NO EXCUSES CLUB RIDE and Winter Schedule

SUNDAY JUNE THE 5th 

IS THE NO EXCUSES  BG Club Ride 

Numbers have been fantastic but have been dropping as people go into winter hibernation. Remember if you don't go out at all you will be struggling to get that fitness back for the riding season.  So make the effort, struggle out of bed, get the thermals out of the bottom drawer and come out on the no excuses ride.

Meeting Time is 8:00 am at the City.

The ride is City-Port Road-Outer Harbor-Henley-Glenelg-Esca for Coffee.  

Winter Schedule Change 

The winter schedule was set to avoid scheduled Hills ride from now until mid August. This was discussed over coffee and it was decided that the foothills ride would get more than a bit tedious if repeated too often. Sunday was a dry day with light winds so the Hills would have been perfectly okay.

Carpe Diem

So for the next couple of months if the weather is good we will seize the day and ride the hills.

So for the next 2 months

1. The first Sunday of the Month is the no excuses ride and it is always a beach ride
2. All the other Winter Rides ( 29/05/16 - 07/08/16) are to start from the City and are weather calls. 
3. If the weather is good we will make a call on Friday and substitute a Hills ride for either the beach or the foothills.
4. Good Weather = Dry and Light Winds
5. I will attempt to update the Blog Friday Morning with the ride
6. The Ride guide stands if we don't take the good weather option 

Not our Philosophy but I admire the sentiment  

Sundays Ride - Set by Coffee Stop

All

We are now into the winter sequence and this weeks ride is to be decided by the chosen coffee stop and weather.

Meet 8:00 am in the City

A couple of suggestions but they are only suggestions

1. The Extended foothills ride followed by Coffee at the beach as set
2. A Southern hills ride, Coffee on Unley Road. ie Anzac Hwy, Cement Hill, Across the top and down Windy point.
3. The Hills Face ride 

I have dug into the archives and we haven't done a hills face ride in quite a while

http://www.strava.com/routes/5115572

This sees us doing the start of the foothills ride at the parade and then the groups split

• Slow group goes up Montecute Rd 
• Fast group goes up the Gorge and the Corkscrew

We regroup at the top of Corkscrew. Ride through to Mt Lofty. Coffee at the Parade or the City

Sunday Ride Report

Seven BG's gathered in the City in defiance of the weather forecast. A quick check of the radar showed that the rain would arrive well after midday so it was a good chance for a ride.The consensus was that a cold front bringing 60 kph northerlies would make a Cudlee Creek ride treacherous to say the least. We opted to do Outer Harbor as we calculated that a hard slog into the wind to Outer Harbor would be amply rewarded by a tailwind back to Glenelg and if the front arrived during coffee we could expect a tail cross wind home down Anzac Hwy.  

We set off down Port road with our friends in the traffic control center giving us every red light in the city. Alf dropped off to take his usual short cut and unknown to rest of us got a nail through his tyre. Once that was fixed he then got a three corner jack. When he got his phone out to call a taxi, his coffee money blew away. Not sure which of the cycling gods he offended. He didn't have a great day out but as he said he still got his exercise....chasing his coffee money.

We formed a tight paceline into the wind down Victoria Terrace. It was a thing of beauty and we averaged 33kph into the wind. The dust was getting worse and everyone was having a cough after they rolled off the front. I was drinking more from a mouthful of grit than from thirst. 

As a result of the conditions the pace line stayed together and I found myself in the unfamiliar position of being on the front at the final corner. Carpe Diem! Seizing the rare opportunity I put the hammer down and went for it. The result predictably was dead set last but I was having a huge amount of fun in the process.

From Outer Harbor we could no longer see the hills as they were shrouded in dust. The tailwind was welcome relief getting back for coffee. We can confirm that Esca has no cake so we have officially moved to Veloce Paninoteca for the time being.

After a quick check of the weather radar by Mike we set off home down Anzac to beat the cold front. The wind direction had changed and it was now a much less gritty cross tail. We were all home around 11:00am well before any weather. 

So it pays to ride the info not the forecast.

See you next week

Cudlee Creek Abort - This dust was all from the Pinery fire ground

In contrast the Giro Stage 14 - Wow!

