92km of yeah well, you know.....well "fun"

I think it only fair to say for starters I'm not really one for setting long term goals and whatnot - imagine the disappointment if you got run over tomorrow and you hadn't ticked them all off.

But I did say late last year that I'd (like) to do the "fun ride" round Lake Dunstan and then I promptly ended up on death's door before Christmas with a head cold/sinus thing that would have laid up even swine flu itself.....

So I kind of said yeah nah.

Right up till yesterday infact - even after I'd installed the new (wider) handlebars (check it out man, I'm riding a 31.8mm stem now.....), changed the seat, cleaned the bike, fiddled with the seat height a few times, took it for a test ride in the new kit and still, I was to coin a DB phrase - ambivalent about forking out $35 + 10 bucks late fee to ride round a lake that is only 30 minutes away and I could ride round it anytime I like!

So, fast forward to this morning: woke to rain - oh goody I can sleep in.....

Still looking for inspiration.........................................................

Found this on the interweb last night and after that I thought :

"If Andrew Meo can still lay the smack down at 47, I can bluff my way through a 92km fun rideat 40"

Rain stopped: bugger might have to go and do it - plenty of time to make it - yeah lets go.

Coffee x 2- check.

Bin full of stuff - check

Bike - check

Shoes - had to stop 10 km down the road: to....... - check.

Forked over the money, much relieved that they did this:

-instead of pin holes thru the new jersey.

Got changed, went for a roll to suss out the finish - like I'd be featuring, but at least I'd know when to slow down...and then the wind changed to a Southerly and it rained.

Crap.

Money down, must ride now.

It's been a while since I've turned up at a "fun ride" seems that the guy who invented carbon must be laughing all the way to his big fat bank.

Even in the deep south, the fashion setters make an appearance:

Then we lined up, started rolling and it rained.

Riding, riding - it rained heavier.

Riding riding then it really rained a lot and we weren't even out the neutral zone.

I knew we were out the neutral zone because Scotty from Outside Sports got things going in the tailwind at 60km.....

My grupetto was a little more sedate, but the big ring it was in and before I knew what was happening I was bridging a gap and moving through the field and feeling ok - well I wasn't puking at least.

Thanks tail wind - you rock.

And no one was in toeclips !

A couple of old steeel frames, but I was on my new to me but 5 year old carbon Trek, so no time to mix and mingle discusing friction shifters buddy - I've moved to nine, yes nine of the finest on the bars !

Cross wind section from Taras to Maori Point Road; I was the man and pulled the bunch on through - I thought I was just riding on the front, but some guy said "nice work there" and he looked like he'd conservatively done about a million km's in his day - same Sidi shoes as me too.

I commented of course that I thought I had the oldest shoes, but no, we had matching it seems.

"Got them in '94" he said.

I replied that mine had been riding with Johan Museew when Smile Upton owned them.

Anyways, Luggate came and went 50 km's from the start in 1hr 20 mins...........pretty good.

Then it was head wind to home (42km) and rain and a bunch that couldn't really organise a piss up in a brewery.

So I sat in, had lunch and then it rained - a lot.

Like if you were driving in your car, you would have slowed down to 60km/h and put your lights on too.

It was the most wet I'd ever been riding my bike.

Then we had thunder and lightening as well. Wicked.

At least I didn't have a mortgage payment of carbon wheels out there in the deluge.


I was pretty glad I had my knee and arm warmers on...and my vest on under my jersey, and a merino 1st layer - ah, I can hear Andrew Meo's words now "always wear a woolly layer even in summer - can't go wrong"

This was true as it was indeed summer and fortunately the sheep have become softer and market themselves better these days.

Andrew was also reknowned for issuing red cards for infringements over incorrect sock length, missing a turn on the front, letting a gap open up.........once when the boys were racing in the Top of the South Tour, we spent a whole afternoon driving around Blenheim looking for a good coffee.

We'd do a drive by then send in a scout on recon, filter machines earning a "no way in hell" and a dirty machine a similar response.

But I digress - do check out Slims blog tho, he had quite the day today.

Somehow I ended up last wheel in a beautiful echelon of five riders spread across the road past the Cherry farms - it was a thing of greatness as everyone else was strung off my wheel unable to organise another line.

Ah, it was the sort of thing even the Ariostia team time trial would have been proud of.

Shame my sodden gloves and hands couldn't feel the bars or that my ankles were part of my body at this point....

We even collected up another small bunch - life was good.

The finish line was looming after a left hander in the industrial area, 4 guys jumped, I didn't.

Well until two bloody school girls who had wheel sucked their way around the whole way tried to roll me on the line - I don't think so.

"Stop riding like a pussy" was all I could hear from Slim at that point, so I fed it to them and finished 4th in our bunch of maybe 30 riders.

Stats:

Race distance 92km,

My time 3hr 1 minute.

Winning time 2hr 20 minutes by the young junior who won 3 golds at the Track Worlds in Russia last year.

I finished 29th overall in the 35-44 year old age group and 79th overall out of 243 riders, so just squeaked into the top 3rd off the field.

I ate 2 bananas, 1 muesli bar and drank 1.5 bottles of water from my bottles and must have swallowed another 16 gallons of wheel spray.

1 cup (more or less) of dirty water emptied out of the frame when I got home.

90 psi in the Conti 700 x 28 tires made the big chip that much more comfortable - poo poo the nay sayers.

At prize givinh I picked up a flyer for another race in 2 months time from Queenstown to Wanaka and return over the Crown Range and thought yeah that wouldn't be so bad....

Which is good as I've finished other "fun" rides previously and wanted to sell the bike.

Didn't get a spot prize, but never mind that's racing.