The 2009 Lifecycle Winter Warmer (WW) had the biggest turnout ever, with over 45 riders lining up in the shop car park for roll out. With numbers like these Luke Stockwell was one step closer to realising his dream of having the WW go corporate. So on this fine, but cool morning he was looking pretty smug wearing his `shy shorts’ and fluro yellow road workers wife beater singlet/ undershirt. He wasn’t the only one pumped up for the 120km ride to Maleny. The Wombles were so pumped they’d grabbed an early mark leaving at 6am while the other riders huddled for the obligatory photo shoot and official roll out at 7am.
Barnsey & Jonny
It was surprising to see Jonny Stockwell lined up for the shoot as his tardy reputation for rocking up to rides late, teamed with his love of chasing back on, meant we weren’t really expecting to see any sign of him or his back pack until Samford. However, amazingly enough Jonny was there and it turned out that it was his nemesis Matt Barnes (Barnsey) who arrived at the last minute, panting and looking flustered, with several bags thrown over his body, smothering sun cream all over his face. Rod Stewart, the official driver of the support vehicle, took control of Barnsey and his bags, safely packed the entries of the `Bake off’ in the vehicle and then followed all the riders out of the car park to commence the ride.
There was some confusion as, Lars, the Norwegian Viking, lead out the first part of the ride. This move went against his usual style of staying out of the wind and hiding in the pack. Lars and Brad Nightingale sat on the front and set a cracking pace, never before seen in WW’s. Thanks to the boys the group quickly passed the km’s making the top of the Samford climb, riding onto Dayboro and then starting the Mt Mee climb.
Brad Nightingale looking strong
The first major climb of the day was Mt Mee where Jason Bilsborough placed 40th in the first sprint of the day. Some good power put through the pedals there! After the climb everyone regrouped at the top of Mt Mee, including the Wombles and we cracked open some bottles of LA Ice just `cause it’s better than Coke and Pepsi. With bottle in hand we were now ready for the real competition of the day the Bake Off.
The WW Bake Off was held looking out over Samford valley and was strongly contested by Laura Luxford, Big Tim, Josie and Woolworths Bakery. It was a close call between the Woolworths Bakery fruit cake and Laura L however after much tasting and discussion it was decided Laura would take home the crown as she won by sheer numbers, baking anzac biscuits, choc-ie slice AND banana muffins. That’s commitment to competitive baking if ever we saw! Thanks for doing it for the team Laura!
Luke Stockwell shows off his LA Ice style
After her big win, Laura bailed on the WW, descended Mt Mee and rode home leaving the rest of the group searching for Ken’s missing front tooth. We’re not sure if it was lodged in a slice of fruit cake or he simple lost it while biting on the handle bars, during the Mt Mee Climb. Either way if anyone finds a loose tooth somewhere at Mt Mee please hand it in at the shop so we can have Greg Morton, the official Dentist of Lifecycle, jam it back in Ken’s gum.
Toothless Ken
After the crowning of the Bake off competition and searching in vain for Ken’s tooth we finally gave up and threw our legs over the top tube to continue over the top of the Mt Mee. After riding through some beautiful undulating countryside, we went down a fun descent before hitting some tough climbs and arriving at Woodford where we swooped like hungry vultures on CJ’s bakery. The girls at CJ’s bakery might be scared to serve those tough, leather clad Bikies but they quickly learnt that they’ve got nothing on a hungry, shaved down, Lycra wearing, cyclist. We pretty much took over CJ’s and ate them out of house and home. There was little left on the bakery racks once we’d been through.
