Long Weekend and Count Down
The boys at FFi Racing made the most of the long weekend.
Saturday saw Mick and Owen make it to a tame Saturday Bakery bunch, with Owen claiming the Maillot vert after taking both the sprint into Forrest Reefs and also the quadruple points sprint back into town over a late charging Mick Troy.
Monday saw a good bunch come out and head to Molong. Joining FFi boys Joe, Mick and Owen was a collective including Richard, Al and Darren. The plan to take the Amaroo road down to Molong and eat the Gelato factory out of Gelato, then head back to town via Cudal and Bowen Park.
Heading into Molong, a late attack saw Mick get away on the run to the 50's heading into town, before being joined by Richard Martin with Mick rolling Richard for the sprint. Further back and Joe was seen to be boxing Owen into the guard rail.
After meeting other FFi Rider currently on the sidelines with a box of tissues, Rod "Kleenex" Farrell on the main street of Molong, discovering all was closed in the small town.
With all of Molong closed, including the Gelato Factory, heart break set into half the bunch, with Richard, Al and Darren deciding to head straight back to Orange while Joe, Owen and Mick deciding to continue as planned.
Heading along Peabody Road, a good pace was set with a combination of a tail wind and downhill runs before the right hand turn onto Forbes Road saw a rip roaring tail wind push the boys towards Cudal with speeds hitting 60km/h.
With the couple of left turns heading to the start of Bowen Park saw the much loved tail wind of earlier turn into a drastic headwind just as the hills started. And with the hills starting saw the emergence of Joe-No-Legs, struggling at first with the road and gravity as it pointed up but later progressed to hating the road, whether it was going up or heading down.
The push through Bowen Park was a real slog, with speeds on some of the flats rivalling the uphill speeds and Joe regretting only having a 23 on the back of Clive.
Back on Cargo road after much slogging, it only continued for the lads, with KOM points going to Mick at the top of Lidster Hill, Joe was really in the hurt locker and was then escorted straight back into town, often with a helpful push on the up hills.
A great ride all round, a neat 110km, 1600m climbing and that is not including the normal Pinnical loop.
Garmin File found at: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/51632074
Some pics were also taken and are on Owen's Facebook page, or alternatively in the photo gallery on the FFi Page
Quote of the day goes to Joe-No-Legs;
Owen: "How are the legs Joe?"
Joe: "The middle leg is sore and so is my arse"
The 24hr Mountain Bike Championships are on this weekend, with FFi racer Joe planning to hit it up in the 18-25yr Category, and Rod Farrell acting as pits for him. Even though today hurt him alot, we are all sure it was just a last blow out of his legs and will have a ripper of a race on the weekend. Best of luck to him and all the Orange riders that are going, either as solo or in a team. Hope you reach your personal goals!