Sunday's ride

Hi gang,

I'm not sure if I'll make it for this Sundays ride. If you are keen, post a note in the comments to let others know there will be Lairs for a 9am start.

Photo from top of Mt Buffalo, at a much warmer time of year.

Steve.

Spot the Aussies

Hi gang, her's another email from Andy and Glo...

Rode north out of Rome last Thursday to Lake Bracciano and camped the night. A few lycra lizards on the road but few cyclists. Camping ground only just opened and fairly basic, but did the job. Next day tackled the hills between Bracciano and Civvitavecchia. Hard work and cold and rainy. After lunch it was all downhill which gave us a long wait for the overnight ferry to Palermo. Ferry trip smooth, more room in the seats to stretch out than on a plane. Reached Palermo around 8am on the Saturday morning - no tourist info available. Had a bit of a ride around, Peter pulling front pannier off after running into a parked car and Glo just missing a rubbish skip (well it was a small one). Very gusty wind which was behind us for most of the next week.
Left Palermo before anything else happened and headed along the northern coast (inland mountains looked a bit daunting). Narrow roads, lots and shops and buildings right on the road and lots of traffic. Made it to lovely camping ground at Cefalu thaT NIGHT - ABOUT 70K'S. Sorry about the caps! Generally headed east along the coast over the next few days dodging cars and rain. Even the coast road has lots of hills and they seem harder with panniers front and rear. From Milazzo we took the ferry to the Eolian Island of Lipari and camped at Canneto near the beach. World heritage listed and what a delight, more views per k than anywhere else I have seen. Did the Giro di Lipari all 30 k of up and down before our gelati in the old town centre of lipari.
Next day back on the ferry to Milazzo and then continued our ride to the east, camping about 20k's from Messina. Battled our way to Messina through rain and hills to wait in the rain for the ferry to cross the straits to Reggio di calabria. Another run down Italian town without the huge piles of rubbish that made Sicily so smelly. Rode out of Reggio but had to turn back as we ran out of accomadation options. Have now found a terrific b&b in the centre
Andy and glo

The above email did not send due to faulty mouse in the b&b in Reggio di calabria. Had a great meal there and really nice people in the b&b. Back on the bikes the next day to head into the real country finally. Lovely quiet roads and great scenery - olive trees and crops being farmed rather then let go wild as in Sicily (and no rubbish). Near Alberbello and the Trulli stone houses I stopped to check the map and heard someone call - a couple of people noticed us go past and wanted to share their cherry tree (yes Siobhan, I have scored another cherry season!) The girl had grown up in Canada and her partner was very enthusiastic in showing us the inside of their Trulli. They invited us back for the Inter Milan-Madrid match that night but we decided it would be too late. Camped the night and headed to Matera the next day. Getting hillier although we are coping, some of the climbs are getting longer and steeper. Matera is a town where the houses are built literally on top of each other and their roofs become roads. They have a very sophisticated way of harvesting water and groups of residents sharing their lives. Another b&b, this time in a restored 800+ year old house.
Breakfast on the terrace before tackling some more hills heading to the west. Lots of wind turbines and solar panel installations.
We are planning to meet Noel in Salerno for the weekend and riding the Amalfi coast then maybe Pompeii as well.
Glo and Pete are off looking at churches. Churches here are actually used for mass and often smell of incense. I'm not sure if I told the story of bumping into the parish priest in Cantana on Lipari. Not only did he bless me he told us he had a cousin in Australia and did we know Bob Santamaria!
I'm going to check the weather (just stopped rainning and the afl ladder)
cheerio for now
andandglo

Ride to Pyalong

Last Sunday morning started off at minus 3 C, the rest of the day looked like this...

That loving feeling

Check out this tender moment between our Cadel and Daniele Righi during stage 12 of the Giro click here.
While Cadel's chances are looking less by the stage (especially after missing the break the other night), it's fantastic to see Mick Rogers wearing the yellow jersey in the tour of California, sad to hear that Stuart O'Grady broke his collarbone in a crash .
You also have to wonder about Robbie McEwan, when you take into consideration that most of the big sprinters are not participating in the Giro, it would be great to see him win a stage.
Really nice to have Aussie, Richie Porte in the leaders jersey.
There is a ride planned for 9am from Lancefield tomorrow morning.
Photo was taken on last Sunday's ride up Mt. Macedon.

