Well this was our first big weekend, as Carl, Aaron and myself left Bulli on Saturday morning for a return trip to Bulli. We left slightly late - my brand-new chain snapped just a few hundred metres from home, but luckily I could borrow another bike. We were missing Erika, who had a foot injury and wasn't able to join us. It was a beautiful day early on, clear skies and close to no wind. It was uneventful for the outward trip, I was making sure to drink every 20 minutes and eat often, and took salt tablets every 45 minutes or so - I have cramped horribly on a long ride before, to the point of being barely able to walk afterwards, and a review of my nutrition later had suggested I had basically washed a lot of the salts and electrolytes out of my body. Carl and Aaron were faster up the hills, I just wanted to put the bike in the lowest gear and spin up - possibly the bottles of wine consumed on Friday night weren't helping here, but I also wanted to pace myself and leave plenty in the tank for later on. I've done rides before where I pushed too hard too early and the results were not pretty. You don't want to end up hours from home without the energy to get back.
After a coffee stop at Shellharbour we cycled through Gerringong and pushed on to the half way point at Berry where we stopped for a quick snack. The peanut butter bagel I had brought with me went down a treat, washed down with my first 'full fat' Coca Cola in years. Carl's knee, which had been troubling him for a week or so, had flared up again and Aaron was suffering a little from cramp but we stocked back up on water and sports drink and pushed on out from Berry in good spirits.
We noticed the cloud cover increasing and the wind picking up, and those good spirits lasted until about the 95km mark, where there is a hill that felt like it went on forever - looking at the stats now (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109639588) it looks like it rises 130m in 2.5km which doesn't sound like much but at the time was torture. I was in my lowest gear and pedalling so slowly that I felt I could have gone faster by getting off and walking. Stubbornness kicked in, I was determined to make it to the top without stopping, and I felt such a boost when we finally got the the top and took a break so we could regroup. After this I really hit my stride, I was feeling strong and confident, leading the line into the headwind quite a few times. Then it was on to Shellharbour again for another coffee stop. It was on the ramp off the freeway at Shellharbour that I felt my first and only cramps of the trip - the quads on both sides cramped as I stood out of the saddle to climb. I managed to stretch them out but it was a lesson learnt - don't climb out of the saddle when your legs are already tired!
We had more drinks at Shellharbour and refilled our water bottles. Aaron and Carl will have their own stories to tell but it's fair to say we were all doing it tough with fatigue, cramps and soreness kicking in. The headwind had picked up and it was again stubbornness that got me home, tired but happy with the effort level we had all put in.
On Sunday Erika and I took a gentle ride down to North Wollongong and back, just 25k to loosen the legs, then off for a swim to cool down.
We still have a way to go but this weekend has given me a massive boost in my self-confidence.
For the coming week I'll be riding into work once or twice - that's 65km - then next weekend Erika and I will be riding to St George's Basin on Saturday (115km) and ideally back on the Sunday.
Paul
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