Week 15 : Legs like licorice.

Post #443
7/4  The Breakaway.

With the hippocampus welded in weekend mode and time to cruise to the carpark, one could contemplate the social symbiosis of the Saturday lap....if many could be bothered to crawl from the comfort of their doonas!  9 degrees had handicapped a field to Wozza, Rocket, Cate, BigLen, AvantiAndy, Shorty, TatMat, PistolPete, Jen, TatPaul, The Godfather, Tum, Liam, Grumpy, Trav, NewAvantiJohn and Bruce.  Weapon jumped aboard as Wozza set a speed to sweat by south on Archer, I'd contemplated doin' duty at the pointy end till Rocket and PistolPete fortified the pace on legs two and three.  Five k's later the tempo had eased a little and folks had climatised to the cadence, the typical tattle filling River Rd's six kilometres.  Speed sank toward Boundary Rd's Broken bridges, some adagio and some allegro made mixed music in the tempo (and temperament) of the team.

TatMat talked chasing challenges, Shorty shared the week's workload, Pistol pondered testing temperatures and AvantiAndy argued the hurt of hills.   I'd finally made it to the front for the Old Dookie Rd leg, 1000 meters alongside Big Len then 2000 with Wozza,

legs and lungs labored but sheer stubbornness and a cup full of cadence got me to the Toaster. The Cat pack was crowded this week as we crossed paths at the Big Ring, the risen sun lighting our way on Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd.  Big Len's draft is akin to two Kenworths, all that torque testing the chain groaning under the 53/11 load. The seesaw of speed was wearing at Wozza by Verney Rd (the light and shade of velocity quite a contrast to the standard Saturday spin), so he did his best Niki Terpstra impression with an early attack 4k's from the finish.

  Both Wozz and the bunch behind had a clear cross of the highway, the combined wattage of Rocket, Pistol, The Godfather, NewAvantiJohn and TatMat  wearing down Wozza's lead as we neared Mt. Wanganui.
Pistol was pickled as TatPaul took the helm up the hill, running on the red-line I had just enough to take the invisible finish line honours (to be expected with just two turns totalling 4k's for the morning!)  Coffee, cobblestones and podcasts kept tongues tattling over the usual long Lemontree breakfast, the walking faction of Leah, Kel, Kate, Bo and Bruce joining the joviality.

9/4  The Monday mindset.
Monday's map was cemented in the cerebellum, a bit of a SSW'er to endure but a mild 17 degrees made it bearable.  A sparrow's fart spin out Old Dookie Rd created contentment, the solitary speed was better than expected (well, for a Monday).  It's been a lengthy "legucation" to get the cadence up from the high 60's to the mid 80's over the past 6 months (a 'legacy' of hurting in the hills?) but it seems to be paying pace benefits.  South on Boundary into the breeze should have trimmed a few knots off but the pace stayed unabated, turning into River Rd lightening the load and nearly got the heart rate on holiday.  6k's west was covered faster than expected, I took a truck route diversion to Archer Rd then tapped back to town, a brew, banana bread and babble with Weapon made it post ride nirvana.

10/4  Hurry'n and hitch-hikin'.
A puncture is nearly always noticed the moment you're about to saddle up, so there was a hurry before a wheel had turned on Tuesday (of course, I caught every red light en-route to the grid!)  Arriving with 15 seconds to spare, I joined Killkenny Paul and Softa, the few fragments left of the 5:45 troupe (seems all have softened to the test of trying to head the Hares home with a 5 min head start).  Winter will no doubt see the group extinct, but I'll find another challenge to chew on for the cold months. (ah, the hilarity of hibernators hurting when Spring returns!)  So three launched into the dark grey of Channel Rd, and of course I had the helm to the truck route (gradually up to the boil by the roundabout so as not to pickle the punters) Softa slogged out a good leg 2 to Orrvale Rd and Killkenny Paul dug deep to reach the Kinder (when I thought he'd fling an elbow earlier)

They'd coped with high 30's (or had puffing prevented protest?) on leg #1, so #4 (to Jameson Rd) was served similarly, but that had softened Softa to shorten his shift to Beckham's bend. Killkenny Paul soldiered on to the S bend and I found myself back at the business end to polish off Channel Rd.  Softa made it to the bridges, KillkennyPaul to One Tree Dam, back to the front again for me to get us to River Rd.  A glance over the shoulder saw a long line of Hares on the hunt in Boundary Rd, inspiring my turn 5 to reach Laws Drive.  Dredging the depths of determination, Paul and Softa made it to Central Kialla Rd, my turn to tow to Mitchell Rd, but us 3 against 9 Hares (Nev, Liam, Trav, Wozza, PistolPete, Rocket, CatCol, Travis and Bruce) was a lost cause.  We'd started to crest Dave's dip when the line of lads lunged by, Bruce passing the news that todays finish line was the highway (recent 'roo sightings have put Raftery Rd and Conrod straight into the danger zone)  The draft from 9 less hastening Hares was heavensent, hallelujah to hitch-hiking homeward after our hurry, though Liam and Nev made sure there was no snoozing at Conrod's end.

