Post #606
3/7 Saturday sustenance.
Starting the Saturday spin from the shop recalled rides of old, some from those days are now hibernating (or have been inked permanently into the history books) But the dedicated arrived, GiantAndy, Wozza, Boof, The Godfather, Molly, Emil, Rocket, BamBam, Lance, Determined Dan, Bruce, PistolPete, TatPaul, Greg and Kreeky along with guests Knights, Andy and Luke from Melbourne's suburbia. Wozza was on his best behavior leading the team south, due diligence in his drive so all stayed connected.
It felt fresh at 'feels like 1.4' but the west northwester eased the way, Superman (lit up like a glow-worm) appearing at Mitchell Rd's rumble strips. Pace was sorted and partners paired, seems the pack had just settled into the routine at River Rd when Determined Dan called a pause for a puncture. At this time of year, what's a ride without one? (No pressure Dan, 18 would wait in the cold for your swift fix!) The back wheel had barely been fitted when the bunch rolled away, the fumble to refit gloves and engage cleats opening a big gap to bridge. TatPaul and I played tow trucks to haul Dan back aboard. Molly set her spot in the caboose, feeling she's the foreigner female while other gals have gone walkabout, Superman (feeling he's the ballast) keeping Molly company.
With Greg's wheel ahead and Wozza's behind, I transitioned from demotion to promotion and joined the queue to do duty at the front, somewhat a speck in the distance. It'd be a while. Boundary Rd's well worn path held a few puddles from last night's rain, a few unwittingly putting their wheels through them, so the baptism made a mockery of cleaning the bike last night. Greg played fair at the church as I paired to labor toward Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd alongside, hoping the turn at the front with Wozz westward wouldn't cook me. How kind of him to leave his handbrake on till I resigned at Woolshed Rd. There wasn't going to be a quick recovery in the draft though, Bruce and Wozz turned up the tempo to their standard. (saves them snoring!) But that's ok, it made me earn my breakfast. Again the horsepower had lined up astern, Rocket, GiantAndy and Knight Luke guaranteed a swift trip to Ford Rd but BamBam looked the odd one out in the procession ; you could see the longing in his eyes for a spot in the left line.
GiantAndy and Knight Luke lit the fire in Wanganui Rd, the expectation of a fast finish filling heads with concerns of what might be left in the tank. TatPaul did the duck to the down-line but fears were unfounded, a blanket was thrown over the sprints of Saturdays past. (hardly the weather for it....and hardly the company that craved it) All went light on the throttle through Canterbury's slick roundabout but went back to a solid spin along the Boulevard to breakfast. Wanganui sprints, winter's merging of the clans and facing the post-cafe cold kept the conversation cooking till the raffle was drawn (part one of the Beyond Blue fundraiser).
5/7 Fun? in the fog.
Feels like 1.4, foggy, dark, damp and slippery, Nixon St's roundabout presented a decent sized lump of tarmac on it's apex to throw my back wheel off-line, and wasn't that a cardiac kick-starting, here-comes-a few-more-broken-ribs start to the week! (Got lucky keeping it upright) Why I was riding in this foul weather raises some serious questions about judgement, probably 'cause others would! (They made me do it Mum!) Wozza, Bruce, Kreeky, Tina, PistolPete, Emil and Joe (not Tony) appeared through Sanctuary Drive's mist, all probably cursing the decision to get out of bed (and that others had turned up to ride!)
The consensus was for calm in these conditions, corners of particular concern to me......for some strange reason! Pete set a sensible speed south, Bruce continuing the common sense for Emil to take over at Central Kialla. Was that a fine drizzle anointing us or just the rooster tails of water off the wheels? Whatever it was , the damp was beginning to soak through to make the morning a memorable one. Slicing through the 100% humidity with the temperature chilling the bones, water spray and worms all over the bike and kit (and some up the left nostril) will be joked about some day....but not right now!
Emil had kept a courteous calm to River Rd (yep, I was on his wheel again!) handing me the duty to drive to the bridge, the bureau's 2 km/h westerly wasn't much to rave about but it was a psychological assistance. Tina (behind me) wasn't going to ignite the afterburners when I slipped back to the rear and Wozza kept his tempo tethered for the long haul to Rooster corner. A bit of variety is a good thing so Kreeky's calm approach to Coach Rd settled a few heart rates but where the One Tree Dam pot-holes were on the dark and greasy tarmac had me a bit tense. Joe (not Tony) led the damp distance to Channel Rd, PistolPete doing duty to the highway, but a short shift isn't part of his repertoire so he pressed on to Old Dookie Rd. That got the guessing game going ; Bruce might take us to Central and Emil to the truck route, so I might get the short 1300 metre thrash to SPC? Shouldn't postulate, take it as it comes Foss. Speed was snail-like on the turn west, Bruce (as expected) driving long to Central as the damp and dismal day turned us all water-logged. Predictably, Emil towed us all to the truck route, so that short final foray to SPC was a long straw drawn for me. Just on top of the gear nearing Florence St, a call of 'puncture' paused my rush, Kreeky suffering almost the worst conditions to deal with a deflation.
