Send an email to lancefieldlairs@gmail.com
If you'd like to join one of our rides, add your name in the comments after a ride post, just so we don't show up for a no-ride.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Sunday's Ride
last Sunday ride until next year - who needs kilometres to get to a target? Not me fortunately! One less rider this week as Peter B recovers from his broken collar bone. Lucky he he had a doctor and at least one nurse on hand although what he needed the most was the mobile phone to call the ambulance. Not much for the bike mechanic to do.
Anyhow.....8am in the usual place, all welcome
Andy 0430 448 120

Friday, December 21, 2012

Sunday's Ride
Now that we have Christmas out of the way it is back to 8am start for Sunday. All welcome, tinsel on bicycles now optional. Last chance for a for a Mad Gal coffee 'til next year....
Andy 0430 448120

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Sunday's Ride is the Christmas get together!
Meeting in Sherwood Court for those willing to brave the kilometre of dirt at the start and finish . We will swing by the usual meeting place at around 10am (this will give us enough time to fix any punctures caused by dirt road) to pick up anyone else. Wood fire and gas bbq available for lunch. She-who-doesn't-eat-much-meat (and who now qualifies for a seniors card) will visit the Vic Market for protein for all, so bring some salad, dips, whatever. Any questions? Andy 0430 448 120

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Sunday's Ride

The boys are away for some serious pain - and I'm not talking about MONA. The Annual Seven Hills Dash out of Hobart has more climbing than  the Alpine so all the hill training of the last few months will come in handy.
But on to more enjoyable matters. Join Andy as he reaches 10000k for the year - 8am in the usual place, all welcome
Andy
0430 448 120

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Sunday's Ride
8am in the usual place. Join Janine and Glo for a saunter through the ranges. News flash - Christmas lunch at Andy and Glo's on Sunday the 16th after a ride. We will expect a big turn up and lots of stories of the Great Vic and the pain of the Ash Dash
Andy 0430 448 120

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Sunday's ride

It's on again, we'll keep riding til we get it right. 8am start, now it is summer (for a day anyway)
Andy

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Sunday's Ride

It's on again, still gentleman's hours - 9am start. All welcome, except Lance
Andy

Saturday, October 27, 2012

More alegations

The focus on drug taking has not faded in the past couple of weeks with Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Keith Richards all coming under the spotlight for using banned substances during the Tour de France.
Have decided to leave this week's start time at 9am in case anyone wants to head out for some solo k's before hand.
Let us know if you are keen.
Steve.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

What's been making Johnny so mellow ?

Be interesting to see how far we get before someone brings him up, might even be me.
Heading out from Lannie at 9am tomorrow. Let us know if you can make it.

Steve

Saturday, October 13, 2012

His greatness aknowledged


They say they broke the mould after they made him, we know it was already broken.
Ride is planned for 9am tomorrow morning from Lannie. Let us know if you can make it.

Steve

Friday, October 5, 2012

Good rollup last weekend with half going up Macedon and half taking the low road and all meeting like Mad. Same again this Sunday starting at 9am (daylight saving). See you there.
Andy

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Dear all
Footy is over so may as well go for a ride.
Nine am at the usual spot
Andy

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Ride

Hi gang,

Ride on 9am from Lannie.
Let us know if you can make it.

Steve.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Sunday ride

Hi all,

There's a ride planned for Sunday morning at 9am from Lancefield.
Let us know if you can make it.

