GS4 report....how did u go?

Well wasn't that fun weather?......NOT

Headwind, sideways rain then more wind....great cross winds too!

I reckon i had a tailwind for less than five minutes on loop 1....

Was going to do both but the body said no...

I really appreciated the multiple people who used me as a wind break without returning the favour too! I think the record was someone sat behind a good twenty minutes....i even tried to get him to pass.

Looks like mini slam for me only now.....

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Permalink Reply by Don Plush on August 5, 2012 at 20:44

It was a tough day...only managed loop 1, legs started to cramp and I knew the run home from springton to williamstown would be very hard into a gale. I did however, ride the first 25kms of loop 1 a second time to meet up with my wife who was visiting a friend just off the one tree hill rd.

under done for this ride, need more time on the bike! probably would have been ok with out the wind and rain.

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Permalink Reply by john mills on August 5, 2012 at 21:02

I really enjoyed myself out there today, despite the cold, wet and windy conditions. I think it just adds to the atmosphere! (No pun intended.) Met some nice people - David, Lee and Warren to name a few. And a few others out on the road also. Saw my first two wheeler recumbant in action. Very interesting. And then 20 minutes later a young man with mighty powerful shoulders and arms, and using them to power his three wheeler recumbant up a hill, over the top, and into the blasting headwind on the other side. This was on Balmoral Road. I couldn't catch him going up the hill, and I had to try hard to overtake him going down the other side. Spectacular!

Was feeling a bit frustrated on the last leg from Springton to Williamstown because I couldn't get up any decent speed. Even my HRM was showing a terrible low 110bpm for that leg! But I couldn't push any harder. Think I was basically stuffed!

And also a bit 'down' on myself because it was the first time I had to get off and walk up a hill! The hill just out of Springton on the Williamstown road. I tried standing on my pedals but my back was so sore, and my arms, knees and the tired legs, I thought it would be wiser to just dismount, rather than risk an injury to one of these body parts. I think the wind had a part to play in it also. I reckon as I stood up to pedal I just presented such a big area to the strong headwind it was blowing me back down that b...y hill!

So was very pleased, and mighty relieved, when I arrived home on the bike. A long day - left home just before 6am and arrived back at 6.30pm. But I achieved my goal - to ride from home, do the two loops and ride back again - 220km. I am trying to sneak up on a 300km ride which the Audax club is offering soon. Just hope its not quite so windy!

Big thankyou to Maureen and her gang of volunteers. They did a mighty job out there today. Some at home base, and plenty out on the road in vehicles, driving around the course to keep an eye on us and help out with mechanicals and other problems. And mustn't forget all those that gave up their day to feed us - at the oval and out in the cold on the side of the road. Thanks heaps!

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Permalink Reply by Dale (rouleur) Riggs on August 6, 2012 at 17:31

Well done John, you make me look like a wimp now, having only done loop 1.

Nice fast train into Gawler I must say, the "Wheelers" performing like Team Sky, but they did have the inside scoop as to what time it was going to leave the station. An average of 32 to that point was pretty good given the conditions, but, it was all uphill from there. Fortunately for me, Craig made a pit stop in Kersbrook so that when he eventually caught and passed me I was able to get his wheel and we worked the last 15 or so kays of loop 1 together.

Yes, pity about the weather; I consider that I exercised my options well even though at the time I felt as though I short changed myself.

And another cheer for the volunteers.

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Permalink Reply by john mills on August 6, 2012 at 22:34

Don't feel wimpy Dale. The way you guys can hammer around those hills is to be admired. Maybe its just a matter of deciding if you are going for outright speed, or for endurance. It would be very hard to do both I suppose! I wonder if any of you speed machines did the second loop?

I may have been able to go a little faster, but not much, in loop 1. I can thank Keith for dragging me up Mount Gawler. It's a lot easier to push yourself when there is someone up ahead to try to keep up with. Terry squibbed on me yesterday, and I didn't see Carl out there either, so Keith had to put up with me trailing him up the hill! But I lost him when I dropped the chain right at the top of the mountain! And it was a bit ridculous climbing up that hill twice before 10am - once on the commute to Williamstown, and then again on loop 1!

In the end it all caught up with me when I had to get off and walk at the end of the day. So I am hoping those compacts will solve those sorts of problems.

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Permalink Reply by Craig on August 5, 2012 at 21:26

Have to agree that was in total the worst weather I've ridden in!!!! I've seen a bit of wind an rain before. But wind that strong aswell as rain just took it out of my legs. I pulled out after loop 1. So a big ups to all that took on loop 2 aswell for the full 150k!!

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Permalink Reply by Nigel "Griffo" Griffiths on August 5, 2012 at 21:49

I didn't feel any effects from the wind or the rain - might have had something to do with the fact I was driving around the course bringing in signage and making a mad dash to the first refreshement stop and fixing a problem they had with the stove. If we didn't fix it most of you might not have gotten a hot drink.

Seriously though, well done to all of you for braving the elements.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Brennan on August 5, 2012 at 21:51

And a big thanks to the vollies. Another fantastic event and those refreshment stops were a life saver today!

GS4 report....how did u go?

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