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Penny is Back…
Published January 14, 2012 | 
For several years now, Penny the bicycle has been mysteriously appearing in all kinds of places. She even featured in several locations on the route of the 2010 UCI Road Cycling World Championship course and was an instant hit on TV! Now she has reappeared in refurbished glory! It is still a puzzle to us, who is responsible for this work of art….. any clues?
Christmas Ride 2011
Published December 26, 2011 | The annual Christmas Ride of the Lara Latte Cyclists was again a Jolly affair! However, due to the humid weather, Santa decided it was too warm to donn his full regalia. In his place this year, we had an Elvis Elf.
Highlights in the photo show below:
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AGM 2011
Published December 22, 2011 | The Lara Latte Cycle AGM was held in the Shell Club late in December. This was a great social night, with the opportunity for riders to see one another out of lycra!
Highlight of the night were the hotly contested annual awards. We recap here, the award winners:
The SHAYNE AWARD
Presented to the rider who spends the greatest time hiding at the back of the peloton, then challenges for the sprint at the end. The winner: Shayne (no surprises there!)
The SURGIO AWARD
Presented to the rider who, through surging and disruptive riding, causes the most angst in the peloton. The winner: Graeme (no surprises!)
The HEINZ AWARD
That’s Heinz, as in Heinz means beans – does it need more explanation? The winner: Bad Dave (no contest actually!)
The SECOND HAND DEALER AWARD
For the rider who demonstrates the greatest dedication to recycling discarded bike parts. The winner: Eddie
The USELESS MECHANIC AWARD
Awarded on this occassion for the longest timed tube change since the bicycle was invented. The winner: Gus (with help from his grandma)
The STEEL WOOL AWARD
Presented to the one rider who rode the entire season, winter AND summer, without shaving. The winner: Ilya
The ROBYN AWARD
For the rider who was always encouraged to ride at the front of the peloton. The winner: Robyn (this one was hotly contested, as I’m informed by reliable sources from the front of Rod’s Bakery, that Barrie was a very close second!)
The JENNY CRAIG AWARD
Does this one need an explanation? A very difficult decision – although Simon made a bold bid and other candidates put their hands up, ultimately the judging committee decided in favour of Scott.
The EDDIE AWARD
Named in honour of our champion peloton member, this award was officially for “ability to overcome painstaking circumstances”, but the committee often opts for the rider who has had the most falls during the season. The winner: Jürgen
The FERGANATOR AWARD
This award, for creative use of language, was almost a foregone conclusion from the very beginning of the season (Bad Dave!), but in a surprise turn up, a late bid from a number of riders to take out the prize, saw the usual high standard of academic debate in the peloton fall to new lows late in December! The winner: Barrie, although an honourable mention must go to Simon C – unfortunately your effort came after the judges had sealed the envelope! It will however be noted for next year!
NYC Cyclist vs Bike Lanes
Published June 14, 2011 | A NYC cyclist who received a fine for straying out of the bike-lane recorded this video of his attempt to ride around town without leaving the bike-lane, instead crashing merrily into any obstacle that he encountered, from taxis to construction equipment.
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Guy Crashes Multiple Times To Make Point About NYPD Ticketing Bicyclists
Riding the Paceline – The Video
Published May 13, 2011 | One of the peloton members alerted us to the following You Tube video, highlighting the proper (ie, not the "Wally" or "Surge" method) way to ride a paceline. Let's see if we can practice this on our rides!
2011 High Country Challenge Photos
Published April 9, 2011 | Courtesy of Kaye Kinnersly .
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Sunday High Country Challenge Warm down ride
Published April 9, 2011 | Following on from the big ride on Saturday, several of the peloton enjoyed another fabulously sunny and windstill day to have a warm-down ride – Mansfield to Tolmie and back.
Again, the meeting and "ride together" philosophy broke down badly – Stef and I arrived in the main street 5 minutes before the agreed time to meet Team Laralatte. After a wait of 10 minutes with the bulk of riders leaving as we watched, we decided Team Laralatte had already left, so headed of on the ride to Tolmie, joining a peloton that travelled nicely at an average speed around 28kmh.
We had a very pleasant ride out to Tolmie in perfect weather and then a very fast ride back down the hill – even though Stef initiated a big attack coming off the Broken River bridge on the uphill (which I found hard), we arrived in town together. Along the way, we crossed paths with various members of the Laralatte group, who had indeed, headed out before us. The ride to Tolmie, up the hill took us around 50 minutes and return was only 30!