6/7 A Tuesday test.
A dry road, almost mild temperature (6 degrees) and the lack of wind made a pleasant change but Tuesday's tempo would be the test. The grid (Lenny, ChrisA, Rocket, Bruce, Wozza, Boof, Kreeky, Bo, Tina, PistolPete. Kel and Emil) had a bias heavy on horsepower. There was a bit of shuffling at the rear for that "wheel of choice" and D'oh! I'd scored Emil's wheel yet again! As tradition demands, PistolPete led us south to Mitchell Rd, Boof then doing the 2 k's to Central Kialla. Rocket got down to business for the shift to River, my moment of hesitation at the corner opening a big gap which obliged me to close. A half k in the low 40's should teach me "he who hesitates is lost".
Bruce headed us east to the bridge to keep up the hurry and Bo got away with (in The Godfather's absence) a short shift to the dip. I'm sure Wozza is only running at quarter throttle but the bunch was silent as he idled to Rooster corner. Lenny was put in charge of stress levels for Coach Rd but the call of "ease up!" said the bar was set a bit too high. Tina had been tested to catch the pack out of the turn. With tempo turned down a tad and Bruce heading rearward as windbreak to the rescue, Tina was back on again. (Considerate lot this Couldabeens clan) Was that a headwind as I moved a fraction off-line at third wheel? Or was being closer to the front wearing away the watts too fast? I'd convinced the cranium it was the wind doing it, in the interest of positive thinking. Lenny would head us to the highway and Emil had the horsepower to drive to Old Dookie ; Oh good! I'd get the westward path and wriggle out of the work into that wind! Plans to reach Central Ave went on rewind as the effort escalated to keep up the previous pace, the target now reset to reach School Rd. Ain't reality a cruel thing? (turns out that breeze was a westerly) Kreeky kept the kettle bubbling to Central Ave and PistolPete kept it from boiling over to the truck route. How civilised it was to steer the dry streets and corners into town to finish.
7/7 Wozza's wheel.
A clean bike, an oiled chain and a brand new pair of tyres made a marginal gain in speed but a massive boost to the contentment. It seemed so much easier to get up to speed, just wish the engine could keep it up now! Wednesday's social spin attracted Rocket, Laura, BamBam, Lance, Bruce, Tina, PistolPete, Kel, Emil, Kreeky, Boof, Bo, Wozza, Greg and Joe (notTony) to the grid, a little cloud cover and a touch of west northwester keeping the forecast frost away.
It took a while for the advance line to populate, as usual those with wattage started it and that troubled some at the rear to join in early. Two rows were complete arriving at Mitchell Rd, the draft of ten ahead making life easy with the west northwester being the icing on the cake. Chat was well underway at River Rd but Bruce called a pause when a puncture put the brakes on the Bossi. Deflation seems to be the fashion at this time of year (some seemed to relish the oxygen intake) Of course the order gets shuffled on the restart (though some weren't letting go of their wheel of choice) and I'd wound up between the wattage of Bruce and Rocket, just as well it's social Wednesday! There'd be several k's to get accustomed before reaching the business end. Joe (not Tony) and Bruce paired to the highway so I got prepared for a long one beside Bruce in Boundary Rd.
I guess the lack-lustre CO2 pressure wasn't helping him, I was called across at the bridge. It was tempting to ask for respite beside Rocket at the fig farm but my stubborn side said keep at it to Old Dookie, it was a social speed today after all (even if it felt swift) Lungs still labored in the slipstream of the Wozza / Rocket combination on Old Dookie Rd, Wozza's enthusiasm showing half a wheel ahead of Rocket (I guess a lazy lap at an idle would give you itchy feet) We're lucky really to have this division along to boost the winter numbers ; we all know what happens to the smaller factions as temperatures test tenacity (Not many want to ride solo in an Arctic atmosphere) PistolPete and Wozz led a (constrained) charge into suburbia.
