E
Euan
Guest
Set off from Dingley Village at 07:40 for Cafe Racer, nice cruisy ride
down Centre Dandenong Road, Nepean then Carlisle, where we met Kath and
Dave.
Much bike pr0n was on display, after a quick oggle we set off down Beach
Road in the Mordiallic direction. Nice easy pace just taking the day
in, stopped off at Startline Cycles for a quick chin wag with Caren then
back on the road again.
Heading in to Black Rock and I'm playing rear end charlie. We've come
across another cyclist who Dave's using to lead him out and off he goes
for the sprint point. I check behind, all clear and put the hammer
down. W00t, first sprint and I won
Coffee and muffin at Kennedy's. More bike pr0n. Yum!
Plans are made and the ladies head back to Cafe Racer, with Suzie then
turning back to Startline Cycles. Dave and I headed out to do the
Aspendale loop, planning to meet Suzie at Startline Cycles.
We head off and my legs are nicely warmed up by now. This is the sixth
time in three years I've ridden my bike without a rack on it and maybe
the tenth time I've ridden with no panniers so I'm feeling quite
frisky. Nice tailwind added to the vibe and we're hitting 40 most of
the way to Aspendale.
Came close to a SMIDSY, older lady turning right in to her driveway.
Doubtless there'll be a letter to the editor about dangerous cyclists on
Beach Road from her, never mind that she's the law breaker.
Coming up to Aspendale and I get caught on the hop, Dave leads out for
the sprint and I completely miss it. One-one.
U-turn and the headwind is now a tailwind, quite a tough one too. This
is going to be a grind. I don't work too hard, keeping a nice even
pace. Working, but not really pushing.
A couple of kms from Black Rock we hook up with a couple of other
cyclists. There's an old guy who looks like he's been cycling since the
dawn of time and he was pretty good. We take turns at the front but
we're getting close to Black Rock. I do my share then hang on to his
wheel, Dave just off the back. The old guy's riding about two meters
out from the side of the road, I don't fancy going around so a loud
`passing left' and I power past and make the break for Black Rock.
Sixty seconds I look over my shoulder and it's all over, victory!
Dave and I have just about managed to kill each other by this point so
it's a noodle back to Startline Cycles. Suzie's not there so we carry
on up St Kilda Street and pick her up for the ride back.
Felt a bit ditzy getting off the bike, probably not enough food. Head
in to the cafe next door for caffeine and scoff the home made muesli
bars I've got in my pocket. Note to self, wrap in grease proof paper
next time, glad wrap's not easy to unravel with one hand! I was going
to eat them on the bike, oh well lesson learned there I guess.
Dave, Suzie and I re-hydrate and caffeinate for a while and Suzie decides
to be a girl and go and try some new tops on. Whoops, there's another
addition to the wardrobe Suzie's folks are just up the road so we
drop in on them, more liquid though no coffee this time. M-i-L kindly
makes me a ham sandwich.
After about an hour of chewing the fat we set off for home, taking it
nice and easy and enjoying the tail wind. It was shaping up to be a
perfect morning until...
Riding down Centre Dandenong Road, a four lane 70km/h stretch. The
lanes are too narrow to accomodate a cyclist and a car at the same time
safely so I'm riding about a meter and a half out from the side of the
road, that puts me just off centre. Suzie glides up beside me. `Hmm,
let's see how many toots we get,' I say to her.
Right enough about 5 minutes later there's a laboured horn behind us.
Not once, not twice, but three times in the space of about twenty
seconds. I admit to a moments inattention in which I nearly careered in
to Suzie as I looked around to see where the danger was.
Some sh*tbox sedan screamed past and swerved violently in again, the
middle aged female driver hurling abuse out the window.
Red mist descends. Hammer goes down. Fortunately for me there's a red
about 2 minutes later and I have no problem pulling up beside her. Not
that it did much good.
``You're not allowed to ride two abreast like that, you're supposed to
leave enough room for me to get through! You're a menace, I'm phoning
the Cops on you!.''
Not a lot I could say to that. I very pointedly looked down at her
number plate, recited her rego back to her and informed here I'd be
reporting her. I then put it in my mobile 'phone.
To cap it all of she's getting on the 'phone as she pulls off from the
lights. I really hope she did ring 000, that'll be too funny if the
cops follow it up.
All in all it was a great day. It's rare I ride just for the ride and
it was really enjoyable. This could be habit forming
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)
down Centre Dandenong Road, Nepean then Carlisle, where we met Kath and
Dave.