Steve.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Of bikes and men

This whole business with between the USADA and Lance Armstrong has been playing on my mind a bit, I won’t lie there have been times when It’s been Lance on my bike, riding away from Pantani on the road between Tooborac and Lancefield and it seems like only yesterday that he looked back at Jan Ulrich after dropping him up a climb the night after he almost chucked in his job because his boss at the water board confirmed his ignorance with every stupid word he spoke.
I won’t go on again about my view on this witch hunt, but yeh, I would be really disappointed if any of these allegations stick or if he is ever stripped of his tour wins but it won’t change what cycling means to me. I’ll still be up in the middle of the night next July watching skinny guys attacking in the mountains then paying for it at work the next day, ‘coz I love it.
Knowing that elements of the peloton have tetra hydra glyphosate coursing through their veins won’t deter me and my pals from riding for half a day in anticipation of some volunteers standing in the middle of nowhere with a bit of fruit cake and some home made biscuits on my next Audax ride.
In a week or so a mate of ours is coming over from Tasmania and I’m hoping to be able to do a few k’s with him and no one’s B sample will mean a rats clacker when we’re talking bull shit somewhere in central Victoria, nor will it take away the joy I get from riding in the beams of my friends lights in the Oppy next March.
On a warm evening next December, when I’m riding in the pelting rain in the middle of a thunderstorm, I’ll still turn to JD or Pete and say “this is the most fun I’ve ever had”. I’ll still be getting flogged by mates that are 20 years younger or 20 years older.
There will be times when I’m climbing Falls Creek and looking on in awe as I watch the guns already coming down and being wrapped to see folk with so much talent, then later in the day I’ll watch the lantern rouge come into Bright and realise what the real meaning of grit is.
I’ll say “sneaky bastard” when one of the lads makes a dash past me on one of the hills on the way in for coffee.
How many hours will I spend riding alone just because I’ve got hours to spare? For a while my son actually believed that RDO stood for Riding Day Off.
The USADA will not be able to strip me of my PB’s on Mt Macedon, even if Joey had already finished the muesli bar he had while he was waiting for me at the top.
I see legends all around me, some days, even I’m a legend...to me.
The antics of Floyd Contaschleck won’t mean a thing as a car load of us head toward Mount Buller to spend a day frying in the sun then enjoy a beer and a laugh on the way back.
No matter what, my bike will always look awesome to me and John’s Jamis will always have me taking a second glance, on weekends I will always have a bunch of mates waiting for me to head out on another ride. I might push Glo up a hill or crack another joke about Meg’s ass, I can’t wait.
I love pro cycling and the heroes of the sport but they are not what makes our sport, our sport makes itself. It is what it is.
I reckon there will be a ride on from Lannie this Sunday at 9am, let us know if you can make it (I’m a bit iffy with the man flu but may be right).
A bit of a reminder, next Saturday means the Audax Spring into Seymour, a few of us will most likely be heading across for that, let me know if you need any details.
Janine is also hosting a ride on and around Mt Macedon, get in touch with her if you are keen to join that crew.

Steve.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

They're back

Our intrepid travellers are all back, come and hear of thier adventutres.
A ride heads out of Lancefield at 9am this Sunday morning, let us know if you can make it.
Steve.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Rock stars still on tour, and weekend ride

Glo flew home yesterday, Ken and I are catching a midday flight to France.

Ireland has been great - people, riding, food, scenery. Reasonable costs as well. In fact the quality and price of food was exceptional. B&b's for 30euro including a cooked breakfast and no trouble getting in.
From Liscannor in Clare we rode north through Galway to Connemarra for a couple of days before meeting up with t&t again. The booked accommodation was pretty awful so we all moved to Donegal before heading to Pettigoe which is on the edge of Northern Ireland. Connemarra and Donegal are fairly remote with lots of undulations but nothing too strenuous in terms of riding. We rode to Omagh in Northern Ireland on one day and another day when it didn't stop raining we drove to the top to stand in the rain and look at the devil's causeway. Northern Ireland accents were very hard to understand, and they had a bit of trouble with us as well!
From Petigoe t&t went to Belfast while we headed back to Dublin. I had a choice of two gears at this stage as my right hand shifter had spat the dummy. Had to work a bit harder and judge the hills better to make sure I didn't run out of steam before the top - was interesting a couple of times but generally made the top ok.
We tried to follow the Royal Canal into Dublin for the last few days but the surface varied from bitumen to grass to mud to large sharp stones so we gave up on it and followed the back roads into Dublin.
Had a couple of days to pack bikes and for Glo to recover before going back to work.
All up 1660km or so in a bit over 3 weeks, one puncture and one lever malfunctioning. Ireland drivers are as good as the French, if not better. Didn't see many other touring cyclists but there certainly are a lot of cyclists riding in the rain in Dublin. Dublin has a reasonable network of cycle tracks as well.
All in all an excellent month of touring. Glo might tell you something different when she gets back but she rode really strongly especially on the hills after her spin classes. We were all getting a bit tired by the last few days.

