Yesterday I took on the BUPA challenge during the tour down under, to raise money for Cancer Council SA.
The bike ride was 138km from Norwood to Tanunda.
I tackled it with an hire bike as my regular bike needed expensive repairs, not a good idea - but I had no real alternative.
It's hard to pick the key points to put up here and I don't want this to turn into an epic post (but it probably will) so I'll break it into sections:
The start:
I started with everyone else, I wanted to start early but was running late.
I've never seen that many cyclists or ridden in a pack before.
I started near the back of the pack and pretty much stayed there but I was comfortable at my pace.
The first hill saw me hunting for wuss gears on the hire bike and that became the theme of the day unfortunately.
Within the first 30km was a king of the mountain section, in which I had a crash caused by a tool in a car.
No major damage to me or the bike but it certainly rattled me and I struggled to keep going for a little while.
The crash saw me hit the deck pretty hard and almost get run over by the car, not a fun experience.
The first refreshment stop:
I got there and thought man we've been riding for ever - I'm sick of these hills, but have an energy gel, drink and toilet stop and get going again.
I got motivated and pushed on.
The refreshment stop at 69km - Mt Pleasant:
This stop I was feeling completely done, I just wanted to stop.
Had a protein bar, some powerade and found my motivation.
Get back on to find it was mostly down hill - Thank christ!
The great downhill to Lyndoch:
During the downhill section I got a second wind and was trying to make up time (I wanted to finish before the pros got in) I hit around 50kph regularly on the downhill sections.
In one of the sections here there was no one else around, just me - no spectators, other participants, just me.
It was fairly lonely and made motivation pretty hard during some of the steeper climbs.
Kind of difficult to describe that loneliness, as there is just nothing around no cars, no people, no other bikes - only your own willpower to keep on going. Probably at about the 80 - 90km mark when everything hurts it's so difficult but it's all in your mind. The body will just keep on doing what you make it do.
It was through this section that I got stopped by police, some idiot had thrown tacks across the road - but I needed to keep going, so I picked up the bike and walked through the 200m or so then got back to riding.
Tanunda - are we there yet?
As I started to get close to Tanunda, my body was screaming at me, quads, calves, glutes, back, neck.
All of them just wanted me to quit, no chance body, no chance.
I kept on pushing and got into a town, I asked a cop for direction he just waved at me.
So I chose a path and found I'd made a wrong turn and came into Tanunda the opposite way to the finish.
It meant I wouldn't cross the line, I was a little disappointed until I realised I'd still covered around 110 - 115km, I could turn around and go back but I was spent so I accepted that's how I was going to finish.
When I got into Tanunda and the finish oval, seeing my fiance and mother in law was one of the most satisfying feelings ever... it was so rewarding and I'm so VERY glad they where there.
Overall it was a great experience, tough as hell but well worth it.
I raised $500 for the cancer council and really tested myself - both mentally and physically.
I burnt 4405 calories in 6 hours 38 minutes 20 seconds.
My average heart rate was 151 bpm and max 178.
I can tell you it was as tough as fuck but I would do it again in a heartbeat, preferably with my own / decent bike :)
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