Saturday's ride

Last chance for a lairs ride until next year. Early start to prevent sleep-ins (don't want to get too soft) and to avoid the heat - so we will meet at 7am in the usual spot.
cheers
Andy (who has his 10,000k with a couple of days to spare)

Jingle all the way

Knowing how much food was ahead of me in the next few days I felt I needed to head out for a short ride this morning.

With the promise of 30+ from the weather bureau and the Family coming up from Melbourne, I wanted to be out earlyish. I only did an easy 30k but felt that was plenty as I've had a pretty busy week both on and off the bike and the body is telling me it's time to cool it for a bit.

I paid Macedon a visit on Thursday morning, Johnno was there on Tuesday and I believe Kerrie and Janine were there doing some not so secret training yesterday-not so secret x 3 I'm told, it has gone from a place where you would rarely see another bike to a hill wou will rarely climb alone.

The next week will be a pretty easy one I expect, we will be going away for a few days amongst all the festivities that are thrown in at this time of year, may even do a ride in Cadel country over Ocean Grove way.

So, have a great Christmas gang, if you're good, you may see Dave in January and hi to Meg and Pete in a far away Canada.

Steve

Sunday's ride

Hi gang,
There's a ride on Sunday, 8am.
Steve.

Sunday's Ride

After a few weeks of other activities, it's on again. Usual place, usual time (8am), usual routine (ride until we find a coffee). Lets hear all the stories of Great Viccy, Audax 300's and almost 'jumping the gun'. I can swap stories with everyone else who didn't ride a 600 last weekend!
cheerio
Andy

Perfect world

Being on my bike lets me get away from the challenges that a week in an adults life presents. It's a bit of free therapy. So it would be nice if the Rednecks would just leave me alone for that precious bit of time out that I have.
I try to work out why it's necessary to harass the likes of me/us and why it is that we are seen in such a poor light. Are we slowing people down, are we being reckless, perhaps we are drinking your coffee? I know many motorists just don't like to see us on their road and I guess there is a bit of envy when we seem to be enjoying ourselves or just getting fit when folk are feeling guilty about that last ciggy and packet of chips they washed down with a can of fizzy stuff. And I haven't forgotten about you blokes trying to impress your mates in your souped up piece of shit.
Of coarse some folk are just pricks and hate seeing people having fun.
I just wish they would leave me alone.....Go and pester the dickheads that watch reality TV shows and the judges on X Factor- oh, that's probably you.
I'll try again tomorrow. There's a ride planned for the Summer time of 8am from Lancefield, let me know if you'll be there.
Steve

Sunday's ride and 10 times around the bay

Leigh completed his 10th "Around the bay" last sunday and I asked if he would mind putting up a post, Check it out.
There's a ride from Lancefield planned for 9am tomorrow morning, let me know if you're coming.(sorry about the layout, site has gone a bit dicky)
Steve.