Now for France.

Andy.

Hi all,

A ride is planned from Lancefield tomorrow at 9am. Usual drill.

Steve

Saturday, July 28, 2012

More from the Moore, Tickety boo

Made it into Liscannor quite late and still with panniers (the theory was Teena and Trevor in the car would be passing at some stage and take our burdens, but they got sidetracked chasing dolpins. So we did our 120k, partly into the wind. Past the links course ($150 to play) to find a great house up on the headland. Decided not to cook so took the last renters' recommendation and went to a nearby pub. Absolutely sensational food, turns out it has numerous local awards and is in the Michelin guide and very reasonably priced.

Long days tend to tire you out so the next day was a 60k ramble through some of the local towns. Stopped off at the Cliffs of Moher which were crowded but very speccie. Weather still cool with periods of rain and still windy.

Next day the weather was awful so I managed to talk Ken and Glo into tagging along with Teen and Trev in the car. First stop was Ennis, busy little town which may have been the origin of the Breens. then further north to the Burren, a fairly desolate area of rock fields. Another fantastic pub lunch with a Guinness as well. Rare to find anything other than G or a couple of German beers on tap although Bulmers cider is usually available. Visited a cave in the afternoon and bought some fudge, not sure what the connection was between the two. Very acceptable fish and chips from the shop on the corner. The South African owner was lamenting the weather - said it had been disastrous for his trade.

Weather was marginally better the next day so we headed off on the bikes. Ennis seemed like a good town to have another look around (car parking was limited to 1hr yesterday). At Ennistimon we stopped to look at the impressive cascades tumbling through the middle of town. The abbey at Ennis was one of the better ruins, but still no sign of Breens! Ken shopped for something for his daughter Clare as the shops were full of County Clare items. Headed back to Liscannor on the back roads but didn't manage to find the right road and rode into the head wind back to the coast. The town of Milltown Malbey was back to its normal self after hosting the Willie Clancy music festival the week before - it was full to overflowing with people and musicians when we rode through on Sunday.

We decided that it was close enough to the 18th of July so had booked the restaurant to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Andy and Glo played themselves as did the best man and brides maid (Teena and Trevor) and Ken filled in for everyone else. And a great time was had by all.

Next day the cunning plan was to ride to Doolin, get a ferry to the Aran islands and then get a ferry up to Rossavear in Galway. Unfortunately the Rossavear ferry was not taking bikes any more after an engineer died somehow due to having a bike on board. . Plan B then was to ride around Innismor, ferry back to Doolin and then ride back to our lodgings at Liscannor, up a very long nasty hill that we thought that we had said goodbye to forever. On the way back Teen rang to say they had had a collision in the car and wasn't sure if it was driveable. In the event they got back to Liscannor just after us but would need to change the car at Shannon the next day.

Fortunately both Trev and Teen were ok.

Andy.

There's a ride planned for tomorrow (Sunday) 9am from Lancefield. Give me a hoy if you can make it.

Steve.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Posts from the travellers (and tomorrow's ride)

Andy has been in touch from Ireland reckons you guys should here about it...

