First Velo cycling round of the season!

Last Tuesday was a very busy day for me. I got up at 5.30, started working at the bar at 6.30, and was in action until 16.00. Not because I'm such a workaholic, but because of a lack of staff (grrrrrr). In the meantime, my boss and I prepared everything for the "Velo cycling round". Water bottles, gels, space for bicycles and cyclists, … We prepared everything nicely and we were a little nervous. Will they come, how many will there be, will the weather be okay? That nothing will happen to anyone and that we will fulfill the promise of a beautiful round, without fools.

A lot of enthusiastic cyclists and happy faces

The first cyclists started to gather and there was no end to them. They came with bicycles and cars. They were preparing bicycles in the parking and there was a crowd in the toilet to change clothes. We gathered in front of the bar and I quickly explained how the ride was going. Whoever wanted he got an energy gel. I had already decided before that we would ride in groups. A good number of 20 cyclists gathered and we were divided into two groups. When I said that the first group is going with me, and those who feel a little less strong, it seemed that there would be as many as 20 of us (hahaha). Well, we still lined up successfully. I have to admit that we did well. We started first. Due to the opening of a new shopping center in Rudnik, traffic in this part of Ljubljana stopped. We made our way to Špica near Ljubljanica. We needed a little acrobatic knowledge, but we succeeded. At a nice, leisurely pace, we drove to Sostro and on towards our ascent to hill Pance. It was awesome for me! I put a friend at the helm, whose ride I know little and I watched us myself. I asked each one individually if the pace suited him. Just that much, for the first time. Let's get to know each other a little. Everyone was happy.

And then it begins...

Before the ascent, we were overtaken by another group. There's a boss in it. I hope they didn't push too much and that everyone is still strong. They wave and whistle at us. So, they're fine. We took the initial part of the ascent together. Then the peloton began to tear. I stayed behind. I was careful not to lose anyone, so I became a broom for a moment. Tjaša and I drove at her pace. At the quarry, Tjaša told me to go. I have known Tjaša for some time and I knew she would not resent it. Due to the weather, I haven’t been on a bike in a week. I jumped a little, got to my feet, and raised my pulse. Ahhhhh it fit. I overtook some of ours, and they were all nicely gathered at the top. Wonderful view of so many cyclists. We waited for everyone to come to the top and take a break. The descent towards Dole was wonderful. I drove quite last and watched this long snake. All nice, evenly. Left bend, left foot up, right bend, right foot up, and so on...

On the descent, I was overtaken by a guy on a chopper. Interesting guy. He waves, "Which round is this?" I look at him a little weirdly, "Velo cycling round!" A guy on a chopper, "I saw. I'll be there next week." I said seriously and sternly," But by bike. "He laughed." Of course!" It all happened during the descent. The others escaped a little. I press the drawers, behind the motorcyclist. We drive fast. He shows me the potholes on the road. Ahahaha. Well, I hope he really comes next time and he’d rather show the holes out of the bike!

Last big breaths and some "ego trip" before the finish!

After the descent, we again lined up in two groups and continued. We were a slightly different lineup, but my group stayed behind. We continued the planned route nicely. From Škofljica to Ig we were a little annoyed by the wind, to Matena a little more, and towards Ižanka it was still going. Grega brought us to the bar at a nice pace. But there’s a slightly different story. The boys were a little more lively in the first group and flew across the Barje at a slightly different pace than us (Hehehe). But they were as happy as we were!
Each was given two water bottles from the Approved company. A debate on today's riding followed. I will not publish this debate. This is a debate for participants only. They all made sure to come again. I’ve tried to chat with anyone I don’t know yet and I’ve heard quite a few interesting stories. This should be left for another blog. I realized that almost every cyclist has a special story in all these years of cycling. I’ve met a lot of people in my life, but we cyclists are a little special.

We hope to meet more and more cyclist, so you are all invited for our next Velo Bar cycling round that will take place in Trnovo on Wednesday, 13. of April at 17:00!

Ponosna in zadovoljna!

Otvoritvena Velo kolesarska runda sezone!

Včeraj je bil zame zelo naporen dan. Vstala sem ob 5.30, začela z delom v lokalu ob 6.30 in bila v akciji do 16.00. Pa ne zato, ker sem tak deloholik, ampak zaradi pomanjkanja kadra (grrrrrr). Vmes sva s šefom vse pripravila za Velo rundo. Bidoni, gelčki, prostor za kolesa in kolesarje,... Vse sva lepo pripravila in bila sva kar malo nervozna. Ali bodo prišli, koliko jih bo, ali bo vreme v redu? Da se le ne bo nikomur nič zgodilo in da bova uresničila obljubo o lepi rundi, brez norcev.

