Post #621
27/11 Repeat prescription.
You know that moment when a hundred reasons not to ride flood your head? The wind howled most of the night and thoughts of riding in it brewed nightmares. Snap out of it Foss!, choosing the soft option gets you nowhere (it might be good Wouldabeen's training though) With extra h.t.f.u. spread on toast and a couple of spoons of motivation in the coffee, I faced Beach Rd again ; the same menu of a tail wind to Port Melbourne and a head wind back to Mordy didn't help motivation but experience yesterday gave me the great idea of saving a bit more in the tank for the return this time. Today's wind was worse than yesterday ((I tried to ignore the figures of 28-54 km/h)
The Mordialloc tarmac was fairly bare at 6am, maybe the suburbanites had listened to the wind? Well, I could set my own pace today and not complain about the fitness of others. It didn't take long to find ones and twos northbound lapping up the luxury of the tail wind into to the city, the Strava segment trophies ripe for the picking in these conditions (but would there be demons to deal with later!)
The music of Craftworx symphony in C minor (playing a movement by Michelin) with the accompaniment of a new chain on a new close ratio cassette was candy for the ears while Garmin displayed some very satisfying numbers. A few (younger types) passed me by city-bound, so that didn't crush the spirits, me passing others kept some hope I've not quite reached the use-by date yet. (This Beach Rd thing is certainly a good measure of your worth ; all types ply this path, from the athletic to the pathetic!) Plenty of weekend warriors worked south while I spun the suburbs of Black Rock and Hampton, sensible lads and lasses sharing the hurt around, with the joy of the tail-wind home as a reward. Here's me going against all that logic! Traffic lights weren't so green today though a few moments waiting at reds kept me out of the h.r. red zone. Into St.Kilda ahead of expectation, I plotted a path around the Formula One track (Albert Park Lake) to put some interest into the u-turn ; an aperitif for the hurt to come as it happened. The back straight was brutal, the pit straight was bliss!
A roll back to Port Melbourne prepared the head for the hurt, the reality facing it on Beaconsfield Parade tougher than I'd expected. That south southeaster seemed to funnel up Beach Rd too, just a little respite with taller buildings offering random windbreaks. The clever ones were grouped in threes and fours to share the load, the unfortunate few (like me) stuck in the wide open spaces between the swift and the snails.
The first of the (subtle) ascents came at Sandringham and most know of my displeasure tackling anything uphill. To add insult to injury, those warlords of weather gave me wind gusts of 50 km/h! I'd at least honored Rule #90 by staying in the big ring. It's a humbling experience turning yourself inside out to keep mid twenties on the speedo, so seeing a couple of others almost at walking pace gave a bit of perspective on performance. Beach Rd turned a little more easterly at Black Rock, just as that wind shifted more easterly (those warlords at work again!) but Beaumaris was better, Beach Rd turning a little south, so buildings (of questionable architectural taste) gave a hint of shelter. Mordialloc isn't much to look at but it looked great today, Tour de Cafe was open and a second slice of banana bread took some of the hurt away.
29/11 Facing Monday's music.
Take a Sunday off and the legs and lungs forget what to do! The old engine was struggling Monday morning, though I took a guess that in twenty minutes I'd be chatting away in the bunch with high 30's on the speedo, maybe doing a k or two at the front as well! (there's some strange things going on between those ears of mine) Lenny, Greg, PistolPete, Kreeky, Bo, Wozza, Rocket, Kel, Emil, Bruce and The Godfather made up the squad at Sanctuary, the front page news being PistolPete only led to the truck route (Wozza and Rocket did the drive to Mitchell) Two rows turned east toward Kialla Central in the relative comfort of ten degrees with barely a puff of wind to fight. That's different! I was right, The Godfather and I were chatting away merrily as Bruce ramped up the pace toward 40. Yellow was the flavor of the day, Emil and The Godfather kitted as twins, Kreeky and I costumed the same too. Bo kept legs busy to River Rd, The Godfather and Emil pairing at the front at the dip. Effort was on an escalator at second wheel, a breeze had sprung up just in time for my leading role to rooster corner. (Was The Godfather slowing for my benefit or weren't there any biscuits in the barrel?) Either way, I wasn't complaining!
Tina was now in tow and co-piloting with Kreeky on Coach Rd evaporated my energy quickly, the tank felt almost empty with the Broken bridges still 1200 metres away. Done like a dinner 50 metres shy, my last gasp was to call Kreeky across, Greg then drawing alongside, keen for a chat. (I gave him "Not.......talking........dying!" in response). Kel and Kreeky made it look easy to forge on to the highway, but all my drama was forgotten by then (oxygen had cured me). An elephant stamp to Greg driving a Boundary Rd shift the day after a none-too-subtle 170 k's in the hilly stuff. PistolPete, Wozza and Rocket provided the Old Dookie Rd pace (how come the horsepower happens to line up together?) with the breeze at the backside helping the hurry. A brief halt at Central Ave for traffic then back on the gas again.......if I could get a cleat engaged! That extracted the extra effort to get back aboard, the thought of going o.t.a. so close to town delivered a few extra watts I didn't know I had!
