30 May 26
Notwithstanding it’s an outdoor sport, the constant hope of cyclists is the weather doesn’t impact a ride too much.
Thankfully though Audax’s Ride Rules offer some flexibility to assist Ride Organisers when they’re faced with uncertainty. R/O Gerry Keating made the call to postpone his ride, the Wattle Park Meander 134km one day (from Sat to Sun) as BOM’s Sat forecast was 25mm rain. It turned out to be a very sensible decision. Even with chilly conditions (Woodside’s temp was predicted to be sub 10c for most of the day), there were 9 registrants as you can see from the photo.
Heading up into the hills via Montacute is always fun and a good warm up the rest of the day’s 11 subsequent climbs. With vm estimated at 2363 we all know this measure can sometimes be unreliable. My Strava record along with Jack’s, Elbert’s and Gerry’s, showed an average vm 2815, a near 20% increase. NB note to self for next year.
Notwithstanding the vm it was a good day out, esp nice to see a nourished landscape compared with the dryness of last year. The 30km stretch from Woodside (where Div, JC and Chris left us), out to Harrogate and then onto the Control at Nairne was picturesque.
As the hours wore on though I felt myself flagging. Climbing Stock Rd (from Mylor to Longwood Rd) was slow and steady, followed by Ayers Hill Rd and Mt Osmond. At least when you’re there, you know you’re not far from home.
Marcus suffered a mechanical, 1st identified at Woodside (40km), but thankfully rectified … only to return at 93 kms. Elbert, Gerry, Jack, Simon and I came in at 3.35pm … 8 hours. Happy with that! Many thanks to R/O Gerry.