TDU - Day 3 "Be Active Tour"
Yet again another early get-up, 5am to be exact and yes the temperature needle was sitting on 30˚ Celsius! So again it was going to be a hot day. Once I had some breakfast, Leigh & Kylie were up, then it was time to pack the car and head off to the start line in Strathalbyn.
Strathalbyn is located 60km south east of Adelaide city centre but only 40mins drive from Bridgewater which gave us enough time to get my bike all sorted before the start time of 7.30am.
This “be Active Tour” Stage was 154km from Strathalbyn heading south west along the coastline and over the Second Valley hills to the remote coastal town of Yankalilla. Although the course wasn’t mountainous it would still looked to be very challenging and I had a feeling that once the high cloud burnt off the heat would play a major factor.
When we arrived, found a park I headed for the registration area, what a queue I faced when I got there. The organisers hadn’t thought very hard about how to register 2625 riders all within 90mins and I was beginning to get rather concerned with the time.
Fortunately by the time I got back to the car Leigh had the bike out and the front wheel clipped on, he was starting to look like a team mechanic already! With 15mins to go I quickly got my shoes, helmet / glasses on and stuffed food into the back pockets before wheeling on to the start line.
As you could expect a small town like this
probably had a population the size of this field and naturally the start was very slow over the first 10 km's. On the route map it showed a steep hill within the First 5km’s but in reality it was only a long gradual gradient.
Once we got over the top the pace increased with small packs forming which allowed my legs to move out of the warm-up phase and into some work.
It wasn’t long until the fast descents and flat straights pushed the average speed up to 31km/hr.
As we approached the first water stop (30km mark) the cloud had lifted along with the heat, just over and hour on the bike and I was beginning to feel I would have to pace myself. Unfortunately upon leaving the water stop I didn’t tag up with a pack and found myself spinning along pretty much alone.
The next 30km section generally involved
descents and long straights, no climbing,
that was to come.
As I approached the second stop (60km, 94km to go) I was feeling the heat badly. Although I had been tipping water over my head for some time now but it wasn’t making much difference. So I wheeled on from this stop feeling a bit low and again I failed to tag on to a pack, solo riding isn’t good for the morale.
The next 25km section took us closer to the coastline, in/out of some small towns and then into the climbs. As I got closer to the first climb I felt rather nauseous so I took a quick breather.
It was only a 3km’s climb but went from sea
level to 150m altitude which meant a fairly steep section.
As I climbed it I felt ok and in fact when I
spotted Leigh & Kylie at the summit I was feeling strong but this feeling didn’t last long once I got to the top! (85km’s down and 69 to go) I felt really nauseous. Luckily I had my team which consisted of a Nurse & Radiography / Mechanic (Kylie & Leigh) to advise me of the consequences if I vomited otherwise I may have made a different decision.
Today I had to admit that I would be defeated by the 42˚ temperatures, So after 30 minutes of tipping water over my head it was time to load the bike into their car and appreacate the air conditioning.
We decided to drive to the next water stop (approximately 40km’s) and then I would assess how my head felt and whether to ride the final 20km’s into the finish. Well I think we all agreed how wise that idea was when we saw so many riders suffering over this section in the heat; it wasn’t a pleasant sight seeing them pulling over and vomiting or taking cover under trees.
The fourth and final water stop soon arrived;
I decided that my head and stomach had settled enough to spin out the final 20km’s, So again Leigh got the bike out and ready (a true mechanic already) and pushed me off on route to the finish. With only 20km’s to go I knew I could push myself a bit and ride in strong and so I should given that I just sat in the car for 40km!
The final section seemed far hillier than the briefing notes but it wasn’t long until I was down on the flat and hammering past the “5km to finish” sign, then 3km, 2km, 1km and finally the finishing straight was in front of me.
I had passed under the sign feeling a little happier than
1 ½ hours ago when I felt I wasn't going to ride much further. As it turned out I wasn’t the only one who suffered in the heat, in fact one rider required a drip to rehydrate him.
After a clean up and lunch we stood roadside and watch the pro’s blast it over the finish line in 3hrs 43mins, they’re truly amazing athletes to get around that course in under 4 hours.