11/4  The Wednesday waltz.

With time aplenty to warm up an old engine, I had a relaxed roll resting the rectus femoris to Wednesday's waltz. Boof, TrekTrev, Sean, Hollywood, SuperMario, Car+Mel, CatCol, The Godfather, Cate, MyRideTrev, Liam and Travis converged on the carpark, a warm easterly quickly made up my mind to pair with Boof for leg 2 and The Godfather for leg 3 to get my duty done before facing the effort on Mitchell or River Rd. 

Wozza, Rocket, PistolPete, Nev and NewAvantiJohn made up the early edition arriving at the truck route,  21 degrees un-seasonally tropical for April (though some still hide at home sweating it out on Zwift).  MyRideTrev is back from Broome, Boof back from the games, Hollywood back from last week and The Godfather back from motor-pacing.  Several suffered the slog into a now ENE'er along River Rd, funny how it hits those who've retreated from regular rides.  Boundary Rd's banter was on The Godfather's strive for suspect Strava scores, I'd chosen my early shift well, still tucked into the tow while others battled the breeze.

Pace percolated in Channel Rd with the ENE'er's assistance, those with lesser laps drawing the short straw of facing the front as the ChaCha drew near.  Sean, Car+Mel and SuperMario looked to be lead-outs as fate would have it, though a bit of duck and dive avoided the agony for some as we steered into Hopeful corner.  The early edition viewed from the caboose, I was called across onto Boof's wheel as the hammer dropped at Prentice Rd.  Sean went OTA and Nev went nuts, the pack narrowing for an oncoming car then went free-for-all to the line.  Dragged along in The Godfathers' then Boof's wake of wattage elevated me to 4th, almost a k of composure needed for the focus to sharpen from the suffering at 60.


12/4  Thermal Thursday.
Cate came out of Thursday retirement to join Softa, KillkennyPaul and I on a lap to the church and back (via Channel Rd), and someone left the heater on overnight (25 degrees and just 29% humidity would make for a toasty tap)   After a short wait for Softa to crawl out of the cot, four forged forward on Ford Rd, and I'd scored the first shift again. I did a cautionary crank to Grahamvale Rd to test the tempo, then a proper shift to Lemnos North Rd to get the party paced.  Cate cringed from captaincy so Softa stepped up for leg 3, KillkennyPaul taking the task to Boundary Rd.  Softa needed to ease when a wheeze brought unease, but the baulk was brief as we resumed at the kennels.  Swinging south to the church brought relief with the northerly (22-32 km/h) nudging us from behind, Cate taking the reigns to the railway.  PB's were plentiful as the tailwind treated us down to the Toaster, slipping south into Boundary between Cats (ahead) and '51 (behind) scoring a Strava success or three too. The course via Channel Rd was set but Cate was keen to soak up the tailwind to River, three now working west back to town with some orchard shelter from the northerly.  Remnants of the 6.00am cruisers were found eastbound at the S bend, our steady tap spiced up at the ChaCha to earn coffee as a termination trophy.

13/4  The 6am express.

Coggo, Carl, Sootie, Tum, Belly, Phil, AvantiAndy and AvantiLeigh converged on Coggo's for the collective cruelty of Friday's pain train.  In Heady's absence, I took the helm on a chatty cruise out of town as gastroch's warmed up for the war on wheels.  Over the Doyles Rd roundabout 'ol Foss flattened the throttle to Dobsons estate, silencing sentences with certainty.  With legs like licorice a little shy of the bridge, the cure was a flick of the elbow for Tum to take the torture further east.  A long line filed past, giving hope there'd be some recovery before the next turn of torment. ( Long-time-no-see Sootie on two wheels, though he hasn't lost it). 
Into Boundary Rd I'd been given another sentence at the pointy end, from the fig farm to the bridge had the heart-rate hammered this time. Tum, Carl, Coggo, AvantiLeigh, AvantiAndy, Belly, Phil and Sootie did their speedy stuff to River Rd (Couldabeens at the corner), daylight now lighting our way west.  My focus was fairly fuzzy reaching the white fence, overloading on oxygen as the lads cranked by kindly calling kudos. AvantiAndy and Carl's turns were shortening, others suffering in silence as we drove south through Kialla Central.  There was almost a halt at the highway for traffic, then resumed the rigor on Raftery to Roubaix corner.  I had a huff and puff at the front to Galbriath's gate and was handed a place on Belly's wheel as AvantiLeigh and Phil concreted themselves in the caboose (AvantiAndy a.w.o.l.)  Carl's turn was terse, Coggo upped a cog to the first dip and I'd got lucky (on Friday 13th) to have the tow from Belly as he captained with 400 meters of Conrod left.  (there was guilt taking candy from a Belly in the final 200, but Rule#70 must be honoured)

Week 15    244km    YTD 4,362 km