Upon our return, we joined the others for a coffee in the main street of Mansfield, before everyone made their own way back to Geelong, after another wonderful weekend of riding.
Details of Ride:
High Country Challenge Day 2 – Mansfield to Tomie and back to Mansfield. Total 56.9 km.
Lara Latte Cycle weekend in Mansfield – High Country Challenge
Published April 9, 2011 | Finally, I've made time to report on another spectacular weekend of riding in the high country around Mansfield. Following on from last year's great ride in the mountains (Buller Conquered), the Lara Latte peloton this year consisted of a group of ten riders – Gus, Robyn, Graeme, Ron, Scott, Barrie, Ross, Dave P, Stef and Jürgen.
Having all made our separate ways to Mansfield on Friday and with accomodation spread in various places, we met up on Saturday morning in the main street of Mansfield. No sooner had we started pedalling, than the bunch split (yes, after only 25 m!). Most of the group stopped to chat with Rob G at the press stand, but I didn't notice and continued riding then couldn't find the group when I turned around. So I did a full circuit of Mansfield before catching up with everyone again (extra kms, that would come to haunt me later?). Once back together, we rode as a group out to Mirimbah, at a civilized pace, well aware of the big climb ahead of us. Kaye and Luke Kinnersly accompanied us in the "support vehicle" with Kaye acting as the team photographer.
After a "pit stop" at Mirimbah, and waiting for Scott and Ross who had stopped to help an "abandoned" rider fix a puncture (we figured they must have had Gus's Grandma helping, from the length of time it took!), everyone headed off on the climb up Mt Buller, at their own pace. In the KOM award, only Barrie and Dave in the group had transponders and were eligible for the prize, but pride dictated that the Laralatte "first up the hill" was hotly contested. Favourite Barrie started well, as did Dave and the late betting plunge Gus. Gadget made steady progress, to the rhythm of Bread, then AC/DC on the steep parts. Dark horses Graeme and Robyn were also in the mix, whilst Stef, Scott and Ross were happy to travel at their own pace and concentrate on getting to the top in reasonable shape. Yours truly dropped out of the running after having trouble with back spasms and needing to get off the bike to stretch on a couple of occasions. Half way up the hill, the "supplement" regime that Barrie had been consuming finally caught up with him and he had to stop for a "call of nature". Graeme started to feel the pain and dropped off the pace, to leave Dave and Gus battling out the honours, with Gus just arriving in the village as the first Laralatte rider. Of course, Dave is the officially recognized Laralatte KOM, as he had the transponder. All of our riders followed in short succession, everyone completing the climb in under an hour and half, arriving at the top to big cheers from their team mates.
We enjoyed the snacks provided and adjourned to the Cattleman's Club for a nice coffee, before heading off on the descent. Dry roads, little wind and a comfortable temperature allowed for fast riding down the hill, and most of us clocked in excess of 70kmh at various points on the descent. Once at Merimbah, we regrouped, unloaded spare clothing (needed to keep warm on the descent) with Kaye and Luke in the car and headed off towards Mansfield. There followed a period of even group riding with everyone sharing the work at the front of the peloton (yes, even Gus!). We turned to Jamieson just prior to hitting the 100km mark, and once the climb towards Martin's Gap started, the peloton disintegrated. Our more competitive members couldn't hold back and some of us were hurting and needed to slow the pace a bit. Then, of course, there were a couple of riders who slowed down to support those who were beginning to find the going tough.
The two step climb to Martin's Gap proved as devastating as I remember it from last year and we were certainly all pleased to reach the top and then roll on down to Jamieson. We enjoyed our Lunch in the shade of a cafe garden, and while most of us rehydrated with Gatorade, water or orange juice, Gadget tried the somewhat unusual approach of a Boags Draft. Said he didn't want to feel any pain on the return journey. The group headed off from Jamieson together, but no sooner had we hit the beginning of the approach to Martin's Gap, split into two again. I'll leave others to report on the front group and how Gadget's unusual rehydration regime worked, but in the second peloton, we all worked to encourage one another through the worst sections, before arriving at the water station at Piries and the knowledge that the climbs were over. From there, we had a quick run home with a tail wind along the flat.
