The Whippet Ride

The ride commenced with a rather informative discussion between Rob and Thunder about the mechanics of chain cleaning. Which product to use, what products to avoid, the reasons why and so on and so forth. Probably a little too much information to take in at 5am in the morning!!!

Ever heard the saying "Always the bridesmaid and never the bride"??? Well that's me and the Coin Slot kick at the moment. Last week I had actually started to visualise my victory salute when Thunder stole the win with about a metre to spare. Today, despite the fantastic leadout from Mecca - which involved mowing down the four riders who had escaped off the front - I still couldn't get up and had to settle for yet another 2nd spot! No more grains for you Mecca!!

BSB must have forgotten what time the ride starts, but he managed to put in an appearance at the yet-to-be-named hill after Haddock. It was noticed BSB that you were wasting time at the top of the hill, rolling around and around in circles.... not too keen to go down the other side and come back up eh? I don't blame you actually!!

The Week That Was

Last week was a week of flatties for the riders of the M1 bunch.......

Tuesday: Tuggy started the week off in spectacular fashion with another explosive flat in the paceline just after the bridge near stickmakers. Being the kind, caring riders that we are, the bunch continued on its speeding way and picked up Tuggy on the way back!

Wednesday: Chrissy A was the next one to blow out - also in spectacular fashion. On the downhill run in the middle of the River Ranch Hill circuit, Chrissy blew the front tyre. I tell you what Chrissy, you did well to keep your bike up right and yourself off the bitumen.

Thursday: Thanx to some late pot-hole pointing by the bunch, Cam ended up straight in the middle of a tyre-muncher just before the dirt section near Blain drive. Being Cam's first tyre change, there was no pressure to see how fast he could fix the flat.... well, maybe just a little pressure!!

Good Friday Roll

The Easter Bunny's on its way and to kick the long weekend off in true roadie fashion there will be a ride leaving from Bunny's.... I mean Bunning's at 6:00am on Friday morning.

The ride will take the usual Sunday morning town circuit (40ks) and will finish at Maccas for a brew and a hot cross bun if you fancy.

I wonder if the Easter Bunny will make an appearance on the ride.....

Mt Cootha Challenge

Results are now available online for yesterdays' Mt Cootha Challenge ride.

Results of participants whom we know of include:

Peter Salisnew 8.44mins 8th in M 40-44 division.
Martymaree Cooper 11.08mins 3rd in "its" division.
Prue Oswin 11.21mins 5th in F 30-34 division.
Karen Field 14.53mins 18th in F 35-39 division.

Apologies if I missed anyone who participated.

Full results are available from http://www.bq.org.au/ (I got the web address right this time Tuggy!).

2010 Rockhampton Road Season

The draft 2010 Rockhampton Road Calendar has now been released and should be posted on the Rocky cycling website shortly. The first race for the year will be the 20k time trial on Saturday 10th April.

Just a reminder to have your licence renewed before you travel up to Rocky on the 10th. Club officials would like everyone to have their licence sorted before the 10th.

To renew your licence, go to http://www.cycling.org.au/ and login to the member section. You'll need your licence number to do this.

More info is available from the Rocky website http://www.rockhamptoncyclingclub.com/

The Crocodile Ride

If I thought Thursday night was windy, this morning was 10 times worse. To make things worse, there were quite a few horses missing from the bunch today. This of course meant that there were fewer places to hide when the going got tuff.

Welcome back to Thomas. At the start of the ride, we all heard every excuse under the sun as to why Thomas had been in hiding for the past few weeks and months. You sure picked a great ride to come back on Thomas.

For those of us that undertook the hitters ride, it was hard work all of the way - well for me anyway. The wind was 90% headwind and crosswind from the Yarwun turnoff all the way back to Calliope. LG and Thunder appeared to be in a battle of their own up the front and on every climb whilst the rest of us struggled to just hold wheels.

