The joys of June

 Post #702

17/6 Not so spicy.

A little fine tuning got the chain to shut up, now to stop the old engine whining about the feels like two! (Stopping the knee knocking with any sort of acceleration would be nice too). The treat was a serene start to Saturday and a tail wind to Sanctuary Drive with Tina, finding Wozza, Bruce, The Godfather, Bo, PistolPete, the 5ft Ninja, Rocket, Troy, Julz and Greg forming for a lap, capped at a conservative 35.  A winter handbrake on hurry seems timely and Julz' return from a fortnight off wouldn't want a rush anyway. Wozza and PistolPete kept the ride restrained to Mitchell Rd, the northeaster silencing chat on the turn toward Central Kialla.  The Godfather had manoeuvred to Bo's wheel in the advance - what could possibly go wrong?   

By chance, those with watts drove the hard metres into the wind to River Rd.  The call for restraint had little effect on the mischief makers leading at the dip - off in their own little world ahead of the bunch and oblivious to the wind direction.  The 5ft one and I held station while Julz was guided to shelter at the rear.  PistolPete repaired the gap in the pack to re-unite with the oblivious ones near River Rd's end, logic deciding to split the squad at rooster corner.   

(Troy, Greg, Julz, Tina and I choosing to cruise while others continued on).  The distance to Old Dookie Rd was needed for Julz to be able to utter a sentence......and there's the argument for the affirmative to soldier on through Winter's worst. (Just two days off two wheels starts a struggle for me!)   A rabbit's random run of the roadway toward the Toaster was as entertaining as Bo and The Godfather judging wind direction. Relief finally came turning west with the wind (almost) behind, Troy bidding his adieu's to catch the faster faction.  It's been many moons since sentences were possible at the front (speed seems to prevent this pleasure) so the 14k's to Mt.Wanganui was a stress-free social spin for a change. 

Strangely, Rudd Rd needed extra effort to sustain speed till the softening sensation of a deflating tyre gave me the reason for poor performance.  A sliver of glass halted progress for repairs (In Emil's absence, lucky me was spared the gospel according to tubeless).  Conversation on shipping containers, Nutcracker syndrome and navigating the Sunshine Coast punctuated an Eighty8 breakfast. 

20/6 Willy's chilly! 

Facing minus one needed all the insulation layers from the cupboard, a deep breath and a certain amount of stupidity to get out the door on Tuesday.  I'd pulled the pin on Monday's forecast (but could have squeezed in a lap as it happened), so the urge to clock a few k's was strong.   Wendy, Emil, Tina, Jen and BamBam had shown their fortitude (or foolishness?) fronting for a squirrel circuit; this would be Tina's last lap before a Queensland escape and Jen's return from a week away.  

Preserving protocols, Emil baptised us to 35's toward the truck route, certainly an invigorating introduction to the joys of June.  I had doubts of reaching his standards for the 1300 metres from Doyles to Orrvale Rd but the surprise was speed wasn't the struggle I thought it would be.  Memory placed me at the roads' centre, avoiding that ever enlarging pot-hole at the school (yet another obstacle to stick in the skull to keep rides upright)   The 1500 metres to the Kinder was under BamBam's charge, Tina driving the next 1300 metres to the cypress trees, Jen lasted 1600 metres to the S bend so Wendy finished the 1200 metres remaining of Channel.  A 4k spell in the drivers seat by Emil made less work for the rest of us and towed me to Old Dookie Rd for my 1500 metre sentence to New Dookie Rd.  

Lungs weren't so happy extracting oxygen from the chilled atmosphere.  A fortnight's dedication to regular rides had BamBam in form to drag us the 2 k's to Lemnos Cosgrove Rd. Tina's 1400 metre drive to the bridge needed a brief break for blood sugar adjustment, Jen getting the job to reach Lemnos North Rd 1400 metres beyond. An elbow from Wendy after her 3k shift to Grahamvale Rd put Emil in charge for the 1200 to Verney, so naturally he took on the 2300 extra to Balaclava Rd, feels like minus three and the red light welcoming us there. 

21/6 A foggy fellowship.

I'd expected more than PistolPete, BamBam, Emil, Troy, Kreeky and The Godfather to line up for a a lap on Wednesday but another minus one probably put a few off. Tina and Bruce escaping to warmer states and Wozz, Boof and Greg on the sick list trimmed the team to a single filed line as Pistol steered us south at 5:40.  Third wheel (behind Emil) had thrown me in the deep end early.  Contrary to the Bureau's observation of calm, it felt easier to the left of Emil's wheel, so I guessed a westerly might be a help on the way out (and a hassle on the way back).   I was pleased Emil kept his enthusiasm to 36's; lungs wouldn't like anything more and sitting second wheel was turning me second hand on his 2k tour to Central Kialla. 