Some of us enjoyed a massage in the town after the ride and in the evening we all celebrated with a group dinner in The Deck Restaurant. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and everyone is looking forward to doing it again next year. Of course, the fantastic weather made it all the more pleasant, so fingers crossed that we'll keep enjoying good weather on these outings! The general feeling was that for next year, we just ride Mansfield-Buller-Mansfield, allowing for more time in Mt Buller village and more free time in the afternoon in Mansfield. Also with the short ride on Saturday, we could consider doing the full ride to Whitfield and return on Sunday.
Details of Ride:
High Country Challenge Day 1 – Mansfield to Mt Buller to Mansfield to Jamieson back to Mansfield. Total 166.0 km.
Forrest Weekend of Riding – Hills, Hills and more Hills
Published February 23, 2011 | Last weekend, an intrepid group from the LaraLatteCycle Peloton spent the weekend in Forrest, riding two big rides through the Otways and much rain and wind.
Arriving on Friday night and staying on the shores of the picturesque West Barwon Dam, we prepared ourselves for the first adventure on Saturday.
Saturday morning saw us leaving Forrest in reasonable weather, albeit on wet roads. After only 500m, the climbing began with the Cat 4 climb from Forrest to Barramunga – a real test of cold legs! Once that was negotiated, we rode along rolling hills until Turton's Track. Travelling along Turton's, we were treated to a spectacular sight of rain forest (complete with rain by now!), giant gum trees, fern glades and a lot of debris along the road. At a couple of points, fallen trees had us resorting to cyclocross! Once on the Beech Forest – Lavers Rd, the road became clear, but the rain was steady, not surprising since this passed through Weeaproinah, the wettest place in Victoria with 2040mm average annual rainfall (most of it on that morning, I swear!). We arrived at Lavers Hill to the welcome site of a cafe where we stopped for coffee and food and a warm up. We were quite a site – five drowned rats, so to speak, with staff and other guests left shaking their heads, wondering who would be silly enough to go bike riding in that weather! We left big puddles on the floor due to our wet clothes! Thankfully, the cafe staff were quite tolerant and cleaned up after us as we made our way back into the rain and wind!
The sight of a man mowing his grass with a ride on mower in that weather, had us wondering if, in fact, this was the best (driest) it actually became on top of Lavers Hill!!!!
We resumed the ride and after a short stretch to Beech Forest, made another coffee/cake stop at the Organic Ridge Cafe – again leaving puddles as souvenirs for the lucky shop owners! Thereafter, we struggled back out into the rain and wind for the remainder of the return ride to Forrest.
The route details can be found by following this link.
After returning from the ride and enjoying a hot shower, we fired up the stove and turned the lounge area into a drying room (furnace actually, with some debate about temperature and opening/closing doors and windows). The normal "nanna-nap" after such rides was replaced with puzzle solving activities, blackberry picking, photo excursions and catching up on news and other reading. In the evening we enjoyed a lovely BBQ on the covered deck of the house overlooking the dam. Whilst there were still intermittent showers, the temperature was pleasant enough to enjoy the outdoors. Jürgen finally conquered the puzzle that Graeme had brought along, after several hours (and many glasses of red wine).
Sunday morning saw Gus join us for the day's ride, as we again began with the Cat 4 climb from Forrest to Barramunga after only 500m from the house. We continued through the rolling hills on to the big downhill run to Skene's Creek. By the time we hit Skene's Creek, the rain had stopped, but we had to negotiate a strong headwind in to Apollo Bay. There, we enjoyed our first coffee for the day, at the Bay Leaf Cafe, who distinguished themselves by having run out of muffins at 9am! Returning from Apollo Bay to Skene's Creek was very fast with a strong tail wind, but soon we were brought back to reality – the 10km climb from Skene's Creek began with a 6% gradient. Everyone paced themselves well on the first half of the climb, but the second half was marked by a solo break, that was only caught on the long downhill before the final 1km climb to Turton's Track. The return from Turton's Track to Forrest was puncutated by short sunny spells, that suggested better weather to come (once we were all back at work!).
The route details can be found by following this link.
Again, the hot showers after the ride were most welcome and we reluctantly packed our gear for the journey back home after a great weekend. But not before Jürgen had a close encounter with one of the locals (a red-bellied black snake – see photos), who had come out to enjoy the little sunshine there was on the weekend.
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