Postcard from Rome.

Got an e-mail from Andy the other day.
Dear all,
Good times in Dubai with an unbelievable no. of big buildings and dozens more on the go.
Got to Rome Monday arvo, put bikes together and headed off with my written instructions because I couldn't find a map that had our destination on it. After one early wrong turn managed to get on to the correct road (in the rain). Instead of crossing the Autostrada my road deposited us onto it. Only exits were onto other Autostrada which happened several times. We eventually found a secondary road which took us into central Rome (very scenic if not a bit scary!) After zigzagging along the Tiber being thwarted by one way streets we found Vatican city (7pm by now) and several hours later we managed to navigate the rest of the 4 or so kms to our little street. Don't know how many k's but over 6 hours to do the 20k direct route. A very late dinner capped off the date. It is right up there in terms of first days on the bike!
Yesterday (Tuesday) did the Fora, Pantheon, Trev.s fountain, Spanish steps so have ticked off a few. As we were leaving the Roman Forum I decided to check whether we had covered every thing only to find that we had missed the Palantine hill - probably 3 times the size of the forum itself. Maybe it was there in 2003 because we didn't see it then. Staying in the suburbs has the advantage of much better, cheaper food.
Off to Vat City today then back on the bike, treno or ferry tomorrow.
Pete's phone, Glo's phone not working, and I will try to buy a telephono oggi

ciao
Andi

There is a ride planned for Sunday 9am, in Lancefield, let me know.

See you there.

Steve

And another thing...

Could you imagine if the boys at team Radio Shack left Lance behind, don't even try and imagine it because it would never happen, for starters, waiting for the team leader would be the natural thing to do, and any rider that didn't wait would be looking for another team before the stage even ended. Then there's the thought of facing the boss when he catches up with you.
Lance would be yelling down the radio in two seconds flat if the Dumb ass team director wasn't already telling the boys to wait. That's who I blame the most, the team director, as he should be backing Cadel and getting the guys to support their leader.

Same ____, different team.

Easy come, easy go. As easily as Cadel got into first place, he was out.
From leading Vinokourov(who is now in first place) by almost 20 Seconds he is behind him by over 40 after being caught in a pile up.
Prangs happen, and contenders get stuck behind them, but in most cases when a team leader is involved the rest of the team will wait for him and tow him back to the leaders group, but that was the most noticeable thing about the whole thing, no support for Cadel. Yep, maybe he's not a likable kind of guy or he's too quirky and a loner or none of those things but he's the man in the BMC team and he should have had heaps of support rain, hail or shine. No wonder he gets a bit irky.
The race is far from over, but it won't be easy if even possible from here and I bet he's got a pretty strong sense of deja vu. He can only hope he can out climb Vino and Basso in the mountains and pull off a couple of great time trials.
Team time trial tonight, First mountain stage Sunday night.
Steve.

In the pink

After Bradley Wiggins took the first stage time trial, he lost it yesterday when he had a spill in the second stage.
Cadel stood on the podium in first place wearing the "Maglia Rosa".
Theres a long way to go and I can't see him wanting to keep the pink jersey till later in the race, but the colour suits him.
Steve.

Sunday's ride

Hi gang,
There is a ride planned for 9am Sunday Morning. See you there.
Steve.

Giro d'Italia

Awesome, the first of cycling's holy trinity is about to start, the Giro gets underway this weekend, and with Franko Pellizotti (among others) being busted for "irregular readings", Cadel is now a favourite. Even though it's sad this sort of thing goes on, I'm glad they were caught now and and not after the race, then placings altered and hollow victories awarded months after the race, as in the Tour De France fiasco of was it '07 when Floyd got on the juice.

Cadel was a pretty good chance even before Pellizotti got the flick, he's been in good nick and has a bit of confidence, his new team also offers better support than he's had in recent years but he still has to contend with the like of Sastre and Vinokourov, Basso is about due and Bradley Wiggins could be a dark horse so cross your fingers.

The route this year is a killer, 7 great mountain stages mostly in the latter part of the race. Stage 16 is a 12.8 km time trial with an average gradient of 8.5% and it's steepest section being a torturous 24%, to put things in a bit of Lairs perspective, the South side climb of Mt. Macedon is 6km with an average grade of about 7.5 % and a maximum of about13-14%.

