METRO ROAD CHAMPS, COUNTRY CATASTROPHES!

They say that bad things come in three, but sometimes they multiply and your week turns to ruin! Our family celebrated 3 birthday’s in one week. For my Mum‘s, I baked a triple chocolate cheesecake, only to discover that she hates them. For my sister’s, I ventured to Davo’s motor pacing and broke a gear cable. The following day I went to catch the train to Melbourne but missed it. The decision to go home and return in an hour would have been a good one had it not been for a change in timetable, resulting in another missed train. I then waited for half an hour and caught the final train for the night. I chose the worst carriage, where a mother was threatening to throw her children through the glass windows, and a group of teenage boys were smoking! I changed carriages, fell asleep in the peace and quiet, and missed my station! After waiting for a train out of the city, I rode from Caulfield station in the rain, finally arriving at the Smyth’s…at 11pm!

My brother’s birthday came on Saturday, but celebrations were lacking after waking early, puncturing at the beginning of motor pacing, and suffering beyond comprehension on the ride home! Finally a stroke of luck came on Sunday, Mother’s Day, when my Mum decided to pick me up from Pakenham on my way home. Otherwise, I would have been stuck on the tracks for hours, after a 61 yr old man walked in front of a Traralgon bound train and lost his life! After another puncture and a hair-cut to forget, I thought that Mother Nature would have been a little more thoughtful following my disastrous week. But as I road-tripped to Newstead (with Chloe and Nic pictured), where the temperature reached a maximum of 8 degrees, that didn’t seem to be the case. Nicole had spent the week drawing pistols, Chloe had been busy examining old peoples genitalia, and the last thing we were keen on was racing the Metropolitan Road Championships in the pissing down rain!

With 90kms, three laps, 12 starters, and no leg warmers, I was in desperate need of some blood flow. At 15kms I threw down the first attack, with a group of six including Nic, Chloe, Tess Downing, Bec Domange, Kath O’Shea and Suzanne Alway settling in together. Nearing the end of the first lap, Nic went again, and the two of us passed through the finish with a mere 10-seconds on the chasers. As the bell signalled our final lap, our advantage had grown and we were able to discuss the specifics of minestrone soup…anything to keep warm! With 2kms remaining and one hill to the finish, I put in a final effort to ride solo to the finish. Nic cruised in for second, with Tess taking the sprint for third, 4minutes down. As Nic and I reminisced on our performance, we hit a set of wet railway tracks and Nic came down hard! Seven hours later, with stiches in her elbow, she looked sore and swollen (pictured). So now Nic is a cripple, Chloe is hung over from her Physio ball, and I am the kind of sick that involves no appetite! Now that’s scary!

Results: Metropolitan Road Championships, Newstead, 90km Road Race