dose of reality to the small bunch, lil' Jodie and Gawny the stand-outs of rhythm as we chipped away at Ford Rd.  Wanganui Rd always incites effort, either to get it over and done with or vie for line honours, but it was just Beery and I to hammer the hill.  Remembering that the Adams family finish line is in Rudd Rd, I dug deep to hold the young bloke off, responding to another thrash on the Knight St dash scored PB3 for me.  (and it was Friday the 13th!)  An extra (late) breakfast silenced my stomach over the Friars cafe racket, satisfied with 115 k's clicked.

Week 41     332km          YTD  10,667