In Kilkenny at the moment. Gets light very early so I have decided to sent some emails as the dawn chorus of gentle snores waft around the hotel room.
Weather has been very Irish. Soft rain, and a fair bit of it.
Siobhan met us at the airport and we found a very interesting singing/crying maxicab driver. Quite bizarre! Repairable damage to the bikes. Fine on arrival but soon started to rain as we looked for James Joyce, phone sims and something to eat. Dinner was 'home cooked' in the unit.
Wednesday was bus trip north to Tara (meeting place of Celtic kings) and Newgrange (oldest known manmade burial mound in all of the world - 5000+ years old. Very interesting history. No rain on the trip. Fish finger sandwiches for dinner. Yum o.
Thursday was lots more walking and even a free walking tour of Dublin, even stopping at the stature od Thomas Moore, poet and no relation. Ken managed to make contact with us and we found our airb&b apartment run by yet another eccentric Irishman. Another home cooked meal for Siobhan (who doesn't have to spell her name here!) Teen and Trev arrived on cue so we went for another walk, savouring the day light which only starts to dim after10.30.
Friday morning the cyclists went for an hour's spin around Pheonix Park then we all headed over to Trinity College to look at the book of Kells. In the rain again. You get used to it. Thursday was quite a nice day and Dublin was packed, tourists and locals filling the streets and shops.
It all happened on Saturday. Siobhan off to Nice early (experienced traveller that she is, she didn't need her parents to wake her up). We did walk her to the bus stop (not far) and wave her goodbye 'til France for me anyway.
Packed the bikes, bought a bike rack for the sag wagon which t&t picked up from the airport. Then we had no more excuses so just before midday we joined the Dublin cyclists and headed from the Wicklow mountains. Fortunately I couldn't find the route I wanted and we ended up skirting the Wicklows. It was still hilly enough for our loaded bikes. Lunch in the sun at Enisskerry before heading down to beautiful Glendalough and St Kevin's ruins. T&t had organised b&b accommodation. Post ride Guinness was the first one we had earned. Only 55k after our late. Lovely dinner in the mellow evening.
Ditched the panniers into the back up Megane and heads down for the day. Glo forced us to stop at Avoca at the yarn mill and for a look at the Ballykissangel set. Overcast with lots of soft rain. Used some very minor roads today and managed to stay on track but finished on the N10 into Kilkenny. Cars wait for us on the narrow roads, once again much better than back home. Made the hotel at 6.30 with 123k on the computer. Some short steep stuff on the secondary roads but otherwise undulating.
Will send the gear on to Glencar and ride unencumbered today as well.

This weeks mail…..

Kilkenny was a fascinating place, perfect little laneways and lots of very imposing churches for our after dinner stroll. Earlyish start in the morning with a couple of laps of the town to show Ken St Canice's church and then to find the way out. More soft rain made us wet for the morning. Lunch was toasties and hot choc in a pub in Urlingford. More rain meant no views all the way to the very impressive rock of Cashel, another old church/fort. Managed to work out how to fit the bike rack to the car and fit 3 bikes with racks without doing too much damage to anything and then it was off to the wilds of the Kerry mountains. Arrived at the foot of Ireland largest mountain around 8. Turned on heating and Ken lit the sodding fire to give us a bit more wamth.
Still ordinary weather the next morning so did some sightseeing with t&t as well as hitting the free wi-fi cafe and doing a bit of shopping for food. The house was so remote that our internet connection did not work. A guiness at the Glencar local was enough to encourage G and I to walk back with a few diversions along the way (dogs, pubs, very dark forests, tracks that did not go where they should have etc). Had to call for the rescue vehicle. Ken managed to get a few k's done on the bike.
Wednesday was the big one but we didn't realise it when we headed out past Lough Caragh. Lovely downhill to the Ring of Kerry. Stopped at a bike shop for a very grumpily delivery of a piece of cable outer. Another big lunch in a pub and then down to Valencia Island at the end of the Peninsula. Took the ferry to Knightsbridge then cruised around the slate quarries and various cliffs. Over the bridge to Portmagee and absentmindedly turned right instead of left. Great views of the cliffs, the Skellig islands and Puffin island. Turned right again for a monster climb which ended with us all walking up, and we didn't even have panniers! Back to the main road and a stop for a cup of sweet tea before the last 40k back home. We were not looking forward to this because we had already driven it and it looked bloody hard, and was. The pass was only 304m but we had come from sea level and had already ridden 100k's. Freezing cold on top after a reasonable Irish day. Celebrated with a G at the climbers inn. Then home to find Teena putting tea on the table.
Thursday provided shitty (that's Irish for wet-Steve) weather again for our planned trip to visit Liam's parents in Leap. The prospect of 80+k into a headwind over two passes made the choice easy. We would all take the car. Had a great lunch with John and Maureen, as well as afternoon tea and a tour of the local highlights.
Friday, we gave Teen andTrev a night on their own and we were back to the hard work of riding with the panniers. Early start meant that we did 40k in the rain to Tralee by midmorning for our toasties. Back roads were undulating to the ferry at Tarbert across the Shannon River. Ten more k to Buggles b&b in Kilrush - 100+k done by 4. Lots of hedgerows, off and on drizzle, no Australian drivers to be seen!
Early breakfast was at 8am so the weather had cleared by the time we rode out of town. Give the troops the choice of direct route (50k) or the route taking in Loop Head (100+k) and they decided on the later - couldn't say I didn't warn them. Wandered through various fishing villages, the closest pub to New York (Keating's) and back lanes to eventually get to the lighthouse at Loop Head. Celebrated with an apple and more back roads to Kilkee for a late lunch in a holiday town with the beach goers doing there best in what were fairly ordinary conditions. Top temp of maybe 18 in summer. Brrrrr.

