Just call me Bob!

Just a bit of background, I rode most of the last cyclosportif season with an awesome team called “Five Bobs Worth” on account of original team members having some form of “Bob” in their name. They’re an awesome team, relaxed and supportive, with a good sense of humour and I’m looking forward to riding with them again, however today was not going to be that day.

A beautiful day for a race

I entered a new role in my cycling career today - Team Manager! Well, also team soigneur, team chef and general bossy britches. Due to my less than happy knees, I wasn't able to ride as planned with my sportif team, "Five Bobs Worth Plus". In true team spirit (and possibly a smidge of guilt as I was the one who talked the rest into riding) I decided to support the team in anyway I could. Originally this plan involved supplying the team with copious amounts of cookies and coming out to cheer them on, but early on the day, I discovered they needed more.

The Star Rider!

Initially it was providing my excellent sense of direction to ensure that our star rider, Mr Carl (ok, I might be kinda biased in this) and our secret cookie stash actually made it to the start line. We did take a slight detour to Angaston, however with the help of the friendly marshals we eventually made it to the start. Having made it, we now needed to find everybody else!

We found Todd Bob aimlessly wandering around, searching high and low for other Bobs (it probably didn't help that, to a man, the Bob's decided to wear their PACC kit and weren't recognisable as the Bob's, but them's the rules!). Actually, Todd Bob had already spotted the slightly phlegmy Brett Bob, diligently warming up, burning off the breakfast nutella. We knew our Captain, Rob C, was around somewhere as he had signed in, but we couldn't find him anywhere.

Bob's - Front and Centre

In amongst our frantic searching, Rob W rocked up, casually munching on a large box of salad, firm in his avoidance of all things cookie related. Then Brett Bob rode by and indicated that our Captain was just down the road, spinning away on rollers, oblivious to the world. I wandered down to round him up, as the marshals tried to figure out where the Bob's were and who the extra PACC team was. 

Team tactics sorted.

Rob C had lost track of time and was hurriedly dressing as he realised even though he'd been here an hour early, he was running late! Upon spotting me he enlightened me as to another of my key roles for today - Keeper of the keys! Well, car keys, phones, cleat covers and anything not needed for the ride. As I well know, the amount of gels required for a team time trial doesn't leave room for trivial things like car keys and phones.

I also played a key role in ensuring our captain was properly attired. In his panic he'd tried to ride his bike with his cleat covers on and managed to perch his helmet on his head in what is commonly termed "a jaunty angle". Helmet straps fixed, the team gathered together (well minus Rob W who was still diligently eating his salad) and confirmed with the marshals that they were indeed the renowned "Five Bobs Worth Plus" team, and that they were ready to ride!

Rolling out

We discussed team tactics on the start line, actually we'd been discussing them most of the week. The team had agreed that not dying before the 2km mark was definitely preferable, but they were willing to sacrifice nutella covered team members after that (Brett Bob is partial to nutella and has the biggest jar of it I have ever seen). Our Captain offered up the eminently sensible suggestion of 30 second rolling turns, but I, in my role of team manager and general bossy boots, would have none of it. I put my foot down and told the boys to look after each other, especially our Captain and the very phlegmy Brett Bob. Put them in the middle and for goodness sake don't loose them, were my strict instructions. I wanted my whole team back, after all, the Bob's are nothing if not a team!

Good Ride Captain!

So, with that good advice, and a few photos, I let them roll away, a slight tear in the eye at the sight of my team rolling out without me. With nothing much to do until they rolled back in I set up my chair under some trees, poured myself a cuppa and raided the secret cookie stash. I must say I was very flattered that a couple of the support staff came over to enquire as to why I wasn’t out there, apparently I’m known for participation in racing! 

Flying Bobs

A smile before collapsing!

After a nice long rest and a cuppa, the teams started to roll in, with the PACC Chicks on Speed team flying past as they started their second lap. They were the only team of the day to do 2 laps, everybody else figured one was quite enough! And to be honest, seeing the hard working Bobs roll across the line, I knew that they had pushed hard on their one lap, and it was going to take our Captain a while to talk to the rest of us after that!

Whose Garmin is right?

Eventually Rob C stopped coughing and decided to join the rest of the Bobs in a team debrief. This is where I discovered that the team had exceeded expectations and had scorched the course with an average speed above 26 km/hr (the exact value was debatable depending on whose garmin you looked at). A really tough pace for our Captain, who is just coming off of injury.

The magpie was this big!

 

Apparently their race had also had a fair bit of drama, with our Captain attracting some unwanted attention from some local birds and two of our team experiencing lighting issues. Rob W lost his light and decided to go back and get it while Brett Bob experienced fireworks as Todd Bob's light exploded in front of him. Never a boring ride with the Bobs!

Nutella Bob!

I was very proud of my team and suitably rewarded them with cookies. However, in this they let themselves down, the cookies defeated them! Upon seeing that they were unable to consume 60 odd cookies, I proceeded to feed other teams, staff and anybody who wandered by. The Chicks on Speed made a much greater dent in the cookies when they rolled in, with Gemma leading the charge to defeat the cookies!

I must return the number!

  

All in all a good day was had by all and I hope that my stint as Team Manager left my team happy and full of cookies. I hope next time we’re together as the Bobs, I’ll be on a bike!