Of biking and being a reserve

Lucy and Shirley on the way!



Well my return to the world of exercise has been a baptism of fire!!
After driving Lucy and Shirley up to Motu to do the road bike - and watching them blast their way through the 52 kms (machines the pair of them!) I found myself on my bike a week later doing the same thing - still astonished and not quite sure how it happened! I managed to get up Traffords Hill (Shields whanau take note!) and then down the other side without too much damage! Very scary on the downhill at the top - further down you go the gentler the slope which suits wusses like me. I was surprised at my time - not too far behind Lucy but I died completely in the last 10kms - legs felt like tree stumps (still looked particularly attractive and shapely tho!) But as Sarah said the pain disappears quickly and you are soon ready for the next challenge. So what was the next challenge?? Promotion to first reserve in Maurie's Motu Challenge team!! I listened with a mix of horror (who?? me!?!?!?) and quiet humility (as us finely honed athletes do) as I was told I was quite capable of doing the road bike leg. So off we went again last Sunday to do a repeat performance. It was cold, rainy and an extremely strong wind was blowing at Motu - again I had to ask myself what was I doing there? I set off - yeehaa tail wind to Motu - easy peasy ride. Turn right at Matawai - whoops strong head wind! Gamely I rode on until 2 bends from the top of Traffords (very little forward momentum at this point!) a reeeaaallly big gust of wind hit me and I literally stopped mid pedal! I managed to unclip but then had to walk about 20 metres until I could get back on my bike. So up I went and cruised over the top into a strong gusty swirling wind, so I zigzaged, very slowly down the top part of the hill. It was scary as I was blown in all directions, but once the road was less exposed I managed to pick up a little bit more speed. I was HUGELY disappointed at my time as I did feel I was biking more consistently than the previous week, but have sucked it up and am ready to be the best first reserve in Opotiki.