Andy

Ride is on at 9am from Lancefield. Let me know if you can make it.
Steve


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Awesome to ordinary

What a week at Le Tour, far more crashes than I'd like to see, you really want to see the best man win not the most lucky or the least injured.
Cadel has really landed on his feet at BMC, you have to be impressed with the way the lads are looking after him and their tactics so far.
I'm a bit worried about the time Wiggins will make on our boy in the time trials but Cadel is still my pick to win.
I'm a bit bemused with the Lance Armstrong witch hunt, it's never been a secret that I reckon he's a bit of a god, and I'd be devastated if anything is ever proven to show him a cheat, but I'm keeping the faith.
Whats the go with this stuff the Dutch papers are saying? Assuming it is true, how is it that the fab four could only get a six month suspesion, which won't take effect till the off season for admitting to taking drugs ???
This shows how desperate the USADA is to get Armstrong, even if he is a drug cheat (did I say I think he isn't) it's a bit like giving Charles Manson an Indian arm burn in the hunt for Jack the ripper.
Anyway, there's a ride planned for the TDF friendly time of 9am from LANCEfield tomorrow. Let me know if you can make it.
Steve.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Does my bum look big in these?

A while back when we the Lairs were doing the Flat 400, Aiden and I made a pact now known as the “got your back pact”, it came about when, much to Aiden’s dismay I bought a bread roll covered in poppy seeds at one of the control points, his concern was that as we would be the focus of the Audax paparazzi, what if, in one of the photos my million dollar smile was a virtual mouthful of full stops formed by all the poppy seeds stuck in my teeth. My response to him was that I was confident that he would tell me if such a situation should arise, saving me from any potential embarrassment caused by such a lapse in standards, thus the birth of the the pact. We then discussed this further and recognised the many other potential disasters that plagued the lycra clad endurance celebrity.
The traps are many for those who dare drop their guard while on a ride, snot on your shoulder from a wayward bush blow, chamois cream on the front of a bloke’s nicks (boy he really enjoys his riding) or the latte moustache. There is a horror which surpasses all these things, one thing that can spoil a ride not just for yourself as the enormity is only fully realised when riding with others, it is..see your crack through your nicks syndrome.
I have ridden with people who have suffered this scourge, riding behind him or her and wondering if a heads up would be a welcome part of the usual bunch chit chat, “hey Mary, I can see your ass through your nicks” may not be the thing to say if you want to be friends for life.
Last weekend the wheel had turned full circle for me and while Aidan was not on this particular ride His old man and brother where and the pact bore fruit. “I can see your ass through your nicks” said the guru, “but only when the sun shine on them” (normally the sun is shining from the other direction).
We were already well into our ride and I was well and truly exposed, literally. Mate and Adele were riding off the front and I was thankful Meg wasn’t around coz’ after all the ribbing I give her about her.... I had nothing, it was too cold to take my jacket off and tie around my waist so I/we had to ride this one out, harder for the gang than me.
So, from this I guess you need to ask yourself what you would do? Would you tell a mate or maybe a stranger the bare truth, you could use it as a form of trash talk during a crit.
As an aside, Aiden was the one that recommended those nicks to me in the first place, I've only worn them a handful of times and I think I suggested them to Leigh.
What are your nicks like at the moment??
Andy, Glo and ken are heading off to Ireland for a cycling holiday on Monday, have a great trip.
Steve.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Cascade 1200