Our day ended with dinner and a swim with Kylie’s family before dropping into bed for a well earned rest.
Strathalbyn is located 60km south east of Adelaide city centre but only 40mins drive from Bridgewater which gave us enough time to get my bike all sorted before the start time of 7.30am.
This “be Active Tour” Stage was 154km from Strathalbyn heading south west along the coastline and over the Second Valley hills to the remote coastal town of Yankalilla. Although the course wasn’t mountainous it would still looked to be very challenging and I had a feeling that once the high cloud burnt off the heat would play a major factor.
When we arrived, found a park I headed for the registration area, what a queue I faced when I got there. The organisers hadn’t thought very hard about how to register 2625 riders all within 90mins and I was beginning to get rather concerned with the time.
Fortunately by the time I got back to the car Leigh had the bike out and the front wheel clipped on, he was starting to look like a team mechanic already! With 15mins to go I quickly got my shoes, helmet / glasses on and stuffed food into the back pockets before wheeling on to the start line.
As you could expect a small town like this
probably had a population the size of this field and naturally the start was very slow over the first 10 km's. On the route map it showed a steep hill within the First 5km’s but in reality it was only a long gradual gradient.
Once we got over the top the pace increased with small packs forming which allowed my legs to move out of the warm-up phase and into some work.
It wasn’t long until the fast descents and flat straights pushed the average speed up to 31km/hr.
As we approached the first water stop (30km mark) the cloud had lifted along with the heat, just over and hour on the bike and I was beginning to feel I would have to pace myself. Unfortunately upon leaving the water stop I didn’t tag up with a pack and found myself spinning along pretty much alone.
The next 30km section generally involved
descents and long straights, no climbing,
that was to come.
As I approached the second stop (60km, 94km to go) I was feeling the heat badly. Although I had been tipping water over my head for some time now but it wasn’t making much difference. So I wheeled on from this stop feeling a bit low and again I failed to tag on to a pack, solo riding isn’t good for the morale.
The next 25km section took us closer to the coastline, in/out of some small towns and then into the climbs. As I got closer to the first climb I felt rather nauseous so I took a quick breather.
It was only a 3km’s climb but went from sea
level to 150m altitude which meant a fairly steep section.
As I climbed it I felt ok and in fact when I
spotted Leigh & Kylie at the summit I was feeling strong but this feeling didn’t last long once I got to the top! (85km’s down and 69 to go) I felt really nauseous. Luckily I had my team which consisted of a Nurse & Radiography / Mechanic (Kylie & Leigh) to advise me of the consequences if I vomited otherwise I may have made a different decision.
Today I had to admit that I would be defeated by the 42˚ temperatures, So after 30 minutes of tipping water over my head it was time to load the bike into their car and appreacate the air conditioning.
We decided to drive to the next water stop (approximately 40km’s) and then I would assess how my head felt and whether to ride the final 20km’s into the finish. Well I think we all agreed how wise that idea was when we saw so many riders suffering over this section in the heat; it wasn’t a pleasant sight seeing them pulling over and vomiting or taking cover under trees.
The fourth and final water stop soon arrived;
I decided that my head and stomach had settled enough to spin out the final 20km’s, So again Leigh got the bike out and ready (a true mechanic already) and pushed me off on route to the finish. With only 20km’s to go I knew I could push myself a bit and ride in strong and so I should given that I just sat in the car for 40km!
The final section seemed far hillier than the briefing notes but it wasn’t long until I was down on the flat and hammering past the “5km to finish” sign, then 3km, 2km, 1km and finally the finishing straight was in front of me.
I had passed under the sign feeling a little happier than
1 ½ hours ago when I felt I wasn't going to ride much further. As it turned out I wasn’t the only one who suffered in the heat, in fact one rider required a drip to rehydrate him.
After a clean up and lunch we stood roadside and watch the pro’s blast it over the finish line in 3hrs 43mins, they’re truly amazing athletes to get around that course in under 4 hours.
Our day ended with dinner and a swim with Kylie’s family before dropping into bed for a well earned rest.
Labels: Cycling
posted by Blair & Grigoria at 4:33 am
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