The bunters some how forgot that Haddock existed on the way back in from Calliope with Rob being the only rider interested in the climb. Unable to convince any of his compatriots to join him, he too took advantage of the strong tailwind back into town. Oh, dogs are whispering in the pack that Rob is actually riding pretty strong. Keep your eyes on this one.

Good luck to all of those riders who are participating in tomorrows Mt Cootha challenge. Keep an eye out for "Martymaree" riding in the 40 - 45 year old womens division. If you win guys, you may have some explaining to do!

The "P" Plate Ride

Despite a cyclone knocking on the door, the bunch handled the blustery conditions extremely well - we even mentioned to stay upright after a close shave by a passing white ute.

Congratulations has to go to Lauren who - for the first time - hit a bit of wind and came through for rotations for the entire ride. Lauren also graduated from L Plate to P Plate having received her first "spray" from the King!! Welcome to the club Lauren!

The bunch was admiring Pyney's shiny wheels for most of the ride. Any time you've got some spare time Pyney, you are welcome to clean mine!

At the end the sprint was being fiercely contested by the Barber and Mecca. Not sure who got it... I think Mecca was sprooking about a victory this morning.

And yes Mecca, your knicks were see through!!

Ps - Happy Bunch Birthday to Tuggy for yesterday and SpyCat for today. Dogs were talking last night that SpyCat wasn't going to share her Carrot Cake Cupcakes!!!

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN PUSH BIG GEARS

The Lady Of The Lake

Every Saturday morning when the bunch passes over the Calliope River Bridge, just up the hill, the bunch is greeted by a lovely lady who is always full of encouragement and cheers.

Matty has been yelling out "Happy New Year" to this lady for the past 4 years and the tradition has never faulted.

Yesterday, Matty finaly met the Lady Of The Lake in person and presented her with a framed M1 womens jersey. Thanx to BSB for the framework (Gladstone Picture Framing).

The response from the Lady Of The Lake was something special "Gawd damn you made my day, Gawd damn you made my week, Gawd damn you made my year!".

It just goes to show that an act of kindness can bring so much joy to a persons day, week or even year!!

BLACK HAWK DOWN

They say a picture tell a thousand words, or is it stories. And this picture tells the story of old Bushslasher laying on the deck after tapping Rays wheel just before the coinslot sprint.

If anyone is ever wondering why I am always chipping the riders in the pack, this is the reason.

Anyway this is not really anyones fault. Even the pros come down. Just be careful out there Brothers and Sisters.

NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH

Bush Slasher just recorded a 4 min 6 sec time up One Tree hill today. For those of you that want a crack at this time you have to start at Vista Ct.

More breaking news. Big Lew was spotted riding up One Tree today. I think he has herd the dogs saying something about he cant climb. Is this true Lew. We all know he can time trile. He has a state title and is going to the nationals very soon. And can he sprint?????????

Mountain Bike Spectacular

Sunday, the 11th of April will see the Mud Rats return to Tannum for a Mountain Bike Spectacular.

The ride will be lead by Dark "H.L.A" Horse. Of course, bring money for a trip to the brew shop after the ride.

Just for the record, I was paid to write that title!!

PS - don't forget the Sunday Float leaving from Bunnings at 5:30am tomorrow morning. I for one will definately be in Fairy Floss mode.

The BS Ride

I have no comment for this ride, except to say that the accusations are BS. Hey Bloomers!!

I think Tuggy aka Fencesitter summed it up best at Maccas when he said "Matty, if you can't handle the pace, just sit on the back of the pack". For the first time at Maccas, the Thunder was speechless!!! Definately comeback of the century Tuggy. Sorry, if I didn't quite get the quote right Tuggy - I was just too busy laughing :) as was the rest of the crew!!

Chrissy A also deserves a special mention today. In the closing k's before the Big Mac kick Chrissy A pushed a bit too hard through the turn into Cookatoo drive and ended up on the footpath. Chrissy I reckon you and your bike should be pretty grateful that it was a slopped gutter!!!!

