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Kane Lucas is first to admit he’s no Lance Armstrong. But Carlton’s second year draftee, who quite literally fell off his bike in the Visy Park car park on Monday morning, insists there’s worse than him on two wheels.
“It wasn’t the best start,” Lucas admitted, in the wake of the players’ 100-kilometre bike ride from North Carlton to Sorrento. “I was the first to go over, and I was the first of many.”
“Jaryd Cachia came off three times, he got the hat trick. Young Kerry (Rohan Kerr) also came off, as did Dennis Armfield and Marcus Davies, so there was a few of us.”
But “Sugar” was quick to remind that he emerged with just one lump.
“Fortunately, my only fall came in the car park and I got through the rest of it, which was good,” he said. “It took me and a few others a while to get used to the formations, but in the end we all got there.”
With a $10 fine system in place for any senior player who either comes to grief on his bike or cramps up whilst riding, Carlton’s consolidated revenue is steadily building . . . as is the morale of the club’s competitors.
In reflecting on the bike ride, the 19 year-old Lucas said the experience threw up a series of both physical and mental challenges, in keeping with Carlton’s famous motto, Mens Sana in Corpore Sano.
“We had to battle a strong headwind for most of the ride, which didn’t make it easy,” Lucas said.
“A few of the boys went in patches - at some points they felt really good in the mind and body, and then there were patches towards the end where they felt a bit stressed out. But in the end we all came through, which was great.”
On completion of Monday’s marathon cycle at around 6pm, the players sat down to a well-earned dinner before gathering for an in-house meeting and then retiring to their rooms at the teams accommodation.
The following morning, Tuesday, they partook in a recovery session on the nearby foreshore, before comfortably negotiating a pleasant breakfast, then again sitting in on a series of seminars involving the League’s drug and racial vilification policies, together with its respect for women stance.
That said, Lucas commended organisers for formulating a well-balanced program for the Carlton senior players.
“They’ve definitely got the right mix,” Lucas said. “On Wednesday we’ve got another bike ride to look forward to, and it’ll be good to get outdoors again, then we’ve got a series of further meetings afterwards. Then there’s weights, a footy session on the oval on Thursday, and then recovery.
“Then on Friday we’ve got the big golf day involving the Spirit of Carlton, so it’s certainly keeping the players focused and refreshed.”
