Well, I finally got back on my bike on Saturday. It's been 6 1/2 weeks since the accident and my ribs feel like they are progressing quite well. I've mostly followed the doctors orders to stay of the bike for six weeks. I've also started commuting to work again last week but have changed my route to the CBD. I now come in on the bikeway along West Terrace, avoiding the the horrible (and stressful) Morphett Street section.
I took the plunge on Saturday, got back on the roadie and headed for Norton Summit. The first thing I noticed was that my ribs were fine but my wrist is still quite sore from the accident. It wasn't as noticeable on a flat bar commuter but the my wrists take more pressure on the drop bars and it was quite painful. Either I got used to it or it settled down, but I didn't seem to notice it so much as the ride went on.
The last few times I've been up that way I've contemplated heading up to the top of Kensingston Road, but have chickened out. Now, my legs that are a bit out of condition after six weeks of bugger all activity. I had intended to get on the trainer and try and maintain some fitness and strength over the past six weeks but I just can't seem to summon any real enthusiasm for riding on the trainer - I just need to be out in the fresh air and riding in the hills. I need to have a destination. However, I will try and get into it because I want to maintain some fitness over winter this year. Anyway, despite all that, I decided to tackle the climb.
I have seen Kensington Road mentioned often in discussions about Adelaide's nastiest climbs. From the Penfold Road roundabout it's 1.3 km at 11.5%, which put's it in the short but brutal category (for me, at least). After making it to the first right hand bend, there's a long, steep straight bit ahead which is fairly intimidating. Looking at the road ahead I thought I had bugger all chance of making it up this bit, let alone to the top, but I persevered. I nearly made it - I got to around 200m of the top and just couldn't go on. I had a 2 minute breather and did the last bit to the lookout.
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| The business end of Kensington Road |
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| The last bit before the lookout at the top of Kensington Road | |
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| The view from the top |
After admiring the view, I rolled down the hill and it was clear that my legs had turned to jelly. Thankfully they recovered sufficiently by the time I reached the bottom of Norton Summit Road. The weather was perfect on Saturday (mid 20's and a gentle breeze) and there were loads of cyclists out on Norton. It was a perfect morning to be riding up a hill and, despite my lack of fitness, I still managed to knock around 45 seconds off my best time, which I'm quite pleased with.
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| Tom Playford minding my bike in the park at Norton Summit |
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| Looking back down towards the steep bit on Woods Hill Road |
From Norton Summit I headed over to Greenhill Road, rolled down the hill and headed home. All up, it was 64km with 825m of climbing, which was a fairly good workout for my first day back on the bike. Hopefully we'll have a few more weeks of decent weather so I can squeeze a few more long rides in before winter hits.
