Those of us who loaded the BOM site this morning and laughed in the face of
rain rocked up.. Myself, Ess, DaveB and Jaywoo. DaveB was almost spent when
he got to the start, having punctured right near home and having to dash
back for a replacement... I had noticed my front was flat before leaving
home, so was running a new rim on the front, old on the back.. Sorry Brett,
mismatched tyres for me today 🙂
We all knew it was going to rain, when it would start was the unknown.. 10
mins into the ride it started. Only light, but enough to make the roads
wet. I cant recall if it kept raining up to Kangaroo Ground, but the roads
were wet all the way. DaveB had a support car follow him up to the KG
waiting point, with bikes mounted on the back. Out popped an older guy with
two young American girls. The girls had bike toured NZ and had just done
the Great Ocean Road.. The guy asked about Kinglake and how that would be a
nice ride for them. Hmm.. these guys must be serious cyclists!?.. We let
them know about the Smith's Gully stop and told them to drop in on the way
past. DaveB set off home from here, as Jaywoo, Ess and myself headed for
Alma Rd. Dog walking guy was out again and there were many tree branch
swerves on the way to Smith's Gully. A few mins after sitting down in the
nice warm secret room I never knew about, our pimp daddy and chickys show up
(ok, no disrespect to pd, high fives there buddy)... we have a chat and head
off...
We turn for Kinglake and set off after our new friends. We catch them and
decide there were no challengers in that bunch, they were in 'touring
mode'... Timing points were discussed and we were off. 1/2 way up I had
the ear pop thing going on, we aren't at sea level anymore Toto... Ess
crossing the finish point in 21:30? I think it was 30 secs or so in front
of Jaywoo and I who came in at 21:52. A few mins rest in Kinglake and off
again.. This is where the fun starts.. rain rain rain rain and another climb
heading to Kinglake West. We fought visibility, sticks, rain filled
potholes, and even a few Bogans(tm) who had no concept of giving cyclists
some room in a 100km/h zone. More rain, more rain, and very WINDY.. we
descend into Whittlesea while being blown all over the road. This had
changed from 'a ride' to 'survival'.. We all make it to Whittlesea..
stopping for water.. we catch some glimpses of sunlight!.. What was with
the amount of 4WD's attempting a U turn in the main st?
Whittlesea back into the city had a very friendly tail wind, so we were
cruising around 43-50km/h all the way back into the city.. all while the sun
was shining.. bikes finally dry and not in need of an instant cleaning when
we get home..
My Stats: 121.86kms, average 30.30km/h.
So where was everyone else!?!? 🙂
cheers,
GPL