Leigh's Around the bay

I did the 210km distance Melb-Frankston-Sorrento-Ferry-Geelong-Melb with
Ewan and a friend of his from Point Lonsdale named Lindsay who is 71 and
doing his first ATB. Ewan and I were doing our 10th (5 each way including the 250 each way) having both done our first in 2002, although not together. I had just been riding for a short time at that stage and
did my first 3 on a hybrid.
Ewan stayed at my place on Saturday night and we left at about 5.00am
Sunday to get to the 6.00am start in the Alexandra Gardens. Normally
Ewan and I would not go to the official start as it is chaos, but as
this was Lindsay's first he wanted to experience the whole thing.
We parked in North Melbourne and rode to the start which was at the Swan
St bridge in Alexandra Ave., arriving at 5.45am where we met Lindsay and
took our place in the 25-29 av. speed group. When we looked up the road
there were hundreds of cyclists in front of us in the 30-34 and 35-39
groups. It then became very frustrating as we had to wait for all of
these riders to go off in waves of about 100 in 4 minute intervals and
this meant we didn't actually cross the electronic start line (this was
a timed event with tags on our bikes) until 6.45am which is about 90
minutes later than usual for us. The only positive for this type of
start is that we were able to ride at an acceptable pace down City Rd to
Beach Rd whereas the last time I started from there it was almost
walking pace for the first few kilometres.
Once we reached Beach Rd we were able to up the pace and cruise along
in the low 30s. The wind hadn't really got up at this stage and the
going was pretty easy all the way down to Frankston. We had stopped at
the first rest stop in Mordialloc for a refuel and again at Frankston.
We had averaged over 28 kph to this stage and the wind was starting to
get up. We climbed Olivers Hill comfortably with me leading the way as I
had a lot more k's in my legs than the other two. We rolled through the
undulations from Mt Eliza to Mt Martha and tackled the only real climb
of the route up Jacksons Hill just before crossing over the Mornington
Peninsula Freeway. It was at this stage we got a couple of brief showers
as we turned into the wind and headed into Dromana and another rest stop. We refueled and proceeded to tackle the last 20ks into the wind along the foreshore though Rosebud, Rye and Blairgowrie. It was here that Ewan, cunning old bugger, tagged us onto the back of a tandem and we managed to cover the next 15ks in the high 20s. Unfortunately they pulled off and we rode the last 5ks under our own steam. We arrived at Sorrento at 11.05am having dropped our average to just over 26. There
seemed to be a stuff up with the ferries as there were none coming or
going. We got our lunch of a chicken sandwich, an apple and a piece of
cake together with a bottle of Powerade. As there was going to be a long
wait for the ferry most of the riders laid or stacked there bikes
against each other in the queue and went and ate their lunch on the
foreshore. The first ferry was at noon which was the big one and we just
missed. We managed to get on the smaller ferry at 12.30pm which had me a
little worried as it was an open deck and the rain clouds looked like
they were moving in. Fortunately they didn't come our way.
The crossing of the Heads to Queenscliff was pretty uneventful and we
arrived at 1.10pm. We then rode to Ewan's place in Point Lonsdale (the
route went past his back gate) where his wife Donna had made us some
savouries, fruit cake and a drink. We left there at about 2.00pm and
then started the hardest leg of the day as we headed up Shell Rd toward
Ocean Grove into a very strong SW wind and our speed dropped down to
about 20kph or less. As we turned north into Grubb Rd for a bit of
welcome relief we were met by Lindsay's son and family. After a brief
chat we headed off again and turned back into the wind along the
Bellarine Hwy where our speed dropped below 20. It was not long after
that I got the biggest fright of my life as my rear tyre literally blew
up. I thought that my day had come to an abrupt end, however I was able
to do some temporary repairs with a sleeve and a patch from my repair
kit and only pumped up the tyre, which had a large gash, to 50psi. This
got me as far as the rest stop in Geelong, but I was doubtful it would
get me the last 80ks. Fortunately the Trek van was there and I was able
to get their last 700x23 tyre for $40 which was all I had on me.
We headed off up the Geelong Rd and eventually onto the freeway. I put
the spinnaker up and cranked the speed up to 45-50kph. I had been
waiting all day for this massive tailwind and when it arrived it was
absolute bliss. We sat on this speed until the next rest stop at Little
River where again we refreshed ourselves before heading back into the
slipstream up to Werribee where we turned off the freeway before
stopping at the final rest stop. Back on the freeway once again as we
sped along to the Laverton exit and turned off through Altona and up to
Brooklyn along Grieve Pde where I expected to get back on the freeway.
However, as it was now about 6.30pm we had missed the cut off for the
Westgate Bridge and were diverted along Geelong Rd. The signs then
pointed to Francis St which I know has no bike lanes. This is part of
the route for our regular mid week ride so we stayed on Geelong Rd and
and turned down Somerville Rd which does have bike lanes . We caught up
with the ATB route once again and headed into the city along Footscray
Rd and through Docklands. However this is where the signage disappeared
so we found our way back to Alexandra Gardens along Southbank and eventually onto Alexandra Ave via City Rd where we crossed the finish
line at 7.15pm.
This was one of my latest finishes of all my circumnavigations of the Bay, but due to lots of stops, long wait for the ferry and the late start. However, I did manage an average speed of 26.5 and a ride time of 8.08 and an elapsed time of 12.30. The actual distance was 214kms. I felt pretty good at the end and I think this was probably my best ATB in terms of food intake. I haven't used gels on the ATB before, but using these together with some muesli bars, endurance tablets and electrolyte tablets in my water bottle I finished quite strong. Although there were a few problems and frustrations I still enjoyed the ride, particularly as Ewan, Lindsay and I stuck together and kept each other company and supported one another the whole way through. Would I do it again? Probably. Would I go from the official start? Definitely not.

8am Start

Hi all,
There's a ride planned for tomorrow at...8am.
Let Andy know if you are planning to ride.
Oh yeh, and congratulate him in completing another Melbourne marathon. Glo also completed the 10k and Siobhan is also awesome because she finished the half marathon. The boys had to wash their hair, so couldn't make it.
Steve.

Sunday's ride

For those of you interested, the Tour of Beijing has been on SBS 2, it's on again tonight at 9pm. Last night's stage was pretty good with a sprinters finish.
There is a ride planned for Sunday morning @ 9am.

Over it

It's a fickle time of year, for every perfect spring day you get far too many cold wintery days for my liking, it's hard to get into a pattern. In winter, I just know it's going to be crappy and don't get my hopes up for anything else.
After the weather we had just a couple of weeks ago you start imagining being able to put the longs away for the season and enjoy the sun for a bit, but I know better and give myself a mental slap back to reality. I actually didn't go for a ride twice this week coz' I let it get the better of me (soft) then I end up getting grumpy for not going, so I'm just about to head out for a quick one, there's a bit to do around home for anything longer.
I don't do cold well and struggle to imagine what it would be like as a cyclist in other parts of the world where cold is really cold, I imagine I would turn all my efforts to maintain my fitness to something like wood turning.
Bring on the days of squirting people with your bidon.
Tomorrow's ride starts in Lancefield at 9, let us know if you're in.
Steve.

Sunday's ride

Hi gang,
Ride planned for 9am Sunday morning. Let us know if you can make it.
Steve.

You'd have to be crazy 17/9/11

Hi all,
Tomorrow we plan to run an Audax permanent brevet from Lancefield to Bendigo and back, it's a 200 and can be done by any Audax member.
You don't have to do all of it though, you can just do part of it as the Lairs ride.
We will be ON THE BIKES at 8am, so be there a bit early if you want to do it as a brevet and start with us.
Please give me a ring if you plan to ride.
Sorry about the late notice, bit of a last minute decision.
Steve.

Ride

Just a quick reminder to those of you planning to do the Spring into Seymour next Saturday, register your intention to ride with Carolyn via the Audax website as soon as possible.
There is a ride planned for this Sunday 9am from Lancefield.
Steve.

