Friday was a good bike day for me. Rode 20km to work arriving at about
0630h then went for a ride up and back on the Yarra Boulevard with a couple
of guys from work who had never ridden it before (they were both pretty
amazed to find a road like it that close to the city). Finished up with a
few laps of the Kew Crits course and then down Johnson St to the city and
stopped for coffee at George St Cafe. Was showered and at my desk by just
before 0900h and the odometer was now on 50km.
Worked through lunch and then knocked off at 1500h and rode down Beach Rd to
Ellwood to check out the UNO sale. It was stinking hot and there was a
pretty strong headwind. I only ended up buying a couple of pairs of socks
for $5 each but there was a fair bit of stuff on sale (I think they had the
orange bib nicks for $25 Dutchy!!!). As I got off the bike at the UNO shop
I realised that I had left my mini pump in the locker at work so decided to
go back via work to pick it up. Was looking forward to the tailwind back
but then a truck passed me so I put in a big effort and managed to get in
the slipstream. Had a cruisy 55km/h to 60km/h ride all the way back to Sth
Melb (only one red light) and then got back to work at about 1600h (70km on
the trip meter). From here I did the trip home and got back at around 1655h
with 90km on the speedo. Was a fantastic "work day" and I think I might
have to do it again in the near future.
Had one scare for the whole trip......was coming down Studley Rd in
Eaglemont and got to the double set of lights at Bell St just as the first
set went orange. I had anticipated this and was doing about 45km/h (is
downhill here) and as I was about to enter the second intersection (Bell St)
a lady driving a mini bus decided to turn right on the orange light without
checking that it was clear. I grabbed a big handful of brake and threw my
weight backwards, managed to lock up the back wheel for a split second but
then released it before I chewed too much of the almost brand new GP4000s
up. She did stop eventually after veering left I managed to miss her. The
bit that I didn't like was that she gave me a smile as she braked as if to
say "yes, I know that I nearly wiped you out but you managed to miss me so
it is all OK now". I was not of this opinion and gave her the "use your
fsking eyes" field signal as I went past.
Ride On,
Gags