Well, that hurt!
Mind you, after disparaging the efforts of Felix on Saturday, he then tells me on Sunday that he actually did NOT get into the sag wagon, but rode all the way back to Torquay, doing 190km all up - bit better than my paltry 187km … In terms of statistics, 187.5km total distance; 8h 07’ 21” ride time; 23.1kph average speed; 4284 calories; and, a 1312m climb. According to the Garmin report, there were two records broken - distance ridden and the amount of climbing involved :)
Funnily enough, the Monday preceding (17/03) had dropped in to visit Felix, to go and celebrate St Patrick’s Day, and his jersey had arrived - he was so excited! Was adamant that he would now do the ride, even though the preceding six (6) weeks he had been out on the bike maybe twice? All I could do was encourage him to go out and spin in the remaining days … On Saturday morning, I picked him up at 0600, and we rode to Torquay. Quite a few people there, with a lot of effort to rouse people up, get them involved, start the vibe moving. I think that starting with the Orange crew (25kph) was best, as we started well, and just drifted back slightly. Quite a bit of a struggle riding along - told Felix that I was happy to ride in front, but he needed to communicate with me. Where have I heard that before? Anyway, after Moriac we got onto a few trains - got to 35kph with one! Got into Deans Marsh, and he is complaining about the pain, etc. so I advised him to take it slowly, and I would see him on the other side - there being a bit of ‘debate’ about where to wait for him … This was a timed climb, so I reset my shoes, and started climbing. Soon passed him, and kept powering away, then realised that the odometer had clicked over into triple figures, so pulled over to give him some encouragement … waited for while (10mins?), then realised that it was a timed climb, so jumped back on the bike and rode to the top, where I thought I would wait for him … only to get a text saying that he had turned back down the mountain. So I replied, and advised him to take the sag wagon, which he acknowledged as a good idea. Hence why I was a little unsympathetic about his ‘pains’ when I saw him in Torquay, thinking that he had spent three hours sitting around waiting for me … As an indication of the effort(s) involved, it was 48min up the hill, and 16min down … The rest of the ride was assisted quite a bit by a Southerly breeze, and I think that having made it over the hill helped to set my own mind at ease. Having the HR belt working again, I was able to ride a lot more ‘scientifically’ too. Felt that the climb out of Anglesea would be quite challenging, and it was, but I stopped at the bottom to re-fuel, which helped. Having planned it in my head, I was able to ride quite conservatively up it.
One thing about this ride, there was plenty of food + water - probably a stop every 25km, with water and bananas at all, plus other things (fruit, lollies, cakes, etc.) at many of them. The only thing I really missed out on was the Hammer nutrition gel at Deans Marsh - neither hide nor hair ...
Interestingly, the next day was not too bad, although I did not sleep that well, until after lunch. Went to meet Greg (and Brother John and Zeltko), waved goodbye to him, went to get some groceries + bread - the joys of cargo loading, and having no bread/carbohydrates (well, not much) during the preceding week! Then toddled up to wave goodbye to the GTC riders (Simon, Dave, Pam, Maree, Steve, etc.), before heading home to work on essay, then went to meet Simon/Dave for coffee. It was after that my legs began to hurt … had rubbed some Tiger Balm in the night before, not that it seemed to do much - in fact, I think it is more of a massage cream than a penetrative aid?
In the afternoon, I texted Felix to go visit Bruce, who it turns out to have cancer in the oesophagus. Kate is a mess, Bruce has lost 15kg, but they remain brave and resolute, so we shall see what eventuates … Then went with Felix to have Thai for dinner, which was not too bad. However, I awoke again at 0130, and just could not get back to sleep! So eventually I got up and did some more work on the essay, then sent off a draft to Burrows, before eventually drifting off again for another 30 minute doze. Was so shattered that I took the day off, and basically slept through until 1530, I think? Did also play some more of NeverWinter Nights too - bit of a struggle getting it to work, so will be interesting to see what the ongoing progress is like ...
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