The Long Rocks Run

Hi Gang,
Since the Audax Green and Gold Challenge had been cancelled, I have been asked to step up and organize a ride in it’s place. So I’ve come up with the “Long Rocks Run”.
I have been meaning to get off my behind and put a bit back into the club, since I have been lucky enough to enjoy quite a few brevets now.
Audax is a great club and has a lot to offer the likes of us and always throws up a great challenge on the many rides that are held through the year, pretty much every weekend.
While the rides are a terrific to be part of it’s fantastic to ride with many of the great people that participate in these rides. For those of you who are yet to do an Audax brevet, you don’t know what your missing.
The ride will be held on Saturday 10th September from Lancefield and consists of 50 and 100km ride options, through what will be to many of us familiar territory and those who are yet to ride in these parts a great opportunity to see some beautiful countryside.
Highcamp, Pyalong, Mt. Macedon and Hanging Rock will be the main attractions on this ride.
If any of you or your mates would like to join in let me know by the Tuesday before the ride. Check the Audax website for more info and registration details : Click here
Cheers,

Steve.

Sunday's ride and one for the diary

There is a ride planned for Sunday morning at 9am.
Come along and you may get a chance to shake the hand that shook Cadel's.
Let me know if you aren't up the snow and can make it for a ride.
By the way, a mob of Lairs will be heading to Seymour on the 3rd of September to do the Audax, Spring into Seymour ride. Distances are 150-200km. Register with Audax if you would like to tag along. This is a great ride and has become a regular on the Lairs calendar. I think most will be doing the 150.
Steve.

Has it been a year already ?

Yep, was swooped big time last weekend and again during the week. They're here and they're angry. But they don't eat much.
Ride planned for 9am Sunday morning in Lancefield, let us know if you are intending to put in an appearance.
Please attach some cable ties and wobbly eye balls to you're helmet. I don't know if it deters the magpies but god, it amuses me.
Steve

Sshhhh, I think he's going to say something !

I have to admit, I cracked the sads when I saw Cadel Evans get off his bike last night and start checking out his back wheel. At first, I thought it was not his bike that was the problem. Cadel then pulled off one of the best rides I've seen, he has left no doubt how tough he really is and how good he really is.
When you hear commentators talking about body language and how good Alberto blah, blah, Cadel makes it all sound like crap. While the Spaniard dances on his pedals, the Aussie looks a Huntsman spider moving from side to side on the bonnet of a car. He has shown me what he's made of and has shown the most important component on a bike is the ticker in the the person who's riding it.
I loved watching Cadel tell Andy Schleck to get stuffed last night when he was asking him to help he and his brother beat him.
If he wins "The Tour", he will be in my opinion the most deserving, as for the whole race, he has been outstanding, and has shown "true grit"
If I'm asked who will win the race, I am still scared to say who my guess is, like Meg, in case I put a mozz on him, but after 3 weeks it's still up in the air, right up untill last night, I was thinking if Thomas Voeckler hangs on he could surprise us in the time trial, since all the experts were saying he would lose the yellow jersey once they got into the high mountains, rriiight !
It's been the best tour I've watched (even without Lance). and it all comes down to tonight, the race of truth.

I plan to drag myself out of bed tomorrow morning, for a ride from Lancefield at 9am. Please let us know if you are coming, 'coz if not I'm staying in bed and heading out later.

Steve.

Thanks to Joe for his interpretation of the last supper, your talent is being wasted.

Sunday's Ride

Just checked the weather and doesn't look good at this stage. Ride set for 9am but make sure you ring first otherwise I might just sty in bed. Definitely should have done this last Sunday!
Andy
0430 448 120

Rock to lock 200

Hi Guys,
I have come up with a ride which I have submitted to Audax as a permanent, it's a 200 (and for those of you who don't know)a permanent can be ridden at any time, for which you will receive a brevet-providing you are an Audax member and you let me know of your intension to ride it, a week in advance.
The ride goes along the Burke and Wills track then does a lap of Lake Eppalock before heading across to Kyneton and up Mt. Macedon on the way back home.
I will be riding it next Saturday at 8am starting from Lancefield. You Or anyone you wish to invite are all welcome to join in as I have already had a few lairs show interest so there may be a possibility to buddy up with a few others.
Please let me know ASAP if you would like to do the ride next Saturday or feel free to contact me at any other time if you would like to have a go at it.
Please note this ride is unsupported and all Audax lighting rules will apply. check out the Audax website if you are unfamiliar with them.
Check out the ride here : http://ridewithgps.com/routes/470131
For more info on Audax permanents, look here : http://www.audax.org.au/public/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=12&id=68&Itemid=196
Not being a member does not mean you can't ride it though, so let me know if you are keen anyway.
Cheers,
Steve.

Go Cadel

Wasn't it great to see Cadel take his stage win the other night. The finish suited him perfectly, he had a similar win in last years Giro. Even after sitting on his wheel Contador didn't have enough to pass him on the line, close though.
It's early days yet and Contador or one of the Schlecks may show their hand tonight or when the mountains get really serious on stage 12, in the past the Spaniard had the potential to make up his lost time on a stage such as 12.
Cadel looks like a new man, he even smiles these days. He looks to have a good team around him, though the mountains is where we will see what they (and he) are made of. I was particularly impressed by their team time trial, very disciplined and a strong ride. I have my fingers crossed.
There is a ride planned for Sunday morning, 9am in Lancefield. Let me know if you can make it.

