Sydney to Surfers the hard way
After a restles 5 hours I woke (very early) not quite ready to face my fears. Was I going to make it? Was my undercarridge going to withstand 7 days of preassure and friction? Would my legs work on day 2, let alone day 7?
There was only one way to find out...
As we arrived at Hornsby TAFE carpark for the grand depart I noticed an abundance of flashy bikes and a absence of leg hair. I threw my gear in the baggage truck and made some last minute checks. I was as ready as I was ever going to be. The packs were called and one by one they rolled out. Thomo and I were placed in Pack 7 of 9. 
The pack stayed together for most of the morning session but our speed was a little lackluster and once we hit the first of many hills it became apparent that we were in the wrong pack. I'm not a good hill climber, never will be, so when I reached the top of the Hakesbury climb in second position (behind thomo) we knew it was time to change packs. We rode out the rest of the day with pack 7 and decided to jump up to pack 6 the next day.
Pack 6 had some good strong riders and over the next few days we got into a pretty good groove. The pace was still a little slow but the company certainly made up for that. Despite the average age of the 170 riders being 48 and the male:female ratio being 10:1 we had a young pack with 7 lovely ladies which made for plenty of on road banter.
Unfortunatly day 2 was also the first of 5 very wet days. I've never really ridden in the rain for any length of time as normally once the heavens open we head for cover. When your final destination is 150 kms away you don't have much choice so we became very proficiant at wet weather riding. The biggest problem with riding in the rain isn't getting cold and wet because as long as you keep pedaling you can keep pretty warm. The biggest problem is punctures. Your wheel is much more likely to pick up something sharp in the wet and at times the frequency of punctures was laughable with as little as 100 meters between punctures. In our worst session our group picked up 6 punctures in 50kms.
The rain peaked on day 4. We woke to torential rain, lightening crashing and strong gusty winds. After a long wait on a crowded balcony and no break in the weather, the call was made to cancel the day's ride and bus everyone to Nambucca Heads. While I really didn't think it was wise to ride it was very disappointing to break the journey.
Throughout the whole trip I was surprised by how well my body coped with the constant strain. I'm sure the hearty meals and deep sleeps were instrumental in the daily recovery. I was worried about saddle sores,chafing and general fatigue but I'm pleased to say other than a little muscle strain and knee pain I made it through unscathed.
With only a few days left we decided to crank it up a few notches and see if we could match it with the shaved legs brigade. Pack one and two were pretty much out of the question and word on the street was that pack 6 was riding at about the same speed as 4 and 5 so we decided to give pack 3 a go. The change in pace was immediatly noticable and after about 10 kms thomo and i got caught up in a breakaway. We were riding with a bunch of ten very strong riders who were going 100%. It was a big change from the stop start pace of pack 6 and after 30 kms of huffing and puffing I fell off the back and rode the remaining 20kms to morning tea solo. Thomo managed to hold on but paid the price and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. After morning tea pack three headed off as one and everyone worked together. The other main difference between pack 6 and 3 is that the riders in pack 3 know where they need to be and what they need to do once the pack gets moving. It was pretty cool being part of such a well oiled machine.
The down side of riding at such a high pace is that there isn't any time to talk. It was great to take up the challenge and to know that we were strong enough to ride at that level for a couple of days but for the final day we decided to bring it home with our mates in pack 6.
The last day was the day I found the hardest. The niggeling injuries were starting to take a toll and with a solid 36 km of hills in the morning it was comforting to know that only one more big push was required to make it to Surfers. Another good reason to ride with pack 6 was the Mount Warning pub tradition. Just after morning tea on the last day packs 5 and 6 go ahead of the other packs and stop at the pub for a beer (yes in the am) and to cheer on the other packs as they fang through the little town of Uki.
After a cappacino, a beer, a coke and a big lunch the last 50 kms were a little harder but we made it up one last hill and coasted into Queensland in the early arvo. We regrouped just shy of our finishing point and all 170 riders stopped traffic and turned heads as we cruised up the main street of Surfers.
All in all it was a sensational week and I'm already lining up the next cycling challenge. Thanks so much for all the support (financial and other wise) it was great to know you guys were backing us.
The stats
864 kms
6 days of riding
averaging 144 km/day
longest day 156kms
average speed 28.2 km/h
time in the saddle 30 hours 38 minutes.
