Day 2 – Riding

The idea of riding this lap on open country roads with sweeping views and fresh wind in your hair (helmet)? was a little challenged today, as I rode my way out of the burbs of Sydney with a certain amount of difficulty. Peak traffic, commuting hour, noise, dust and a lot of tension. I guess my mistake, but there are not many options with the routing. Crawled for almost two hours, on and off footpaths to try and stay away from heavy traffic. Some close calls, but some god from above protected me from getting hit directly.

I finally got to a road split of the Pacific Hwy, and given I had been holding a bathroom stop for a while, I paused at a rest area to study the map. Gobbled down a slice of leftover pizza (FTW! I shall try to carry cold pizza slices in my jersey from now on!!), and went through an awesome stretch of road (at last!) towards Cowan, the bridge over the Hawkesbury River into Mooney Mooney Point and then made my way into Gosford where – unfortunately – I got into the traffic again. One thing is certain: not enough bike paths / lanes / shoulders to ride on. It felt rather unsafe for most of it, and had to dodge a number of obstacles. The last 15kms rang a bit of a “are we there yet?” motif in my head. At last I got to the park where Justin had set up the van, and inhaled food at a rapid rate, washed down with a couple of cans of Solo – a post-ride must-have. Shower and put some wax on the bike, which is doing well considering I flipped gears a gazillion times today. All recharged and ready for tomorrow. I wish my legs had a USB-C too.

The plan was “to think” while riding, but today I was so busy dodging traffic that I had to focus completely on that – and some of the climbs and descents, which became rapid (and fun). Perhaps a new form of meditation…

The van is in reasonable state, still, despite Spike’s hairs to be found absolutely everywhere. I open a cabinet, and there is inevitably one sitting there. A mystery.

After a bit of a tormented night, and a ride which went on for far too long today, I am tired and sore in my shoulder and upper back – I guess from holding onto the bars too tightly.

Shout out to the hosts of the Real Science of Sport (Prof. Ross Tucker and Gareth Davies) who mentioned this ride in their latest pod (loved it!). I have to think about which stats I can collect along the way, aside from the usual ones (kms, time etc). Suggestions welcome.

The Aussies are smashing it at the CommGames – 35 golds so far (many in the pool, but athletics is doing so well!).

Need sleep now.