Andrew Oliver

Andrew, one of the original riders who rode with the Lairs, died earlier this week from cancer. He was living up Benloch way with wife Kym in between trips to India to study philosophy. He and Kym taught Yoga locally and also at Gisborne and Andrew took classes in Melbourne, mostly on Sundays so rides with the Lairs went on the back burner. I occasionally ran in to him at the Clubrooms. As with Di Taylor (also in the photo taken at the top of Mt Macedon and also another victim of cancer) he was full of life and leaves us far too early.
Andy

Sunday's ride

Steve's going to sleep in but no excuse for the rest of us. Nine am in the usual place, byo rainjacket. Let me know if you are coming, I've ridden to work and then some today so may stay in bed if I haven't got anyone to meet for coffee!
cheerio
Andy

Worth getting out of bed for.

I haven’t had a sleep in for a long time and last Saturday was to be the day, I woke only because of the sound of an incoming text message, it was from Jacqui, “What size bike do you ride ? there is a 54cm Rubaix at our bike shop”.
It was 9.45am, a win/win situation. I got out of bed and headed to the PC to check it out.

I don’t need a new bike, we’ve had to stop wrapping the kids lunches in $100 bills, in fact it was almost impossible to justify, almost, I just really, really wanted it.
It’s got a blah, blah, blah group set and the frame is yu3gfvag7frnn, the top tube angle is twentyfourtensixtythreeeleven and was hand made in Taizealandstan.
I just f#*(ing love it.
Steve.

Leigh, on the "Melburn Rubaix"

Hi guys,
The 6th Annual ' Hell of the Northcote' is the quintessential event for fyxomatosis aptly named the "Melburn Rubaix", which has been held annually since 2006. This is a cycling event based on the grueling Queen of the Classics, the Paris-Roubaix. Unlike the Paris Roubaix, the fyxomatosis twist is a ride, not a race. There are no prizes for finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or last. The course tackles Melbourne's nastiest cobbled alleys and laneways, across railways, along dirt tracks and incorporates much of the cycling networks before ending at the Brunswick Velodrome. The route was about 40kms with a healthy 5 hours to get to Brunswick allowing ample time for coffee, repair mechanical failures, get lost and find yourself again.
I entered this event with the intention of riding with Ewan, Adrian and a couple of others. Unfortunately Ewan came down with a fairly bad dose of the flu and couldn't ride. Ernest, who is a regular on the Great Vics and recently did the GWABR with us, took Ewan's spot . He's the guy in red with the Hasa MTB. Adrian's in white (Melb. Share Bike) and Martin who has been on at least one Lair's ride was riding a Masi.
I parked my car in Royal Pde just near Tin Pan Alley (Melbourne Uni.) and rode my SS to Fed. Square to meet the other guys, some of who were using the Melbourne Share Bikes which were free for the day. My SS was suitably enhanced with Spokey Dokeys (took 90 minutes to put the buggers on) and I managed to find my son's stack hat under the house and dusted it off to use on the event. We rode the 8 kms along the Main Yarra Trail to the start at the Hawthorn velodrome. Nearly 1,000 riders had signed up for the event at $36 a pop.
We registered and received our rider pack with a map (12 sectors of cobblestones), card with 12 questions and various other goodies all in a colourful musette. After we did a couple of laps of the velodrome we headed off at 10.20am to the first bone shattering laneway with hundreds of other riders on all sorts of bikes and dressed in all manner of fine clothing. Each of the sectors had a name the most memorable of which was the Koppenberg which a very steep laneway in Ascot Vale. Just made it on the SS. Some of the other sector names were Rue de la Faucon, Madmanenmuur and Chemin des Geants just to name a few.
We stopped for coffee and a bite to eat after Sector 7 in Lygon St , Brunswick before tackling some of the steeper laneways. We got a bit lost looking for the start of Sector 11, as did a lot of other riders as we passed people going in all directions. Finally got going in the right direction only to get a flat. Was a bit worried as the SS doesn't have quick release. Fortunately it was the front tyre and with my trusty spanner managed to get the job done with my riding buddies looking on. Not like the Lairs where everyone pitches in. Arrived at the finish at 3.10pm after the mandatory lap of the velodrome and proceeded to grab a coffee before washing that down with a stubbie.
Some great prizes on offer which were drawn from the card you answered the questions on at the end of each sector and placed in a box. Prizes included 2 Masi SSs and a trip to the the real Paris-Roubaix. The weather was great, sunny for most of the day with a bit of a northerly. Peter A was dressed as a 6'5" Catwoman with 6 inch heels (and he rode in these). He didn't win the best dressed prize which went to the 2 girls dressed as the Power Rangers and rode a tandem.
An absolutely fantastic event and loads of fun. Can't recommend it more highly. Maybe the Lairs can enter a team next year. Now to try and get those bloody spokey dokeys off. Anyone know any simple way to do this?
Cheers,
Leigh

RAAM

You can all imagine how much I, like many of you am looking forward to Le Tour, and we don't have long to wait, just over two weeks in fact (16 days).
Between now and the tour something very special is going on, it's the Race Across America. 3000 miles or 4800 kilometres, it starts in Oceanside, California and finishes in Annapolis, Maryland. The race goes strait through the fat bit of North America. Over the Rocky and Appalachian mountains, through desert and pretty much everything in between. The riders have about 12 days in which to finish it, the fastest solo time was in 1986' 8 days, 9 hours and47 minutes, over 3100 miles at an average speed of 24.8 kph, no team, no peleton.




Tough people do this race, sadly, competitors have died participating in it and physical strength is very much in my opinion, on par with mental strength in this beast. The thing that surprises me most about this race though is that very few people have heard about it. Even the best riders struggle to find significant sponsorship and many of them have to raise money just to get themselves and support teams over there and pay the entry fee. I doubt if you will see much of the Nike tick here, I can't imagine the wind blowing up the skirts of the podium girls, which may be just as well, things could get a bit scary if a couple of California "girls" headed across to kiss the winner.
The film Bicycle Dreams is a great account of it.
Check the race website and riders progress here.
There is a ride planned for Sunday in the usual spot at 9am, let us know if you can make it.
Steve.