There was only one way to find out...
As we arrived at Hornsby TAFE carpark for the grand depart I noticed an abundance of flashy bikes and a absence of leg hair. I threw my gear in the baggage truck and made some last minute checks. I was as ready as I was ever going to be. The packs were called and one by one they rolled out. Thomo and I were placed in Pack 7 of 9. 
The pack stayed together for most of the morning session but our speed was a little lackluster and once we hit the first of many hills it became apparent that we were in the wrong pack. I'm not a good hill climber, never will be, so when I reached the top of the Hakesbury climb in second position (behind thomo) we knew it was time to change packs. We rode out the rest of the day with pack 7 and decided to jump up to pack 6 the next day.
Pack 6 had some good strong riders and over the next few days we got into a pretty good groove. The pace was still a little slow but the company certainly made up for that. Despite the average age of the 170 riders being 48 and the male:female ratio being 10:1 we had a young pack with 7 lovely ladies which made for plenty of on road banter.
Unfortunatly day 2 was also the first of 5 very wet days. I've never really ridden in the rain for any length of time as normally once the heavens open we head for cover. When your final destination is 150 kms away you don't have much choice so we became very proficiant at wet weather riding. The biggest problem with riding in the rain isn't getting cold and wet because as long as you keep pedaling you can keep pretty warm. The biggest problem is punctures. Your wheel is much more likely to pick up something sharp in the wet and at times the frequency of punctures was laughable with as little as 100 meters between punctures. In our worst session our group picked up 6 punctures in 50kms.
The rain peaked on day 4. We woke to torential rain, lightening crashing and strong gusty winds. After a long wait on a crowded balcony and no break in the weather, the call was made to cancel the day's ride and bus everyone to Nambucca Heads. While I really didn't think it was wise to ride it was very disappointing to break the journey.
Throughout the whole trip I was surprised by how well my body coped with the constant strain. I'm sure the hearty meals and deep sleeps were instrumental in the daily recovery. I was worried about saddle sores,chafing and general fatigue but I'm pleased to say other than a little muscle strain and knee pain I made it through unscathed.
With only a few days left we decided to crank it up a few notches and see if we could match it with the shaved legs brigade. Pack one and two were pretty much out of the question and word on the street was that pack 6 was riding at about the same speed as 4 and 5 so we decided to give pack 3 a go. The change in pace was immediatly noticable and after about 10 kms thomo and i got caught up in a breakaway. We were riding with a bunch of ten very strong riders who were going 100%. It was a big change from the stop start pace of pack 6 and after 30 kms of huffing and puffing I fell off the back and rode the remaining 20kms to morning tea solo. Thomo managed to hold on but paid the price and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. After morning tea pack three headed off as one and everyone worked together. The other main difference between pack 6 and 3 is that the riders in pack 3 know where they need to be and what they need to do once the pack gets moving. It was pretty cool being part of such a well oiled machine.
The down side of riding at such a high pace is that there isn't any time to talk. It was great to take up the challenge and to know that we were strong enough to ride at that level for a couple of days but for the final day we decided to bring it home with our mates in pack 6.
The last day was the day I found the hardest. The niggeling injuries were starting to take a toll and with a solid 36 km of hills in the morning it was comforting to know that only one more big push was required to make it to Surfers. Another good reason to ride with pack 6 was the Mount Warning pub tradition. Just after morning tea on the last day packs 5 and 6 go ahead of the other packs and stop at the pub for a beer (yes in the am) and to cheer on the other packs as they fang through the little town of Uki. After a cappacino, a beer, a coke and a big lunch the last 50 kms were a little harder but we made it up one last hill and coasted into Queensland in the early arvo. We regrouped just shy of our finishing point and all 170 riders stopped traffic and turned heads as we cruised up the main street of Surfers.
All in all it was a sensational week and I'm already lining up the next cycling challenge. Thanks so much for all the support (financial and other wise) it was great to know you guys were backing us.
The stats
864 kms
6 days of riding
averaging 144 km/day
longest day 156kms
average speed 28.2 km/h
time in the saddle 30 hours 38 minutes.
posted by Ev at 21:13
2 Comments:
good average!
nice work boyce, v jealous, would have loved to have been there with you. top effort. Gp
You left off the most important stat? $$$?
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