Nice Night, sleep tight

On Tuesday it was just Alex and Michael. They felt each others presence. Moving quickly along the roads, veering in and out, they met almost as if by fate. Stopped by a traffic light they stood astride their metal steeds. Alex looked up and said softly "Nice Night".

Michael was more abrupt and rigid, was this some kind of homo errotic moment?, he answered "What?".

again Alex replied "nice Night". Michael's mind went into overdrive as to what Alex was implying, sure it was a nice night, not too cold for 6am, dry. There was certainly nothing wrong with it but was it so "nice" that his colleague had to talk about it?

It finaly struck, Alex was not commenting on the ala "romantic notion" of a "nice night" but was talking of the LED frog light that Michael had attached to the back of his cycling helmet. This was more in the spirit of an early tuesday or thursday morning. Things like "did you see that bike, all steel" or "wow that guy had powerful calves", "carbon just has that Death Star-like sinister appearance", "look red bike up ahead, single speed", "check out my flashing, super peleton diming light", Michael relaxed as they continued to ride within the bunch of 40 or so.

chatter on race radio

It was only a few days ago that the chatter between Alex and Andy was getting ridiculous on race radio (phone SMS) this time SMS almost sorted out the sprint points for the day.

Andy "I'm soft. I admit it. I can hear the rain and know I'm a wimp"

Ash "Had to work late so I am hitting the soft button for today. Sorry Guys. Ride safe."

Alex "Mirror Mirror - I ride the best becaus I am a winner" chanted Alex

Alex "Mirror mirror on the wall who is the softest of them all?"

Alex "Got the bike ready but that wind is scary. I'll txt u in the am"

Alex "At 4:10 this morning we got the answer. It'€™s me. I hit the soft button first."

Joel "I slept through my alarm. Weak, I know."

Alex "Very heavy rain. Not riding, sorry"

5:10am

Michael "I woke up, got all the SMS's, checked the radar and saw that the ride would be ok"

As I was the only man standing even before the ride began, I decide I was the default winner in our game of chicken and went back to bed.

PS. not all the SMS's are attributed to the correct rider, nor are they necessarily for the same day.

JJ hits hard at team Merc

Cold, dark and damp Melbourne weather blanketed the Doncaster Hills circuit this morning. Deep in the valley of Eltham, a gentle snore could be heard with the distinct resonance of "sooofffftttt". Distant echoes of "my knee", "too early" and "I need a single speed" came from South Yarra, Brighton and Kew. This was going to be a day only for the "strong men".

They stuck together, with relaxed chatter about ACL's, DNS's, CCNA. No one can even remember who got the first hill point. There was no talk of cutting Doncaster short, at least no discussion, they just cut it short because that was best.

So it went until the final sprint, Michael came up along the side of JJ who was out in front over the bridge. It was neck and neck. Michael turned to Joel to warn him of the car about to turn right across the sprint line. JJ slammed on the breaks but it was too late. It seemed the silver Mercedes slowed and then moved on again. JJ locked up in front, back wheel went up, Michael right next to him saw JJ rise to a peak as he flew in the air, at the apex he almost stopped, as if to readjust his helmet out of the way, take aim and swoop down hard with the left side of his face just above the rear wheel arch.

Bang!!!!

Ahh the crumpling of Germen engineered metal makes a big noise. JJ hit team Merc hard but team Merc managed to continue its maneuver of turning right. Joel got up, took off his unscathed helmet, went to the side of the road and sat down with his head in his hands. He knew it was all over, no sprint points for him today.

Ash and Michael carried on like a pack of sheilas about getting taxis, doctors, ambulances, driver details, etc. Joel looked up at both of them, in the manner of an employee of the month and said "I need to be at telecoX at 9:30, lets go". Real tough men.