Goulburn handicap

Yesterday Rach, Tegan, Maja, Liz and I (and Simon!) headed away from the sunny blue skies of Canberra with a really solid Vikings contingent and headed to rainy rainy Goulburn for the Windellama 50km handicap.

Apart from getting absolutely soaked, it was excellent fun (actually I think the rain added to the fun, especially some of those limited visibility descents). The Valkyries plus Milto made up the whole of E grade (I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been much of a race without the Vikings!).

Highlights:

- The beautiful old couple arguing about how to start the race - 'ready, set...' 'no! aren't you going to count down from 5!?' 'oh, alright! 5,4,3,2,1 go!'

- Sitting on Bec's wheel down the hill and getting up to 60kms/hr - my new speed record:)

- Tegs and I had a very exciting 5 minutes riding with the fast kids before we lost them up that second hill.

- Maja was a legend for not turning back early, despite invitations from the driver behind her.

- Finally getting to visit the greengrocers/cycle shop that I've heard so much about.

Things I learnt this time:

- A towel is a really good thing to pack for away races, as well as a nice warm change of clothes (as is checking the weather report before you leave home).

- In the last 3kms of the race, don't take a turn on the front unless you have the extra energy.

- Be careful not to accidentally find yourself at the front of a fast bunch and getting in the way:)

- Getting soaked is not that bad when you're working hard enough to stay warm.

Thanks guys for a great day - can't wait til next time!

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.

Valko-Maxx Strip Tease

Wednesday's training session on the program called for a rec ride, of 20-30 minutes, however there was some mild confusion with thursdays sesssion which was planned for a longer 30-60 minute session.

At any rate, 3 Valkyries and a Vmaxx showed up at 6am in the city for a ride heading north, including
Brad, me, Anna and Verity making her return to form.

Given the balmy temperatures of 5 degrees I busted out the summer bibnix, with a long sleeve thermal, jersey and arm warmers. Kind of cool to be getting back into summer kit - I find I ride better without all the thick winter layers on.

We formed a nice bunch and got moving without working too hard, practicing some high cadence and explaining the sprint drills from yesterdays session.

There was enough energy for some chatting but once we hit the Federal Hwy Verity made up her missing sprints and shortly after the hill Anna turned to head back, dutifully following the program!

Rach and Verity continued on with Brad and enjoyed a spectacular sunrise all the way to the Tulip Farm turn, where we turned to head back into town.

The light rain started once we were back on Northbourne and it was about then that a niggling numbness in my hands started to hurt a bit and get quite annoying.

Popular opinion was that my arm warmers, over the top of a thermal were the culprit so each traffic light saw an arm being peeled off - which gave Brad the idea of commuter strip tease and the suggestion that we'd better get to the Pickle quickly before I ran out of removeable layers.

We made it to the pickle without breaking decency laws, enjoyed a coffee and headed off to work - pleased with ourselves that we had a really enjoyable, good session before the rain really set in.

Feels good to be training.