Ugh, I hate alarms. Role over, the sounds will go away...Sadly the Sound of Silence persists, so I get up, stumble into the kitchen and grab a bowl. In goes the cornflakes and a chopped up banana... followed closely by the milk that miraculously stays within the contours of the bowl. I flop into a seat, eyes half open, and start gingerly shoveling food into my mouth. Next thing I know I'm clad in French Lycra riding down the wrong side of the road on an Australian highway heading to the "Coffee Club" in Mooloolaba to join a few people for a pre planned long ride.
Turns out there is a big group out there, including recently retired Pro cyclist Henk Vogels. And so we embark on a longish ride into the hills inland from the coastal magnet that seemingly attracts all Australian buildings, leaving the back-country devoid of life. The pace is slow to start with and remains slow for a fair bit of the ride. This part of the world is littered with short steep hills. The kind of hill I hate. It reminds me of Africa a bit, or of the US. The roads are so new that they haven't had the time to "settle" into the countryside like they have in Europe through centuries of Romans and clunky old Citroen 2CVs trundling along them. Here they seem to just shove down the tar-mack over whatever is infront of them without cutting out roads.
After a couple hours of pleasant and quiet country roads in a group of cheerful and friendly Aussies, we come to an intersection. One way leads home, the other leads to a 6km climb. I persuade Tahlia (a young member of the Queensland Institute of Sport) to make a left turn towards the climb while everyone else heads home.
Tahlia has got some races coming up, so she's in "real" training. I thus get roped into doing some 30second sprint intervals up the 6km climb of Montville. Montville is a great little local climb, that takes you up the side of a hill through Eucalyptus trees. Half way up the climb, the trees disappear leaving you with a stunning view all the way back to the coast. The intervals were painful. I have not done any form of interval for about 2.5 or 3 months, and having just got back into regular riding a week and a half ago after my 3 or 4 week winter break, I was in the hurt box and seeing stars!
The Climb up to Montville with stunning views of the coast...
Still it was a fun ride, and the reward after a steady spin back home with 3.5 hours on the clock was a cool fresh fruit juice in Mooloolaba by the blue ocean...
Life.... is... tough! :-)
French wanabee Australian: "BEER ANYONE?"
Here's wishing you all very merry Christmas... Personally I am back down in the southern Hemisphere getting away from the cold and winter of my native France for the second year in a row (and loving it I might add!!!). Christmas day will kick off with a 3+ hour group ride in the morning with a few very dear friends, followed by the traditional (traditional for this upside-down world of Aussie Rules) Christmas Barbeque with some well deserved cold beers. Whilst I'm at it, I'd like to send out a special Christmas wish to: the 6am Mooloolaba Coffee Club riding group (Shuttles, Tahlia, Jeff, Wendy, Evan...); the Warrenton Cycling Center in the USA, Darren and Lychelle Lill in South Africa; my buddies and training partners in my home area of the Tarn in France (best training place in the world BTW), and of course my mom Pat, My Grandad and my uncle and Auntie Dees and Mike.
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