Nice Weekend

Friday evening I was less than a kilometre from the velodrome when the heavens opened up. Whilst sitting in the carpark, I checked the weather radar on my phone and it looked like the storm would last for at least 30 minute. Sunset was due in about 40 minutes, so I gave up on the idea of a ride to test out the new Cobb Saddle and headed home.
I was still feeling quite stiff from the week's training load and missing the velodrome session was probably a good thing. A quick check of the training diary showed that I had run 47km in the 5 days from Sunday to Thursday, so there was a fairly good reason why I was feeling so sore. Saturday morning I was still feeling far from great, so I skipped the planned long run and had a rest day instead - I love rest days on the weekend.
Sunday morning was a Triathlon Club ride in the Dandenongs (hilly ride), something I had been looking forward to for weeks. I had missed the last Dandenongs ride due to feeling too sore, which is big reason for why I skipped the long run on Saturday.
It had rained a fair bit Saturday night, so the roads were wet, but it wasn't raining as we started the ride and the mercury was edging over 10C, so it wasn't overly cold either. Judging what to wear in the Dandenongs is always tricky. It is a rainforest, so will always be a few degrees colder. The climbs are usually steep and long enough to make you very warm, but the descents can get very cold. I wore leg warmers, arm warmers and a vest which I found to be perfect, but there were others in the group who were similarly dressed and still complained about being cold.
This time we rode up the Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd over a section commonly referred to as 'Devil's Elbow'. This route leaves the Tourist Rd and goes up Churchill Rd and then returns to the Tourist Rd via One Tree Hill. The small detour has less traffic and steeper hills. We regrouped at Sassafras before continuing on to Montrose. The group split into 2 and the faster riders detoured up to the Mt Dandenong Lookup, the highest point in the Dandenongs. This lookup usually provides one of the best views in Melbourne, but on this occasion we were in deep cloud cover and could barely see 10 metres in front of us. Below is a photo taken by one of the riders.

The descent was a little hairy. Very steep, wet roads and I could barely see a thing. Luckily the rider in front was wearing a bright yellow jacket which I could follow. He also had a rear flashing red light, but the fog was so thick, I never noticed it until we got lower. The road descended all the way to Montrose and it felt like a very long descent (I'm told it was 8km). Of course I realised we would have to ride back up this hill.
The group divided at Montrose with the majority taking a easier route back via Canterbury Rd, leaving just 7 of us to tackle the climb back to Sassafras. As often happens, the climb seemed shorter than the descent (I'm a better climber than descender). We again detoured towards the Lookup and it is much steeper in this direction. At Sassafras we turned and returned back via the descent down the 1 in 20 (Mountain Hwy). I quite like this descent. The road surface is excellent (but often wet), there are lots of sweeping bends and the hairpins are well sign posted. Strangely enough, Strava reports my descent time as 9m46s (41kph) - same time to the second as the last time I descended in June.
Overall I was very happy with how I rode. I felt good on all the climbs and felt strong to the finish. I didn't think I overly exerted myself, but my power file showed some fantastic figures including a best 20 mins of 313 watts.
My bike had been serviced mid week. New battery for the power meter, new pedals, a good clean and bright new white bar tape. After the ride, everyones' bike, including mine was absolutely filthy.
Having gone 2 days without any running, I did an easy 4km run Sunday afternoon. I then spent 10 minutes standing mid thigh deep in the bay. The water was quite cold, but it was definitely more comfortable than having an ice bath. This was the first time I've stood in the bay this season, mainly because it is the first time the sea has been calm enough to do this.
I still haven't tested the new Cobb Saddle on my tri-bike yet. I'm planning to race another Duathlon this Sunday, so hopefully I'll get in a test ride before then.