Category: Ride

…on the way up that is. I encountered a guy riding DOWN the uphill only part – muppet. I did struggle a bit today, but it was still all good to be out there. Every single left hand switchback (is an uphill tight turn even called a switchback?) caused me to stop – it was a terrible regression.

Riding from Polhill to home was pretty freaky as the wind was gusting something chronic.

However, the ride down in the morning was fun – but the wind alone took me from the mid 50s to the mid 30s in a matter of maybe 5 to 10 seconds, really nuts!

We are in the mega windy time of the year, and it is noticeable the impact it has. Overall a nice enough ride up, I am getting better at the rough stuff.

I rode back up Polhill again, nice ride. Getting into it a bit more, although still massively struggling with my nemesis corner.

I didn’t get to ride this weekend, but I did try out the Ground Effect Tardis that I got off Trade Me last week. The bike should fit and be safe enough for the flight south.

I had a total mission getting the damn thing back together, and the travel on the brakes has very weirdly increased. Many lessons learned, and I’ll try it again before the trip.

The ride down today was fine, pretty light given daylight savings started on Sunday.

For the ride home I repeated Friday’s trip up Aro Street and up Transient. Strava failed in some way and didn’t record the ride, but I’m confident it was the fastest yet.

The weather on the way home was a little rough, the wind was getting up and the rain at times was pretty dense. Overall it was a good mission, I got beaten by the two corners that always get me, but beyond that it was pretty smooth riding.

Lovely ride down the hill, apart from the stiff northerly we tend to get at this time of year that slowed me from 50km/hr to about 30km/hr.

The ride up was amazing as I went up the Transient trail. It was tough of course, but brilliant training that was so good to be able to include in the daily commute.

Fantastic ride, especially compared to yesterday. The big takeaway – rest before you run out of steam. I made sure to rest frequently, so about 3 times on the way up the first track, then once before setting off for the final couple of kms to the top. The ride up Transient was still tough, and I stopped a number of times on the steep stuff, but using the rest areas on the way up made the ride much more enjoyable.

I also managed to get over the rocky steep bit that totally befuddled me the last two attempts, stoked! I wonder if I will be able to do it again next time.

I also was really careful on the Windmill trail to pace myself, and made it to the top without needing to stop, although I had a number of stops caused by steepness and loss of control.

But a great ride overall, and I was really pleased with my progress today.

I only had time and went for a ride up Transient from Aro Valley. It felt much, much harder than last week. I had to take a number of stops along the way to catch my breath and let the nausea pass.

Overall I dealt better with what I’d describe as the harder parts of the track – the wee pinch climbs and so on. The biggest issue is fitness, I am really struggling to keep my concentration on the trickier bits as I’m so stuffed.

I may attempt to ride it again this afternoon if the opportunity arises – I feel it’s a great training ride for me and I really want to be able to get to the top without 1) being forced to stop by the terrain; and 2) stopping because I’m knackered.

I take heart from the lessons I’ve already learned about perseverance and that things do get easier with practice.

There was one big upside, which were my new Ground Effect Underdog padded shorts. They were super comfy, I didn’t notice I was wearing them, and my butt was in no discomfort. Usually after a ride like that I would feel something – but not this time.

Uneventful but very enjoyable commute down and up the hill. The time up was pretty good and felt reasonably good too.

For me this was an epic ride and I was really really really really pleased with how it went.

It was tough, the ride up through Transient was in places well beyond what I was accustomed to, and it was also much steeper than anything I’d encountered so far.

I did feel good enough to continue and decided to zip up to Windmill via Sawmill and the Fenceline.

Initially I thought the trail was miscatagorised as Green, it was so easy. By about three quarters I was hoping for a fast and merciful death – it was steep and relentless. I think I coped better then I had on Transient, but I was getting really fatigued.

I rested and the top, ate, and chatted with some nice folks.

After plucking up my courage I started the descent on Carparts. It was challenging and scary for sure, but wow is was a LOT of fun.

I was super stoked at how it went, and I am really looking forward to getting back up there.

Fabulous ride, the second time down the Lazy Fern felt incredible – I was flying and flowing and really enjoying it. I had my usual nemesis corner, but I got around it awkwardly and tensely!

Lessions:

1. You need food: a big brekkie helped
2. You need rest: resting after the second ride up made an enormous difference to the second ride down to the carpark. I stopped for about 5 minutes and did nothing, it made more difference than I could imagine
3. Shifting weight in corners: while my weight is back, and I’m on the pedals, I need to shift my weight a little more to help the bike turn. I did this by mistake and it made the switchback much easier – I need to practice to replicate my mistake.
4. You don’t always need to give way immediately: on my flying lap down the hill, a chap came up behind me near the end – I was only a few hundred metres from the end, and for some reason I pulled over. It was a mistake. I waiting for nearly two minutes as he was clearly the fastest in the group, and the others were very slow, slower than me.
5. Put yourself first (sometimes): by pulling over, I ruined what would have been a sub-seven minute (maybe even close to a 6 minute descent), and it upset me for a part of my drive home until I reflected on the good stuff. I was seriously pissed off with myself – why not hold the guy up by a few seconds on the way down and allow myself a personal best?
6. Focus on the positive: I had what for me what was an incredible ride, with a fantastic final run. I loved it and for a short time allowed a mistake to be the only thing I thought about – overshadowing the awesomeness I had just experienced.