Maybe I am just getting old but as I stood outside my car in Jell's Park at 9.30 am and felt the cold air against my face I was more sure than ever that the so called "Global Warming" was nothing more than a cruel myth. I even had two jerseys on, as well as my arm and leg warmers but it still felt cold. In my mind I tried to remember the halcyon days of summer, way back in the cycling dream time. Days when the sun did not set at 5.00 pm in the afternoon, when your fingers did not freeze and your nose did not run. A quick glance up to the leaden sky overhead reminded me that winter cycling is always frought with uncertainty.
I quickly reached for my wind jacket and zipped it up in a vain attempt to offer some sort of protection against the howling wind. Unfortunately a few microns thickness of plastic offers scant insulation against a full force 10 gale. The surrounding trees were bent almost double in their own life and death battle against the elements. The only consolation I could take was from the fact that they were bent in the same direction that we would be riding. It looked as if we were going to have the mother of all tailwinds all the way down to Carrum. The return ride would be another story.
I was soon joined by Lothar and Ben. Johnny Come Lately had ridden all the way down from Emerald and was apparently frozen to his saddle. We had to catch him and cut him free from his bike when he arrived. Although he at first claimed he wasn't cold, within a couple of minutes he was huddled under Lothar's spare yellow overcoat. Phil and Marg Jones (fresh from a luxury holiday in Fiji) came along to ensure that Phil would complete his probationary period and be accepted into the ranks of real cyclists. Ben had again presented with his gargantuan downhill cycling tractor. Although he would have the assistance of the wind on the outward ride, I was not so sure how it would go when the 90 kph wind was coming at us head on.
When Little John arrived it appeared that our peloton was as big as it was going to get. Although others had promised they would be coming it was obvious that the conditions had, once again, separated the riders from the woosses. Hooters was apparently concerned about the weather conditions near Cape Otway, Crasher was massaging his haemorhoids and Cheryl was at home drying her hair. None of them would be making an appearance. The rest of us jumped on our bikes and allowed the wind to quickly accelerate us up to warp speed. Once we were speeding along the track I must admit it did feel a lot better than standing in the car park.
During the week we had decided to dedicate this ride to the memory of Amy Gillett who had recently been tragicaly killed in a training accident. With many of her teammates still recovering in hospital it reinforced in our minds how vulnerable you can be on a bike. Our thoughts were with Amy's husband and the rest of her grieving family.
With the huge wind assist we made it down to Carrum in record time and without punctures or other mishaps. Then it was time to hit the coffee shop for lunch and caffeine. Opposite the shopping we noticed a circus with two large Australian flags flapping furiously in the wind. Both flags were stretched out almost horizontal and were pointing in the exact opposite direction to the one we needed to ride. "That's not a good sign", I commented to Lothar. At least the rain had stayed away.
Sometimes we need adversity to increase our strength and resolve and the return ride was a good example of this. On the way back we took the opportunity to practise pelotonic riding. I am not sure that we actually achieved pelotonic perfection, but the added concentration certainly helped the time pass quickly. The wind that we had feared so much did not hamper our progress as much as I thought it would. After Dandenong the pace actually increased for the final leg, so that by the time we were back to Jells Park we were all feeling warm and high on endorphins. (Ben and his behemoth finished about 2 hours later).
Phil was officially welcomed into the Ghost Riders, becoming our 23rd rider. Although they have only been riding with us for a short time, both Phil and Marg have quickly become valued members of the peloton. We look forward to seeing them both in their yellow jerseys.
All in all it had been another fun ride, but let's hope for a warmer day for our next Monthly Club Ride when we travel down to Phillip Island on August 20th. We are also looking for a much bigger riding group.