Peter Moore is over in the US participating in the Cascade 1200 click here for general riders progress, you can also follow his progress (times etc.) via a spread sheet by clicking on this link.
The photo shows Peter (right) standing beside brothers, Andy and Barry.
Steve.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Sunday's ride

Hi gang,
Rides on 9am in Lancefield.
Let us know.
Steve
7 more sleeps...Go Cadel

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Drugs in cycling

Hey gang,
Ride is on for 9am Sunday from Lancefield.
Topic for discussion will be doping, since the USADA is retesting every blood sample going back to the bronze age, they have decided to take a good hard look at the guy who invented the Penny farthing whom apparently was high whenever he rode it.
Let us know if you're in, and we'll bring an extra hit.
Steve.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Rules for lady Cyclists


.
On 21st June 1895, the Newark Sunday Advocate ran the following article:
The Unique Cycling club of Chicago is all that its name implies. One of its laws is that on all runs bloomers and knickerbockers shall be worn, and two members who disobeyed this rule recently met with a punishment that they will not forget soon. Union park was the rendezvous for the last run, and 50 members turned out. The president, Miss Bunker, observed two women wearing short skirts over their bloomers.
“Take the skirts off,” ordered Captain Bunker.
“Indeed we won’t,” was the reply.

A crowd of 200 had collected to see the start. The president and the captain held a consultation, and then, taking several strong armed members with them, fell on the skirt wearers and stripped them down to their bloomers.
“It was done in all seriousness,” said Mrs. Langdon. “The club’s rules are made to be kept and not to be broken. Why did we take off the skirts in public? For no other reason but to make examples of the offenders. They publicly defied our rules and were published accordingly.”
44 DON’TS FOR WOMEN RIDERS
New York World 1895
Don’t be a fright
Don’t faint on the road
Don’t wear a man’s cap
Don’t wear tight garters
Don’t forget your tool bag
Don’t attempt a “century”
Don’t coast. It is dangerous
Don’t boast of your long rides
Don’t criticize people’s “legs.”
Don’t wear loud hued leggings
Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face”
Don’t refuse assistance up a hill
Don’t wear clothes that don’t fit
Don’t neglect a “lights out” cry
Don’t wear jewellery while on a tour
Don’t race. Leave that to the scorchers
Don’t wear laced boots. They are tiresome
Don’t imagine everybody is looking at you
Don’t go to church in your bicycle costume
Don’t wear a garden party hat with bloomers
Don’t contest the right of way with cable cars
Don’t chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private
Don’t wear white kid gloves. Silk is the thing
Don’t ask, “What do you think of my bloomers?”
Don’t use bicycle slang. Leave that to the boys
Don’t go out after dark without a male escort
Don’t without a needle, thread and thimble
Don’t try to have every article of your attire “match”
Don’t let your golden hair be hanging down your back
Don’t allow dear little Fido to accompany you
Don’t scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers
Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know
Don’t appear in public until you have learned to ride well
Don’t overdo things
Let cycling be a recreation, not a labor
Don’t ignore the laws of the road because you are a woman
Don’t try to ride in your brother’s clothes “to see how it feels”
Don’t scream if you meet a cow. If she sees you first, she will run
Don’t cultivate everything that is up to date because you ride a wheel
Don’t emulate your brother’s attitude if he rides parallel with the ground
Don’t undertake a long ride if you are not confident of performing it easily
Don’t appear to be up on “records” and “record smashing.” That is sporty.


‘Rational dress’ for cyclists
When Annie Londonderry embarked on a circumnavigation of the globe in 1896 (to settle a bet that a woman could not cycle around the world), she soon discarded the corset and heavy skirts considered acceptable sportswear at the time in favour the more liberating athletic bloomers pictured below.
 