Much bike pr0n was on display, after a quick oggle we set off down Beach
Road in the Mordiallic direction. Nice easy pace just taking the day
in, stopped off at Startline Cycles for a quick chin wag with Caren then
back on the road again.
Heading in to Black Rock and I'm playing rear end charlie. We've come
across another cyclist who Dave's using to lead him out and off he goes
for the sprint point. I check behind, all clear and put the hammer
down. W00t, first sprint and I won
Coffee and muffin at Kennedy's. More bike pr0n. Yum!
Plans are made and the ladies head back to Cafe Racer, with Suzie then
turning back to Startline Cycles. Dave and I headed out to do the
Aspendale loop, planning to meet Suzie at Startline Cycles.
We head off and my legs are nicely warmed up by now. This is the sixth
time in three years I've ridden my bike without a rack on it and maybe
the tenth time I've ridden with no panniers so I'm feeling quite
frisky. Nice tailwind added to the vibe and we're hitting 40 most of
the way to Aspendale.
Came close to a SMIDSY, older lady turning right in to her driveway.
Doubtless there'll be a letter to the editor about dangerous cyclists on
Beach Road from her, never mind that she's the law breaker.
Coming up to Aspendale and I get caught on the hop, Dave leads out for
the sprint and I completely miss it. One-one.
U-turn and the headwind is now a tailwind, quite a tough one too. This
is going to be a grind. I don't work too hard, keeping a nice even
pace. Working, but not really pushing.
A couple of kms from Black Rock we hook up with a couple of other
cyclists. There's an old guy who looks like he's been cycling since the
dawn of time and he was pretty good. We take turns at the front but
we're getting close to Black Rock. I do my share then hang on to his
wheel, Dave just off the back. The old guy's riding about two meters
out from the side of the road, I don't fancy going around so a loud
`passing left' and I power past and make the break for Black Rock.
Sixty seconds I look over my shoulder and it's all over, victory!
Dave and I have just about managed to kill each other by this point so
it's a noodle back to Startline Cycles. Suzie's not there so we carry
on up St Kilda Street and pick her up for the ride back.
Felt a bit ditzy getting off the bike, probably not enough food. Head
in to the cafe next door for caffeine and scoff the home made muesli
bars I've got in my pocket. Note to self, wrap in grease proof paper
next time, glad wrap's not easy to unravel with one hand! I was going
to eat them on the bike, oh well lesson learned there I guess.
Dave, Suzie and I re-hydrate and caffeinate for a while and Suzie decides
to be a girl and go and try some new tops on. Whoops, there's another
addition to the wardrobe
Suzie's folks are just up the road so wedrop in on them, more liquid though no coffee this time. M-i-L kindly
makes me a ham sandwich.
After about an hour of chewing the fat we set off for home, taking it
nice and easy and enjoying the tail wind. It was shaping up to be a
perfect morning until...
Riding down Centre Dandenong Road, a four lane 70km/h stretch. The
lanes are too narrow to accomodate a cyclist and a car at the same time
safely so I'm riding about a meter and a half out from the side of the
road, that puts me just off centre. Suzie glides up beside me. `Hmm,
let's see how many toots we get,' I say to her.
Right enough about 5 minutes later there's a laboured horn behind us.
Not once, not twice, but three times in the space of about twenty
seconds. I admit to a moments inattention in which I nearly careered in
to Suzie as I looked around to see where the danger was.
Some sh*tbox sedan screamed past and swerved violently in again, the
middle aged female driver hurling abuse out the window.
Red mist descends. Hammer goes down. Fortunately for me there's a red
about 2 minutes later and I have no problem pulling up beside her. Not
that it did much good.
``You're not allowed to ride two abreast like that, you're supposed to
leave enough room for me to get through! You're a menace, I'm phoning
the Cops on you!.''
Not a lot I could say to that. I very pointedly looked down at her
number plate, recited her rego back to her and informed here I'd be
reporting her. I then put it in my mobile 'phone.
To cap it all of she's getting on the 'phone as she pulls off from the
lights. I really hope she did ring 000, that'll be too funny if the
cops follow it up.
All in all it was a great day. It's rare I ride just for the ride and
it was really enjoyable. This could be habit forming
--
Cheers | ~~ __@
Euan | ~~ _-\<,
Melbourne, Australia | ~ (*)/ (*)
