Post #615
16/10 Gone with the wind!
It's a twisted sort of desire to ride when the wind blows at 40 km/h.....you know it's going to hurt in one or two directions so it must be the (artificial) inflation to the ego a tail-wind gives that drives you out the door. Seeing so many abandon on What's App in the early hours has an inspiring effect. And Rule #9 is always a motivator as a last resort. A degree of regret not riding Friday (a forecast shower than never arrived) fueled the fire too.
There was a problem at the Sanctuary start-line though ; I felt like the formula V lining up on the V8 Supercar grid! (Rocket, GiantAndy, Bruce, Wozza, Boof, Bo, PistolPete, Emil and The Godfather made up a swift Saturday's squad) There'd be a social start (of sorts) with the wind behind, though the tempo with a tail-wind would render me speechless at the front with this lot. (Harden up Foss! You're among friends) I should be grateful pace didn't turn supersonic for the way east, something would be needed in the reserve tank for the way back home.
Bo had locked himself in to the drivers seat using River Rd's tail-wind but finally relented to let Boof and I lead the last 1500 metres to Coach Rd. Northbound with wind whipping the wheels port side, another k alongside The Godfather toasted me. I was dipping into that reserve tank already. Emil and Rocket had no problem driving the distance north, chatting away easily where I'd be flat out gasping. And there's the difference folks. Those with wattage and those wanting it! Aren't we blessed to have a bunch that embraces the divide (flattering compliment inserted in the hope of being towed home!) GiantAndy reckoned he was off colour but there's nothing off about the torque that the big engine delivers. Many were focused on the work soon to face us on Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd while I served myself stern castigation just to join the advance.
Two rows turned single as the reality of the headwind struck and I'd found myself in fifth wheel in the thinning process. GiantAndy had the throttle wide open toward the Pine Lodge Creek and Bruce kept the equation equal (35 km/h into 35km/h gusts) to Boundary Rd while my head said hurry up the heart rate said help! Time to tuck into the caboose or suffer the indignity of explosion and going o.t.a. There's no point flogging a dead horse! Coping with the variable velocity at the back can sometimes be worse than the smoother stress near the front, but the draft from nine ahead of me won the argument (would have been nice for Bo to hold his line though) Wozza's speed wasn't so social but The Godfather relaxed the hurt a little when he was given driving duty (to a chorus of sledges behind)
How pleasant it was to get the heart rate out of the heavens. I felt a little like excess baggage at the back by Ford Rd but The Godfather joined me to ease the guilt. Surviving Wanganui Rd was the next hurdle.
Just because we'd turned out of a head-wind into Rudd Rd didn't mean there'd be rest, Bo made sure the legs still suffered to Cemetery hill. The game was save your own skin on the Boulevard as GiantAndy drove the train into town, my rubber band at breaking point arriving at Tarcoola. (Was PistolPete dropping back to tow me or was he spent too?) The signs of stress don't show on Pistol but I did a short shift with what I had left as a fair share, just in case. Traffic lights at Welsford St closed our ten metre deficit. Replacing burned calories at the Butter Factory felt better, the chat on Covid criminals and the dark side of MTB distracted thoughts from spent legs.
18/10 Where's the warmth?
Do I get a refund when Spring delivers constant Winter weather? Feels like 4 half way through October has knobs on it! Commuting to Sanctuary Drive with a hint of an east northeaster, and I had the standard struggle of coming to terms with a mid 30's tempo (but I know it's the perfect preparation for the speed to come). Bruce, Greg, PistolPete, Wozza, Kel, Rocket, Joe (not Tony), Emil, The Godfather and Kreeky's arrival almost guaranteed there's be two rows to tackle the lap at a social speed. I'd hoped it was social, Greg ahead and Emil behind could be quick company (and memories of Saturday's wind still haunted).
Bruce tamed the pace on Mitchell Rd (200+ km at the weekend might be the reason?) so that set a mellow mood to start the week . The usual post-weekend chat bounced left and right, gradually fading the nearer to the pointy end I got. That obsession with oxygen intake at the front would take priority. Greg leveled fairly alongside in Coach Rd and the Broken bridges was already set as my target to roll the turn ; part two to the highway with Emil would be about my limit. (I don't have the long range tank that these young ones have!) A clunky knee was giving me grief anyway - yet another excuse for the head to wave a white flag. It was easier (and faster) to leave Emil and PistolPete to drive Boundary Rd to Old Dookie anyway. Each day gets a minute or two more daylight, today quite noticeable with plenty of orange in the sky rather than low grey clouds ; now for the temperature to do something positive! That breeze at the backside boosted the pace to town though a rare halt at the truck route for traffic put the pressure on to dash to SPC. I was in a hurry for the internal warmth of coffee!
19/10 Teachin' tempo.