I was hoping SBS would be showing a few live stages, perhaps on a Friday or Saturday night they could have an extended highlights package followed by a live stage, but nah ! It seems the programmers feel that another "boob movie" repeat followed by world weather for four hours would be a better nights viewing.

Three big names will be participating in a rebel Giro, riding for the Lucky Buggers team. Andy, Glo and Peter are leaving for Italy on Saturday morning and will be zig zagging across "the boot" on their bikes for a few weeks. Bon voyage guys.

A Quick, good on ya, to Al, who did his first big climb a few weeks ago and ticked off Mt. Buffalo on his birthday.
Steve.

SUNDAY'S RIDE
Will be the last one for Glo and Andy for a while so come and join us tomorrow at nine in the usual spot. Steve's having a bit of trouble getting going but may be about to join us. Lancefield has turned 150 officially so make sure you are with us for the first ride of the next sesquicentennial!
see ya
Andy

Oh yeh !

Congratulations to Trivess and Mel on their engagement a couple of weeks ago. This was never a done deal as Trivess first had to prove he was man enough for Mel by setting up a huge tent and lighting a fire-thankfully there was plenty of petrol and helpers on hand.
Great to see Cadel come over the line first in the Fleche Wallone, top effort getting past Contador on a very steep finish. Well done Cadel, hope you're reading this.

Last weekend's ride for Hamish was a beauty, just under 50 riders showed up, most of whom took on the Sth side of Mt Macedon on a beautiful day and a great course. We may have to have another go at this one for those of you who missed out.

Thanks to Janine and the rest of the crew for putting this ride on, the organisation was excellent and the cause was a privilege to ride for, though we still have some money to make.

Special mention goes to Peter B, I've never ridden in such heavy rain, lightning and thunder, thanks for the company on Tuesday night you silly bugger, it was great fun.

There is a ride planned for Sunday morning, 9am from Lancefield. Make a comment if you're coming.

I have a new bike.

Sundays Ride

Won't be along for a ride this Sunday, Doing Hamo's ride on Saturday though. A few have shown interest, make a comment to let others know if you'll be along.
Photo was taken on a ride along the Lanceield-Tooborac Rd.
Have a great weekend.

Steve.

A classic classic

I love it at this time of year, when it's cold, when you have to put on layers of clothing to go for a ride, when you go a bit fast you get tears in your eyes and a runny nose, I love it because all that means there's bike racing in Europe. A lot of you have had to listen to me go on about mountain stages and time trials, Tour de France, and Lance Armstrong, so the fact that I think it's awesome is no surprise.

Last Sunday night I had a fantastic treat, I got to watch a sensational bike race...the Paris-Rubaix won by a great cyclist. It's a special race, and this year's was brilliant. Watching the big names go at it for 259km over such tough roads is inspiring enough, but when Fabian Cancellara attacked with 50km to go and with such ferocity you couldn't help but barrack for him as he toughed it out on those bone jarring cobbled sections. No sitting on someones wheel for a sprint finish( that happened for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on), he just went flat stick for 50k's on his own. His timing was perfect, just as Tom Boonen went to the back of the bunch for a sausage roll or maybe a piece of rabbit, whack ! Off the Swiss champ went, no one could catch him, he just kept increasing his lead, to over three minutes at one stage, only two made ground on him near the finish, but he still came home over 2 minutes ahead of them.

In parts, the roads are so rough on this "Queen of the classics", that most of the bikes have 27mm tyres on them, not the usual 23's. For winning this race, the trophy is a hunk of rock, that's attached to a piece of wood...Cool, it's got a section called "the road to the abattoir", and the last few hundred metres is raced in an old velodrome. The only thing missing from this race is a good sword fight.

While it may look like a couple of blokes prepairing to set land mines, the photo is actually of maintenance work on the cobbled roads.

Well Done Fabian.

Steve.

Mt. Macedon-links won't work

The links for the ride up Macedon don't work, so just send an e-mail to lancefieldlairs@gmail.com if you would like any info and we'll send it to you.

Or click on the pictures in this post.
Steve.

