the moruya race avec rapide

Two tools, a tool wrangler and a tool photographer went to Moruya last Sunday.

One tool and the tool wrangler meet a great dane called Momo at a coffee waiting station in Narooma on the way but, that is another story...

The riding tool called rapide did a crit around the quietly aesthetic Moruya industrial estate, managed to avoid the crashes and went very very fast. He looked sort of handsome in a weird way at the end of the race. It is amazing what a dab of blood and bit of dribble can do for a man.

Rapide also claimed to have done the road race the day before but he had no witnesses except a brother...

see photo ( not of him but of a bianchi)

the tool photographer will have lots of photos of Rapide on his special website.

Following the crit the other tool joined the rapide tool and the tool wrangler for a road race redux on the fabulous eurobodalla men's and ladies cycling club road circuit out over the moruya river bridge and back

a perfect mid day ride and then to the Moruya cafe du wheels for a delightful coffee and slice and guess what ?

we meet another weird European. This time, a wired haired German pointer out for a stroll with his neighbours.

Rapide found a pearl the size of Montague island in the box hedge in the coffee shop garden and we commenced the great " theft by finding" debate.

the tool wrangler won.

all back in the cars and off to the quaint and picturesque valley we call home

next year all tools are competing

love and peace

l'symbole

Its a tough job but someone has to do it!

Wish you were here!!!!!

One He Tool (Van Velo) and one She Tool (La cle aMolette) met at Bemboka on an afternoon perfect for cycling. La cle a molette to do her first Double Brown and Van Velo his third.
The ride to the mountain was a good warm up at a sensible pace. With drink bottles and food stored at the bottom Brown Mountain sign they headed up at was was a reasonable pace. La cle a molette lead the way for the majority of the ride with Van Velo taking the lead on the low grade portions. Van Vleo thought this would be a slower ride than the weekend before and pushed hard at the end to finish in a surprising 49:11. La cle a molette was very close behind at 49:44. Van Velo and La cle a molette were very happy with this outcome, especially la cle a molette given this was her first ride up the mountain. A short stop and chat at the top saw them head down at a rapid pace with no road works or traffic to slow them down but the temperature enough to cause a lot of goose bumps. The loose road surface from the road works made that section an interesting ride to say the least. The stop at the bottom was short before heading up again. The bottom section was tough with the legs struggling to get warmed up and pumping. The ride up was again very warm. The top section seemed fast but upon reaching the top the time of 52 min was somewhat disappointing given the effort. La cle a molette was smart enough to bring sleeves for the final decent with the caravan half way down getting the adrenalin pumping when over taken. The ride back to Bemboka was at an enjoyable but not slow pace. The final ride into Bemboka, going against all Tools on Tour traditions, as it did not end in a sprint and both riders happy with that outcome. A change and stretch saw both head home happy with their efforts and the fact that all Tools have now accomplished the Double Brown. La cle a molettes first attempt being faster than all the speediest of the group is to be commended and attests to the growing fitness of all Tools.

Thursday night ride and image meeting

The starting point for the Thursday Night Ride was changed to Carp St to allow for a group meeting at the end of the ride to discuss the group "image"
Van Velo led the evening ride with a combination of in town street riding up the steeper parts of town, it was then off to the trusty Springvale area before returning home with the usual sprint across the bridge, sorry not sure who won that one as I was too far back.
The Tools then gathered for coffee at the unoffical Carp st headquarters to discuss the image and apparel for the upcoming trip to France. Jo presented the design options and there was much discussion and many points of view but we did end up with a result. Jo will now send off the final design for production.

Tour Itinerary

Click on this link to see the latest itinerary for our trip to France

Tour Itinerary

The Double Brown sub 50 mins

Le Bandit decided to invite others to experience the Brown Mountain this week with the aim of doing the "Double Brown". Two fellow tools showed up to accompany him, Van Velo and Just metre vos sac, so it was off to the mountain.
Two out of the 3 starters were yet to tackle the double but were very keen to join the club.
Le Bandit showed the way on the first ascent and got to the top in the very good time of 49:35 very closely follwed by Justre Metre vos sac in a time of 49:45 with Van Velo coming in just under the 50:00.
All three riders were very impressed with their efforts to get under the 50 mins but it was going to be very tough to repeat on climb number 2.
Climb no 2 started with the trio very keen to at least get close to their first effort and it was Le Bandit leading the way yet again, closely followed by Juste Metre Vos Sac and then Van Velo. All put in a big effort to the top and were abosolutely wrapt to get the top in even better times with Le Bandit breaking the 49 to record a 48:36, Justre Metre Vos Sac was equally up to the task only 26 seconds behind in the time of 49:02 with Van Velo rolling in not far away.
We received news that fellow tool rapide took the top spot in B grade, so a  great saturday for the "tools"

Training in Wollongong

Some work in Wollongong provided the opportunity for one tool to try some training rides elsewhere. With Mt Kiera overlooking the city yet quite close it looked to be the perfect training ride, for a tool preparing for the mountains of France. So its a 7.5 k climb with about a 450 m gain in elevation. The grade varies all the way up for a bit of variety and a spectacular view at the top as you can see. A highlight is the 60 or 70 metres just near the top that can't be far off 18% gradient. Excellent fun.
So been up twice now, tomorrow arvo will make three and can be recommended for any visitor to the Gong.