Friday, August 19, 2011

Norman training session

Great training session this morning, Valkyries who showed up for the Norman included: Rach, Anna, Ches and Tegan and joined up with a small group of Vikings to form one Normanbunch.

There was no rain during the ride, and the pace was moderate - making for an excellent bunch ride where no-one got dropped and most people were riding fairly comfortably. The benefit of a small group meant that we could easily amend the Red Hill route to exclude Red Hill, making for a fairly flat ride.

There was some concern on the way bak when we passed under Adelaide Ave, and heading into Yarralumla approacuing a small roundabout which is notorious for speeding traffic which appears out of nowhere - Ches found herself lying her bike down in front of a truck.

Fortnuately, she had braked enough that she wasnt going very fast and was up in an instant - apologising to the extremley shocked looking truck driver. Ches' official new Vikings title is Public Relations Officer. No injuries other than a sore hip/thigh and she rode all the way back to the Pickle for breakkie and coffee.

Apart from the off, it was a great training ride.

Lessons from this morning include:
-just because its raining in Tuggeranong, does not mean it is raining in the city
-approach intersections slowly and with caution - especially in the rain when braking is less effective
-"hammer the rivet" whenever possible
-turn up to training consistently or new Valkyries like Tegan will blitz you!!!
-slightly soggy Normans are often the best ones because the bunch is small, the pace and route are easy, you get to ride with people you normally wouldn't, you get to know the route, and you don't get dropped.

2 comments:

  1. I learnt a lot this morning about brakes and wet roads! Also about how long adrenalin lasts! It's longer than I thought, and I was way more shaken up that I realised - totally fine though, just resolved to be way more cautious approaching roundabouts:)

    Just hoping I'm not too sore for tomorrow's Goulburn adventure - I am so going to throw the hammer and hit the rivet hard core!

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  2. Oh Ches, I'm glad you're ok! Sounds pretty scary! Hopefully the Goulburn race will be good, and will help erase the memory of the spill.

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