What a cracking day.
I was late, very late. Instead of meeting the posse at the usual junction a quick call was made to the Bigman to move the meet point to the Saline / Knockhill junction.
I blasted up the hill through Saline and on to the junction adopting my best tri riding position on the imaginary tri bars. I was flying but had sadly toasted my legs by the time I met up with the Bigman and Fit One.
We were off, Perth was calling with some great climbs and a 60 mile round trip. We climbed Knockhill at a steady pace sharing the stories of the week. We crested Knockhill without the hint of a race. It appeared that no king of the mountains would be established today.
The Fit One generally led us out on his roadie occasionally turning back to check progress and how we were feeling. He was feeling strong after a 5 week lay off. The Bigman and I trailed behind knowing it was going to be a long day in the saddle and slightly envious of the narrow wheels!
We passed through Yetts O Muckhart - the Fit One told me a few weeks ago what it meant and I've forgotten so that will have to wait for another day. We reached the junction with the Dunning road and a 4 wheel off roader stopped and wound down his window - 'watch the black ice' he warned adding 'there's loads of it'. The amigos weren't concerned - the roads were black, the snow melted and it was above freezing. Was this just to keep us of his road!
Sadly as we climbed the snow increased and it wasn't long before we hit our first patch of ice. It was slippy. Undetered we (snow) ploughed on. Climbing further into the hills the ice patches got worse. I stopped and took the picture of the boys.....
They went ahead as I packed away my phone and pedalled to catch up. I was coasting up behind them when the Fit One's pump fell off, I swerved to avoid it and next thing ground control was calling. It all happened in slow motion and the ground approached slowly to meet my knee. Full impact. It was a painful reminder of a fall. Anyway the road looked like a road but was cunningly disguised as a sheet of ice. Solid ice.
The Fit One suggested that I stick my knee in the snow immediately which on reflection would have been exactly the right thing to do. I didn't and after wheeling off the icy road the decision was made to turn back and head to Stirling. I flirted with the idea of heading home albeit briefly and decided that there was a good chance that I'll come off my bike during the Cape Epic and this was good practice for such an event.
We gingerly made our way of the slopes and were all grateful to see the main road again. So we turned towards Stirling and into the wind. The Bigman was a powerhouse today with the Fit One and him moving ahead on the road and me breathing hard trying to stay with the roasting pace. The Bigman was pushing it, pushing it very hard. Today was a fitness test and he passed with flying colours.
Coffee and a bun at Corrieres cafe in Bridge of Allen was very welcome. It gave me a minute to switch my overshoes onto the right feet!
Then it was back out to make our way home. It had been a peaceable ride with no racing until the final hill. Without a word being said the three amigo's wound the pace up. I was first off the back leaving the Fit One and Bigman to see it out. Wheel for wheel the battle continued. Next thing the Bigman shouts 'can you keep it up, can you keep it up!' - the Fit One drifted back and victory, with a huge punch of the air, was the Bigman's. It was epic!
50+ miles done. 7 weeks to go. The posse are in full training mode.
It's going to be a tough 7 weeks but as the weeks go by and the body grows accustomed to constant training we're both more confident that we'll make it to day 8 in the Laurensford Estate!
No comments:
Post a Comment