After a chat over lunch and a good rest we all helped smash some packs of lollies, had a water top up and then rolled on for the last part of the ride and what would be the toughest part of the day. The most feared section to come was a section of Stanley River road with a 900m climb of 20%. Rod Stewart was nice enough to be waiting at the top cheering on riders and giving out `placings’ for the walkers. It sounded something a little like this -`woo hooo, good work, you’re the 3rd walker, kept it up, woooo!’ Not quite sure how this made people feel but it was a tough climb so walking in cleats wasn’t the soft option at all. While some chose to walk Derek, Thom and Luke decided to take an easier option and skip Stanley River road. They took another route, which meant they rode 5km extra but the climb was 1% less. Not sure how that worked out for them but needless to say none of them are mathematicians.
Hamish preparing to climb
After a tough day in the saddle everyone rolled into Tranquil Park at Maleny and sat around chatting for awhile before grabbing bags, booking into rooms, running the water for the spas and/or getting cleaned up before going to lunch. At lunch we were served platters of sandwiches, fruit, cheese and crackers, springers (spring rolls) and other warm finger foods waiting. We ate looking out over a beautiful view of the Glasshouse Mountains and the Sunshine Coast. While the view outside was beautiful it was getting pretty nasty on the inside. In the food line threats were put down, claws and trash talking were thrown around to the people who took more than their fair share. The tactic of gathering, for the greater good of your table (aka `Doing it for the team’) wasn’t the way ahead for Jason, Simone, Lisa and Josie as they coped the brunt of abuse for taking more springers than what was deemed necessary for one person. However these tough talkers were ready to throw back abuse in the form of ‘we’ll we didn’t get any sandwiches; did YOU?’ These talkers are so tough that I’m pretty sure this line was only used once they’d skulked off and were safely seated back at their table surrounded by their own kind.
After surviving afternoon tea and taking a rest, Jonny, Josie and Lars headed off for some extra sprint/quad training on a nearby trampoline. While Lars showed off his superior Scandinavian, trampolining skills which he’d worked on over the years perfecting `off snow’ Pro Snowboarding skills, Jonny and Josie struggled with the running man and star jump. When the owner of the trampoline came out wearing a tight T which stated SECURITY, and asked the trio where they were from, Lars, confidently told them he was from Norway. It brought some time till the Security officers 6 year old kids came out and told him they’d said the three jumpers could use the trampoline and he uncomfortably walked off to spy on them from the inside of their home. This extra time allowed Lars to bust out one more 540 as he didn’t really understand why we had to go and not continue on with the fun.
Back at the bar, the beer continued flowing well into the arvo as the English, Irish, Scottish contingent, which included Marshall, Ray Concor, Damon, Tony starting hitting the Guiness. Benny Duncan represented the Mexican Minority solo as Jonny had decided to shave off his Mexican moustache for the evening. The night went on, dinner came around and we all enjoyed a meal of our choice. After wards Greg Morton handed out toothbrushes and did teeth checks on request for anyone who felt they may have some lodged meats post meal. Greg was also kind enough to provided a shaved down, bristle-less brush for Luke who was after a tougher, closer clean. After a few more drinks and jokes people went to bed and I’m sure most enjoyed a nice relaxing night of deep sleep. Everyone except for Benny, who was happier to practice track stands on the veranda and run around in his underwear &.\poncho, walking in to Lars room and randomly turning on the light while Lars tried to sleep.
Day Two came around a little too quickly (particularly for Lars) and everyone turned up to the Breakfast buffet where some played it safe eating cereal and toast while others hit the hot breakfast of mince, sausages, bacon and eggs. After brekkie, the group loaded up the van and then rolled down an enjoyable descent where Pete Godding’s descending skills were displayed off the front. We regrouped at the fruit stop and continued on the road home.
After a decent amount of riding and having to turn back after missing a key turn, the group came across the worlds steepest driveway which also turned into the location of the competition named the `testosterone trophy’. Most of the boys started out a little apprehensive but once Benny threw down the gauntlet it wasn’t too long before the testosterone levels were rising to scorching heights. Once all of the boys had competed and Sheree had questioned Cameron Hughes’ unique climbing style, Hughsey replied that he’d climbed most of the way seated `because it’s easier’. The ‘testosterone trophy’ was handed out to the victor – Hughsey of course. After that climb and comment, who else could win!