Yeah, yeah.....the same old multiple layer insulation for Tuesday too, warm weather will come as a shock if it ever arrives! The squirrel squad was on the stupid o'clock agenda and it's popularity grows ; Joe (not Tony) joining Kim, Emil, Wendy and I for the 40k fling. Once the south southwester was suffered to Channel Rd it should be plain sailing from there. Emil did the standard operational procedure of driving to the truck route, so with five to share the load there was little point for epic turns, so my small donation to Orrvale Rd seemed appropriate. Wendy won the snooker-table-smooth section to the Kinder. An Avanti fresh from a service had Joe (not Tony) performing well to the cypress trees but his command at the front was set to rival Louis XV. Still in the drivers seat at Beckham's and still there at the S bend, he continued with a surge to Channel Rd's end, cooking Kim in the process in second wheel. (A sense of deja vu from a few weeks ago?)
Emil took the reigns to smooth the speed as Kim retreated to the caboose. All were still aboard as Emil signaled his turn done at New Dookie Rd. (Pressure's on Foss, dont f%#& it up!) Keeping the variables to a minimum was easy at a less than supersonic standard, not forgetting it could be close to supersonic for others. That little 1800 metre stretch to Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd was selling myself a bit short, so I (gently) added the 1500 to the main channel. (Bonus points Foss, no cooked Kim!) Wendy kept the tempo tradition to Lemnos North Rd where Joe (not Tony) could try take two. Riding the road's centre while a southwester blew in the left ear was a position The Godfather may take and with no back-light on his speedo, Joe (not Tony's) pace was in the dark too. Emil and I provided a little guidance to assist Joe out of la la land and back on course (Rule #3 suggests it) We'd arrived at Grahamvale Rd so Emil did his traditional drive to Verney and into town where caffeine could be consumed.
20/10 A mid-week mob.
Boof, Lenny, Emil, Grumpy, The Godfather, Kel, Trav, Lance, Bo, Kreeky, Bruce, Rocket, PistolPete and Wozza filled the Sanctuary grid for the mid-week addiction, two lines of lads (and a lass) making their way to Mitchell Rd as I battled an errant (new) chain not keen to keep company with a sprocket under load (better to suffer a mechanical misdemeanor on a social spin than on a rapid one!) Forth in line till the advance line formed found I'd have a long wait till reaching the front. Plenty of chat was to be had in the meantime. If I was easy on the accelerator the chain behaved, so there were moments of dropping off the wheel ahead so I didn't scatter sprocket teeth all over the tarmac. Bo was nearly as slow as me to join the advance (and I'm sure he'd have a hundred reasons why!) The standard circuitry took us via River to Coach Rd and facing the front for some sort of shift would give a hint of contributing to the cause. Not yet though, there was still a few wheels ahead in the advance.
Shenanigans entertained on Boundary Rd as Bo and The Godfather went head to head toward Old Dookie and that probably emptied Lance's jelly bean jar. Rocket played fair alongside me when Lance's shift ended and I'd nearly taken a long aim at reaching Central Ave till thinking an additional drive to Dobson's bridge with Grumpy would blow a head gasket (so a pairing with him to Central made more sense) All this tactical pondering just for a social spin! I'd better write Rule #5 a hundred times! I can't have been in too much distress, I'd recovered enough to put a sentence together (without pregnant pauses) by Dobson's. I've become rather partial to the post ride restitution over coffee and the babble at Butter Factory on a weekday, particularly not needing to rush home to ready for work when time can be better spent sledging Bo!
21/10 Suffer'n sunrises.
It was high time to suffer a single filed slog of the Sanctuary circuit so bid my adieu's to Squirrels Emil and Kim at the shop. Too much social stuff seems to soften! It may have been tantamount to heresy taking PistolPete's first shift to Mitchell Rd but that was my price to pay for arriving at the grid first. (Diving in the deep end helps the hardening up process anyway). With only Pistol, BamBam, Bo, Kel and The Godfather behind, this would be a lap with more than one turn (and that helped the hardening process too!)
Riding bare legged felt foreign and thirteen degrees had blessed us with bearable conditions, though a northeaster would provide hard labor for most of this lap. I've learned to keep eyes off the heart-rate (the reality send signals to the head about raising the white flag) and focus on sustaining smoothness. Commonsense would say to set the speed at achievable but it's probably the weight of expectation that sets the bar too high. Thank heaven the northeaster helped me to Mitchell. PistolPete compensated for his later-than-usual shift by driving to River Rd when he'd dragged us to Kialla Central (more time in rehab for me)
I could regain a few breaths when BamBam headed us into River Rd (he'd climbed the ladder to brave the Sanctuary squad when the bait to tempt Wouldabeens to ride wasn't even nibbled) although Bo was give the captains job a bit before the bridge. Stacked slightly left to right in an effort to cut the northeaster, I felt the pressure to hold my line as smooth and straight as possible with Pistol on my wheel. He's a master at it. I could only try to do likewise. (the urge to jettison nasal excesses would have to wait till being in the caboose again) Bo towed us to the dip and put Kel in command at Trevaskis Rd, her determination driving long toward Rooster corner but gave The Godfather the duty to tow us the last k.