Throwing Down The Gauntlet

Ok. I don't know what's in the water at the moment, but it appears that everyone is losing the One-Tree-Plot.

The Zulu - on a butt recovery ride - has revealed that he was out doing One Tree repeats this morning. Yes Zulu, I can REALLY see how your butt would recover on such a ride!!!

Anyway back to the story, the Zulu has now set a new standard - 10 repeats in 85 minutes.

Anyone keen for the challenge?

Triathalon Series

Best of luck to Ben 10 who heads to New Zealand this weekend for another round of racing in the National Triathalon series.

If you want to know Ben 10's secret, its not in the k's, its not in the Kirkwood hurling, its actually all in the maccas breakfast. What a champion!

Haddock Drive Extention - Warning

This is a serious post guys.

A reminder that riders are only allowed to ride the 3k extention on the top of Haddock Drive on a Tuesday morning ONLY. This road is private property and LG only managed to secure permission to use the road on a Tuesday morning.

Please don't ride the extention at other times as you'll ruin it not only for yourself, but for all the other M1 roadies aswell.

Spy Report

Racing in Rocky is about to start in a mere few weeks time. As a result, riders in the pack are turning up the heat, burning the calories and sneaking in PLENTY of ekky k's. Some more secret than others.

Those spotted out this morning included Bushy and Thunder. But another rider was spotted... the Zulu. Apparently the Zulu was in a "trance like state" as he hammered down the highway.

Be warned. The Zulu has four weeks leave from the Farm, which means plenty of training time. A perfect lead in for the Zulu's favourite event and first race for the year - The Time Trial.

I think the Zulu is after your time trial scalp, Dark Horse.

The Fairy Floss Ride

Somehow I managed to pick up the name Fairy Floss at the Hanson Road lights. I don't know if it was because I was riding like fairy floss - soft - or because I looked like fairy floss - pink jersey - or because I'm just like fairy floss - sweet!!! Sorry, its mid afternoon and I'm a bit wacked from this mornings smash.

Paceline average was 40.37k/hr. For me, what stuck about this mornings paceline was Chrissy A and Stu the Barber. Chrissy A never skipped a beat until after the port roundabout. Stu was like a little yapping dog - not quite strong enough to pull continuous turns, but yapping constantly to come back through for another turn once he had recovered from his last effort.

Martina and Bushy slugged it out to the top of the Haddock extention. Bushy got there in the end but its rumored that Martina "didn't know where the top was" when they reached the summit!! A likely excuse Martina - you won't be able to use that one next week!!

In cycling, for every one week you have off the bike, it takes three weeks to regain what you lost. After today, I reckon I've still got a long 6 months in front of me!!

NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH

Co2 refills are in. The barber was first in. 9 boxs to go.

Lesson #1- How to clean a bicycle with Warren Pyne

SATURDAY BLOWOUT RIDE

The only big story of the ride was BIG TUGS blow out across the way. With The DOM nearly cleaning him up, it was lucky it was only the tyre that came undone. The hitters that were game enough to do river ranch and polish the ride off with hadock averaged 33.2km/h for the 90km.

It's great to see the Bunters doing Hadock drive. Even though the Pope Master dosnt rate it, I still think its a great way to finish off a ride when you have nothing left in the legs. Actually so is a coffee, and perhaps a muffin, finish them off with a hot cross bun and maybe consider a piece of raisin toast. yeh, that sounds like a perfect way to finish a ride when you have nothing left in the legs.

Dirty Rats Cancellation

The Dirty Rats have turned into Swamp Rats, put their skirts on and decided to stay home this Sunday.

In simple terms. The MTB ride is definately OFF this Sunday. MTB rides will re-commence when the mozzies are under control!

Don't forget that the Bunnings Ride will still be on, leaving at 5:30am - not so sharp (because its Sunday!).