It wasn’t time for the testosterone levels to go down just yet and it turned out there was to be more excitement for that part of the day. While Dave Robbins rode up another steep hill opposite the world steepest driveway a vehicle came down the driveway and the `hill nutter’ started abusing the group for failing to take notice of the 2m x 10m sign which read PRIVATE PROPERTY. Luckily he hurtled abuse at Major Dave Thompson, who remained completely calm and apologised to the nutter for `not seeing the sign’. Mmmm, yes, it was hard to miss that one! Dave Thompson successful defused the hill nutter who reversed off aggressively to take out his anger on his driveway where he left piles of tyre rubber.
Fights were the order of the afternoon as Blair tried to encourage tired riders from the van back into the WW. This resulted in Luke Stockwell, who’d taken the role as support van driver, to ark up at Blair saying `DO YOU REMEMBER THIS ROAD AT ALL DAD DAD?’
Blair had only been on this road every year for the past 5 years but somehow he’d forgotten that the next section was in fact quite tough. After the family infighting, we cycled on and found out what exactly Luke had got so passionate about. A series of pretty tough pinchers followed and this meant the group splintered to pieces creating more pain and suffering. The van goers looked relieved they’d listened to Luke. Don’t let the shy shorts and fluro wife beater of Saturday trick you, if you’re in the van, this is a man you should listen to.
The riding group finally rolled into Wamuran and most enjoyed lunch while Derek and Luke stayed standing at the Community notice board discussing the mini pony for sale. Derek was convinced he’d prefer to ride this little fellow home but it turned out that many folk around Wamuran also had similar ideas as Derek wasn’t even able to rip off the phone number from the flyer. There were none left.
The departure of Wamuran meant two things, Derek having to come to grips with letting go of his dream of owning a live, ‘my little Pony’ and Ian May `Maisey’ saying goodbye to the group and being picked up by his wife. GO Maisey! We’re not sure if he was tired or just a little embarrassed and wanting to ‘get the hell outta there’ after bringing along a competitors’ plastic, shopping bag from 99 Bikes. Maisey seemed pretty confused when he took his bag out of the van and it was falling apart and hole ridden. Looks like someone had spent their van time poking holes through the 99 Bikes shopping bag. Oopppss!!!
From Wamuran to Brisbane there were smaller hills to climb but it’s still not easy terrain particularly after 2 days of solid riding. There were times when the group was strung out over 150m as we needed to go single file in many places. People were getting tired and some of the calls from the group, to `move over’, and `hole’ were getting pretty aggressive as the sugar levels were dropping.
At this point in time we must thank Liam `The King’ McCarthy for stopping to collect the hammer on Sunday and for his service in a support role. Liam often stayed back and returned to support the riders at the back of the pack and riders that needed a little help and encouragement. Thanks also goes to Hughsey who was also another `helper’ as many riders received assistance in the form of a push to help them stay in touch with the group. Thanks to the drivers of the support Van, Rod Stewart and Special Agent Luke Stockwell. And a big thanks to all of the competitors in the Bake off and of course Blair for organising the WW and for putting together such a great weekend.
The 2009 Lifecycle Winter Warmer was a fantastic event mixing pleasure and pain and everyone came out of it fitter and having a great time. The group rolled into Lifecycle car park at around 2pm on Sunday and enjoyed some final coldies, more fruit cake, sour worms, the last of the bananas and a solid de brief of the weekend. Congratulations to everyone who took up the challenge and made the effort to be involved. Stay posted for Lifecycles next weekend event as we’ll be heading off on the Spring Challenge to Mt O’Reilly’s on the gold coast hinterland. It’s another great event thats held in November, and no doubt there will be loads more adventures to be had on this one!
Lifecycle Victories – Epic and State Champs
