Big Weekend...

Saturday: Well, it had to come around again sooner or later… that time when I end up spending silly amounts of time on the road to toughen up my legs (and other places) to prepare for 24hr events. A later-than-planned Friday night put paid to any plans I had to ride early, so by the time I had finished work, prepared my bike, fuel and sorted myself out it was nearly mid-day. Thankfully the weather decided to co-operate and it was a beautiful sunny day, marred only slightly by the ever-present stroppy northerly. I headed out from Porirua to Karori (via Makara), down Tinakori Rd, around the Bays, along SH2 and along to the end of Petone Esplanade, where Shane had parked the van. 4 hours down – half way! Yippee! Swapped my empty bottles for fresh supplies of Perpetuem (that I’d frozen the night before, so were still nice and cold, yum), and applied the sunscreen that I should’ve put on to start with. Ooops. Anyway, onwards – back along the Esplanade, up SH2 and towards the Akatarawas. The internal i-pod was stuck on repeat; Pink’s “Sober” was the track of choice! At some point I looked down at my watch to see 5:01:20. About 10 minutes later I looked down to see 5:01:48… the world had gone in to slow motion! Luckily things reversed as I reached the climbs into the Aka’s – I managed to get to the sawmill without remembering how I’d got there! Pretty sure I didn’t teleport, but who knows… I had a couple of close calls with oncoming traffic further up – just as well I’m not a few inches wider!! I finally reached the top, basked in the sun for a few seconds, then headed back down, dodging boy racers and inhaling the refreshing smell of cooked brake pads (not mine). Soundtrack had now shuffled to an 80’s number “live it up” (I think by Madness – appropriately!) and some more forgettable tunes. Shane was waiting for me at the base of the hill – one hour to go! I turned towards Te Marua then headed along Whitemans Valley for the final stretch. Met my wonderful hubby again with 30 minutes to go – he handed me a bottle of coke, flattened with a splash of Powerade – my favourite ‘getting to the end of the ride’ brew! The last half hour sped by – capped of with me getting laughed at by refusing to stop a second before the 8 hour mark!! 201km in 8 hours. Not fast – but what I’d been aiming for. Tired, but not totally broken.

Sunday: Only 3 hours – easy as! Yeah, right! My enthusiasm ran out about an hour into the ride – not helped by my friend the northerly. Did a combination of the roads around Pauatahanui – first part of Moonshine, Bulls Run, Grays Rd, SH 58 – and to the summit of Pakekakariki Hill… then a couple of hill reps to make up the distance. 2 hrs and 57 minutes. Close enough would be good enough today!! Got home and proceeded to eat at least my own bodyweight in food (or it seemed like it)! Phew. Day off tomorrow. Yay.