A few glances at the Garmin delivered good news on the drive to River Rd; the old engine was holding 35's with some consistency and thankfully fog was blurring the heart rate numbers (what you don't know can't hurt you, right?)   Kreeky did his duty to the bridge, Troy extending his shift a k beyond the dip ('cause he can!)    Not to be out-done, The Godfather towed us all to rooster corner.  BamBam took a cautious approach to the Broken bridges with eyes peeled for wildlife, Troy and The Godfather with lights aimed left and right to widen the scope. I got greedy for oxygen at the slightly slower speed.  

Pistol was handed the reigns at the second bridge and of course stayed on in the lead beyond the highway (Emil not so keen on the pace through the fog but I had every faith in PistolPete's 20/20 vision).  A drive to Central Ave was an odds on bet for Emil at the front in Old Dookie Rd so I psyched up to take on the drive to Dobson's, downloading a heap of h.t.f.u. to further the aim at the truck route. Kreeky's burst of pace toward SPC didn't help the recovery but the diversion (roundabout roadworks finally underway) via Mitchell and Williams did.   

22/6 Four times hotter than yesterday!

Two minutes ahead of schedule has become the standard lately; not to allow for extra layering time (that has the alarm set five minutes early anyway!) but it's to allow the poor old engine some warm-up time.  Expecting any sort of speed at the end of the street is a joke - legs and lungs are barely ready for social speed at Sanctuary Drive!  Four degrees almost felt tropical, though a southeaster forced the "feels like" to 1.6 (Look on the bright side Foss, that's still four times hotter than yesterday!)    Officially beyond the equinox, it can only get better from now.   

Molly was the surprise return in Rae street, joining Wendy, Emil and Jen for Thursday's therapy.  Numbers were better than I'd expected.   Preparing to drive the usual second shift was cancelled; Emil had extended his turn to Orrvale Rd, so getting the cruise to the Kinder with the comfort of smooth tarmac was a treat, though an 18 sprocket would have been nice; (the choice was spin at 93 rpm on the 17 or grind at 78 rpm on the 19).  Molly chose the caboose for her comeback so second last was my berth while Wendy took the reigns to the cypress trees.  The drive to finish off Channel Rd seemed easy for Jen.  

That southeaster had swung to a northeaster for our path north, so wasn't Emil a good boy to stay in the lead to New Dookie Rd. (those 1800 metres to Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd were testing enough for me, even at social speed.)  I could understand Wendy turning up the tempo to Lemnos given the breeze behind but there were no casualties recorded.  Jen had calmed the pace a little half way into Ford Rd and just like Tuesday, Emil took on the drive to Verney and the southbound spin to Balaclava too (but predictability is a good thing while we charge around a few centimetres apart in the depths of a dark winter). 

23/6 The Friday few.

With stomach satisfied on toast and coffee at stupid o'clock, it would be so easy just to crawl back into bed!  Yet another grey winter's morning did it's best to discourage anything outdoors ; a fresh northeaster blew a "feels like four" across the damp tarmac, sparking memories of Malcolm Fraser's July '71 quote.  I reckon it was addiction that dragged me to kit-up and face the grey, that wind at least easing the effort of 10 k's to the start line.  Friday's ride had all the appeal of a proctologist's appointment with only Rocket, PistolPete, Boof and Emil parked at the roundabout, the thought of "sitting on" rather appealing till the h.t.f.u. kicked in. 

Starting at fourth wheel meant my first shift would be into River Rd with the wind at the side rather than head on. (In this quick company they'd have to tolerate my tame tempo). Free entertainment arrived on Pistol's first shift to the truck route, The Godfather's (orchestrated?) arrival scoring maximum draft at the back.  Emil's 36's eastbound to Central Kialla set the expectation, a rather damp Mitchell Rd keeping the speed sensible.  Rocket's horsepower rose to the occasion for the northbound leg to River Rd but the suffering at second wheel wasn't the best introduction to my appearance at the front.  

I'd reached the bridge with some things still in focus, Boof having no difficulties (post spicy cough) in driving a k beyond the dip while I gasped a very slow recovery.  As we've come to expect, wind direction was of little interest to The Godfather on his haul to rooster corner, the tail-end in the gutter seeking shelter.  Pistol provided a proper path through "kangaroo alley" to the bridges and beyond, though his tempo was toasting me (I'd rather be toasting myself in a warm bed!) I had no doubts that Emil would drive the distance to Old Dookie Rd into the wind, the want for more oxygen on my wish list at third wheel. (Yep, there'd be two turns today Foss......get over it!)  Legs burned and lungs laboured behind Rocket's shift to Central Ave so a short drive to Dobson's bridge might be the safest bet for me to survive.  Finding 36's on the Garmin when the backside berthed on the Fizik gave a little inspiration headed toward the bridge and a (perfectly timed) passing truck made the motivation to reset my target at reaching the truck route (if lungs didn't burst beforehand!)  The roadworks short-cut via Mitchell and Williams meant a shorter squirt into town, so I survived the fling at 44's to finish with the five (like I was actually a part of the team!)

This week 261km

YTD 6,627km