A fairly fresh 2 degrees Saturday morning, but 14 turned up for a lap. Mostly the Tuesday/Thursday bunch again, 5 of the other "Mr Whippys" leaving early. (caught 'em at Numurkah Rd, some very keen to join in the sprint after their snoozy ride. Go figure!) A light south-easter took the slack out of the legs up Mitchell Rd, but Boundary and Ford Rd was kinder. Stayed back for the sprint, enjoyed watching others tactical manoevres instead. (your devious moves & weaknesses have been noted!) A respectable 32.5 av. As a departure from the usual Butterfactory visit, enjoyed a slap up feed of eggs, bacon, sausages & pancakes at Bo & Kel's with most of the team attending. Nice hospitality. Plans of a Mt Buffalo ride chewed over. (Mmm, will have to clean the cobwebs of that small chainring! Does the front deraillier work??)
Fee signalled a circuit for Sunday, so at 7 i joined Sootie, Stace, Coogs, Bart, Hayles, Meags and Princess, even the resplendant Bourkey turned up out of the blue. (the jaw cadence was incredible!) A nice 35km tap around and back to Friars in the belief another was to join in (but didn't front). Noticed a few goats taking the soft option of coffee before a ride (and coffee after too!) A 2 minute pause, then set off for a toaster loop, bringing up 94km before 10am. A great steady pace by the masters of s-m-o-o-t-h , nice to get a good distance ride in after so many 40's and 50's in the past months. Rewarded the effort with Friars caffine and scrambled eggs, albeit squeezed onto the end of our 'reserved' table (cheeky freeloader goats!)
A gloomy damp morning Monday, but the tough Princess, Bart, Scotty, Mino, Coogs and Goose braved the elements. A nice gentle wind up after the weekends k's was appreciated, still posted a decent 32av pushing through the soupy atmostphere. Beat the Cats home and only missed the train by a minute. The weather grew steadily worse through the day, nice to have a night at home. Just as well, cleaned the bike...again!
Tuesday mornings weather wasn't brilliant but 8 Couldabeens were keen to roll out. A north easter made Channel Rd a bit challenging, though Bo, Matt, Glen and Rob had their special breakfast powder..............gunpowder! By Boundary & Mitchell it was heads down and hang on, the lure of two distant tail-lights was a magnet for the young guns. My sneaking suspicion it was the Rabbit & his sidekick Scotty came true, we managed to mow them down by Arcadia Downs (but my legs were protesting) Couldn't find a reason for such a push until the spongy rear tyre symptoms kicked in*. Bugger! Just getting ready for the sprint too. Weapons Glenn & Rob honoured the crew with a fine spanking of Scotty & the Rabbit. A Couuldabeens record of a 35.7 too. (*tiny bit of glass in the cut from last Thursday's nail)
Only 7 waiting at the hospital car park Tuesday night, but numbers swelled dramatically further out the road. Mike did the usual slow down on the front, so i lit a fire under 'em when i got a turn at the pointy end. So many more joined in and by the Emu (yes, it's alive! back tending the lambs in the corner paddock) we had nearly 30. Had Nev beside me for my next turn on the front , a kind E -NE breeze made 40 achievable. Silence in the bunch meant most were working! By Mitchell Rd it had gone to 44km/h (where's a 56 chainring when you want one?) and very silent! The big guns lit the fuse at Arcadia Downs and i missed the jump, stuck halfway down the order. Happy to finish 7th, even happier to enjoy a FatYak and a feed after. 36av over 45km aint bad for this old fossil.
Thel sound of rain at 4.30am Wednesday was pleasing. No riding and a decadent sleep-in till 6.30. (lazy eh?) Clean the bike again! By Thursday a.m. rigormortis had nearly taken over, so a gentle 20kms loosened up the joints. Rain again Thursday night, so worked out with a horizontal static pilates session on the couch. Wound up the week with a great P&W lap Friday, nearly a full set of quick chicks to bring some real class (and quality viewing) to the bunch. Chaddy, Sootie, Princess & i, spoilt by Meags, Erin, Hayles, Coogs and Stace. The Rabbit lurked 400 metres in the background most of the lap (something wrong with our deodourant?) and attacked in the last 200. A good team ride, lots of laughs too.
Despite the wet week, 381km 14058 calories (Hey Matty, 54 pints of Guinness and a bag of chips!)
33.2 average.
Quote of the week "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride" (John F Kennedy)
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