Mt. Macedon-up the hard side

A ride up the bastard side of Mt Macedon has been organized for next Saturday 17/4/10. Not only do you get to test your legs at 13% plus, but you also get a chance to make a significant change to a youngster's and his family's life by doing what you love doing (no, the other thing).
There are other options for shorter rides if you want to dodge the bullet, but a shot at the south side and 75k around the Macedon ranges sounds a great way to spend a Saturday.
Janine Radford, who happens to be one of the nicer Lairs is organizing the ride, so it would be great to see as many of us as possible and anyone you can rope into it across for the ride.
Click here and here for more information.
No free jersey's or wrist bands, the money just goes to helping a little one.
Steve.

War and Peace

9am Sunday, usual place.
Steve.

Murray to Moyne

The Lairs were again off to places far last weekend. Having the opportunity to participate in this year's Murray to Moyne, we met in Kyneton at 6am on Saturday morning and headed off in the 2 team buses to the start at Echuca.
It's a 520km relay ride which goes from (in our case) Echuca to Port Fairy. Our team had 12 riders which consisted of 3 crews of 4, doing legs of 30-40k's each crew.
We were invited along by the fantastic people of the Kyneton Ambulance Auxiliary, for whom we raised sponsorship.
What a brilliant ride made even more so by a wonderful 5 star support crew, who's years of experience on the event showed organization at it's best. With everything run to precision, not only were we at met at carefully chosen changeover points but on our many meal stops we had a choice of at least 4 hot meals plus anything else a hungry cyclist could crave for.
After each leg we would get on the bus to be greeted by the magic hands of our masseurs Pip and Amelia to give our legs a fair dinkum, get you back on the bike feeling fresh massage. My calculations had them dishing out somewhere near 50 massages.
The ride took us through Kotta, Mitiamo, Durham ox, Charlton, St. Arnaud, Stawell- where lights and vests were fitted and a slightly unnerving chat with bloke who just may have forgotten why he was standing at a urinal but still waxing lyrical about those pesky tourists, locals and any other unsuspecting demographic that found it's way into his clouded scone, Moysten, Willaura and Dunkeld to the 428km rest stop at Hamilton at 11.45ish pm.
Passing through some beautiful countryside and small towns a real hi lite was riding past the Grampians at dusk then scooting along in the little cocoon your lights create for you once it gets dark.
We slept in one of the pavilions at the Hamilton show grounds till 6am and were back on the bikes at 7, where the twelve of us then rode together for the last 93km into Port Fairy, beating the rain by an hour.
Riding turns in a pace line, we were able to average just over 30kph for the ride, which is not a style of riding we usually adopt but relished on the day, especially with the light wind and warm weather.
Our team mostly rode alone but had short stints with other bunches when it worked out, but it seemed to work best when we did things for ourselves.
I think I can speak for all the gang and say we had a ball on this ride. It was brilliant to be able to show up at an event like this and just ride.
A huge thanks to Phillip for asking us along in the first place, but also to the rest of the support crew: Michelle, Michael, Keiran, Shaun, Richie, Jaxon, Vince, Greame, Kath, Pip, Amelia, Les Corinna, Darryl, Kerry, Gail and Leanne who all looked after us cyclists first and foremost with genuine hospitality.
The riders were: Gary, Paul, Matt, Phil, Adrian, Myra, Steve A, Nick, John D, Dave C,Leigh and Steve.
Steve.

Done and dusted

Well that's another Oppy done, and what a fantastic weekend of cycling in great countryside with great friends.
Starting from Sunbury, Lancefield and Strathfieldsaye the teams had a gift from the weather gods and spent the most of the ride in warm sunshine and light winds, except for night time when the sun was a little harder to spot.
Our team started in Lancefield then went through Trentham, Creswick, Avoca, St Arnaud, Dunolly and had our long stop in Marong before riding the last 25km to Strathfieldsaye.
Corny jokes were always only a Barry away.
Our fantastic support crews (when we could keep them out of the pubs and antique stores) kept us well fed and watered, the high lite for me was the Pizza in St. Arnaud, thank you very much guys and gals.
For quite a few of the crew the 360 k's and the 180k(in the Petit Oppy) was their longest distance on a bike, so well done.
It was great to see every member of the Moores de Lancefield riding the Oppy this year, would have been a good time to have shares in a sunscreen supplier.
Thanks to all I rode with for again making this my favourite ride. Congratulations to all of you and thanks also to Martin and Libby and all the Voulenteers for making this, in my opinion, Audax' best ride.
On the ride were Andy, Aidan, Trivess, Barry, Paul, Peter B, Peter D, Ken, Joseph, Steve, Glo, Siobhan, Meaghan, Allison, John D, Leigh, Ewan Adrian, Steve, Johan and Myra.
Keeping us on the ride were John, Bill, Andrea, Donna and Stuart.

