With yesterday’s rain and thunderstorms throughout the day I was a little concerned about this morning’s charity ride. Fortunately, later in the day it cleared and it’s fair to say that this morning was perfect for the ride. We were running late in the morning due to my ten year high school reunion last night and made it to the start line at exactly 5:15am which is when we were supposed to start. Luckily with thousands of riders it took about twenty minutes before we actually started to ride. It was such a fantastic atmosphere with riders of all ages and abilities taking part.
0 – 40km
In all honesty, this was the hardest part of the ride. With only about four hours sleep and a few too many wines – I had my ten-year high school reunion last night – my head felt a little heavy and I was just a bit tired but I pushed through. The first 15km was on the bus lane along the highway which had been closed for us. Then we hit the suburbs. The flat terrain was over and we hit hills and slopes at regular intervals. They were painful. Since my cycle training has been irregular at best and almost non-existent at worst I really felt those hills, both big and small, in my legs. The positive part of this was that I finally learnt how to use the bike gears to my advantage. Go figure, I’m a shocker when it comes to these little things.
At 40km we hit the first rest spot where we were given a banana and powerbar and were able to fill up on water. We took advantage of this and relaxed for five minutes before continuing on our way.
41km – 79km
This stretch went by fairly quickly. Most of the road was flat country roads with fields on either side. Although the quality of the road wasn’t the best and riders of much high abilities were overtaking us it was nice just to enjoy the ride without trying to compete with ourselves. Even though we had ridden so far, people were still smiling, laughing and really enjoying the morning.
The second rest spot was a relief. We couldn’t believe that we had made it so far already and still had energy to spare. There were moments where I wasn’t certain I’d make the entire 100km but with only twenty to go I knew we were on the home stretch. We felt better at this point than we had at the first stop. We filled up with energy drinks, munched on a banana and bread roll with sultanas and were ready to tackle the final leg.
80km – 100km
I have to say this was my favourite part of the ride. It was mostly flat and I was familiar with the area. I was surprised to find that I had a burst of energy and just pushed harder and faster on the last twenty kilometres. It was getting hotter with the sun rising and I just couldn’t wait to get to the finish line and say ‘I just rode 100km and I feel great!’
Four and a half hours after we started up in Brisbane’s Southbank, we crossed the finish line and Southport’s Broadwater Parklands feeling elated and relieved. My butt hurt but I didn’t feel as exhausted as I expected to feel. It was a fantastic experience and I’m looking forward to doing it again next year.
The organisation of the event was fantastic. The volunteers were excellent and very supportive both cheering and motivating riders along the way. The event wouldn’t have happened without them. So thank you everyone who took time out from their Sunday morning, got up at an unreasonable hour and helped out to make this cycle challenge the awesome event that it was.
And afterwards of course, we indulged in an early lunch Nando’s – there’s just no better place to fill up on fast food that tastes great and is almost healthy.
