What an awesome start to the day, still a little chilly in Penrith at 8c however a hell of a lot better than the minus temperatures we've had in the weeks gone by. The push was for this ride to survive the winter chill and we did it ! Over 20 riders turned up for today's start, some new faces, some regular and some we hadn't seen for months, it didn't matter, we were there to ride and enjoy the next 2 hours. Ride starts at 7:07am swinging onto Castlereagh road.
Down towards the Castlereagh flats we went it was just pristine. As usual a few numbnuts had to honk their horns however once they revved past (giving them the usual wave) we settled into a good pace. A little quick at first with a few of the race guys up front, after a quick word we settled into the group pace of 30km/hr. Up we went over the Col de Castlereagh and on to Richmond. We made it to the nice smooth tar just outside of Richmond and I could see most people reaching for their waterbottles, the road out there is a little rough and can be narrow so best to wait until its safe to reach down ! As usual, a little stop and start through Richmond, a passing truck, a quick squirt to see of we could catch him and then settling back into the ride
Out we went back to Penrith at a nice pace, it was warming up and I could see a number of armwarmers coming off. We managed to catchup with Graeme from Panthers cycling club, he was on his way to Richmond and turned around to join us. We "thundered" towards the Col and I could see a number of guys positioning themselves towards the front as they all know, something happens here, not sure what but its best not to get left behind....
Two up along the first part of Castlereagh road and up the rise past Church Lane. Anthony alongside me says he doesn't think he has the legs for a sprint today ( yeah like sure, as if I'd believe you
) So up 3 gears and out of the saddle gently going past the group and then pushing harder. Of course I wasn't going to be alone for long, I backed off a little and I heard the whooshing of the BMX Bandito freight train go past, the flash of orange helmet and those fleshpistons are unmistakable , he was hammering: So not to be outdone I attacked Jeff and he taught me one thing, when you catch someone don't slow down so this time I made sure he couldn't get on the back... Well of course the chasing bunch decided I was going to sit out on my own and it was only a matter of time till I'd blow. Looking over my shoulder the group had formed and they were catching, oh well ( I could see that bloody orange helmet bobbing around, damn i hope they were hurting 1.5km down the road they finally caught me and thanks to the lactic acid, I had to muster everything to get back on. It was actually great to see 5 or 6 in the chase group, Anthony, Mark, BMX Bandito, G-Man, Graeme, Trent. A few of these guys ride in B Grade and Trent races in A so it was a very competitive ride back in. This part of the trip seems to generate the most laughter back at the Coffee shop We all hit the Andrews road roundabout together, through we went and a bit of looking around to see who was going to go for the next attack. Well fortunately (for me anyway) we had road works upfront so the attacking was over and we had to weave our way through the cars to get back to the Coffee shop. Arrival at shop was 9:05am, departure was 10:00am, these coffee breaks are going to almost last as long as the rides soon ! I saw Ozlegacy gnawing at a Sausage Roll, others tucking into banana bread and of course the coffee. Killer walked over to say hello, boy he's looking well, he had walked from his house in to Penrtih as part of his physio and it was all chatter chatter chatter.
Lets hope today was a sign of warm weather to come, more riders, nicer weather and many new friends !
Cheers..Pete
