6 months ago the idea of a 6am club run seemed absurd to me,
in fact my roommate from this year’s Belgium stint, Rob, was constantly
bantered about his weird world of 5:30am club runs back in his native
Manchester. I think the words I used were
‘disgraceful and downright unnecessary’.
Yet the wheels of fate see me here, well not literally but 4 hours ago I
was sat in my car struggling to digest 5 snatched Weetabix and a couple of mugs
of under brewed tea. I was in the car on
my way to ride my bike. This practice
used to be reserved strictly for races, but in the last 3 months I’ve broken
many of my own cycling rules and this idea of driving to exercise is just
another rule thrown to the wind in pursuit of a decent club run. I park up in the port side suburb of Fremantle
just after 6am. I risk a parking ticket
with the idea that if the meter man can get out of bed this early on a Sunday
then he probably deserves my $100. Only
2 sorts of people are out at this time… those that have been turfed out after
the night clubs last orders, and of course cyclists. I assemble the bike, zip up my jersey and
proceed to weave my way through Fremantle’s revellers who seem to confuse me
with a public urinal before finally reaching the civilized world of Papa’s café. From there I am back in a more familiar world
of posers and occasionally pro’s. The
ride meanders its way through the waterside suburbs, weaving its way past
million dollar pads. Perth’s roads are
in pretty good knick, the lack of any frost means pot holes are non-existent
and the only risk is whipping around a blind bend on sprinkler day to find the
road awash with water and oil. There are a couple of sprints dotted around as
the bunch strings its self out as we race through the financial district and
finally a gallop at the end of the ride on the sea front, It’s a good enough run as 75km takes just
under 2 hours, certainly it justifies the 45km drive either way. It is the nearest thing to my hometown
favourite ‘café race’ as riders start getting spat out as soon as the bunch
crests the first speed bump. I am slowly
getting some fitness back however, since finishing work for Christmas I have
been doing between 2-3 hours every early morning, creeping out the door at 6am
wearing nothing but shorts and jersey as it’s already 20 degrees. My riding repertoire has swelled and I now
know where the best spots are for kangaroo spotting and climbing practice. My hunt for a local team has so far been unsuccessful
but I guess I will have to let my legs do the talking as the road season down
under starts in mid-April.
On to the slightly less civilized world of employment. I now have a title at work…’strapper’
(although my spell check seems to think that should be stripper!); and
hopefully I will graduate to the dizzying heights of forklift driver soon. Biceps are more valued than brains at work
though (hence why I’m starting at the bottom of the pile), a new guy used the
word trigonometry at work the other day and was met with a barrage of confused
looks followed swiftly by four letter profanities (think fosters adverts but
after the watershed). Never the less
most of the workforce is made up of foreigners, be it kiwis (New Zealand), Poms
(English) or south East Asians and we all share the same ideas: make good money
and enjoy it later in life. I’ve even
managed with Perth’s occasionally infernal heat, so far 38 has been the warmest
but as summer blows in from the outback I’m assured the 40’s are not far away…
gulp. I am becoming quite settled here,
I haven’t flirted with the idea of going home any time soon although I think
the duck may have to be broken for le tours visit to Yorkshire in July 2014!
I would like to take this chance to say a quick thank you
for following me through one hell of a year.
Three countries, 40 races, 2 jobs and hopefully my last fresh start for
the near future. I wish everybody a good
Christmas and good health for 2013. A
final mention of congratulations to Josh Edmondson who has finally achieved the
recognition for his great talents and been snapped up by sky for the next 2
years… yet more proof if it were need that the work of the Dave Rayner fund is
producing results.
Happy Christmas, Gelukkige kerstmis
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