sifter wrote:

Joel wrote:

sifter wrote: Looking forward to joining the Freyberg bunch around the bays today! 12:15 departure - sing out if you've seen this Should be stunning out there...

whats the pace of that bunch?

just a little bit slower than me Seriously though, very nice pace. Plenty of turn-taking at the front. Good conversation until I attack at the bottom of Happy Valley

might turn up.. was planning on doing some sweet spot riding at lunch, but riding in this morning i found my legs decided that low tempo was all they felt like doing today.

oooooooooooooh that was lovely Hard work into the wind up Happy Valley, but that was my own silly fault

so much for low tempo! good fun though... so wed is meant to be easy pace? and tues/thurs the fast pace rides?

might have to incorporate at least one a week, good to ride in a bunch for company

I saw a couple of roadie groups out today Must be a popular passtime, that road-riding thing..

Went out to Korokoro and north along the ridge with the lunch bunch today. What a great ride! The weather was beautiful, we rode a nice pace, both on the flat and in the climbs, and the CRX was humming. Was a bit disappointed to miss the sprint train coming past just before Ngauranga though! These guys will make a roadie out of me yet!

Apparently I've got a new nickname too! Melissa asked in an email "Is Frankenstein going to be there today?" - I don't think she realised I was on the CC list... I had a chance to slide up to her during the ride and asked her "Did that guy show?" She looked quite embarrassed, but answered that he had!

sifter wrote: Apparently I've got a new nickname too! Melissa asked in an email "Is Frankenstein going to be there today?"

There you go - if you're sick of the Spelling Nazi rank, there's a new one right there for ya!

Had a great ride today with Simon Kennett. Ended up doing around 80km in just under 3 hours. We rode from his place in Northland through to Johnsonville, Tawa, Porirua and out to Pauutahanui Inlet. We didn't let some inane driving put us off, but were happy to get off the main roads into Moonshine Valley. We had a couple of close calls on the way down, but no need for new panties. Most of the ride south back to Wellington was at about 35km/h - the harbour looked stunning, and the legs felt good. The final grovel back up to Northland was unpleasant, but hot pumpkin soup and freshly baked rolls awaited us

While there was no wind to speak of, and beautiful clear skies, goddamn it was cold! I was very happy for my Roadworks arm warmers, and my Ground Effect 3/4 shorts with the lovely fleecy knees!

Great to see SteveC's loaded the Balfour-Pennington Series dates. I'm looking forward to trying out this road racing on an actual road bike!

Nice!

sifter wrote: Went out to Korokoro and north along the ridge with the lunch bunch today. What a great ride! The weather was beautiful, we rode a nice pace, both on the flat and in the climbs, and the CRX was humming. Was a bit disappointed to miss the sprint train coming past just before Ngauranga though! These guys will make a roadie out of me yet!

... and you'll make hill climbers out of us mate. Having you push the pace up the hills is excellent for me at least, I'm having to dig deep but I think it must be helping me lift my pace, one ride soon I think I may be able to hang with you to the top of a climb.

sifter wrote: Apparently I've got a new nickname too! Melissa asked in an email "Is Frankenstein going to be there today?" - I don't think she realised I was on the CC list... I had a chance to slide up to her during the ride and asked her "Did that guy show?" She looked quite embarrassed, but answered that he had!

That email of Melissa's really cracked me up you should know that she has given us all ncknames as we joined the group and a lot of them are not particularly flattering or PC .. flossy, black-jack, old macdonald, slinky, big machine, superman, father neil,... for some reason she always refers to me very respectfully as Mr Chapman.

Will there be a lunch ride today? And will I be laughed at when I get dropped off the back?

Kah wrote: Will there be a lunch ride today? And will I be laughed at when I get dropped off the back?

Yes, and no (in the unlikely event)! Wednesday's meant to be cruisy. Should be departing Freyberg at about 12:20. I'm up in Makara Peak this arvo, so won't be there.

But John! Now who will I draft behind?!?

Trying to get some stuff worked out now so I can go for a spin later.

sifter wrote:

Kah wrote: Will there be a lunch ride today? And will I be laughed at when I get dropped off the back?

Yes, and no (in the unlikely event)! Wednesday's meant to be cruisy. Should be departing Freyberg at about 12:20. I'm up in Makara Peak this arvo, so won't be there.

The Wednesday starttime is 12:15 sharp - not waiting - if you miss the start you could . The idea is this is an easyish ride (intervals on Tue/Thur) so we want to get away at least 5min before the Circa world champs. If the Circa group go round the bays they will pass us about Lyall Bay and those who want a faster ride can jump on with then when they pass.

Yeah, found that out the hard way. Chased for about 5 minutes, then caught the bunch at some roadworks just before the roundabouts.

Cool people, except for a sneaky breakaway on Happy Valley Road.