FFi's Sunday Training Ride
HI all,
It was a good Sunday roll yesterday, with a good group heading out to
Cudal and back in via Bowen Park.
The fog made it interesting as we descended into Cudal, were at one
point I could not see the front of the bunch. As we came to the 50km
sprint know one was sure were the line was. There was a move by Joe
and Owen but they thought they had lost the sprint to mighty Mick
Cain. Then Joe went again as everyone realised that it was the 50
ahead not the 50. Owen got the sprint from a fast moving Mason.
With a pit stop needed Mick Cain kept going and the rest of us tried
not to wake any of the locals in the caravan park. After a quick use
of the amenities the bunch rolled out again in search of Mick Cain.
With Shackey and Grant setting the pace Joe and Owen were to be found
at the back conducting a Banana bread appreciation taste test. As we
started to climb Bowen park many riders started to strip off, Joe kept
getting dropped as he was admiring the scenery. Half way up the first
climb of the day the shuffle happened and everyone went into suffer
mode to get to the top. Shackey and Owen were then found on the front
setting the pace, though this was shuffled again as a car passed and
Owen had to pull over for another urination relief stop. Grant then
became the best climber in all the land as he road away from the
remainder. After the first climb the group was spread over about 4km
as everyone found their pace and settled in to climb. Brian dropped
his chain and Owen gave him a push half way up the hill. At the top
Mighty Mick had just made it as Grant and Owen were about 20sec
behind.
We regrouped and flowed back in Cargo road and then hit Lidster, again
there was a shuffle and by this point I think a lot of riders had sore
legs. Mason, Grant and Brian kept going Mick and Owen tried to bring
Joe Shakey and Ian back to them but as Mick and Owen rolled onto the
back of Masons group we looked back and could not see the others. Mick
got the 80km sprint at the lake and then we rolled into the base of
the Pinnacle. Again it was a matter of survival as everyone got into
their world and just rode the hill. At the top everyone thought Mason
had turned around somewhere and had cut short. So Mick took off
followed by Owen, Grant and Brian. Owen caught Mick first and scared
the shit out of him. The Grant caught us, we all looked back to see
where Brian was and just behind him was Mason, who after crawling up
the climb must have found some wings and flown down the other side.
The wind up came for the last sprint into town which was won by Owen
but could have gone any way.
Good luck this weekend for Mudgee. Thank you to all that came out
yesterday.
Cheers
Owen