Although I always enjoy the familiar ride from Pakenham to Drouin, it can be exposed on a hot and/or windy day and, when the forecast was for 38C my spirits sank rather dramatically. The thought of fighting our way back in the blazing sun did not exactly excite my cycling imagination. We were faced with two possible alternatives - either cancel the ride altogether or run it much earlier in the day.
When I asked around for input I was a little surprised that several riders said they would join me provided I left before dawn. Although I enjoy cycling I also greatly enjoy lying in bed and the thought of getting up at 4.30 am on Saturday morning was not my normal idea of a fun weekend. I also harboured the sneeking suspicion that I could get up at that ungodly hour and then find that I was the only one that had turned up for the ride. Surely that would give me a valid excuse for committing murder on a large scale.
Somehow I dragged myself out of bed on the dark and struggled to muster some enthusiasm. When I opened the front door it was still pitch dark outside but I had to admit that the air was fresh and relatively cool. With only one eye open I managed to eat some breakfast, attach the bike to the car and head off into the unknown. One advantage of starting at this time is that the roads are certainly quiet. Apart from a few (probably drunk) revellers returning from their all night celebrations, the roads were deserted.
Soon after 6.00 am I turned the corner into Bald Hill Rd and was pleased to see that I would not be the only rider after all. Little John, "Bagga" Hession, Lothar and Richard Kempster were all there getting ready for the ride. Phil Hession had also brought along a young cycling mate called Matt, who would be joining in the ride. Michael Roberts, recently moved down from Queensland was also keen to demonstrate his riding class. Although the petticoat peloton was supposed to be starting at 6.00 am sharp, there was still no sign of any of the fairer riders. In fact it was not until about 6.15 that Lisa and Glenda finally rounded the corner on their bikes. Jon Bate had also arrived with a serious looking carbon fibre Specialised road bike that he had "borrowed" from his son for the day.
As soon as the women arrived the A peloton disappeared into the darkness, leaving Richard, Lothar, Michael and myself to depart about 15 minutes later. We passed the time by doing some slow laps on the smooth bitumen in the Mitre 10 car park. When no further riders had arrived by 6.35 we set off along Bald Hill Rd.
The early pace was about 32 kph and we were able to enjoy the experience of gliding along in the predawn silence. I had to admit that once you are out of bed, this early morning riding was rather special. Not only was the air temperature still cool, but there was absolutely no wind to contend with. Soon the kilometres started to roll by and I noticed that the younger riders had started to quietly raise the speed to about 37 kph. Although this was not bad on the flat sections, when we encountered a couple of the rolling hills I was a little alarmed that they did not reduce the pace.
Within the first 40 minutes we caught up with the first group of riders, but rather than slow down to let the slower riders get an assist, a breakaway group developed and soon disappeared into the distance. We were now left with riders strewn out along a couple of km of the road, leaving me to consider what to do. There was no way I was going to try to chase the breakaway, now almost 500 metres ahead, and I really wanted to try to maintain some semblance of order for the rest of the riders behind me. For some kilometres I rode with Lisa while , at the same time looking ahead to see if the others had slowed down at all.
In fact it was not until we arrived at Longwarry that I finally found the missing bolters. By that time I was not in the best of humour and let them all know that that was not the way we want our rides to develop. They did seem suitably chastised and promised to behave themselves for the rest of the ride. We sat down and waited for the peloton to reform. This was also the ideal opportunity to rehydrate. If you wait until you feel thirsty before drinking it is already MUCH too late.
Fortunately we did not have to wait too long for the remaining riders and were soon heading off on the final 8 km section to Drouin. This is the only really hilly bit of the entire ride with one long straight hill on the outskirts of Drouin. The unique feature of this hill is that it progressively get steeper the closer you get to the top, making the final 100 metres or so a bit of a low gear grind. It had already been agreed that all riders could take the hill at their own pace and I discovered that Lother, once again, earned the King of the Mountain award. (I did not actually get to witness this feat, as I was some several hundred metres back puffing up the hill in his wake).
After having another drink at the summit it was a gentle coast down into Drouin, where we stopped at the Bakery for breakfast. Before entering the town we were passed by an elderly cyclist riding in the opposite direction. It turned out to be none other than Peter Warren who had apparently set off the evening before and ridden down to Lakes Entrance and back before heading back to open his shop at 9 am. I could only marvel at the different ways that senility manifests itself.
AS we waved goodbye to Peter my stomach was telling me that it was time for breakfast. Even though I had already had my first breakfast at 4.30 am, that was now so long ago that it did not count. I needed coffee and cream cakes in order to successfully complete the ride back to Pakenham. It was a pleasant sight to find the bakery open for business and the friendly staff made us very welcome, although some of our riders exhibited raised levels of anxiety when local drivers insisted on parking within a few millimeters of our precious bikes.
By 9 am it was time to get back on the bikes and head back to Pakenham. Since I had requested (ie ordered) that we all ride together back to Nar Nar Goon, we rode with impeccable precision and teamwork. It gave us all a chance to chat as we rode along and was a good introduction to our forthcoming China Ride. As it turned out we still managed to maintain a good speed and the heat was still holding off, making the riding experience enjoyable for everyone.
After Nar Nar Goon we allowed everyone to ride at their own pace and soon Lothar, Michael and Richard were hotly involved in a long distance sprint. Jon and I were some several hundred metres behind them, with Little John, Lisa and Glenda a similar distance behind us. As we turned onto Bald Hill Rd for the final run to the finish we discovered that a nasty little head wind had developed, making us ever so grateful that our ride was almost over.
Pulling into the Mitre 10 car park at about 10.30 am the temperature was finally starting to take off, but for us our hard work was over. We could return home with clear consciences, knowing that we had completed another 75 km. When I looked back over the morning's activities I had to admit that it really had been a lot of fun. Maybe we should run more of these early morning rides, espcially when extremely high temeperatures are expected. I went home and was soon happily napping in my favourite chair. A perfect end to a great ride.