Thursday Ride - 4th March

I think BSB was on the money when he said it was more reliable to look out the window and check the sky as opposed to relying on the BOM site. It happened again last nite... all clear on the BOM site, with a big downpour 2 minutes before we rode out!!

Lauren didn't have a great start to the ride, coming off on the first roundabout. Just a reminder to the to everyone to call out when a fellow rider has had a mishap. We're all there to look after each other!!! Thankfully all was good with Lauren and she completed the ride with her Dad Ray.

BSB was hiding in the bushes and launched a surprise bunch attack as we passed through the marina on lap one. It was noticed that just about everyone was pointing out the "kissy lips" on the speed humps!! Guess no-one is too keen to come off!

Bushy dragged a long a fellow work mate to last nites ride. Welcome to the bunch Mitch. And speaking of Bushy - Happy Birthday for yesterday mate!!

Thanx for the push Bloomers!

THE GHOST OF HADOCK DRIVE RIDE

These photos were taken by a cousin of mine,
Nole Cleary. An old roady and ex president of the
Gladstone Cycling Club. He said he thinks he saw the ghost of Hadock. The only thing ive seen up there is stars.

While on the subject of hills. The dogs are talking that they saw LG, ProKat, Bec and Tug Master three catting each other on one tree. I believe ProKat had to grab LG by the ear and pull him off the hill.

WATER OVER BRIDGE

The Wednesday night smash started out with the usual

circumstances, being the same old wednesday night ride.

Everything was the same. The Dom was dropped at Orica, leaving the rest of the bunch to wait at the Yarwun turnoff. Ben Ten and Bush Slasher went for a big hit out across the way.

It was strange to meet BSB at the village, waiting to tell us about the river. We had to check it out. It was flowing above the bridge, with swells and a higher mark of where the water was before we turned up.

The bunch turned around, and proceeded down the main highway towards calliope. the original bunch was split into two, with Slasher, Ben 10, The DOM, BSB and Chrissy Andersen leaving Thunder, The ZULU, Maree and Brad behind. Truck after truck after truck after truck. I now know why we dont use the main highway for training rides! Especially at night.

I don't know what happened to the main bunch as Brad (Grain Fed) got a flat coming into calliope. Lucky Missus Zulu had some mozzy spray and Matty had the gas!

The Deception Ride

A quick check of the BOM site at 4am this morning indicated that a majority of the rain had passed, meaning that the ride would be on. Yes, the ride was on, but no, a majority of the rain had not passed - as we later found out!!

The soggy roads didn't deter alot of the regular Tuesday riders and there were even a couple of new faces to add to the occassion. On only his second Tuesday paceline - and in pretty ordinary conditions - Mark managed to pull turns through to Hanson Road on the second lap. A section of gravel just after the Stickmakers bridge livened up the bunch just in time for RedSpots dropping of the hammer.

Have-A-Chat and I had our skirts on this morning and managed to avoid Haddock without too much detection. Phew. Reports are that Thunder finally managed to "somewhat" redeem himself up the climb by not being the last rider to the top!! Special congrats has to go to Cameron who successfully completed his first Haddock climb. Well done.

Hitters Amongst Us

Wanting to see how your pre-season form is going? Turn up on tomorrows ride. Matty Wood - who now rides for team Budget Forklifts - is in town and will be looking for a hit out.

You know the place. 5am at Fordys Fish n Chip shop. Bring your hurt legs.

Product Of The Week

Gas cartridges have certainly earned their place as a tool bag essential. A quick injection of gas will get you on the road before the mozzies have time to count to 10.

Not too keen to pay $4 a cartridge??? If this is you, then Matty's got a deal for you. A box of 30 cartridges will cost you $70. You do the maths - this is $2.30 a cartridge.

Put your orders in at the shop by the end of this week. Must sell 10 boxes to get them in at this price.