Monthly Archives: October 2016

Marv’s September Bike Log

Dear Rouleurs,

September was a wet and windy month that really cramped Team MMT’s cycling. With various parts of Victoria being underwater, MMT probably should be grateful for this minor inconvenience. So here’s the log and stats for September.

After last month’s mega effort 630km seems paltry by comparison. However the bigger picture is that I was within in 250Km of 6,000Km ridden, MMT’s goal for 2016.  I’m guessing that I passed the total on my Round the Bay ride.  More on that next month.

2016-september-graph

I don’t have any events organised for November, so I’ll have to hunt around.  I have registered for the 2017 version of MS Cycle.

Until next blog, ride safe.

Marv

Round the Bay 2016 – 100km Frankston Return

Dear Rouleurs,

Last Sunday,Team MMT completed the 100km version of Melbourne’s annual love letter to cycling, Round the Bay.  What a day…more like WTF?!!  The weather was atrocious.  The weatherman’s forecasts for extreme winds was unfortunately correct.  MMT has long extolled the virtues of the Bureau of Meteorology’s wind forecast map http://www.bom.gov.au/marine/wind.shtml.  The night before the ride this is what the BOM forecast, for 5am to 11am.

20161009-Wind-Forecast

In fact it is was much worse with wind gusts of up to 100km/h.  I saw a young lady flip her road bike over the curb and land on the grass at Katani Gardens in StKilda.  The wind blew sideways, her front wheel contacted the curb and the rest was history.  Fortunately, she received no injuries other than a really good fright.

At the Back of the queue.....

At the Back of the queue…..

Ta da.....here's my RBT kit at long last.

Ta da…..here’s my RBT kit at long last.

So just a quick recap MMT entered the 2016 Round the Bay (RTB) in August after having one of those days at work.  Unfortunately, the job that pays for this blog and just about everything else that team MMT needs, has more frequently occurring moments of lunacy.  Cycling is an excellent antidote.  MMT did have some issues with the registration process for RTB.  The Jersey arrived as XXS as opposed to the XXL ordered and the entry kit never arrived.  A couple of frustrating calls later, MMT was queuing on the Friday before the event to change his jersey and collect a replacement kit.  This took over an hour.  It’s hard to be angry with volunteers doing a tricky job on behalf of a charity.  MMT’s sense of frustration was short lived.

C'est Moi..at the Starting Line

C’est Moi..at the Starting Line

The 2016 RBT Starting Line

The 2016 RBT Starting Line

You're riding a tricycle, how far??

You’re riding a tricycle, how far??

I'm not even sure what kind of bike this is..

I’m not even sure what kind of bike this is…

Unlike registration, everything else the event organisers arranged was excellent, the start was well managed as thousands of entrants slowly made their way out of Alexandria Gardens towards Beach Road.   Volunteers were cheerful and numerous.  Even as the wind approached gale force, many were still at the finish line cheering cyclists as they came through.

Ammenities at Mordialloc rest stop

Ammenities at Mordialloc rest stop

Bike parking at Mordialloc

Bike parking at Mordialloc

The rest stops at Mordialloc and Frankston were very well organised with a good mixture of sweet and savoury treats available.  Interestingly, no refreshment other than water was available.  Whilst both rest stops were located next to cafes but the queues for coffee put me off.  I skipped he Mordialloc rest stop on the return leg in the, proven to be false, hope that I would beat the arriving gale force winds.

WRT to the ride itself, without wind its an enjoyable, bar a couple hills, flat ride.  At various points such as St Kilda, Brighton, Sandringham, Blackrock,Parkdale and Mordialloc,its very scenic.  Coming in and out of Frankston was a little boring and in parts the road surface was fairly rough.  I tailed a bunch from Lend Lease as far as Sandringham.  Their kit was reminiscent of Team Sky, but happily their speed was not.  My personal highlight was the pair of girls riding unicycles dressed in read white.  I’m not sure how they made it the finishing line given the wind.  I was surprised by the number of mountain bike and commuter/flat handle bar bike riders amongst the participants.

RTB amenities at Frankston

RTB amenities at Frankston

My trusty Wlier leaning up against a wall in Frankston

My Wilier leaning up against a wall

Frankston Beach from the Visitor Centre

Frankston Beach from the Visitor Centre

Another shot of the Frankston Village

Another shot of the Frankston Village

The finishing line and village were a welcome sight nearly 5 hours later.  The village had numerous tasty food options.  Alas the end of ride lunch provided by the organisers was excellent, so I didn’t try any of their wares.  There were many bike vendors with bikes, cycling kit accessories for sale.  I bought a discounted pair of Roeckl gloves to replace the much older and worn pair I have.

