As my friend Peter pointed out my blog has been very much
neglected of late. The cob webs of
blogging have set in nearly as much as the cobweb of my cycling forays. Never the less having done little more than
weekend warrior mileage over the last 4 months I shall tell the tale of the
Boxing day world champs… so gather round children. The day was a Wednesday, more significantly
boxing day. Traditionally reserved for
drinking unwanted wine that the relatives forced on you and gorging on the
previous days left overs, I was about to learn that Perth cyclists must just
have a protein shake and an early night on Christmas day. I drove down, such is my current level of
fitness (and frankly at a 6:30am start I would pretty much have to set off on
Christmas day to ride there). As I
risked my regular parking spot before glancing around for the meter man, I assembled
the bike in temperatures of 28 degrees.
I rolled the 300 yards or so through Fremantle’s back streets only to
find the street literally crammed with cyclists. Estimates put the number at around 350
riders, drawn in by the not so mythical Papas world champs. Henk Vogels (a blast from the mid 90’s anyone?)
presented a trophy before we got under way and the rules were briefly
explained… It’s better to die than get dropped being the biggie. I was sceptical and perhaps a bit arrogant as
we set off but within a few hundred yards the Green edge boys, Cameron Meyer,
Jack Bobridge, Luke Durbridge and Graham Brown were keeping the pace close to
50km/h. Before long arrogance was
replaced by pain and sweat as I was thrown back into a race not dissimilar to a
kermesse. I grimaced for the best part
of an hour as one long line extended along Perth’s river side roads. After 1 and a half hours I began to replace
pain with optimism as we approached the final run in along the causeway and
down to the finish line… but no, just as I made my way into the top 50 for the
first time the expected left turn never came and instead we made our way onto
what would have to be described as a finishing loop, 25k’s worth! I was tailed off more than once as we snaked
our way around Perth’s back roads but with a bit of savvy riding (alright a
well timed red light) I found my way back to the dwindling bunch of 50
riders. Unfortunately this story doesn’t
end with Joel getting the better of Graham Browne in a tight finish, the last
hill of the day saw me and about 20 others slip graciously off the back and
arrive in a couple of minutes down, led home by the Australian institute of
Sport boys, and I mean boys as they were all on Junior gears. Needless to say this was by far the hardest
club ride I’ve ever done, a 44 km/h (26mph) average and a slight hangover from
the day before didn’t mix well. Cameron
Meyer took the win in front of a reasonably sized crowd, complete with a motor
bike photographer.
Onto the area which seems to be taking up most of my time
out here in OZ, work. I finally resigned
from the cement factory in January of this year to pursue a slightly more
unusual career as a… drum roll please… Pest controller. The job is immensely varied, I drive all over
Perth committing acts of insect atrocities, giving people peace of mind and
pest free houses. I can’t say it was my
first answer when I was asked as a 5 year old what I wanted to be, but then
again I’m not a fire engine either. The
job does take up a lot of my time but I am making a decent living from it and
with the ever nearing arrival of my sister in Australia, the money will come in
handy. The only down side is the early
Monday morning start as I roll up slightly bleary eyed having been up half the
night watching the weekends Belgian spring classic! Perth’s weather seems to be behaving like a
middle aged man fretting over the purchase of a Harley at the moment. The Summer was the hottest on record as we
recorded 22 days which reached over 38 degrees, topping out at 43C. Now that’s fair enough, a decent summer is
much appreciated but as I write we are one month away from Winter, and the
temperatures still hit 27/28 degrees almost daily as Perth clings on to the
good old days of summer. With a bit of
luck the days of heavy rain, long evenings in front of the fire and a reason to
wear the Duffel coat I recently purchased are not far away.
Finally I like to give a special word for extraordinary
achievements in cycling. This one is not
so much a result as much as it is a step into the unknown. www.mnmtours.com
is a blogging website following the exploits of my former room mate from
Belgium back in 2011, Mike Gregg. Please
take a moment to follow his Journey across Europe by bike as he camps in every
field and climbs every mountain.
Below: I live about 10km into the darkness!
ouch
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