The rational dress society statement of purpose reads in part: The Rational Dress society protests against the introduction of any fashion in dress that either deforms the figure, impedes the movement of the body, or in any way tends to injure the health. It protests against the wearing of tightly fitted corsets, of high-heeled or narrow toed boots and shoes; of heavily weighted skirts, as rendering healthy exercise almost impossible.
However, the bloomer made enemies with women wearing them complaining of being ridiculed, fined, and even treated “like a prostitute” by local authorities.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Sunday's ride

If you not away on the long weekend then we'll be meeting at the usual spot on Sunday - gentlemen's hours 9 am start. Possible ride on Monday as well. Oh, and a wheel building class on Sunday arvo if anyone is interested let me know Andy

Friday, June 1, 2012

Beauty and the beast

The girl and I headed out a couple weeks ago in an attempt to tame the beast down the road.
The map doesn't tell you much and in fact it's only a short ride but the detail it has no chance of showing is the effort she put in, or how I felt when she made it to the top and slumped over her handlebars unable to get off her bike, in fact I was choked up, mostly because I reckon the main reason she was so determined to get up was to impress her dad.
At about 600m in length it averages out at about 10% but I reckon the first third would be somewhere near 12-14.
There's a ride planned for Sunday morning at the winter softy start time of 9am from Lancefield. Let me know if you can make it.
While we're talking beasts, during the first stage of this week's Tour of Luxembourg there was a great display of some vintage Jens Voigt, when asked about his late attack he came up with some classic Jens, "It felt like the good ol' days with Jensie off the front, everyone chasing from behind, people hating me because I'm attacking all the time…….It was beautiful," he said. "Like I always say: 'It's better to be on the giving end of pain rather than on the receiving end'."
Hope to see you Sunday.
Steve.




Saturday, May 26, 2012

A chance to race in Le tour de France

Start training tomorrow, from Lancefield at 8am in the usual place.
Let us know if you can make it.
Steve

