After a drop-off in the starting peleton for various reasons occurred for this morning’s arduous leg of the “Tour”, Rampo and BasOMNI decided on “breakaway” tactics to spread the field. We reached the first sprint of the leg to Eltham Tennis Courts and decided on a tactical “draw” – following team rules. After crossing the line exhausted, we looked up to see Leon and Lindsay (previous apologies from the peleton) leaning on their bikes, asking “where have you been?”. Then we realised that in fact we were not the breakaway’s, or even the peleton, but the “Chasing Pack!!!!!!!”. How depressing.

Leon and Lindsay were doing it so easily, they suggested coffee at Melissa’s, as they had time for a “parma and pot” at DC for lunch.

At Melissa’s after exchanging the normal “shit”, the conversation turned to the topic for Eltham’s meeting next week – “Sex and Sexuality”. The discussion was in-depth as you would expect from such a peleton. The young girls in the booth behind us oscillated between gafaw and choking on their “premier breakfast”. I presume they were “informed” by our irrational discourse!

We weren’t encouraged to leave, rather applauded for our frank conversation. It was a little disconcerting to see the bike parking spots being removed as we left………….pure coincidence I suspect. But wait……….FT Television Productions had a big set-up outside Melissa’s for a forthcoming TV Series like “Underbelly” setting up to shoot a scene. We hang around interviewing the staff, fully expecting a call-up as extras, but alas the huge compliment of actors looked a lot more threatining than a few decrepid OMNIcyclists.

Back to the bridge, and Ken and BasOMNI elected a quick diversion to Beasleys for a water stop and return, while Leon and Lindsay opted to return home for a spruce up and Pot and Parma at DC Hotel.

At 12.30pm, BasOMNI set off up the hills at Chusan and Ormonde Court while Rampo sprinted to the DC Hotel a little late, but not too late for lunch with the peleton and others. My spies tell me Rampo was nervous about the size of the “parma” so opted for the mixed grill, which turned out to more than rival the Parma!!!!!!! But when you’ve been in the breakaway, been reduced to the chasing pack and eventually finished with the peleton at the DC Hotel, it hasn’t been a bad day after all.

Good ride boys