As rough as hessian underwear!

 Post #638

19/3  The tranquilizer for torment.

Coffee, toast, h.r. monitor, base layer, knicks, socks, arm warmers (yeah, winter's closing in), jersey, tool kit, tube, $, phone, gloves, helmet, shoes.   Right on time.  Now, just the bike.  Damn! Flat front tyre! (I know someone that's having a chuckle right now)   A quick but quiet fix (don't wake the significant other at stupid o'clock!) and get out the door Foss  (Crikey I'm late!)    I doubt Emil would wait beyond the agreed 5:35 rendevous but went via the meeting point anyway.  (Not a soul.)  I'd need a dose of heads down, tail up with 18 minutes to cover the 10 km through town, but wouldn't need escape velocity to do it.  Just a considered pace if I was to have something left in the tank at the starting grid.  

The stars had aligned to give me green traffic lights all the way and thanks to the usual practice of leaving home early, the leeway had given me a minute or two's grace.  A Sanctuary Drive arrival at 5:59 was a relief and allowed a moment to stock-take on oxygen.  Kreeky, Rocket, the 5ft Ninja, Bo, Lenny, Boof, Molly, PistolPete, Wozza, TatMat and TatPaul formed for the 6am start, the numbers seemingly in steady decline, like the temperature.  It's a foregone conclusion that PistolPete would lead the line south and I'd found a berth between the Ninja and Molly as the order got sorted toward Mitchell Rd.  With several of the regulars missing it was good to have TatMat and TatPaul on board, aside from some new conversation, they'd reduce our workload a bit (although TatPaul looked to be under a fair load at the front) 

Time to earn my keep came at the Midland highway when the Ninja moved up a rung, though her shift was short calling me across at Boundary's bridge.  Molly had shied from fronting so I had PistolPete as partner for part two (and what a gentleman he was to stifle his speed to my poor pace)  A thin figure ahead turned out to be Weapon in search for the Wouldabeens, but defected to join in and become an honorary Couldabeen.  I'd made it to Old Dookie Rd without doing a Chewbacca impersonation ; just as well 'cause Pistol and Lenny were keen to get to the Toaster lickety split.  After yesterday's 100, the old legs were a bit rubbery but second wheel to Pistol's tempo soon provided the tranquilizer (I think it's called numbness!)   Wozza and Rocket kept the hurry up on Pine Lodge North Rd (I'll blame the south southeaster) and from there the speed seemed set in stone.  Molly, TatPaul and the 5ft Ninja had confined themselves to the caboose.

That long drive west on Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd passed quickly, Tat Paul taking the Verney Rd escape route as we approached civilisation. I was beside TatMat from Verney to Numurkah Rd then with PistolPete to Wanganui's water treatment plant (a perfume that'd curl the nasal hairs) and that was my limit of labor, remembering the need to have something left in the tank for the Lenny and Pistol performance to come.  Movement to Mt. Wanganui was brisk.  The bolt along the Boulevard tested the legs and lungs, particularly testing the head when Rocket drew the line single filed with speed (note race face in top picture)  The Ninja dropped off the back to roll in with Molly (now o.t.a.) and I began to lose grip of Boof's wheel as low 40's for the last km wore away my willpower to hold it. A red light at the town hall got me back in touch with the pack that had stopped there, so I was gifted a sense of finishing as part of the pack.  The rise and rise of real estate and WhatsApp censorship made the noise at the Butter Factory breakfast table. 

21/3 Comin' 'round the mountain.

New routes to ride was the motivator to get out of the holiday bed on Monday.  There was no bunch for company so the fresh courses around Castlemaine provided some enthusiasm to get wheels rolling at six (not so stupid o'clock on holidays!) Google maps showed me a clockwise circuit around Mt.Alexander (746 metres) and there was a little early effort with a climb to Harcourt ; only 34 metres of elevation but hey, it's steeper than River Rd!    (It's all about ignoring the speed and managing the heart rate for this flat-lander)  Climbing continued to Harcourt North and so did dodging the skippy's bounding about as light barely lit Mt. Alexander's outline.  Glad I wasn't climbing that 'cause I'm still getting therapy for the last time I did! (a nasty 10%'er for a couple of k's)  Sutton Grange Rd at 6% got me gasping though, the groans to get enough oxygen scaring the kangaroos away. 

The descent was the reward but there was caution on the curves on this unknown road in the dark.  Google had pointed me right at the intersection toward Sutton Grange but a k later the tarmac ran out and corrugated gravel replaced it! (how appropriate that the Strava segment was titled "WTF is this?")  It should only be about 2 k's worth, maybe worth enduring - the gravel converts like Bruce and Wozza rave about the dirty habit so I suppose I should see what all the fuss is about (probably not the best introduction on slick Michelin's at 110 psi though!)   

