The Saturday Ride

It was a beautiful morning as I headed out for a long ride today.  I decided to do hills to begin and hit the back streets to South Head then made my way to Rose Bay, then Double Bay and up Bellevue Rd (a solid 2km climb) to Vaucluse.  I then repeated this route and ended up doing Bellevue Rd a second time, turning towards the Junction and preparing to go via the coast to La Perouse, doing some laps out near the airport and then back home. The aim was to do 110kms.  As it turned out I had a puncture at the 40km mark. With only one spare tube I decided to ride close to Centennial Park, knowing the girls were doing their long run there. So I managed only 80kms.

Once in the Park I rode 20kms with a bloke chatting about bikes, life and old bones.  Turned out he had a double hip replacement 12 months ago after years playing Aussie Rules. Funny how these contact sports catch up. He was fit and strong and is training for an endurance event in Tassy on October.  Judging by the colour of his hair I'd say he was a good 10 years older than me. Impressive stuff.

I passed the girls as they did the last of their 4 x 8km laps.  They did a 32km run this morning averaging roughly five and a half minutes per kilometer which is an impressive effort. So its all go for the Gold Coast Marathon on 3rd July.  And finally the Cairns Triathlon is on tomorrow with Enda, Connor, POD and a host of others all competing in the Long Course in what'll be a hot and tough course. Should be a fun day.

Tomorrow is a 2km swim and next weekend is going to be a ride to the 'Gong.  Talk soon and hope we're all getting outside and active.