Saturday, January 17, 2009

Al's 1st Post

Well, seeing as there has not been any pointless ramblings on the blog for a while, I think it's a good opportunity to put my tuppeny-worth in for the first time.

After the christmas break and many weeks of sporadic cycling activity, my legs have been a little off the boil of late. This was the first week I have been able to test my legs at the SOP for a while and I was a little concerned about the amount of suffering I would have to endure. Tuesday turned out to be a not-so-bad session for me. I had to rein in the instinct to always be in the mix and at the same time rein in bob who always has the spirit and the legs but not the engine. I came out of the five laps feeling happy with the way the legs went and but also happy for bob who for once was there for the sprint at the end.

Wednesday was a normal commute without training as I was farewelling the folks to NZ. Thursday down at the SOP turned out to be a really fun session. Scotty went in one of the slower groups as he was nursing post-dawnie-leg-syndrome. Eastie rolled out in first group with over a dozen others. Once again quite a few new faces in the bunch. The usual brisk 1st lap was on the menu followed by a hard grind up the blvd sprint. I saw Eastie move up on the left over the rise and  grabbed his wheel followed closely by Albert. Eastie set a pace of over 50kph down the blvd and kept his foot on the gas for the next half a lap. A gap had opened up behind the 3 of us of about 25m with the bunch turning themselves inside-out to get back in contact. Eastie had other ideas though. He never looked back or even flicked his elbow for some relief. It was head down and grind the bunch into a slow death. The 2nd lap ascent of the flack was all Mr East at 45kph. He didn't swing off until near the top where Albert and I were allowed to take up some of the pressure. On the 3rd lap Mel and Jack bridged with the aid of a truck but the pace was so intense it was even a struggle sitting on. Jack and Mel were duly unhitched a lap later. The elastic snapped spectacularly on the 4th lap with the gap to the bunch over 200m and finally Eastie showing signs of fatigue. Albert and I were now able to contribute and my legs were starting to feel no-too-bad. The sprint was not contested on the last lap. It would have been quite unappreciative after being motor-paced like that for 35mins.

On the 1750 front it was good to get back into the swing of things this week. There was also an unexpected return of schmycledan shenanigans on Thursday evening. I have to mention Bob's karma is not looking too good of late. 2 attacks and 2 punctures! The puncture on Thursday called for some premeditated action in the form of operation "put bob in his place" (one of the favorite 1750 sports). It's always a dead give-away when the banter stops for 5mins that someone has is brewing a big pot of schmycledan. Lucky for me the tail wind up the col d'concord was all I needed to pour a cup and make good my escape. Ryan hit bob with a sit-down sprint and registered some serious torque.

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