Fleche Opperman

This Saturday around 20 Lairs will be making up 4 teams in this year's "Oppy" and "Petit Oppy". For those of you who have somehow escaped all the Oppy talk, the ride is organized by Audax and consists of a minimum of 360km in 24 hours, the Petit is 180k's, both starting anywhere you like but finishing in Strathfieldsaye, Victoria at 8am Sunday morning.
Good Luck to all participating in this year's ride, the weather report looks great.
2 sleeps to go.
Steve.

Sunday's Ride

After the rain the sun has come out. Ride at 8am from the usual spot for a bit of Oppy training. Let me know if you are coming - either send a comment, give me a ring 0430 448 120 or email
cheerio
Andy

Dave's been riding his MTB again.

You would have to be crazy to do it in the rain

Notwithstanding the weather forecast, if anyone is interested there will be a lairs ride from the usual spot tomorrow at 8am. The Audax ride is also on so there should be lots of riders about town. Let me know if you are coming because if the weather really is bad I may just stay in bed
Andy 0430 448 120

e = EIO

I love modern, shiny, fast bikes, I love wheels that will rotate for 6 days with one little spin, I think heart rate monitors and computers are a brilliant training aid, interval training makes sense to me, but when I read/hear about things like Nomex honeycomb technology, ultralinear geometry and carbonstructure-Nanostrength technology
I'm just left thinking, WTF ?
I really wonder if any of this lingo has ever sold a bike, wheel or jersey or if the pony tailed wankers that come up with this stuff have ever even sat on a bike, let alone ridden up a mountain, wondering if there is actually a summit or is this just the way to heaven. I bet you they have never even wiped snot with their gloves.
But today, I saw a product which would have left any one else speechless, it was a particular brand of chamois cream, who's claim was (get ready for this)"aromatherapy for winners", yep, it's printed on the sample sachet I was given in a bike shop, you just gently apply a little on your bum and look out Lance. OH, COME OONNNNN ! Will we now be expected to re-discover our chakra or maybe carry an incense burner and memorise The Prophet ? Don't get me wrong, I love hippies, I even had a no-dig garden once, but this is cycling, I wonder if Eddy Merckx ever sat in the lotus position before a stage of Le Tour ?
Aaaah gee, there's a ride on this weekend meeting in the usual place in Lancefield at 8am. We might do a longish one, but like last weekend, those that had a little less in mind were able to take a short cut and head for home in a much happier bunch.
Last Sunday's list was: Steve, Glo, Leigh, Meaghan, Ken, John, Leo and Guru Andy. Let us know if you're coming.
See you Sunday.
Steve.
And I also love beautiful steel bikes with friction levers, leather saddles and lots of polished aluminium.

Scary little critters

Good luck to two of the Lancefield Lairs favourite sons/rednecks.
Joseph and Robert are racing their first criterion tonight.
Go get em' boys.
Steve.

Rides and birthdays

Two of our favourite Lairs had birthdays in the past week, Siobhan (our golden haired girl) turned 21 and celebrated big time last Saturday night, surrounded by her usual crowd, made up mostly of vampires, robbers and people wearing chaps-those that weren't immediate family members were even less desirable.
Nick, our newest Lair also had a birthday and I'm told looks the goods in his new Live strong jersey. Nick has been doing a bit of secret training too, with the long ride to school and to footy training, he's one we'll have to keep our eye on-just look for the black and yellow flash.
Happy birthday to both of you.
We plan to do a longish ride this Sunday but will have plenty of options for short cuts for those that that don't have the time or are not keen to go so far. Daylesford may even be lucky enough to see us. (140k return). Bring plenty of food and water if you are keen to go all the way.
Lastly, good luck to those representing the Lancefield Lairs on the MS ride through Melbourne. The boys are planning to have a "red hot go", so we hope you are very red hot, and we also hope you wear your' Lairs jerseys.
Steve.

