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No riding 🙁
So much going on. I hope that tomorrow, Day 15, does involve a Red Rocks visit.
My hand wound is healing well, and has been particularly noticeable when shaking hands.
I also learned of a great track out in Wainuiomata which is a short 8km or so round trip, through bush. I shall be checking it out as soon as I can after the Fiji trip.
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Three rides today, what a day! About an hour’s riding. My “sit bones” are bloody sore.
Ride one: the skyline. The trail is regarded as intermediate to advanced. I was sceptical as I’ve walked it many times, but it is a very different beast on a bike. It was almost immediately well beyond my fitness and skill level. I’ll consider this ride a benchmark for future rides on the track. I also cruised around some of the nearby streets.
Ride two: the road to red rocks. This road is a lot tougher than Pencarrow. The powerful wind made this quite a challenge, actually stopping me a couple of times. The road will be a great training run however and it’s close to home. I did find the bike was incredibly forgiving over some of the worse terrain.
Ride three: a cruise around the stadium concourse. It was really just to get time on the bike, but I managed to scrape my hand pretty good on a wall along Thorndon Quay.
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I was on the bike for an hour, riding the dirt road to Pencarrow Lighthouse. I’d walked out there before to do some astrophotography, and it’s roughly a two hour walk each way – it was only 20 minutes on the bike to the base of the lighthouse track.
Having awkwardly negotiated a weird bike gate the ride began. The ride was great on the way out – I did not realise I had a strong northerly behind me. Looking at folks who were heading north on the track I thought ‘I am doing so much better than them’.
The awakening was rude when I turned back. Riding into the northerly was a hell of a struggle at the southern most points of the road, but it got progressively easier and more sheltered as I headed north.
It took about 25-30 minutes to return to the carpark. I needed a few stops to catch my breath, and about half a kilometre from the car park I need to dismount to rest my hands and wrists, which we numb from the unfamiliar posture.
I felt great afterwards, although I also felt quite weak from the exertion.
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Ugh. No riding. In Auckland tomorrow so probably no riding either…. A colleague who was a top rate competitive cyclist was excited by my new hobby and asked when I last learned a new skill. I struggled to answer, going back to snowboarding. But in fact, most recently I’d say:
I am excited about the new experience, but conscious that it will be very challenging.
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No riding today due to Halloween. I didn’t even think about the bike until I saw this journal!
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No riding – had to stay home and look after the kids after dinner. Probably a good idea. I’m not sure that I’ll get out tomorrow as it’s Halloween, but I shall try.
Realised my stomach was bruised from a hard stop yesterday, and I had managed to bash my shin. And my left shoulder is a bit stiff, probably from holding the handlebars so tightly. No biggie – it is not bugging me.
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My aim is to try to ride at least a short distance everyday to build up my fitness and adjust my body to riding.
Zipped down to Jess and Steve’s to get passport papers. It was the first time I had ridden on the road in town that I recall. It was quiet and I barely saw any cars, but I was shaking and very nervous. It was still good fun.
I attempted to ride up Sugarloaf, and by jingo it was tricky. I did finally get my gearing right but my quads were killing me.
Did my first successful hill start that I got on the second go. It was fine – I must say the bike is easy to ride so far.
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Bought a bike on Monday (Labour Day). Took it to the park with Harry and promptly arsed over when the dropper post popped up unexpectedly! Had a great wee ride around.