The ride to Monash this morning presented a minor challenge. The first climb of the day was the 4.5km up to Bonsall and Upper Town, a favourite among the climbers in the group. It was great to see new faces, as well as those returning from recent injuries, taking on today's challenges. However, the first disappointment was the lack of warmth and the northerly wind coming down the A6. Considering today is the 1st of June, it was chillier than expected. Despite this, and having repaired a puncture before we'd even left, a group of nine then set off against the headwind.
The peloton stayed together up the A6 and partway up Via Gellia, but the climb up Bonsal defined the split point. The hill climbers streaked ahead, leaving others pulling up the rear. From this point, the group stayed split for the remainder of the ride, with the only sight of the faster riders being at the café at Monash.
It was a great, although hard, ride, with the day getting progressively warmer until we were eventually back on the A6 heading home. The sun broke through the clouds, but as predictable as ever, the wind had spun around, and the group was against it all the way home.
As always, it was a good group, good chats, good times, and a chance to try out a small hack on Instagram for removing a chain link after one of the groups had threaded the chain the incorrect way around the rear mech. I'll mention no names. #NoOneLeftBehind.
Yes great ride!
I don’t know who threaded their chain wrong, but whilst I was fixing it, someone said “Do we we need to run another bike maintenance course?”. This would be a great idea and I would definitely be up for it.
Great ride, really enjoyed it after 7 months with not much riding, I even recorded a new max heart rate trying to keep up 😂