Once More With Feeling
Despite the weather for the 2004 Around the Bay in a Day being close to perfect, gazbro decided to saddle up and ride his luck once more in 2005. Team Gazbro consisted of the leader plus his able and dedicated followers. That's right: a solo ride.
A quiet scene confronted TG as we arrived at the starting point, in the shadow of Telstra Dome. The only bicycle I could see was strapped behind us, to the boot of our "support" car. My meticulous planning had somehow not included setting the alarm early enough, a knock-on from the enjoyment of some champagne the night before; a foolhardy temptation of fate. Despite a track record of only one previous attempt at cycling the bay, complacency had insinuated itself in to our campaign with near-embarrassing results.
Dim Star
The alarm was set for 5.00 am but I woke a few minutes before, sensing that something was different about the morning. It was only after some minutes of semi-somnambulent shuffling that two things dawned on me. Firstly the dawn dawned. Then realisation dawned - it was light, and I was late. I had ten minutes to eat my hi-carb breakfast, collect my food for the day, apply several items of essential clothing, stow sundry nick-nacks like phone, tyre levers, chap-stick; then affix bike to the rack on the car, enter the car, drive 10 km to Docklands and start riding.
No problem. Until we got to the Dome. There it was so deserted I thought I was the Omega Man, or they'd moved the starting line. But it was the starters that had moved - about 25 or more kilometres down the road on their way to the ferry. Unable to think on my feet I sat on a kerb and strapped on my shoes, and after a very brief pause for a photo opportunity I set off - to find the starting line.
After two hundred metres a few figures appeared removing road barriers and generally packing the whole show away. I said I was heading for Sorrento. "That way" came the reply, with an arm pointing south. With such small ceremony I crossed the line and entered the event, desperately seeking fellow travellers.
Though there were a few fellow-stragglers chasing down the pack on this beautiful, calm and golden morning I enjoyed the privilege of rolling down the usually wall-to-wall Beaconsfield Parade and St Kilda foreshore accompanied mainly by the sound of my tyres and the wind.
The feeling of being at the back of the bus lasted all the way to Frankston, where I stopped in the company of many others to ingest a sticky carbhydrate gel and prepare for the one and only hill of the course. Weather-wise ot looked like a carbon-copy of 2004 – perfection – so I departed for Mount Eliza and points beyond with my confidence and spirits were somewhat restored.