Sunday forecast; Showers. Windy. Morning storm risk. Geez I just can’t wait to get out and ride 108kms in that. I hoped that on Saturday evening the clouds had dumped everything that they had but as I tried to sleep that night all I could hear was the howling winds, so I prayed………please BWA text me those magical words ‘it’s cancelled’.

No text, so I hauled my derriere out the door at 6:30am, headed to McDonalds for my breakfast fix (healthy living), then set off to York.

When I arrived at the start I was quite taken aback with how many other lunatics wish to ride in torrential rain. Perth, we have some hardcore cyclists! But what really made my day was seeing all 7 of our team, smiling and ready to go (more than can be said for some of them ‘fast’ boys, no names mentioned) I knew I had a good team before we’d even set off as they showed their enthusiasm for a quick warm up. This consisted of dancing to a number of 80s and 90s tracks being played to the crowd. New Order will be stuck in my head for weeks.

9:21am and we’re off, for some reason, unknown to us, we were the last of the teams to set off for the 108kms. I think they got us confused with the SPR Princesses, I mean SPR Pretenders. The first 25kms out were beautiful; there was singing (Summer Rain – Belinda Carlisle, Sunshine on a rainy day-Zoe, to name a few), it was flat, we had a nice tailwind, and it was dry…then we turned left to head back to York. Hello hills and headwind, oh and now torrential rain, this is going to be a nasty 25km I thought. Sadly it was at this point in the (it’s not a race) that Mark’s bike started to make a strange clicking. Now we tried to use it as a beat box to start off a new tune and lighten the mood but unfortunately lap one was all the Chihuahua was going to do today. So it was goodbye to Marsha but hello to Andrew Ballam, whose group had given up after 1 lap due to 2 punctures and a lame attitude!

Lap 2, I have to say despite the flat road and the now semi tailwind, this for me was the hardest part of the day. My bum was starting to ache, my lower back a little sore and the singing had stopped.  Thankfully Andrew and Bill were keen to sit on the front. Again we made the left turn for home and were hit by the hills and that headwind again however, there is something motivational about turning for home for the final time. Despite some tired legs, we made it back in a time of 3hrs 47 mins and on arrival were greeted by our dear friend Mark with coffees for us all. Now that is what you call a real domestique. Sadly, as they’d set us off last, when we arrived at the lunch hall everyone else was leaving, but our dear fellow SPR buddies stuck around to make small/inappropriate chat. Note to self: I am too old for Club BaySpew.

And so began the drive back to Perth, which I was considering having a nap in my car before I did!

I just want to thank my team of Amanda, Alison, Mark H, Bill (who stepped in last minute and did so much work), Jordan the Work Horse, Lorraine and ring in Andrew. It took a lot for all of you to get your butts to that start this morning but it took more to endure a painful 108km ride with smiles and laughter.

Great ride, great day, great people.