Murray to Moyne

Phillip Don is short of riders for the Murray to Moyne on March 27/28. Phillip has been associated with riding in and organising the Kyneton team for the last sixteen years or so. The support is fantastic - buses, meals, masseur, showers and fresh drviers to get you home. All you have to do is ride 40k or so then have a rest for 80k before doing it again. Last morning everyone rides into the headwind!
All enquiries to Phillip asap - mrdon@westvic.com.au or 54234182
cheers
Andy

Dave

This is Dave, sometimes Dave likes to ride a mountain bike and he usually likes to ride it fast. When Dave rides his mountain bike fast, sometimes he likes to go over jumps, and this is where things get a bit complicated. You see, people make mistakes, and it's not good if you make a mistake when you are going over a jump on a mountain bike, because then you could crash.
If you look closely at Dave's head you will see a big graze on it...Dave had a crash.
Having a crash on your' mountain bike, when you are going fast and going over a jump is bad, because you can smash your' helmet in two and graze your' head, and that hurts.
Having a crash on your' mountain bike when you are going fast over a jump is also bad because you have to land some where, and it's no good if that place is on a
bull ant's nest because those angry little buggers could bite you eighteen times, and that would hurt a lot too.
Poor Dave.

Please stop crashing.

Sundays ride had Ken, John D, Myra, Leigh, Steve and I head up the Bourke and Wills
track and work our way across to Kyneton. Ken and John had things to do so turned off before we got to 3 Chain Rd. Once in Kyneton we headed across to Tyledon then to Woodend. Head winds and cars were both prevalent between the two towns, so Woodend and it's bakery were a welcomed sight.
Back on more familiar roads we headed for home, doing our best to avoid the traffic the Hanging Rock picnic and the swap meet were generating.
By the time we got back to Lancefield we had clocked up 100 Klm and another great ride.

Steve.

A wish come true

As a dad, I wish a bit of me rubs off on my kids, apart from things like my thoughts on the environment, racial justice or the Bombers winning another premiership, I'd really like my kids to get into cycling.
This old photo was taken around 1946 and shows four mates who got together and decided to ride from Melbourne to Mildura. Take a look at what they are wearing-the Lycra is well hidden under their shirts and long pants, the fella on the left would surely be hoping to spot a tiger and perhaps make a rug out of it. I'm guessing the road to Mildura would have been a fair bit rougher than today and dirt for a lot of the way.
The bloke on the right is a lucky guy, for one thing, he's off on an adventure with his mates, but I think he's had a wish come true. His son has turned out to be a pretty nice bloke, he looks out for his mates and he rides a bike...a lot, and he loves it.
His name was John Maxwell Thornton, Leigh's dad, I think he would say he's had a wish come true.

John Maxwell Thornton 1928-2001

There is a ride planned for this Sunday morning at 8am, meeting at the usual place in Lancefield, hope you can make it.
Steve.

Last Sunday, Next Sunday

Sunday's ride..... eight o'clock in the usual place.
Last Sunday..... was a short and sweet 38k with a couple of new lairs. Cast was Steve, Meaghan, Peter, Alex and Nick (Burridges won the family competition!), Andy, Glo Trivess, Pete and Jacquie Ginn, Anthony and last but not least Robert. Nearly half the riders are under 30! and nearly half these riders are on steel bikes!(not that anyone was counting). Perfect timing got us all back to the Mad club rooms just as they opened at ten. Iced coffee won the day. Alex missed out as she took the short cut home.
The Moores and Burridges headed down to Donnybrook to help Leigh celebrate his 60th - crickets loss was our gain!
see you Sunday
am

Sunday's Ride Jan 31, 2010

Sunday's ride
8 am in the usual spot. Lots of Alpine stories to be sure to be sure and they will only get better over time! Steve has his own story - he went to Bulla to do some hill climbing, not much of a hill really but a nice servo at the top (wonder how many times he did it?) See you then.....