Speaking of podium girls, below is one of my favourite cycling photos. Good onya Francesco.

Sunday's ride

This Sunday, normal place, normal time and hope it the temperature at nine o'clock is bearable.
Hello to Janine who missed the stairs on her house boat and has been suffering ever since. Get well soon!
Some rides to put in the diary.....
The Wandong Winter Wander on Sunday June 26. Heads north - pick a distance 50, 100, 150 or 200k.
Saturday July 30 head to Epping to tackle the Northern (Hard) Hills. Must do the 300 if anyone is looking for a super series this year (200, 300, 400, 600 before November). Steve's having navigation lessons as we speak.
To complete the Series the only accessible option left is the Mallee Routes on the first weekend in October (moved from the last Saturday in September to miss the afl final - and guess what happens with an extra team in the competition? We get to have a kick on an Audax ride and watch a quarter of the GF in a Mallee pub.
Anyhow see you on Sunday
Andy

Something from nothing.

Waking up to the sound of heavy rain on the roof this morning was lovely, till I realized I was supposed to be heading out for a ride. The effects if staying up till 1.30am to watch last night's stage of the Giro hit home when I put my feet on the floor and headed for the bathroom to get dressed. Surprisingly I wasn't looking for excuses to hop back in to bed, if I could just organize myself a coffee I would be right, even if only to drive to Lancefield for another one with the rest of the crew, and watch the rain for a bit while we deliberated if we were made of the right stuff.

The rain had stopped by the time I got there so I pulled the bike off the ute and got myself sorted. By the time I was ready, eleven of us were all good to go. No sooner had I shut the door to the ute, the rain started coming down again, quite steadily. We all scrambled for the shelter of the veranda of one of the local business' and waited for a bit till it eased off and a couple of the lads hit the road, decision made.

It was great to see Trivess back from his honeymoon, how could we not ride when he and Aiden had come all the way up from Melbourne.

What a great ride, yeh, we got a little wet, but only a little. There was lots of thunder, but I love that and it wasn't cold. The smell of eucalypt was strong and the conversation was as good as ever.

It was great to catch up with all the ride chat, we were all busy doing various rides last weekend and going over the 400 from the perspective of the other guys who were on it was nice, we hadn't much of a chance to talk about it during the week.

It was funny to see, as Leo punctured a tyre, he was almost knocked to the ground in the rush to see who would fix it for him, in the end it was about four of us that took on the various stages, wheel off, tyre off, tube out..... It's much easier to be the one who punctures on a Lairs ride, you get to do the least.

We only did a bit over 35k, at a very easy pace, yep, a really nice ride.

I snapped the photo of John on our way up to Hopetoun last year, I wonder how he's going in Italy. One week of riding done, six to go. Lucky bugger.

Steve.

Ding, ding, ahrrrr, it's 9 oclock

Sunday's ride is at 9am, in the usual place, Hope you can make it.
Let us know.
Steve.

Flat 400

Last weekend a few of us got together and headed across to Marong to do the Audax,
"Flat 400".
I really enjoy doing Audax rides which call for a weekend away, as it gives an opportunity to socialize before the ride, this one was no exception.
Most of us met in the Marong pub for a good feed and a couple of drinks before we headed back to the caravan park for the lighting check, which was carried out by the ride organizers Martin and Libby Haynes. After getting the OK on the lights and gear and being issued with our brevet cards, we headed back to our cabin for some last minute bike adjustments before we settled in to watch the footy on TV.
Andy, Aiden, Barry, Peter and I were shacking together so it turned out to be a bit of a boys night in front of the tele, with lots of laughs and the usual banter, we were to meet Peter Moore in the morning to complete our bunch.
With a 6am start the 30 or so riders were assured a cold start and was a sign of things to come for the next 400k’s.
The first 100km went west into a strengthening cross/head wind and had us looking forward to turning the corner and heading north at St Arnaud.
With only a brief stop at Tarnagulla we were happy to get into St Arnaud and a café for something warm to eat and drink and a bit of a break,92km.
We were soon on our way making the most of the tail wind which would push us most of the next 130 km to Kerang. The checkpoints on this leg were Charlton, where we caught up with Ian B having scones and cream at a local tea room and Boort, both beautiful little towns, I won’t start raving about how lovely they are as you’re probably cringing at the thought of me going off on that tangent again (but gee I love them).


