Rain. It’s no lie that we’ve had more than enough of it recently. It really does feel like it’s rained at least once every single day this month so far. That’s probably not true, but there has been a LOT of the wet stuff. In fact it’s raining once again right now. I could have probably filled my water tank ten times over this month. We’ve had SO much rain that the bottom of my driveway has been turned into a moat. Great for additional security, not so great for getting in and out by bicycle. Or by car for that matter!

Today was forecast to be a break in the weather, at least for the morning. Not needing to be asked twice I made plans to get in a solid endurance ride. It’d been an enforced “recovery week” from cycling with a bunch of jobs that needed attending to around the property, including clearing out my flooded garage (not too bad thankfully, just really damn annoying).

It was a cold start as I clipped in and rolled out at 6:45am, requiring full length everything. Yes, it’s almost summer. Yes, I still had to start the ride in arm warmers, knee warmers, toe covers, and a gilet! After around 40km of pedalling, I finally warmed up enough to ditch the gilet at the base of Tunnel Hill. I even managed to do it on the go without crashing – not something I attempt often – but I was running late. I only just made it to the top of Tunnel Hill in time to catch my breath, say g’day to the guys, then clip in again.

Many of the usual crew were up North doing Sally’s Ride, so it was a depleted and relatively cruisy bunch into Richmond. The pace did wind up towards the end as four of us out front turned the screws and rolled turns along the final straight, but it was still a gentlemanly affair with nobody even challenging for the town sign sprint. After a quick debrief over a double espresso to discuss Stewart’s upcoming Everesting plans (mad man) it was off again solo and straight into the headwind.

Now this was of course planned. I’m an incessant weather checker and knew there was going to be a strong Northerly-ish wind picking up across the morning. My time grinding away at 25km/hr would be rewarded later. Hitting the turn at Campania I finally had the wind at my back. There’s nothing quite like a healthy tailwind on the return journey! I was actually feeling pretty good so instead of heading directly back to the car to clock 100km on the dot, I tacked on an extra loop to push the ride out over 110km.

It was definitely a case of making the most of the dry roads while they lasted. Around half an hour after arriving home it started raining. Again. Surely summer is just around the corner? I really am starting to miss the drought. I shouldn’t complain. It really is a first world problem. All in all it was another fantastic Sunday morning and yet another fantastic metric century on the Trek 5200.

Distance: 111 km / 69 miles
Total elevation gain: 841 m / 2760 feet
Average speed: 29.7 kph / 18.4 mph