Doing it with a group for the first time (oh get your mind out of the gutter)

Yesterday was the BIG day for me and Polka Dot Lisa- our first group ride! I had heard about it on the BV forum and after reading up about it, we decided to give it a go.

The ride starts at 7.30am outside the Belgium Beer Café (BBC) just off St Kilda Rd and rides down to Black Rock and back for breakfast at the BBC starting at 9am. If you join the BBC cycling club ($30 each), you get the breakfast free on the last Saturday of the month which includes all you can eat waffles with chocolate sauce, fruit salad, muesli, croissants, cereal, juice, tea, coffee, etc, as well as a goodies bag with food and drink vouchers and a BBC drink bottle.

So with GREAT trepidation, Polka Dot Lisa and I got up at 6am and rode down Punt Rd > Swan St > St Kilda Rd to arrive just about 7.30am. At first when we took off the road was a bit wet from an overnight shower which made Polka Dot Lisa a bit nervous but she quickly learnt it was fine.

Down Punt Rd we went and it was a good run at this time of the morning. We had a bike lane of sorts to ride in until we crossed Victoria Pde where we were in a normal lane but due to the lack of traffic, it wasn’t a problem. During normal times there is no way in hell I would ride down Punt Rd, but for now it was fine.

After climbing the hill around Bridge Rd we sped down to Swan St where I topped out just over 50kph. At the Swan St intersection, Lisa almost fell while trying to unhook her feet from the pedals but she saved it JUST in time.

Down Swan St we rode and up to St Kilda Rd where we were passed by another rider who was also going to the BBC. Eventually we made it and as we rolled up to the large lycra clad group, the first thing we heard was- “You must be Polka Dot Lisa”. After a few hello’s and introductions (sorry, I wasn’t able to take it all in so I may have forgotten a few of you already), we took off to start the ride with Euan riding with me.

As we came to a stop to turn into St Kilda Rd, (less than 50 mts from the start), a guy up the front couldn’t get his foot unclipped and he fell right in front of everyone. While I sympathized for the poor guy, I have to admit it made me feel less of a newbie and for that I was glad. I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb at this point!

We rode through St Kilda junction as a group and Euan was riding next to me as we chatted. I was really nervous about the whole group ride situation but quickly caught on and enjoyed the safety in numbers.

Along Beach Rd and I was amazed at the number of riders along this road. BIG groups (peletons) were whizzing along on both sides with some looking like pro teams, all decked out in the same gear (including one group in hot pink jerseys). They were so fast and close together- it was really impressive.

Our group rode along as I chatted to Euan. We past by Racer Café and it was crammed wall to wall with bikes and riders. Yikes! Euan dropped back behind me to ride with his friend who joined up along the road and I rode with Polka Dot Lisa for a while.

At one stage, Polka Dot Lisa's mobile phone alarm started playing music in her backpack. She forgot to turn it off so it went off every 8 minutes, trying to wake her up. Just to give you an idea of how stupid it sounded, the tune is called "Cartoon"! It gave all the cyclists around us a good laugh anyway... hehe.

At a set of lights, Commi from the BV forum said hello and he and I got chatting while Polka Dot Lisa rode off at her speed (which was faster than mine). Commi and his friend Kenneth (see pic on right Commie in yellow, Kenneth in Red) rode with me for a long time and I was grateful to have someone stick with me as I dropped back off the pack. I was giving it my all to keep up a good speed but any slope really hurt me. I felt pretty stupid calling them hills as they were little more that an incline but try as I might, I got slower and slower. I tried the Lance Armstrong style of riding and dropped gears and raised my cadence but nothing worked. The indisputable fact IS I am carrying a shit load of extra weight with me and its bloody hard work on a hill/headwind/etc.

Eventually it was just Kenneth and me riding along and while it was nice to have a tail wind, I knew it meant that I would have to ride back into this wind. As we came to the top of a hill and I saw the lovely downhill ahead of me, I knew when to say enough and Kenneth and I turned around and waited for Polka Dot Lisa to come back the other way.

I felt bad about having to turn around at this point as it was only another 3km to Black Rock but I was really worried about coming back up that hill into the headwind. So Kenneth and I waited and waited. I was hoping Polka Dot Lisa would get the idea that I had turned around and as a group of riders from BV rode past us towards Black Rock (they had stopped to help a woman who had bike probs), I figured they would tell Polka Dot Lisa that I had turned around which they did.

Eventually the BV group came back towards us and we joined in on the tail end with Commie joining our little straggling group of 3 riders. The head wind was not a lot of fun and I was working pretty damn hard to keep some speed up. I felt bad for being so slow but I gave it all I had, even getting a calf cramp at one stage and had to stop for a minute to stretch it out.

Towards the end we caught up to Polka Dot Lisa and some others but later I found out that Polka Dot Lisa was having some knee pain issues and she also slowed waiting for me. We rode as a group of about 10 up Fitzroy St to BBC where I was relived to have made it!

Inside BBC, we joined up and took a table with Commi and Kenneth. The place was packed and apparently it was a really big turn out. BBC looked like they weren’t prepared for just a big gathering and were struggling to keep up the supply of food, After quite a wait, I managed to get some food and sat down with the others to enjoy the spoils of my labour.

As we sat, eat and chatted, I could feel my body cooling down and the muscles tightening up. Man I knew I was gonna hurt bad that night! I met several people from the forum (Atomic Kitten, Weg and others) but in the back of my mind was the 10k ride home uphill.

After breakfast we went outside and the sun was shinning and the sky was a lovely blue. It’s been so long since we have had a nice day like this- it felt great with the sun on our faces. We took some photos of all the bikes racked up and had a bit of a perve at all the carbon wonder bikes. Mmmm… we are both thinking how much we would like a pure road bike now.

We go to our bikes to head off and "sachamc" from BV offers to take our photo with our camera which was nice of her. Finally a photo of us together on our bikes; cool!

On the way back home down St Kilda Rd we are riding into a headwind and while the road itself was easy, I could really feel the strain on my body. Thinking ahead of the hills, I had to wave my little while flag and catch the train home from Flinders St Station. I felt really bad about this but I have to not be full of bravado about my exercise regime, I have to work up to it slowly and meter out my energy output. If I try to do too much, I know I will hurt too much and start to hate it. If I am to achieve my goals, it has to be fun (well, sort of…).

I'm happy to have achieved my highest average speed (22kph- my previous best was 17kph) and overall my riding has improved with every weekend. While I AM pissed off I didn't do the full ride (both to Black Rock and also all the way home), it's an improvement all the same. Maybe next month I can do the full ride. Lets wait and see...

Ride stats 25-08-07
Dist 44.40km
Trip Time 02:10:40
Av Speed 22.00kph
Max Speed 50.10kph

UPDATE
Today (Sunday after the ride) I drove down to look at some cycling clothing with Polka Dot Lisa. As luck would have it, the shop was just off Beach Road so we went to have a look at how far away from the clock tower I stopped.

BLOODY HELL! I just missed the clock by 1.2km (see the Google map right). I was happy to go as far as I did, yet furious at myself to miss it by so little.

Next time.. that clock will be mine!

Doing it with a group for the first time (oh get your mind out of the gutter)