Baum's ti frame took some of the shock so I guess my dentist will fix the dislodged fillings!  The 'roo's weren't welcome while I tried to hold the crown of the road, corrugations aplenty, ruts and wash-outs to avoid, less I have a horizontal malfunction.  Sight of the tarmac on Sutton Grange - Bendigo Rd was Christmas come early although a bit more climbing was on the menu for the 17km to Elphingstone.  The sun made an appearance though I wasn't so keen to see the climbs to come.  Eventually to Elphingstone, the path to Castlemaine was familiar, a little uphill on the Pyrenees highway to score the 7 km downhill back to base (and that'd bump the average speed up from dismal)  The incentive to empty the tank through Chewton and into Castlemaine wasn't just driven by the delight of a downhill to savor, there was a long black and palatschinken at Das Kaffeehaus to savor.

22/3 Where the &#@% is Yandoit?

I looked for a box of Kellogg's Enthusiasm at the supermarket but they tell me there' issues with it's supply.  Shame, I needed a big bowl of it without a bunch to provide motivation.  On day two of solitary confinement I reverted to the blindfolded finger on the map trick for some direction, and it showed Mt.Franklin.  Elevation on the menu again. The southbound start on the Midland was a struggle, coping with the uphills before sun-up is a bit of a stab in the dark, without seeing the summit it's hard to pace yourself and fearing expiry before getting to the top puts you in conservative mode.  No complaints, it was just me to keep up with.  Through Strathloddon and Guildford the short but steady uphills eroded the ego a bit for someone expecting low to mid thirties glued on the Garmin (a legacy of living on the flat stuff I guess).   The silhouette of Mt. Franklin was a bit of a strain to see with the sun still yet to rise but I did find the road to Newstead in the half light of 6:45.  That 50 minutes of more up than down was history for a while, quite a few k's downhill elevated the abilities for a while and there was even a breeze at the backside to help.  

I'd memorized Franklinford and Clydesdale to check I was on course but where the &#@% Yandoit was I couldn't say.  Maybe it was an intersection that blurred by or possibly that little derelict telephone exchange at the roadside? The view across the rolling hills to Hepburn Springs as the sun rose with the fog settling in the valleys was a decent distraction, beats all that flat stuff on River Rd!   The reality of the uphills had returned approaching Strangways and that's when I turned from north northwest to east, bound for Guildford.  The helmet wasn't so tight now that  high 20's became the norm and I was free to gasp and groan on the sharper climbs without alarming a bunch (although the sheep and cattle were giving me odd looks)  Groans turned to sighs back into Guildford for the 12 km back to Castlemaine, the road mostly flat (with some slight descents) so the speed was at least satisfying at the finish.

24/3  Trial by temperature.

It's a treacherous thing to lay in a warm bed as the temperature sinks to single figures, the risk of succumbing to slumber cocooned by a doona's warmth is high when you're 30% into Autumn.  That voice in the back of the skull reminded me of yesterday's weakness sleeping in and there'd be a great sense of achievement to wallow in at the ride's end......it's just Castlemaine's cold and the work to do first that had my handbrake on!   Silly enough not to pack a winter kit, I substituted a t-shirt for a base layer and braved feels like 5 in short knicks.  It'd keep the cadence up!   Today's course was clockwise, west to McKenzie hill (a 3-5% heart starter for me) then northeast to Maldon for 13 km.  A south southwest breeze chilled the bones and plenty of ruts in the road firmed the grip on the bars and punished the posterior. ( Can't have it too easy Foss or everybody would be doing this!)  There's no cars to compete with before 7 but kangaroos were commuting early, 1700 lumens from the CatEye acting as a good repellent thankfully.  

Maldon was still asleep when I went through in a northeast search for Porcupine Flat, now almost climatized to the cold (though the sun-up was about to steal another couple of degrees)    Fogarty's Gap Road is another road as rough as hessian underwear, 16 kilometres worth of 3% up (and not a lot down).....and that did little to help the head.  Walmer (half way to Harcourt) consists of four houses spread over three k's so traffic wasn't an issue here either, the steady rise to Fogarty's Gap raised the engine temperature but the air conditioning came on quickly for the 8% descent.  Not the nicest of downhills with ridges, pot-holes and the draft from passing trucks so speed was cautious in the effort to stay upright.  The Old Calder Highway (now "Harmony Way") downhill to Harcourt bumped up the average (and the chill factor), and another 7 km on the A300 back to Castlemaine (at a 0.5% descent) finished up 48 k's with that assured achievement I promised myself.......now for the thawing out process!  (The Das Kaffeehaus Viennese breakfast helped)           

25/3      Feels like four Friday morning struck me with another case of the CBF virus.  Temperature and holidays had softened me twice in a week! (Time for more concrete in the diet)

This week 219 km    YTD 3,354 km