The RTB Village in Alexandria Gardens

The RTB Village in Alexandria Gardens

Bike Parking in the RTB Village

Bike Parking in the RTB Village

These guys made a pretty decent latte

These guys made a pretty decent latte

Another shot of the Village

Another shot of the Village

So onto the stats, like most semi-serious cyclists keeping track of kilometres, cadence, speed and calories burned becomes an obsession.  So here’s my Garmin record.  Much to my surprise I now rank just inside the top 200 for one of the segments.  Overall, about 95Km in less than 5 hours was a reasonable effort, given that I had never attempted that distance before.

201009-garmin-rtb

On reflection, I should have skipped the Mordialloc rest stop on the way down and kept my stop at Frankston to 15 mins.  That would’ve kept the round trip closer to 4 hours.  Also given the slow rolling start, I think next time, I’ll elbow my way to the front.  All things considered, I’ll do this ride again next year.

Until next time, ride safe

Marv

Name and shame part 2 – AJA 780

.

Dear Rouleurs,
Its been a few weeks since I’ve had a rant about dickhead ute drivers. May be I’ve been lucky. However, yesterday I had another close call with a dickhead ute driver. The driver of a black ute, Victorian registration AJA 780, was talking to his mate and looking at Port Melbourne Oval as he sped through the pedestrian crossing on Williamstown Road in Port Melbourne at 08:50am.  As always, the red star marks the spot.

Yes the driver of a white ute, registration OUF213 tried to kill me here today.

Yes, the driver of a white ute, registration OUF213 tried to kill me here today.

The vehicle was a black modern ute either Ford or Holden with mag rims and low profile tires and it looked a lot like this one.

20161014-blackute

The driver looked to be in his thirties, wore sunglasses and a baseball cap. If by some co-incidence, you come across this driver, feel free to punch him in the head and then direct him to this blog.

As Italians say ”Vaffanculo!!!’ with the appropriate hand gesture to you for some truly idiotic driving.  May be you sir are a future Darwin Award Winner.

Until next time, ride safe

Marv

MMT’s Analysis of 2016 Olympic Road and Track Cycling

Dear Rouleurs,

I don’t know how to say this…but Australia had a realy sucky Olympics when it came to road and track cycling.  Of the 42 medals on offer, Australia won just 2.  Boo hiss…  So MMT wonders what will occur to the pot of cash Cycling Australia receives in the next round of funding for Olympic Athlete development.  Before dwelling in some really disappointing detail, contragulations are in order for Anna Meares, Bronze in the Kerrin and Messers Jack Bobridge, Michael Hepburn, Sam Welsford and Alex Edmondson, Silver in the Men’s Pursuit Team.  Here are some photos pilfered from other new outlets illegally of the only happy Australian cyclists at Rio in September.

Bronze Medallist, women's Kerrin event, Anna Meares.

Bronze Medallist, women’s Kerrin event, Anna Meares.

Anna Meares in action on velodrome.

Anna Meares in action on velodrome.

2016 Rio Olympics, Silver medalists for the Teams Pursuit event.

2016 Rio Olympics, Silver medalists for the Teams Pursuit .

The men's Pursuit team in action on the velodrome.

The men’s Pursuit team in action on the velodrome.

So lets look at the results for road and track cycling.  In the road events, the clear winner was the Netherlands who won 3 medals from the 12 on offer.  The rest were spread around fairly evenly.  Whether Australia’s Richie Porte would have figured in the results, after crashing out of  the road race, will remain idle speculation. Similarly Rohan Dennis must be kicking himself for going out too hard in the time trial. So bottom line, Australian cycling zero medals.

2016-olympic-cycling-results

The Track results were dominated by Team GB who won 7 of the 10 gold medals on offer.  Overall they scooped up 11 of the 30 medals on offer.  No other team was even close.  Here are the results and league tables.  The Womens Pursuit team were valiant in even competing on the track given the horrific training accident the team had 5 days before the event.
2016-olympic-cycling-leaguetables

Before signing off, MMT will take time to reflect on the amazing career and palmeres of Anna Meares, who became the fourth Australian track cyclist to line up at four Olympics.  Meares claimed her first of 11 World Championship titles in the 500m time trial in the months leading into her Olympic debut. She backed up her flying form at the Athens 2004 Games winning gold in the 500m time trial before going on to win bronze in the sprint.

Meares made one of the great comebacks in Australian Olympic history when she won a silver medal in the women’s sprint cycling at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Seven months out from the Games she broke her neck in a race crash and after months of intensive rehab ensured she was back on the bike in Beijing. She progressed through to the final where she went down to long-time rival Victoria Pendleton to win the silver medal.

Four years on and Meares had her chance to turn the tables on Pendleton at the London 2012 Games. Meares beat one of the sport’s all-time greats backed by a boisterous home crowd to calim Gold. Along with five Olympic medals and countless World Championship podiums, Meares has also won eight Commonwealth Games medals, including five gold, across four Games.

Until next time, ride safe.

Marv