Thankfully we were able to shed a layer or two along this road, however, the good tailwind had us all worried that it meant we would have to battle the 170km from Cohuna back to Marong into the breeze, we hoped that the promise of an abating wind from the weather bureau was right.
I’ve not been to Boort before and was amazed by the huge olive grove we passed, which at a guess had somewhere between 2 and a half to 3 km of pedaling before we saw the end of it and could not imagine how far back it went. Boort was also surrounded by lakes, I made a mental note to visit at another time and have a better look around. We had a checkpoint at a servo here, but made it one of our quicker ones, 180km.
On the road between Boort and Kerang we saw the last of the sun as it slipped below the horizon, a quick stop on the side of the road saw us donning reflective vests and lights flicked on for my favourite part of a long brevet, the night ride.
As we rolled past 230km and into Kerang we were all quick to agree on pizza for dinner and we were munching down within 10 minutes. Once we were all fed and watered we undertook the serious business of preparing ourselves for the cold night ahead, booties, beanies and extra jerseys all round.
20 minutes out of Kerang I was on the side of the road putting on another thermal layer, I had plenty of spare clothing thanks to the extra carrying capacity my new handlebar bag had given me. Though it was cold, it was obvious the weather gods were with us on this ride, what was the longest tailwind I’ve ever had on a ride was beginning to abate as we turned an were heading east.
Cohuna, 263 km, was our next stop, but not a very long one. Some of the lads hanging around outside the pub came across and enquired about our travels, they started their questions with an “excuse me”, not what I expected, they were genuinely curious and I think intrigued. It’s always a bit of a laugh to see the reactions when we explain to folk what we do.
At 303k’s, Pyramid hill was to be our next control, and a session in the pub seemed very inviting when you walked in and felt the warm air. One of the locals was on for a chat but I had to get going and reluctantly cut our conversation short.
Being only about 25km, the leg to Mitiamo was to be our shortest, but very highly anticipated as we new Martin and Libby would be there with some hot soup and all the other Audax trimmings. We came across Ken who was having a lot of trouble changing a tube due to his hands being so cold, he had been at it an hour when we got to him. Peter was keeping us posted with the steady fall in the temperature from his computer, 8, 7, 6, 5˚C, but now not a breath of wind.
We hit Mitiamo with 330km behind us and found Martin and Libby along with their helper Heloisa set up under the verandah of an abandoned pub, hot soup, buttered bread and a table full of goodies, 6 happy blokes.
The last 70 km’s were hard work, the temperature got down to 2˚C and for the first time ever, for me, I started to nod off on the bike. I lay down on the side of the road for about 5 minutes and chatted to Andy and Aiden, then tried a couple of quick sprints to get the blood pumping, I probably should have had a quick nap and had I been on my own, probably would have, but I felt good enough now to keep going, besides all the chat was plenty to keep me on my toes, for the great Barry Moore was always close at hand.
Although I had ridden distances close to it I found my first 400 km brevet much harder, due to the fact that I really wanted to sleep, but I had a lot of fun and will do more. I hope to do more with the guys as we always have a good time when we ride together, especially since Trivess owes us one now.
Congratulations to Aiden and Pete, for whom this was also their first 400 and a big tip of me lid to Andy, as I’m sure he’d be pretty chuffed with his first 400 in a long time.

Decisions

Hi gang,
Bonus, there are two rides planned for this weekend. Saturday, 9am. Let Steve know if you are coming. We might be gone for a while, but shorter options will be possible.
Sunday,8am, let Andy know if you are riding.
If you can't decide, hell, do both.
Steve.

Sunday's ride

Hi gang,
Ride planned for 9am, from Lancefield.
Let us know if you're riding.
Steve.

Sunday's ride

No Andy = More fun.
9am in Lancefield.
Let me know.
Steve.

Lairs get married darlin'

This weekend marks the start of a wonderful brevet for one of the Lairs favourite sons and his Fiance. Trivess and Melissa will be tying the knot on Saturday in Lancefield (not at 9am in the usual spot).
The next time we ride with Trivess, he'll be a married man and a very lucky guy, and Mel, a very lucky girl.
Best wishes to a great couple, enjoy your day, may you have a life full of love.

A note from Ronnie means you'd have to be crazy....and Sunday's ride

G'day Fellow Riders,
I know that none of you are CRAZY and am sure you would join myself and my merry band of Vollies on these rides. The rides are from Lancefield, a hop, step & jump from Melbourne Airport on Saturday 09th and Sunday 10th April. Distances are 200; 300; 400; 600 and on Sunday another 100 & 200K. The rides are in a beautiful part of Victoria and will give you all the challenges you desire, good climbs and those superb long downhill runs plus a fleeting visit through many towns that are relics of our Goldrush era. We will feed you in Lancefield and if you desire I could put on a Haggis for you, this would guarantee a fast time. Andy Moore has deputised me to takeover as he has family business to attend to. For catering purposes contact me earlier rather than later, I wouldn't want you to miss out. Please contact me on :- MeriRonMc@optusnet.com.au 03 9598 7276 / 0417 396 022 Happy cycling Ronnie McInnes "The Wee Scot"

This Sunday's ride starts at 9 am in Lancefield. Let us know if you are coming. Steve.

Sunday's ride

9am In Lancefield. Bring some food for the ride.
Steve.

Sunday's Ride

Hi Gang,

Ride starts at 8am in Lancefield.

We'll do a longer ride this week, but will have shorter options for those with less time (turn back when you are sick of us) so be prepared.

Photo: Lairs 2009 Oppy.

Steve.

9 AM START

With only a couple of weekends before the Oppy, preparations are in full swing and all the details are pretty much sorted.
The main issues are usually support and getting people home after the ride, a semi load of food is organised and we have ordered a 20 litre drum of chamois cream.
On the menu will be pasta, 30 bananas, soup, bread rolls, fruit cake, rice cream, hot cross buns, 1 million lollies and quiche plus lots more, the main course is ...
We will be making our way from Tooborac to Rochester, Via Avenel, Violet Town, Dookie, St James,Numurkah, Barmah where we head into NSW Moama and Echuca.
The plan is to end up with 400km for the 24 hours.
The Petit Oppy team starts from Lancefield and heads through Heathcote then due North to spend the night in Echuca before riding into Echuca and spending the night before we all ride to Rochester together.
TOMORROW'S RIDE WILL START AT 9AM, FROM LANCEFIELD.

Steve.

Sunday's ride, happy days.

One of my favourite Lairs photos, taken in the Community Hotel in Hopetoun at last year's Audax Mallee Routes.
There's a ride planned for tomorrow, 8am in Lancefield.
Let us know if you are riding.
Steve.

