It has been a long, dark, and wet winter. Enough now! And it seems that our various pleas have been heard - temporarily anyway - and we've enjoyed a few perfect riding days weather wise. This morning was enjoyed by a good crowd of Smooth Knobblies. Tim even made a guest appearance....and judging by the way FMD dished it out on him, its a steady road to fitness. BUT he was there! Still no sign of founding members TwoTone and The Oracle...but we live in hope. The extra commuting to Town from Tokai and back in the mornings is hopefully going to get my fitness levels up where they need to be. Racing season opens up with a vengeance as the One Tonner, Wines2Whales, and DC loom on the horizon. The DC Team is riding under the Fat Bob banner this year. It will be with pride that we don the bright green and black kit of Epic Johns elusive brand. We were attempting to ride the DC on mountain bikes - but after MUCH deliberation the purists won and we are ordered to report at the start line on the skinny tyres. Well - here goes a shot at a 6:30 DC. I do think that if the weather plays ball that we have enough powder in the kegs to send six strong riders into that zone. Please remember that the majority of our riders are post 40; or weigh in over 90kg....so we are by no means the stereotypical skinny and shaved white-bib wearing roadie. After we've ridden a DC, we could be mistaken for a pack of forwards who've just scrapped a match against Tonga...in the mud. Not pretty, but strong and effective... Ah yes - I've just seen the title to this blog entry! Here are some pics from this mornings ride:
Riding up FMD does have one advantage - the view upon summit!
Great tilt effect as the sunrise rolls over the city bowl