Back in Lairtown

Our mate and Lair from way back was in town, Surly Dave was on his way up to Bright for Semaine Federale and the Alpine Classic. This was a good reason for a Saturday ride, and as the Alpine is on next weekend Mt. Macedon was in our sights...Well some of us weren't looking.
Twelve of us headed out, some with a longish ride in mind others thinking of lunch and a couple of beers (those with hangovers, not thinking of much at all). Dave, Glo, Andy, Pete, Leigh and I took the short option, while Ken, John, Aidan, Allison, Sam and T-bird opted for more than one climb.
It was great to have Dave back on a Lairs ride, he's gone to great lengths to avoid us, so while we had him we made sure he was kept "under the pump". Thanks to Andy and Glo for the great lunch de Surly, hope to see you back soon Dave.
Don't forget there is a ride on tomorrow (Sunday), 8am.

Steve.

Bicycle Wonderland

For my family a Summer holiday wouldn't be complete without a trip to Bright, especially me, so last week we headed up there, to a cyclist it's Mecca, Mt. Hotham, Tawonga Gap, Falls Creek, the Rail trail and my favourite climb Mt. Buffalo.
On Wednesday I took off at a bit after 8am to reacquaint myself with this great climb.The Buffalo gates are about 13km from Bright so you get a nice warm up before you fire any shots in anger. Not knowing what my knee would think about the whole idea I took off at a fairly easy pace and enjoyed the climb from the set out. At about 2.5k's from the gate the gradient kicks up a little and it's from here to about the 8k mark that it's at it's steepest, I was still feeling pretty fresh through this section and was able to keep a good tempo, give or take a bit due to my lack of time on the bike lately, from the 8-9k point things ease off quite a lot and the views are fantastic, I was able to pick up the pace a bit here though I could feel my knee was tightening up and knew this was going to be sight seeing only-no complaints though as this was no surprise. Spotting a couple of guys not too far ahead I made an effort to catch up for a quick g'day, one of them had the Alpine Classic in his sights. I was now riding along the granite face which was already bouncing the morning sun back at me and after the recent heavy rain in the area lots of the little waterfalls were running and reminding me of why I like this climb so much..
At about 13k it gets a bit steeper but not too bad, it's really only significant because you have been climbing for a while now (the whole mountain is only about 4.8%).
I felt good as I went through the hairpins and made my way to the to the top and the plateau at about the 19k point, I decided to head to the Chalet and not to Dingo Dell as I love the old building and wanted to check it out again, I'm always dumbfounded as to why the chalet just sits there empty but at least it looks as though it's being maintained. I hung around the top for about half an hour and enjoyed the great morning before heading back down the fantastic descent to Porepunkah then Bright for a swim and a float down the river.
The next day, a family ride on the rail trail and the 50k return trip to Ovens. I'm usually one of the first to have a whinge about the way things could be done better when it comes to roads and cycling infrastructure but this trail is a great example of when they get things right.

Apart from the wonderful setting which sees the trail run through the flats at the foot of Buffalo, the often tree lined trail is sealed, giving me the opportunity to ride my road bike without having to stress about gravel, and mud, and pot holes and why there is only 700ml in a bottle of gin these days.

The trail just doesn't go from one town to the next, there are lots of opportunities to stop along the way for a drink or some ice cream and fresh berries or cherries from one of the farm shops along the way(we did all of the above), this makes it great for kids and keeps them interested in what lay ahead and importantly, keeps them pedalling.

We got back to our motel at about 2pm which gave us enough time for a swim and a rest(Zzzzz !)before heading out for another great meal.

Ohhh ! then there's the brewery...

Steve.

Weekends Rides

This weekend will be a block buster - two rides for the real Lairs.
On Saturday we have the inimitable David Killick the Tasmanian Lair joining us for a blast over his old stomping ground. We may be able entice Nicole to get in some late training for the Semaine Federale en Australie. At this stage it will be an eight o'clock start at the usual place.
Forecast for Sunday is for cooler conditions so we will be back to 8 for our normal ride.
Post a reply or ring me or Steve.
AM