Lancefield Lazy Legs

The forecast didn't look great for Sunday's ride but we were all keen to do a few extra k's this weekend, it didn't take us long to decide on heading toward Pyalong then Tallarook. The route of the 100km (114km by my computer) Lancefield Lazy Legs, an Audax ride that Andy runs once a year.
It's a hilly ride which is no surprise around this neck of the woods, but nothing too challenging and made for some great ups and downs for the eleven of us.
The hilite for me is always the long descent into the valley not long after you take the right turn toward High Camp, hitting speeds of around 70kph the bunch was stretched out over a long area so we re grouped for a quick chat before the next climb.
After about 25km we hit the highway at High Camp then rode single file for about 8km till the Seymour turn off at Pyalong and only a short way to the wonderful old trestle bridge just out of town, where we always stop for a bit of a look.


We crossed the Sunday creek on this leg and the hills continued all the way to Tallarook where we stopped for a rest and a bite to eat under the awning outside the store.
The ride home was warm and of lots of chat-as per usual with the up coming “Oppy” a main topic of conversation. The hills meant that we were often broken into smaller groups but always regrouping after a short distance.
It was good to see paddocks green and the Sunday Creek still flowing strongly at this time of year .
Most of us were able to ride in short sleeves and it held out to be a warm day, with a light change only hitting us when we were almost back in Lancefield.
It was a great ride, through beautiful country side and well worth keeping an eye on the Audax calendar for, or you could just come out and suggest we do it again.
Our teams and route are settled for the Oppy and we are busy making plans for support stops and assigning jobs for catering and stuff. At $6.99kg we will have to draw straws to see who will be buying the 30 or so bananas.
Steve.

Sunday's ride

G'day,

The weather is clearing so we should be in for a nice day, a good chance to do some Oppy training.

Ride heads off at 8am from Lancefield.

Let us know if you can make it.

Photo on the way up Mt Hotham.

Steve.

Sunday's ride

Eight o'clock in the usual place, let us know if you can make it. This week's discussion topic - heros of the bicycle tackling the Hepburn Springs 200 against all the odds.....(where the lairs made up over half of the Audax field!)
Andy

Spa Country Flings

Despite the weather forecast for last Saturday, 5 of the 10 Lairs that had their names down for the Audax Spa country 200 headed across to Hepburn Springs.

A few Lairs weren't the only ones to head the weather warnings as there were only another 4 or 5 riders heading out for the ride which consisted of 2, 100k loops. This one and this one.

It was great to see George Judkins at the start but would be the last I saw him for the rest of the day as he disappeared off into the mist.

Andy, John, Janine, Leo and I hooked up with Heather and rode the rest of the day together.

We had only gone a km or so before the heavens opened and found ourselves on the front veranda of a pub putting on the wet weather gear. Thankfully, though the rain was heavy at times, it was quite warm with very light wind so we were never cold.

The rain stopped after about 45mins and we were able to take off the rain gear and ride in short sleeve jerseys for the rest of the day.

The route had about 2200 metres of climbing but nothing too challenging, Spring Hill being the only longish, steepish climb.

The scenery was beautiful but I was especcially taken by the wonderful old stone homes and buildings we rode past as well as the great towns of Creswick, Daylesford and the wonderfully named Kooroocheang just to name a few.

It was a typical Lancefield lairs ride with no shortage of corny jokes and sometimes good conversation, everyone seemed to think there were king of the mountains points on offer on every hill, a lot of fun.

I will be one of the first to put my name down for this brevet next year, make a note of this ride, you'll love it.

Steve.

Sustainable Living Festival,Woodend, next weekend

Since sustailnable living is something that quite a few of us concider pretty important, Bruce has asked if we could let you all know about this. In particular there will be a how to on Bicycle maintenance from 12.00 pm till 4.00 pm.

For more info click here and here. You can also click on the image to enlarge it.

Steve.

Beating the heat

Tomorrow is going to be a hot one, an earlier start might be in order.
7.30am in the usual spot.
Let us know if you can make it.
Steve.

Alpine Classic

The weekend that so many have had in the back of thier minds is finally here.
as folk from all over the place head to Bright for the Alpine Classic, good luck and have a great ride.
Steve.

Yeeeeeeehhh, No.

With only a week to go before the Alpine classic Mt Macedon was the logical choice to hone the climbing skills before the big weekend in Bright, but we're made of softer stuff than that, we headed for home at Newham and were sipping iced coffee by 10 am, total: 32k's. Almost broke the door down at the club rooms (Mad Gallery) as we banged on it at opening time.
Steve.

Circa 1972-the Wonder years

Update, I rang the Polar guys on Wednesday, and the new strap arrived today(Friday) not only is there service department very obliging but they dispatch their stuff by rocket. They are like the Ay Up lights of the things that don't work properly world (I reckon Ay Up lights are awesome)..after 1 Coopers pale ale my heart rate is 68 bpm.

Right, the rain has stopped and there will be no where for you fair weather bikies to hide. Ride planned for Sunday morning from Lancfield at 8 am. The cool guy on the purple dragster will be there, socks, short shorts and all.

Steve.

H/R 64 bpm.

Heart of glass

I wish my bike computer was a gerbil, that way I could tell the nice people at Polar what it could be better used for.

I bought it about a year and a half ago and have had trouble with the heart rate monitor from soon after I bought it.

A reading if 220 within seconds of getting on the bike to zero when I would be flogging myself up a hill, then getting stuck on the same rate no matter how hard or easy I was riding.

