A brilliant spring Monday arvo begged a lap to blow away weekend cobwebs, and wanting a tailwind home, I set forth on a Byrneside-Merrigum-Lancaster-North Mooroopna lap for the sake of change. Into the NNW wind on the Midland Hwy there was a bit of a draft from passing peak hour traffic (odd waves of 5 or 6 cars heading home), happy with a decent pace to Durringhile Rd (a Strava 3rd overall), just needed to weave past two dead snakes, three dead fan belts, a deceased Dunlop and a trailer load equivalent of loose stones to Byrneside. The billiard table smooth stretch of Merrigum Rd was a Godsend for the gluteus, carved through the Merrigums' bustling night life (one dog barking) and on to Lancaster, the northwester regretably grinding to a halt, denying me a tailwind home. The Baron's old house Karlsruhe was lit up by the setting sun, the long dull 13k stretch of tarmac to Echuca-Mooroopna Rd was hardly inspiring. I used the left wheel smooth groove (when traffic allowed) rather than the ragged emergency lane (rough as hession undies), any advantage taken to minimise drag, seeing the wind had let me down. Focussed on the rhythm rather than the goal, the long length of grey track soon ending for a turn southeast to Mooroopna. Felt a bit cool in short legs and sleeves with the temperature dropping 5 degrees, clever move to wear a base layer. Mooroopna' s aroma (water treatment plant) soon filled the nostrils but thoughts on smelling dinner drove me home. Plied the streets to the bike track and tapped home, a Strava suffer score of 190 justified extra dessert.
Joined Wozza for the commute to the Couldabeens start Tuesday morning, always faster than I'd do solo but readies the heart rate for the stress ahead. We caught Jase on a similar route, joining Nick, Shorty, SuperMario, Cougar, AvantiTrev, Rocket, Kenworth, Temple, PistolPete and ChrisA at the carpark. AvantiTrev and Cougar took the first shift, allow limbs to limber in a light NNW. A steady build up to the usual pace took half of Channel Rd, the pairing of Pistol and ChrisA spread silence as most put their heads down and tails up in Boundary Rd. Plenty of energy went into matching Wozza at the front, glad SuperMario was just a k slower when he drew alongside me. The usual g'day to Blacky as he sailed solo east on Mitchell, a rapid stop for traffic at Central Kialla allowed us a brief breather. Plenty of room was given passing a bike bloke weaving a weird path, Rocket and Kenworth keeping the pot on the boil to the highway only to be halted for another traffic intermission. Kenworth dipped out of rotations at the horse stud, my turns shortened with legs lame from Monday nights indulgence. Rocket, Chris and PistolPete lit the afterburners in Conrod straight, it was a suprise to see Kenworth renewed & lunging to the lead as Pistol ran out of beans. Jase pushed his limits, I took pity on the exhausted Pete to offer a tow, the four ahead just way too good to challenge. A solid lap done, a blinding rising sun along Raftery's roadworks as a challenge home.
Sold short on the first day of spring with the temperature at 2.8, the multilayered rigmarole of base layers, arm warmers and gloves still to endure. The cool certainly takes the breath away rolling out the first kilometer, a westerly kept the steering focussed on the 6k run to the Kialla roundabout. It was a mid week mass to deal with, PistolPete, Cougar, AvantiTrev, WhisperingJack, Trav, Wozza, AvantiChris, Rocket, Temple and Feltmat had lined up, honorary members Coggo & Choppy aboard to swell numbers. FeltMat grappled Garmin gremlins but we got underway at 6 to bear south, I was relishing the trip to Boundary but resenting the hard work home. Wozza's high octane breakfast had him metres ahead in Mitchell, then I had Rocket to match, thankful the tail wind was assisting. Wizz drove the HurtLocker single filed and early to Central Kialla, not till River Rd's dip did we see the Cat pack. AvantiChris served his first sentence on the front in Boundary Rd, nicely paced without expiry, let's see if he's bitten by the competitive urge in the weeks to come. Cougar had an inspired dip at train driving, taking the tough headwind leg into Channel Rd. The Pistol and Wozz combo had no let up to the cypress trees, plenty of kindling to dodge from last nights gusts. The westerly built to shorten my turn for the Cha Cha, head down to gain some draft behind the low Rocket. WhisperingJack saved his finale for the Bonanza, pushing the big gear to shake off another of his retirements.
Another gathering with the Goats for Thursday, a diversion to a different microcosm of fanatics, battlers, speed demons and characters, vintage and modern from all walks of life with a different perspective and method that puts a little variety in life. A large gathering of the usual villans were treated to Hommy's serve of sarcasm, the suprise addition of Sootie, Comet and Stace built a peleton of 18 to crank out the clockwise circuit. Plenty of contributors to a solid shift on the front kept the scenery blurring by till a few retirements started in River Rd, at least a dozen shared the task to Central Kialla. An oncoming car took to the roads' edge in a shower of stones for a big WTF moment, wondered what the hell for a millisecond till a red ute shot past from behind with a few inches clearance. No rego number noticed unfortunately, but Armageddon avoided. I missed my spot in the rotation (as did others) coming to terms with the possibilities, thankfully all surviving unscathed. Heart rates had settled by Mitchell Rd, the business of driving a peleton back on the agenda to the highway. By Roubaix corner the serious contenders reduced as the hangers on grew, the 7 volunteers left working the front at Arcadia Downs fell into my payback strategy left (hung out to dry) from last week. I skipped a couple of turns at the start of Conrod to a draw a breath or two, jumped onto Sootie's wheel as he went to the front, then hit the gas at the pointy end to shake the barnacles off the rear. A jump with 400 metres to go was a little premature, but dug deep to hold 50 for as long as my lungs would allow, enough it seems to gap the bunch and take the chocolates.
Running late to meet the 5.50 Friday Kialla start had the valves bouncing into the headwind on Wyndham Street, but made the grid with 30 seconds to spare, joining Rocket, Pistol, Temple, WhisperingJack, Cougar, Shorty, Chops and AvantiTrev. A steady lap till Pistol Pete and Whispering Jack paired to compare cadence, much thanks to a tailwind that all survived. Choppy drew HBK comparisons when his turn came to match Pistol, but the tempo finally simmered for all to enjoy the circuit home, a day off gave the rare chance to enjoy Friday caffine with the crew at the Scottish restaurant to end the week.
Week 40 269km YTD 11,153km
Word of the Week
"Doonapped" (verb) Captured by warm bedding and held to ransom for a higher temperature
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