Hot Summer Rides

Two weeks ago our 30k wander became a bit longer when we rode out to pick up Trivess from Sherwood court and kept riding north to Emu Plain. We turned left on Mission Hill Road and its dirt and hills. Over to Baynton for another rest before heading past Pipers Creek, Chases Lane and straggling into Newham for a 'well earned coffee' and some food. By the time we got back to Lancefield we had done 85k. Lucky I'm not doing the Alpine because I didn't have to feel guilty about not riding up Macedon with Leigh, Myra, Ken and John! Dave from next door fell 2k short of the century.
Last Sunday and the group decided (well no-one said no!) to go to Darraweit Guim because it was so long since the last time we have forgotten the climb out. The early start confused some(Ken and John had planned a quiet ride on their own) and Leo was an hour late (very sensible as it turned out). After Darraweit we were on a high and went around Hanging Rock to finish off. Well it certainly finished me off and it was a struggle back to Lancefield in the increasing heat. Another 85k but this one was real because I was on the steel bike. Iced coffees all round. Except for the show offs - Ken and John were last seen riding up Straw's Lane
AM

Sunday's ride (Jan 10)
Ride time is 7 am (sub committee decision) to beat the heat so set your clock.
am

A Lairy wedding

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...That's how you could describe a typical Lairs ride but it's time to say congratulations to Adam and Adele, a couple of Lairs from the Northern Chapter who've tied the knot.

Now living in Armidale, NSW they're the first Lairs to get married (though they have been together for years). While they are greatly missed on our rides it's wonderful to see things are just dandy for them up in New England they have bought a home, joined a BUG and are both working at the university as university workers.

Well done guys.

Steve.

Second Ride under the Wheels
Steve managed to find all the hills within a 40k radius of his place today.
We are riding tomorrow (I think it is Sunday, I have lost track) 8am in the usual place. Post a reply here or give me a ring on 0430 448 120
am

First Ride of the New Year 2010

After a fun filled night at Steves's (who would have thought that we would see the new year in playing indoor cricket?), Ken and I agreed to meet for a ride first thing - well what passes for first thing on New Year's Day! The Burke and Wills track allowed us to keep out of the wind and to tackle a few hills to keep us honest. After a warm-up slog up Big Hill we cruised past Knight's Winery and rocketed down to the Benloch junction where we both had a break as we looked at the hill we had just come down and now had to ride back up. We did have an alternative which was a 50k loop around through Kyneton, which also had a few hills.
Fortunately the steep bits aren't long and after dropping the chain off Barry's bike we powered up past Knight's, day-dreaming of their red wines. Foggy up on the top, not much traffic then back down to the main road and a noticable increase in temperature as Ken headed to his place and I to mine to find Glo going for a run. Well that's it - Ken and I have ridden every day this year!
cheers
Andy

Testing, testing...

G'day Folks,
Welcome to the Lancefield Lairs Blog.
I was wondering about how to kick this off and decided the best way would be to go over some of what Lairs did in 2009.
January saw a bunch of us training like crazy for the Audax Alpine Classic for which we gathered in Bright to take it on on a scorcher of a day.
In March, three Lancefield Lairs teams entered what is probably my favourite ride, the Oppy. Unlike the past two years, this year's ride was in perfect conditions and the lame jokes didn't start until well after dark and I'm pretty sure I didn't hear the word "dick" once in the first 12 hours (though things declined rapidly after that).
Through the winter we rode on some fairly challenging days, the toughest was the night we got snowed on while decending Mt. Macedon in the dark.

September saw some of us do the "Spring into Seymour" then head to Hopetoun, Vic. to do the 200k Audax, Mallee Routes ride which is another ride I love..The ride of the perpetual head wind.

Lots more "Sunday rides", then it was "Around the bay" in November and "The Great Vic".

We did rides to Pyalong, where the hills and country side are amazing and rides up Mt. Macedon on beautiful sunny mornings.

Our youngest Lair, 11 yo Angus(my son) started doing the odd ride with us-egged on to sprints by the lads.

More Cafe's were discovered, along with studies into whether you can see Cholesterol in a human from space.

And now, it's Alpine Classic time again, HILLS, HILLS, HILLS.

We'll be using this blog to post our rides, keep an eye on it for the next ride and make a comment after the ride post if you think you might be there, just so we don't drive down to Lancefield to find no-one there, as occasionally the planets align and everyone's doing their hair or just make a comment for the sake of it.

There will be a ride in the next day or two so create a short cut.

Cheers,

Steve.