The problem is in the strap which you wrap around your chest. Polar have even acknowledged this by re designing it, I am up to my third one.

The computer itself works fine, apart from the fact that you need to be Steve Austin to read the function titles, but when the veins are popping out of your forehead it's nice to know what heart rate you had to pull to cause the freak show.

Now here's the hard part, on the two occasions that I had to contact Polar's service department they have been extremely helpful and sympathetic and agreed to replace it immediately. You just can't stay angry when a nice young bloke gets on the phone and says "yep, no problem sir, we will send a new strap today and good luck with your training" boy, could the people at Vic roads learn a thing or two from these guys.

And now for something completely different...As I'm still on holidays I got out for a quiet ride at lunchtime today, I was intent on just going for an easy one and headed out from home toward Lancefield. The sky was heavy and I knew it would rain but it was warm and the rain was actually the draw card for me to head out for a spin. It started raining within minutes of me getting on the bike and rained for most of the ride. When I was a kid I loved riding my bike and playing in the rain, today I got to do both at the same time.

It was not just a shower but a full on downpour and I was soaked through in seconds, magic.

I know it's a cruel irony when you consider what's happening in QLD and Northern NSW, please don't take it as me being insensitive.

Steve.

Colenso or bust

I just made it into the ute this morning before the heavens opened again and the thunder and lightning crashed through the hills. 25mm of rain fell last night and as I got to the front gate I was guessing there would be very few keen enough to head out for a ride this morning. I would gladly have turned around and crept back into bed and caught up on the hours of sleep I'd missed out on, thanks to our petrified dogs as the scrambled for places in and around our room to hide from the storm.
As I got closer to Lancefield the torrent eased and once over the divide the roads were dry. Trivess, John, Andy and Janine were the only Lairs eager to head out today and were ready to roll, we headed to Woodend, down 3 Chain Rd. We went at an above average speed for a Lairs ride, the cracking pace soon came to an end as we turned into the head wind at Carlsruhe.
We called into the Cafe Colenso in Woodend to charge ourselves for the trip home and had a nice breeze push us back to Lancefield for more coffee, whether we needed it or not.
Steve.

Holidays

I'm still on holidays so decided to do this (Tooborac - Daylesford and back) ride on Thursday.
I set off from home at 7.30am on a stunning morning and the weather warmed all day reaching the low 30's by the early afternoon.
I had a head wind for the 25k into Lancefield, but nothing too much to deal with, a quick stop to top up my bidons at the servo then the 23k leg to Woodend where I was to meet up with Joseph outside the Holgate brewery, I had the trusty peanut butter and honey sandwich while he got organized and longed for just a tiny pint to wash it down with but that would have ended it all there and then.
Riding the 24k of undulations between Woodend and Trentham were a case of me trying to hang on to Joe as he cruised, he wasn't even trying. I thought my life would become a little easier when his front derailleur started playing up and forced him to ride on the small ring, but no such luck, he just picked up the cadence and off he went. This section of road is beautiful farming land and a bit of bush thrown in as a few of you will recall from last year's Oppy.
I stuffed down a muesli bar in Trentham and took off for the next 23k leg to Daylesford using the promise of lunch as motivation.
It was great to get to Daylesford for a yummy meal at Muffy's cafe, where we had stopped before on another ride, no trouble getting our bottles filled as the owner was a really nice bloke.
Joe took the chance to fix his derailleur with my tools, as in typical style he wasn't carrying any.
The ride home was more down than up but that didn't make it much easier to stay with the boy wonder.
We were back in Woodend at around 2.30-3 pm and after a quick cake and a drink at the bakery it was time to say "see ya" to Joe and grind the last 50 ish k's home on my own.
Not that I don't know how strong Joe is on a bike but he does it so easily and it's a pleasure to watch such an efficient and smooth pedalling style. He could have dropped me at any time but never even allowed a gap to form between us, too nice for that.
The day was a real slog for me but still a great ride at a bit under 200k's.
There is a ride planned for 8am Sunday morning, from the usual place, see you there.
Steve.

2011

The start of a new calendar year to some also means the looking back on the previous years cycling and setting new goals for the one ahead. On the whole the last twelve months on the bike have been great for me, another "Oppy " with a bunch of you Guys, and my first go at the "Murray to Moyne" both of which I enjoyed immensely, Mallee Routes again and all the other rides we've done as Lairs.
I enjoyed keeping track of Andy, Glo and Peter as they rode across Italy and loved watching some of the newer and younger Lairs go from strength to strength over longer and steeper rides.
I've said it to all of you before but again this years high lite was the Oppy, the format of the ride is fantastic, as is the aspect of riding through the night with little or no sleep seeing only what is in the beam of your light, but most importantly riding it with a bunch of mates is the pinnacle of my cycling year. It was made extra special this year by seeing all of Andy and Glo's family making up various lairs teams. It's also a real buzz having Lairs doing their first of hopefully many and seeing the enjoyment they get out of it.

The low point had to be THE BIG CRASH from a couple of weekends ago.

My knee....Seems to be under control at the moment, thanks mostly to some good advice, a Physio who understands cyclists knees and more set up adjustments. The hardest part in managing it has been the battle between knowing it needs to be rested (properly) and desperation to be out riding.

I'm still planning the next twelve months but have the bones worked out, come for a ride tomorrow and you can find out what some of them are or if you are not that desperate for conversation have a fun ride on what looks to be a great day with the rest of the crew.

8am in the usual place, hope to see a heap of you.

Thanks to all of you for being part of another great Lairs year.

Steve.