This girl's got a ticket to ride

This last weekend I participated in the Santos Bike Ride, an organised ride for charity through the streets of Perth, out to Fremantle, and back.  A gorgeous loop of 53km around the Swan River, with scenic views and killer hills!!

Setting up the night before

I enjoy riding my bike – I always have.  Ever since my mum and dad used to take my brother and I out for rides around the river, perched in our little people carriers on the back, stack hats on our heads.  I love the outdoors generally and there is something about being on bike that is so different to running (which I also enjoy and am starting to really love the more I do it).

I bought a fancy hybrid bike a couple years ago now, to participate in the BRW Corporate Triathlon that year.  I was embarrassed to ride on my mountain bike amongst everyone else with their fancy road and racing bikes and I desperately wanted to fit in.  Even though I knew at that time in my life I was probably only going to ride it the once in that triathlon (and maybe a couple of training rides beforehand). 

Now, as in the last six months, that bike has been getting the royal treatment.  At the start of winter, my husband bought me a stationary trainer and set up the bike in the loungeroom so I could ride during winter.  It was great.  Those mornings when I struggled to get out of bed because it was dark and cold, and I really didn’t want to drive all the way to the gym, my bike was sitting there waiting in the warmth and comfort of home, right in front of the TV and my favourite shows.  Just half an hour and I would be sweating and feel like I had actually accomplished something.

Recently, I took the bike out for a couple of outdoor rides, which was great.  I have also had the bike serviced, and added a bicycle repair kit (even though I have no idea how to use it and would probably panic if I actually got a flat tyre whilst out riding), and am even considering cleats and those clip-on aero bars ready for triathlon season (first official race is 16 December – quietly freaking out!).

But back to this weekend’s bike ride.  I entered on my own.  Not that I don’t enjoy having someone to talk with pre and post event, but I like to set my own pace and go my own way without feeling like I have to slow down for someone, or more likely, hold someone else back.  I have also found the last few events I did solo, I met other solo people too and although no lasting friendships have formed, there is a sense of solidarity with standing with fellow, like-minded strangers at the starting line and wishing each other good luck – knowing you will probably never see them again.

Getting ready to go!

The ride started out ok.  I had decided I should be able to ride about 25km/hour based on other rides and the regular endure RPM classes I have been doing.  I figured on that pace, I should finish in just over 2 hours.  About 30 minutes in, there was a hill.  I don’t even know what to say about it, other than I think I only saw 3 people of the 50 or so around me actually manage to ride up the whole way (I was not one of them) and one of them wasn’t even riding with his legs – he had one of those sit down bikes where you pedal with your arms (and man he must have had some incredibly strong arms!!).  It didn’t help that when you reached the top there was a big inflatable sign saying ‘King of the Hill’ with half the event photographers standing around taking photos.  Needless to say, I don’t think I will be ordering any of my event photos if that is all they got (me walking up the hill).  I think after that I said to myself – you will not walk up a hill again!  You will plan your gears better and stand up in the saddle if you have to, but you will not get off your bike!

[sidenote: please excuse my shocking lack of knowledge about cycling vernacular – I am still getting used to riding the bike, let alone the terms used in relation to cycling as a sport]

The rest of the ride was awesome!  I cruised around, changing gears, speeding up when I could, coasting when I needed to drink and riding up every other hill along the way.  I found that when I reached about the three quarter mark I suddenly felt really really hungry.  I hadn’t even thought about nutrition during the event or any sort of gels or anything like that (apart from packing a muesli bar to have afterwards).  I hadn’t practised anything like that in training either, which is probably why I didn’t even think of it.  I had plenty of electrolytes, so just kept drinking along the way.  But at the end, when I crossed the finish line, I had to go and sit down for a few minutes and have something to eat and drink because I felt like I was going to pass out!  A lesson learned for next time.

Well earned carbs!

Other lessons learned for next time?

Invest in a pair of padded knicks.  I wore my bike shorts, which get me through an RPM session, or shorter bike rides, but about the 30km mark I realised I couldn’t feel my butt.  I am still having difficulty sitting down today.

Invest in some cleats.  I definitely noticed I was more conscious about using my legs and trying to get the most out of each rotation, pushing down and using bigger gears than I would have ever contemplated 12 months ago (thanks RPM).  But I can see the appeal of cleats, not only for the better connection to your bike, but the advantage of being able to use the pull up motion as well as pushing down to get maximum power.

Move my bike seat.  When I got my bike serviced, the guy said my seat was probably too low.  I didn’t give it a second thought to be honest.  Halfway through the ride, I reached for my water bottle and got a sharp pain right between my shoulder blades.  I think it was the posture and position on the bike that made me so stiff, and I think moving my seat up should help with this.

Make plans for recovery.  As above, I don’t think the muesli bar quite cut it.  I ended up having to stop at Hungry Jacks on the way home for a chicken wrap and even the normally disgusting smells of fat and grease smelled fabulous to me – a sure sign my body was in dire need of some form of sustenance.  The muesli bar was great for carbs, but I think I needed something higher in protein.  I will have to look around at different options, because I don’t eat dairy and nearly every protein bar on the market I have seen contains whey protein!!

Overall, I ended up finishing in 2 hours and 10 minutes - a time I was really happy with.  I also managed to maintain an average pace of about 2 minutes per kilometere!!

The course was supposed to be 53km - not that I'm complaining.  And I'll take that time too.

So, that was my adventure last weekend.  I also did my first 12wbt SSS session, with a girl I met on the forums – we did our own kind of beach bootcamp.  But that’s a story for another time.

What did you get up to on the weekend?