Zbralo se je veliko kolesarskih navdušencev in veselih obrazov

Prvi kolesarji so se začeli zbirati in kar ni jih bilo konca. Prišli so s kolesi in avtomobili. Na parkirišču so pripravljali kolesa, v WC-ju pa gužva za preoblačenje. (Hehehe). Zbrali smo se pred lokalom in na hitro sem razložila kako poteka vožnja. Kdor je želel, je dobil energijski gel. Že pred tem sem se odločila, da bomo vozili v skupinah. Nabralo se nas je dobrih 20 kolesarjev in razporedili smo se v dve skupini. Ko sem rekla, da gre z menoj prva skupina in to tisti, ki se počutijo malo manj močne, je kazalo, da nas bo kar 20 (hahaha). No pa smo se vseeno uspešno zvrstili. Moram priznati, da nam je dobro uspelo. Mi smo štartali prvi. Zaradi otvoritve novega nakupovalnega centra na Rudniku, je promet na tem delu Ljubljane obstal. Prebili smo se do Špice ob Ljubljanici. Potrebovali smo malo akrobatskega znanja, ampak nam je uspelo. Z lepim, umirjenim tempom smo se odpeljali do Sostra in naprej proti našemu vzpončku na Pance. Meni je bilo res top! Na čelo sem postavila prijatelja, katerega vožnjo malo poznam, sama pa sem nas opazovala. Vsakega posebej sem povprašala, če mu tempo ustreza. Samo toliko, za prvič. Da se malo spoznamo. Vsi so bili zadovoljni.

In vse se je začelo...

Pred vzponom nas je dohitela druga skupina. V njej je šef. Upam, da niso preveč tiščali in da so vsi še pri močeh. Mahajo nam in žvižgajo. Torej so v redu. Začetni del vzpona smo odpeljali skupaj. Nato pa se je peloton začel trgati. Jaz sem ostala zadaj. Pazila sem, da koga ne izgubimo in tako sem za trenutek postala metla. S Tjašo sva vozili njen tempo. Pri kamnolomu pa mi je Tjaša rekla naj kar grem. Tjašo poznam že nekaj časa in sem vedela, da ne bo zamerila. Zaradi vremena nisem bila na kolesu že en teden. Res sem malo skočila, poapzicala in dvignila pulz. Ahhhhh je pasalo. Prehitela sem nekaj naših, na vrhu pa vsi lepo zbrani. Krasen pogled na toliko kolesarjev. Počakali smo, da so vsi prišli na vrh in si malo oddahnili. Spust proti Dolam je bil čudovit. Vozila sem čisto zadnja in opazovala to doooolgo kačo. Vsi lepo, enakomerno. Lev ovinek, leva noga gor, desen ovinek, desna noga gor in tako naprej. Na spustu me je dohitel tip na čoperju. Faca. Pomaha: »Katera runda je to?« Malo čudno ga pogledam: »Velo runda!« Tip na čoperju: »Aha, poznam. Sem videl. Pridem drug teden.« Jaz resno in strogo: »Ampak s kolesom.« Se nasmeji: »Itak.« Vse to je potekalo med spustom. Ostali so malo ušli. Pritisnem na predala, za motorista. Šibava. On mi kaže luknje na cesti. Ahahaha. No upam, da naslednjič res pride in bo raje luknje kazal iz kolesa.

Še zadnjih nekaj globokih vdihov in moškega ega pred finišom!

Po spustu smo se ponovno zvrstili v dve skupini in nadaljevali. Bili smo malo drugačna zasedba, ampak moja skupina je ostala zadaj. Lepo smo nadaljevali začrtano traso. Od Škofljice do Iga nam je malo nagajal veter, do Matene še malo bolj, proti Ižanki pa je še kar šlo. Grega nas je z resnično lepim tempom pripeljal do lokala. Tam pa malo drugačna zgodba. V prvi skupini pa so se fantje malo bolj razživeli in so čez Barje prileteli z nekoliko drugačnim tempom kot mi (Hehehe). Zadovoljni pa so bili enako kot mi!

Vsak je dobil dva bidona Approved. Sledila je debata o poteku runde. Te debate ne bom izdala. To je debata samo za udeležence. Vsi so zagotovili, da še pridejo. Potrudila sem se poklepetati z vsaki, ki ga še ne poznam in slišala sem kar nekaj zanimivih zgodb. To pa naj ostane za kakšen drug blog. V vseh teh letih kolesarjenja sem spoznala, da ima skoraj vsak kolesar neko posebno zgodbo. V življenju sem spoznala veliko ljudi, ampak kolesarji smo res malo posebni.

Danes sem tudi vstala ob 5.30 in pričela jutranjim delom v lokalu. Danes sem tudi utrujena. Sem pa zadovoljna, ponosna na vse včerajšnje udeležence, nase in na šefa! Se vidimo naslednjo sredo ob 17.00 pred lokalom Velo bar v ljubljanskem Trnovem.