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Non contact my arse


My first shot at a 600 obviously gave me plenty of time to think and one of the many bits of mental lint that lodged itself in the virtual belly button of my brain was that regarding cycling a non contact sport was not taking into consideration the amount of time ones arse was in contact with ones cactus, I mean saddle. Your hands and feet aren’t exactly swimming in a cloud of down either.
Heading off from Geelong at 6am the weather forecast which had me thinking about pulling out earlier in the week seemed a little askew, in fact I was surprised to even see the sun once it came up.
The route instructions which came in one of Peter Donnan’s (ride organiser) emails during the week was to keep the ocean on your left all the way to Warnambool then on your right all the way back, and an impressive ocean it was, waves I dreamt about when I was a youngster with a surfboard.
I rode most of the first 110km to Apollo bay on my own till I met up with Jim Chant then Frank joined us in Lorne for the rest of the leg to the first control.
A short stop then I was ready to head out with a good mate, George Judkins. From here, things started to get a lot more like the forecast had threatened and scary-strong head and cross winds increased with gusts pushing us from the white line on the shoulder to the middle of the road, praying we would stay upright and that a car was not coming our way. The rain also made things a challenge leaving the road slippery but my new jacket was working a treat in keeping me dry.
The first real climb for the trip came just out of Appollo Bay the next was the longer climb to Lavers Hill where a break and something warm to eat was very welcome.
Unfortunately on the leg to Port Campbell it was difficult to enjoy the great scenery as for a lot of the ride,we spent most of it hanging on just trying to stay upright.
We got into Port Campbell for the first time as the light was fading, however the bleak day was soon put aside by the warm welcome we received from Peter, Eileen and Joan at “base camp” in the backpackers.
Port Campbell was decision time for us as we were doing the sums as to whether it would be wise to head back out into those conditions and six of the eighteen justifiably decided it wasn’t, in fact had this not bee my first shot at a six I probably would have given the thought of pulling out much more consideration.
George and I Joined forces with Ian to ride the 70 ‘ish kilometres to Warnambool in increasing and at times heavy showers, and have I mentioned the wind. At one time we took shelter under a tree just for a bit of respite from a particularly heavy downpour. The glow from the lights of town seemed to taunt us for a long time dancing from our left to right but rarely being out of view indicating that this section of road had lots of turns but was also quite flat.
Warnambool was a particularly welcomed control as it meant coffee and the turn around point at just a bit under half way. The break from the wind was short lived as it swung around to more of a southerly making trip back to PC only slightly less challenging. We were joined by Ken Morgan however as it was mostly impossible to work together through fear of being blown into one another, at times almost being brought to a standstill so a fair gap between bikes was necessary .
At about 350km arriving back at PC meant our longest break and an hour and a half in a warm bed. Not a deep sleep but more of a blissful trance which I only ever seem to have when sneaking a nap on an overnighter.
After the breakfast of Italian champions-lasagne we were back on the bikes at 5am and heading inland to Timboon for a 50km out and back. It was somewhere along here that had me recalling the movie Cujo with the bark of a huge beast as it came thundering towards us seemingly wanting to take us all and bury us in the back yard of the farmhouse from which it came…this was no Kelpie looking for lost sheep, it wanted to eat us. But before it chose first course we seemed to call its bluff and perhaps the sound of four blokes trying to sound threatening and telling it think again (the think words that start with Fu and ends in off) had worked or maybe it was just put off by me crapping myself.
In Port Campbell for the third and last time I was feeling in good shape, knocked off a tin of rice cream and was back on the bike within half an hour. This was the leg I was most concerned about, I was worried about how I would feel making the ascent to Lavers Hill but now, after having ridden about 450K’s and the fierce crosswind which had given us so much grief on the way out. Thankfully we rode well through here and on to Apollo Bay but the dreadful wind did live up to my expectations and seemed to take more out of me than the climbing.
I later heard that one rider had been pushed into the steel railing on the side of the road twice, the first he was able to stick out his leg to stop himself going right into it, the second he wasn’t so luck and his bike hit it but he was still able to stay upright and finish the ride with no real damage.
I hit my only real flat spot for the ride in the last few k’s into Apollo Bay but the ever faithful Gorgeous George helped me to rally and limp into the control for a spell and a good feed and back on track for the last 112km to Geelong.
We rode the last leg strongly stopping in Lorne for a nice feed and a nature break before getting on with it. There were still times we had the wind bouncing of the hills and pushing us across the road toward the sea but we were learning to pick the corners and valleys where this was occurring and braced ourselves for it.
As we turned the corner at Urquharts Bluff we finally got the tail wind which had been teasing us all day and it carried us through Anglesea and to Torquay where we would head south to Geelong where we had to see a bloke about a brevet.
George led the way into town and had us at the Kardinia café to be met by family and great friends.
It hurts to say it but I was wrapped Andy was there to see me come in and great to see Carol and the rest of the crew to welcome us home. Familiar faces after a tough ride are to be treasured.
I quickly made the call to home and let them know I was back in the sheds safe and sound, I know they wait for that call when I’m out doing my thing, and I have to say I kind of like it.
I am yet to have done a ride which has been better organised, especially in terms of support and the warm greeting we had at each control. It was very much like arriving at my mums place in respect to the wonderful food and welcoming folk whenever we rolled up for refuelling and a good place to rest.
Thanks to ride organiser Peter Donnan, the champ Eileen, who looked after us so well and listening to my gibberish at 2am when she could have been tucked away in bed, and the wonderful Joan for all the great support, food and "the recipe".
Thanks a heap too to my mate George for his great company on another ride and to Ian and Jim and Ken whom I also shared parts of this ride with.
I’m writing this four days after the ride and still, my arse is grass, having the biggest saddle sore I have ever had and a much needed ride is completely out of the question, sitting in my lounge is hard enough.
Well done to all the other folk that took part in this ride, especially Andy-congratulations on your' record.
It was great.
I didn't take the camera with me so have relied on other folks happy snaps of the area. Thanks George and the other people on the internet.
Steve.