The weather was almost Fluffer-like gorgeous this morning after Half Lindfield had booked a 0730 hours start at Half Corner – a bit of a lie in was had by all; but clearly as an academic Half didn’t want to rush the morning.
The expectation was an 80-90km ride through the 4 Gorges followed by a Hearty Breakfast – ‘Don’t worry Big G we’ll be there in a couple of hours as we passed the Bobbin Head Road Cafe!’. The biggest case of mis-selling I have heard this year………
In true Pied Piper style Half meandered through The Hills Of Near Death, St Ives Alps, turning the wrong way into the Mona Vale Road (apparently to catch the lights into Pentecost – thanks for the call Halfie!) and up Bobbin Head Road to pick up the ‘Merry Few’ that decided to join Halfie and I including Leonardo De Finchie (LDF), Dragon, Bucky and Andora.
For me there are a few key things that I want to call out about this mornings ride:
- I absolutely applaud what I call ‘The Spirit Of The ER Community’ including the advice that is given during these rides as people want to encourage others to improve – Today’s ride included many constructive comments from all around. It started with Half’s advice about focusing on the pedal strokes during the upward phase of the rotation, ‘Staying in the Big Chainset Big Goaders to develop your power’ through to LDF’s advice and encouragement on climbing. All welcome. Thank You.
- This ride wasn’t about smashing it. Half had been clear on the expected pace, as the ride leader, and not once did I hear anyone question it. This was about enjoying a ride with others. Great example was on the last Bobbin Head climb I could see LDF working to pull us all up the hill. Every so often he would look around, realise he was widening the gap and then ease back a little to get us in striking distance – a form of teasing and encouragement to keep pushing it up the hill. Now LDF is in top form at the moment with his recent KOM’s to add to the bag but he really lived ‘The Spirit Of The ER Community’ today. His, and others, speed reflected the group and where gaps did exist people pulled over to regroup regularly. My Strava PR’s on this ride is down to the help all around me. Once again a big Thank You.
- Bucky was an absolute gem – How many people follow you up a climb, and down a drop, to tell you that your wheel is slightly off alignment and you should get it looked at to prevent any problems. I picked this ‘pronounced wheel deviation’ – in Bucky’s words – in mine it was a minor buckle but then apparently I hadn’t seen it with my weight on it!! Bucky – clearly a man passionate about the spin and alignment of a wheel and the safety of a fellow ER. So much so that after we all departed at the end of the ride he suggested that I came up to his ‘wheel lab’ so that he could put it right. Let me tell you the Wheel Lab has more spin than the Fluffer – if you are interested in a set of wheels then he is definitely worth a conversation with. If you need a set aligning then that too is worth a conversation.
- I learn’t more with Bucky in 20mins about the general maintenance of a bike than I have learnt all of last year. I know that I need to work on the maintenance of my bikes but wouldn’t know where to start. Schleck gave me some good advice on Friday also. After the 20 mins with Bucky I have suggested to him (and Brownie previously) that we should run some short sessions on general bike maintenance especially for all the Newbies (including myself). Think of these as 40 min masterclasses. We could try the first one and see ‘how it works’ if this is of interest to people. Let me know if you are interested and I will try and set one up if there is enough of you. The first session could be about general maintenance i.e. wheel alignment, cleaning chain sets, altering gears and brakes etc. If anyone is interested in this the let me know. I am willing for the first one of these to run in my garage if one of the ‘experienced’ ones are willing to give up some time. We could probably do one on a return OTP one day and each throw in a few dollars to have a beer during and buy the professional a few coffee’s as a thank you.
Reflecting on the ride (and the 17 PR’s…..) we shouldn’t forget ‘why’ we enjoy riding together. I spent nearly a year riding on my own in Sydney because I didn’t know of people who I could ride with. I can only thank you all for the ‘Spirit of the ER community’ that every rider demonstrates. A very big thank you to you all – I am loving it.
The Fluffer is on both Tuesday and Thursday this week as normal – meet at 5.15am at St Ives. The Spirit of the ER will be on full show. The weather is forecast to be excellent. Let’s get pedalling. Don’t forget your big lights. If any Fluffettes are coming up from Manly/Mosman let me know and I may be able to link a couple of you up if you are riding up to the start.
Thanks
Big Goaders