Doing better than Bo got The Godfather glued to the drivers seat on Coach Rd too, and I wasn't thrown an elbow at the Broken bridges, he was all the way to the highway in the swift spirit of one-up-manship. We'd gathered Greg into the fold at Channel Rd. With just enough shelter on Boundary Rd I could go better than aiming at the bridge, shooting for the fig farm was double my usual dismal effort. There was bliss to be back into the draft to be towed to town as the sky dazzled orange behind, those months of winter's testing temperature blown conveniently o.t.a.
21/10 Doc's three (minus the Doc)
Twenty two degrees and sunshine....of course you go out to clock more k's! Breaking the daily ritual of forty five k's is another part of the hardening up process and the Doc's ride would be tame enough to top a ton for the day. (How I'd fair Friday would be the real measure). With a northeaster to battle out to Pine Lodge, the rest of the circuit would be a breeze, so I was surprised that only Frizzy and Chilly turned up in Matilda Drive. Even the Doc was missing! Three players assured an Indian filed format and what I'd rate as a half turn seemed to be the standard ("when in Rome" as they say....)
Frizzy's fairly keen with pace but Chilly seemed to have a taste for tempo slightly slower, so I settled on low thirties with Chilly on my wheel. And didn't it feel weird with short sleeves and short knicks! The sun's warmth has been a long time coming (there'll be complaints about "too hot" soon!) Trust in the wheel ahead can be a risky assumption ; it's become a habit to sit just centimetres behind with the regular and reliable so I shouldn't put that trust in those I don't normally ride with. A sudden uncalled (and un-signaled) freewheel from Frizzy (for no particular reason) came very close to contact, and we all know that bikes (and bodies) break rather easily....even in the low thirties. Maybe I should apply Covid distancing? The effort eased steering south toward Pine Lodge church but Frizzy dialed up the velocity in response. Chilly went silent. I'd been given the lead at New Dookie Rd and the temptation to drive a long shift with a prevailing wind was strong, but playing fair with Chilly's tempo seemed the right thing to do.
With wind still behind in Old Dookie, Chily was happy to lead to the pork palace. Frizzy crept the pace up to Boundary and built to high thirties to the highway so in the interest of Chilly's survival, I applied a little calm to reach River Rd. Another unexplained freewheel and a quick change of line by Frizzy waved the risk assessment checklist at me as he led the last half of River Rd, a half k of calm needed a little more often for Chilly to gather more oxygen. The lap neared an end but a sprint finish was off the menu, the appointment for a caffeine infusion at Degani took precedence over points on the finish line.
22/10 A lap less laboured.
I'd suddenly softened after a 110 k Thursday and with a little more lax in the legs and a suffering sit site, the Wouldabeens What's App chat for a Friday cruise suddenly sounded appealing. (and I had a craving to witness a few emerging from hibernation. Not to taunt, but to encourage. Well, maybe just a little taunt!)
The Kialla Lakes grid was somewhat packet with Laura, RetiredTrev, Nick, Shorty, Pelly, Wendy, BamBam, WhisperingJack, SuperMario, Paul and Joe (not Tony) filling the footpath, and true to form, some (who shall remain nameless) failed to front from last night's commitment. Shorty led the line north at six bells with an enthusiastic velocity to Channel Rd though (captain?) RetiredTrev soon calmed that bold introduction as two rows formed (for convenience of conversation) while I'd scored WhisperingJack's wheel with BamBam behind in the procession.
Elected to the lead crossing Orrvale Rd, I was reminded of WhisperingJack's disposition to half bike anyone who pairs with him, but savored the stress he was under just a k toward the Kinder. The gasps said it all. BamBam co-piloted with me to the cypress trees, clearly enjoying the fitness he'd fostered toughing out the winter laps. (The turns rolled at Jameson Rd and crikey he's a great draft!) It's been a long time between chats with Nick, Pelly and SuperMario (and a long time since they've been aboard a bike!), that little breeze we'd fought from the east nearly ready to treat us to a tailwind home. This wasn't the kit conformity Friday of the Couldabeens, just a few Woulda's in their Life Savers livery flying the flag. My habit to swing west into River Rd was resisted, this mob prefer Mitchell for the course home. I had the same half-bike deficit to WhisperingJack when fronting the business end again, though this time it was a shorter shift, BamBam more than keen to pair with me for a long drive from the dog-leg to Kialla Central. And so the shifts swapped to the highway as I was demoted toward the rear, rejoining the advance line at Roubaix corner to be perfectly placed for the culmination on Conrod (should the mood suit) Speed slowly simmered and shifts shortened, the line drew longer and rising out of Conrod's dip, I was on the front again. I could ramp up the stress on Whispering Jack now (and enjoy the show) but BamBam drew to my right to contend for honors while SuperMario did a sneaky up the inside line to claim an underhanded win.
This week 349km YTD 10,939km
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