Ah the Giro!

Sunday Ride - Weather

All

Sundays planned ride is Cudlee Creek  and a direct return. However Sundays weather forecast isn't great with rain forecast for around the time we return.. 

Hence I am calling a slight change. we will meet in the City at 8:00 am and make a decision as to persisting with Cudlee Creek or swapping to a Foothills or Beach ride.  

Sundays Ride is a Weather Call. Meet 8:00 am in the City 

This week is the last scheduled Hills Ride prior to the winter Hills Ride recess. From now until late August the Hills Rides are replaced with foothills rides. Once the weather improves we will start riding hills again to prepare for the Amy's Gran Fondo and Amy's Ride.

 

Sunday Ride Report

After a storm rudely interrupted the previous weeks ride to Hahndorf we had a good turnout for Sundays ride to Hallett cove. As always the cove is a  good mixture of short climbs and short beach. 

The day improved from a frosty start and we didn't encounter any of the feared road work related issues. Dan regaled us with all the trials and tribulations of buying Aldi Ski gear during their special sales event.Short version the prices are great but shopping experience less so.  Apparently they do the same special sales with cycling gear. We will keep you posted over when that occurs however given Dan;s description we may have to organize a tag-team to make sure we get in an out unharmed.

We had a excellent run up Unley road and down Springback Rd following a couple of guys who were wearing jerseys that indicating they had Everested with the Hells 500 crew . i.e. climbing 8,848 metres in a single ride. We assume it is true so chapeau to them.
 http://cyclingtips.com/2014/03/everesting-climbing-8848-metres-in-a-single-ride/

To confirm the intricate mathematical calculations that were flying around among the professional gentlemen riding in BG colors I have accessed the Everesting calculator. Our estimates are from my recollection.
https://everesting.io/

•  Norton Summit = 18.13 laps, 198.87 km (Our estimate 20)
•  Tollgate to Mt Lofty Summit =  10.21 laps, 255 km (Our estimate 12)
•  Tollgate to Bollards = 20.79 laps, 359 km  (Our estimate 16)

Our estimation of the elevation gain on the Bollards climb was way off. the climb to the Bollards is not that much in terms of elevation. So if your going to Everest in Adelaide its Norton Summit.

Anyway we rode onto the Cove at good speed with the group relatively together as a couple of guys were not familiar with the route. 

Coffee was at Glenelg were we discovered that Esca no longer sells cake!!!!! 
This obviously means yet another change of Coffee stop for the beach run. We moved down the boardwalk for now. The Coffee sub-committee will need to reconvene.

Also I have noted down the need to make sure Mothers and Fathers day are short beach rides for next years ride guide. I am beginning to have some sympathy for the AFL schedulers. 

Some picks from the day. We aren't sure what special powers Graham used to blur his image.

What do you think about this for our next set of kit?

Just Kidding but you have to wonder what they were thinking !!!!!

Sundays ride is Hallett Cove

All 

Sundays ride is down to Hallett Cove and back to Glenelg for coffee. 

Meet in the City at 8:00 am 

Unlike last week It looks like a nice day for a ride.

The exact Route will be finalised when we meet in the City to take into account any roadworks. However I think we should be okay on using the standard route.

The Giro 

PS the Giro is currently in Benevento the region that Alf and my family comes from.

And the Gorilla wins

Oh and of course its the Giro. 

Sprung badly!

Sunday Ride - Hahndorf

This Sundays ride is the back way to Hahndorf.

8:00 am in the City

8:30 am at the Tollgate (bottom of the freeway bike track)

9:00 am at the Bollards

From there and depending upon the weather and how we feel we will ride Greenhill Rd either via the Mt Lofty  summit or Piccadilly.

Then - Greenhill Rd - Balhannah - Jones rd - Ballhannah rd - Hahndorf 

Coffee at Cafe Assiette

Then home via German Town Hill and Stirling

http://www.strava.com/routes/4862627

BG Training Series #8: How to give a Dink! 

WRONG!

Needless to say this is also wrong!

Kudo's for effort, but also wrong

Much better, unfortunately also WRONG!

Correct!