Race 2: No delusions, I came first - well, at least first to arrive. There is no spot prize for this. Only the joy of conversing with the Silverstream Lionesses and Lions, who said several times "It's a ripper of a day for it!". (actually they seemed very friendly people).
I left my sister's about 6.15am (that felt early, becuase hello it was!) - I thought it would take an hour or so to get to Silverstream. It took less. On the way up I passed three cyclists. All of who, without meaning to be judgemental, looked like they could be on probation. eg a bit "shady" being out at that time of the morning. Friendly, but "shady". Maybe, simply, they were shift workers.... Once I got to Pomare, I realised I had forgotten to wear my sunglasses. In retrospect I would have had time to ride back to the Hutt and get them. Despite the fact of the Lionesses and Lions assessment it was a ripper of a day, I didn't really need the sunglasses.
As for the race itself, I found the hill climb very hard. Way hard. It was significantly more of a test than the Gladstone/Martinbroough hill climbs. I was determined not to stop. But I did. I joined the three fat guys, who were joking they couldn't get up the hill because they were fat bastards. Then hello, the smoking pink lady (not the P!nk lady :-) or the T lady, who sometimes wears and plays
P!nk)) passed us. The smoking lady (wearing pink) I reffered to re the Martinborough race. Then one of the fat guys says - "see that lady there, 2 years ago she and I were last together in this race, and she was twice the size (she's still not tiny!) - so good on her". And the smoking pink lady calls out "its not as tough as Makara or Ngauranga". That wasn't that helpful!
So, I got up the hill with the help of the three fat guys. Then I lost them or they lost me, although I caught up with one of them, who checked I had had a rest and something to eat - which was kind of nice.
There are two reasons not to walk the hill: a) it stuffs your cleats (my cleats are stuffed), and b) its hard to get back on the bike on the hill.
Then I rode a large part of the ride solo - where did the other riders go? I was a littel freaked out coming out down the last down hill. It felt like my breaks weren't working, although they were. Seeing the ambulance (a real one - or mini one - I thought yeah, totally understand why its there.
I haven't check my time yet. I don't think it was that fast. When I arrived back at the race venue, the smoking pink lady helped me get my timer off! - I suspect we will be seeing more of each other - maybe at Taupo!
I think I enjoyed the ride more today than last week. Maybe becasue I wasn't so freaked out by seeing all the serious cyclists. I had brief chat to a couple of people before thre race, the three fat guys, and the smoking pink lady. I guess they help keep the context that we are riding the road, and while the race time is important, the interaction with other riders is important also - especially when your in the tail end bunch.
I rode back to the Hutt via most of the Hutt bike trail along the river bank. It was an enjoyable ride - almost 20 years since I've done that ride! First time I've encountered Hutt traffic, so that was a"new experience".
So, I did 33km plus 24 km travelling distance. That's not my usual distance on a Sunday. But seriously, I didn't think I could do that hill again - riding or walking. I feel quite ok now. So, will just need to use the energy I have left over to get back to the gym tomorrow. I do find it hard to "empty my tank" on these rides. These rides aren't rehearsals, but in some ways they are. In terms of fine tuning certain aspects. eg should I really carry my camelback - most people don't. I'm not sure. I figure I''ll need to for Taupo, so better to practice riding with it now. I'm not sure though.
I need to get new cleats on my shoes because they are "stuffed" - from walking in them - making it not as easy to clip into them. I also need to within the next 20 days work out how the heck I'm going to cope with the Taupo climbs.
I'm not sure on the Tour de Wairarapa - next weekend. I've booked for it - but part of me is thinking I might just be better aiming to do say a 120 km ride. I'll reassess later in the week.
Postscript - eek, I just checked my time. If I ride at the same pace today for Taupo it will take me 11 hours. So, I was considerably slower (proportionately) than last week. I think that's right. I need to double check. o.m.g - I'm going to need divine intervention for my training programme for the next 20 days.
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