It's Tour Down Under week and it's a great time to be on a bike. I've encountered a bunch of pro teams in my travels over the past week or so. I went up to Norton Summit last Tuesday night after work and while I stopped and filled my water bottle, the whole BMC team (led by Phillip Gilbert resplendent in his world champs rainbow jersey) came up the road then disappeared down the Old NS Road. Then last Saturday I came across 10 different teams out training around West Lakes and Semaphore. It was great fun to be riding around in amongst all that.
It was a pretty big ride on Saturday - 105km, which is the longest ride I've done. I went up to Mt Lofty, then across the ranges and descended down Montacute Road, which has been partially resurface ahead of tomorrow's TDU stage where they go up Corkscrew Road and down Montacute Road to the finish line. That's going to be a seriously hairy decsent. Unfortunately they've only resurfaced the worst bits so it's has a bit of a patchwork look. Still, the new bits are beautifully smooth and overall it's better than it was.
Anyway, from Monacute I worked my way across the city, down Grange Road and across to Semaphore. By the time a reached Semaphore and stopped for a toasty I'd clocked up 78km. I was surprised at how good I felt - I'm normally starting to feel pretty well spent by then. As I bogged into my toasty, I started to wonder if Karolle had laced my orange juice with EPO that morning! I decided it was a combination of things - paying a bit more attention to carb loading over the 24 hours before the ride, taking a higher potency magnesium powder ('Ultra Muscleze Energy') which seemed to help with my cramp issues, mild weather (27ish) and getting my bike fit sorted.
Heading up Cross Road in the first part of the ride, I kept getting the feeling that, if I raised my seat a bit more, I'd probably sit a bit lighter on my bum. When I first started riding my seat was quite low (only slightly higher than the handlebars) because of my lower back issues left over from my disc injury 12 years ago. As my back has been getting stronger, I feel like I've been able to cope with having the seat higher so I've been incrementally raising it over the past year. Anyway, I stopped just before the Tollgate and raised it by 15-20mm, which is a fairly significant increase. After doing the 40 kilometres or so through the hills it was pretty obvious that I'd got it right because my bum wasn't nearly as sore as I normally would be.
Anyway I felt remarkably good at the end of the ride. I even had enough left in my legs to boogie the night away with Karolle at Peta-Ann's 80's theme birthday party on Saturday night. Mind you, my legs have been pretty sore for the last few days.
The Bupa challenge ride is coming up on Friday. I've decided to do the Kersbrook start (92km), mainly because it fits in better logistically. I can drive to Kerbrook, do the ride, hang out in Tanunda with Troy and Allison (Troy's doing the 46km), watch the pros come through, then ride back down to Kersbrook (35km). That's the theory anyway. I can't wait. The weather forecast is good - 25 degrees with south-westerly winds, which will be a tailwind for the majority of the ride.
I'm also doing the Ride for a Reason cancer fundraising thing. It seemed timely with my sister-in-law Sandra riding the cancer rollercoaster for most of the past year and with my neice Belinda passing away 14 months ago. I'm doing the Bupa ride for my own sense of acheivement but I'm also riding to honour them both. Here's the signs they've put up on Norton Summit Road recently that put it all into perspective.
Today is also the second anniversary of giving up smoking. I'm pretty damn happy about that. My, how life has changed.
