Back to Beach rd

Well I have hit the beach after some 10 months away from it. I avoid the place really as it pulls a fair crowd, some of which are real wankers that destroy the publics image of cyclists using the roads (what red light, it was green!). I have also never seen so much bling on the road, people just love those really expensive all carbon bikes. I just dont get training on carbon tubulars... call me old school but a good set of training wheels will always get you where you need to be.
Mr Mooter contacted me about a Saturday morning ride and I was convinced it sounded good. I has the option of up the hills or down the beach. I chose the beach option as it would give me some speed work that I dont really get much of these days as I ride mainly on my own and rarely do I race. The other bonus is some long kilometers on relative flat roads.
We rolled down to the beach missing the Vets group that Mooter normally rolls with. We did pick em up on the way back from Frankston and rolled with em til I couldnt do it anymore. Actually in hindsight it would have been easier to roll with em, as the head wind when we pulled off was not friendly. We did eventually pick up another bunch and rolled quite happily up to St Kilda.
We pulled into Cafe Racer for a quick coffee and ended up having a quick chat with Gerro who was meeting some guys for a roll down to Mt Eliza to stretch out his legs before the Ballart Classic the next day. He was looking fit and well, I think he will do Ok this Sunday at the Worlds in Geelong.
By the time I had gotten home I had been out for almost 4hrs and covered 115kms. I was happy to get out for a long ride on the road bike as it has been along time since doing one.
I have been bogged down with family commitments and managed to get out on Monday on the geared 29er. I decided to do a modified Urban Epic loop from my place. I heard that I might get some nasty weather, what I copped was nothing short of shit.
I had only really gotten into the single track swing of things when mother nature started to dump rain on me and for the next 1.5 hrs I got wet, really wet. In the end I cut out some of the single track as it had quickly turned in to mini rivers. I ended up with a solid ride and some nice climbing, but it was wet and cold.
The Xx Reba forks have arrived and have been given the love with a shortening of steerer and are on the bike and ready to roll. They might get a brief test tomorrow if I wake up OK after my night shift. Otherwise I will do the same Monday loop on Saturday and give em a good test. The brief roll around the neighbourhood was sweet but lets face it the real test will be on the local single track.