30/11 Smooth school.
Tuesday was a carbon copy of last Tuesday.......almost. Again, there was a squirrel conspiracy (as a benefit to Kim and Tina's recovering knee), the same players and a similar temperature to tap to, even the order (Emil, me and Kim) stayed the same to start Channel Rd. But what's this? A smooth stretch of hot-mix had covered that three star cobbled-like surface! Was someone listening to our grizzles of a road rougher than hessian underwear? (we'd go soft riding this stuff too often)
Emil did the standard drive to the truck route so to keep to routine, I did the bit to Orrvale Rd and on to the Kinder. A subtle hint of a south southeaster didn't tax Kim's tempo, her shift smooth to the cypress trees where Tina turned up. And the Tuesday schedule ran to order ; Emil to Channel Rd's end and up to the highway, I did the 2.7 to Old Dookie and gave Tina the task to New Dookie, Kim continuing to Lemnos-Cosgrove Rd. Same old, same old you may say. Emil seemed keen to turn up the wick pointed toward town and with a quiet word to Kim of his intention, slowly squeezed the accelerator. No knives were thrown and I didn't hear a cuss between breaths, so I set a similar pace when given the front seat in Ford Rd. Tina took over at Grahamvale Rd, Kim setting the smoothness south into Verney to make tracks to the Butter Factory in the craving of caffeine.
1/12 Harnessing hurry.
It's been a long time coming! Summer had finally arrived and a proper summer morning came to greet us. Five minutes to kit-up beats twenty minutes of wrestling with multiple layers of insulation, sixteen degrees with a slight breeze is what we've waited for for nearly six months! Not an arm or a leg warmer was seen at Sanctuary's start and 110 fingers were exposed for the 5:40 getaway. (Rocket, Wozza, PistolPete, Bruce, The Godfather, Kel, Kreeky, Bo, Greg and Emil all in finger-less gloves) Even Kim had braved the Sanctuary squad for social Wednesday, but had Rocket and Boof remembered the cap on velocity? 38+ on the Garmin said not. (The Godfather's loudspeaker hollered a reminder)
The sky lit up for the start of summer (how long will it be before there's grizzles of too hot?), Pistol & Bruce heading us to Central Kialla at a more settled social speed. The flood of recent Black Friday sales had worked ; lots of new kits were on show but Pistol's Pedla threads stole the show. Boof was back aboard the old Scott (the new Focus in the pits already with brakes on the fix list) and Kreeky's Movember mo was still aboard too (no effect on his aerodynamics). The Godfather still provides the in-flight entertainment and Greg still clocks up the k's in Tour de Cure preparation. Bo and The Godfather paired for the last 1500 of River Rd (weren't these two meant to be playing separately?)
Tina arrived and Greg lined up for his (part one) shift to the Broken bridges then rolled across. My drive alongside started with a struggle but got easier on the smoother and slightly downhill from Channel Rd to the highway. The want for wattage alongside Wozza was strong, and before I knew it, high 30's became the habit to live up to expectation (it's a daunting drive beside this sort of horsepower). Thankfully, Rocket sent a memo on the social standards needed. (Wozza and I pointed blame at each other. It's always the other guy that sets the pace isn't it?) Tempo had tamed when Rocket and Wozz dragged us to Old Dookie Rd. There was more easterly than the forecast northeaster by now, so the social speed cap was tossed aside for the westbound way to town, Kim competently clinging to the caboose. Boof and PistolPete served up the velocity to the truck route but traffic split the squad ; the leisurely roll to SPC while the crew re-convened made it a less-labored finish.
3/12 A Cat among the Coulda's.
Friday (kit day) had lured Lenny, Bruce, Wozza, Boof, Rocket, Kreeky, Emil, PistolPete, The Godfather, Kel, Bo and Greg to the grid, only lil' Jodie out of uniform being a Cat (with a conflict) on a come-try-the-Couldabeens ride. Into the south southwester didn't trouble the tempo of PistolPete and Bruce who dragged us to Mitchell Rd and most of the course from there had prevailing wind to help. Lil' Jodie played the role of observer from the caboose. (maybe that's where I should have been?) Tina arrived at Rooster corner to join in, and here's me under a misguided belief there'd be an easing of pace to accommodate her recovery. As if! Fast forward to the Boundary Rd bridge, just two minutes after my earlier growling bear impersonation, all that torment and thoughts of the underwhelming performance were history ; it was time to sledge Bo for his short shift (his masterstroke in avoiding the side wind in Old Dookie Rd) beside The Godfather. Kreeky, Emil and Boof had no dramas in driving west (they must have those special Corn Flakes?) and the uninterrupted crossing of Central Ave kept the inertia spiced up. Lil' Jodie was still aboard for the dash to SPC, the rubber band effect at the back quite strong through the intersections and corners toward the coffee conclusion.
This week 241km YTD 12,717km
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