8/7 Six squirrels
Nothing quite prepares you for it. You can mentally psych yourself up and say it's only a number and don every layer you have in the wardrobe, but the reality of feels like minus four is f...f...flabergastingly fresh! There's a moment when throwing your leg over the bike you think you've grown accustomed to the temperature but the chill when getting those wheels in motion, even at a slow roll, becomes literally breath-taking! Thank heavens adrenaline kicks in to get you up to speed. Minus two bit me hard on a sedate spin to Tarcoola, Emil and Kim's arrival was almost the only thing stopping me from u-turning straight home.
The stupidity of riding in this stuff is almost cancelled when others are doing it. No doubt there'd be others to blame for the torture by temperature at the shop! Tina, Bo and Kel turned up, Joe (not Tony) conveniently absent when a puncture prevented him from even leaving home. Emil took first shift on Channel Rd, the order out of usual sorts ; me, Kel, Tina, Kim and Bo astern as Emil's efforts led us to the truck route. For a moment I'd considered doing the distance to the Kinder but common sense (and the feeling of frost-bite on the lungs) made it sensible to aim at Orrvale Rd. Kel provided the pace to the Kinder, Tina to the cypress trees. Kim made a brief debut, wisely reserving the watts to catch the tail as Bo drove to the S bend. I might have read Emil's thoughts guessing he was settling in for a big shift north (yup, I was on that wheel again!), I'd translated the body language aboard the La Pierre that said long haul when the Boundary Rd rhythm settled in. Eyes glued to his elbow failed to make it flinch at the bridge, the fig farm or even Old Dookie, maybe both were frozen solid as we reached New Dookie Rd?
"Clear!" shattered the silence crossing the intersection and that's where I'd been nominated the lead role, navigating the rumble strips that warn of the rail crossing, ironically now sealed over. Another k to Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd seemed a little short so steering west, I reset the aim at reaching the main eastern channel. Cranial cruise control kept a tab on mid thirties so I'd at least stay on speaking terms with Kim. Kel showed what real smoothness was to Lemnos North Rd ; it felt at least three degrees warmer in the draft at the back. Thursday's have become therapy from what feels like regular weekday thrashings, the break from the Sanctuary squad labeling us squirrels, but that variety in velocity (just a couple of k's) has been the salvation to survive the six day a week addiction. The order had shuffled to put Bo in the drivers seat for Ford and Emil did the distance into town (swapping the lack of labor for a longer length?) The Butter Factory's coffee thawed the internals as the mug un-froze fingers, the Sanctuary's five of Rocket, TrackStan, Boof, PistolPete and Kreeky joining in the social stuff soon after.
9/7 Friday feels like? Frozen!
The reasons become ever stronger. Facing the cold puts up a hundred excuses not to ride, particularly at the end of a week of these lows. The fellowship of a bunch seems to be the only flickering light at the end of a very cold tunnel. Kit up before those reasons tip the balance Foss! With what seems to be a breathless battle with the 10 k commute to Sanctuary done, a crew of Joe (not Tony), Greg, Tina, Wozza, Bo, Bruce, Boof, Emil, Rocket, Kel, BamBam and PistolPete lifted spirits from the doldrums, but it didn't lift the temperature from feels like minus 0.8. An invitation to spin south was extended by PistolPete (naturally) though Tina's Di2 dramas dictated a sympathetic speed. In a sneaky manoevre, I'd managed to slot in at forth wheel behind Bo, evading Emil's energy. I'd have about 12 minutes to harden up for a River Rd shift , if all went to plan.
Bo's drive in the 35's through Central Kialla set a suitable speed for me to meet. 2100 metres to the bridge was my (tax deductable?) donation, Kel could smooth the way to the dip while I chilled out (literally) in the caboose. Tina's turn was abbreviated by grief in the gear department ; I'm happy to be labelled "old school" as a fan of ye olde cable shift Dura-Ace. (Low-tech reliability rules!) It was difficult to see who was in the drivers seat with a dozen ahead, a long strong shift to Rooster corner was signed off by Boof when he retired rearward in Coach Rd. And so the turns rolled to the highway with each playing in the partnership of pace (for richer or poorer). At least the days of critics cemented in the caboose are long gone. A turn at the front, long or short, swift or steady is a contribution to the cause after all. Keep it up and you won't go blind, you'll go faster! Joe (not Tony) got Bo's advice (don't f#%& it up!) but drove well to the Boundary bridge, Wozza then taking the reigns to deliver us to Old Dookie Rd. Enthusiasm to reach the warmth of the cafe added a k or two to the west drive to town.
This week 290 km YTD 7,337 km
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