Sunday, February 17, 2008

Saddle time

I spent more time in the saddle this weekend than I have for a long time. It wasn't much, but it was more! Unfortunately, I've neglected running and swimming. I miss chlorine!

On Saturday I went easy mountain biking with P, sister J and J's boy, D. We'd planned to go out Karapoti way again, but logistics and wheels got the better of us, and eventually we decided just to do Redrocks. There was a bit of a southerly, and Red Rocks is on the exposed and rugged south coast of Wellington, so we headed out with a wee bit of trepidation! Our little sister was once blown off the edge of the path by a big gust, so we knew we'd need to be careful.

Luckily neither the southerly nor the rain was too terrible, and we had a blast. J had some mad skills (my definition of "mad" may be open to debate), and I was really impressed by the way she stayed on the bike so much. More than me, anyway! It was (obviously) very different terrain to the Akas, and I think riding a lumpier, bumpier path will help me out next time we head out there.

The hardest bits were the deep loose rocks. The funniest part was when a huge wave came in as J was riding past. The best bit was deciding to really hit it on the way back- I love 'flying' along- the little obstacles lose so much of their significance, and it helps me learn to trust the bike a bit more.

Today I had a lazy morning. Laundry, TV, coffee, a little bit of work on an article I'm writing. I was planning to meet a local "sub" (Sarah Ulmer Brand) pod at 4pm, and it felt weird not to be getting an early workout in (though I definitely could have made it a 2-a-day, it was nice to be lazy...again). I was the only one who showed up, apart from the leader, and we headed out to Eastbourne for a nice easy ride. Lovely tail wind on the way there, and hideous on the way back. My computer was broken (telling me my cadence was 0 and my speed was maxing out at 16km/h....), which was quite refreshing into the wind. I had a couple of not-so-great moments, including getting myself lost and stuck trying to change lanes on a 2 lane roundabout. I hate traffic.

I'm looking forward to bootcamp tomorrow. I can't believe there are only two weeks to go- I'm going to miss it! We've figured out a good incentive to keep it up- every time I pike on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday, I have to pay P the cost of a bootcamp session. Ouch!

2 comments:

Pip said...

Brilliant! I'm madly jealous of your rides. On holiday for the last two weeks, living on a diet of processed meats and alcohol (this has turned into a tour of South Island country pubs), I'm feeling unfit and HUGE! Poor Lola got pulled out for a couple of short rides while we were in Golden Bay, but a disaster on the West Coast (broken cam belt, resultant dead car motor, stressful couple of days in a little town called Ross, and an Intercity ride back to Greymouth to buy a new car) and a few days working on my father-in-law's vineyard at Bannockburn near Cromwell has put a serious dent in my planned riding schedule. We're heading to Christchurch tomorrow enroute to a Picton ferry on Tuesday, and at the moment the plan is for me to leave Bannockburn on Lola and to ride for a couple of hours until H eventually catches up. Unfortunately Lola's not in the best shape - having been tied to the back of our car(s) over 22km of dirt roads and several days of rain. I've relub'd her chain but she's still not terribly happy!

Bootcamp. I need Bootcamp!

Jess said...

Wow, that sounds so cool! And the lazy morning sounds totally deserved.