I just did a Buckeye entry and realised it was longer than most of my blog entries so thought i would post it here as well.
I was on strike today so what to do??? Ride the Rotorua Bike Course of course! Ride out was good. Must have had a bit of a tailwind. 1:26 which is at least 4 mins faster than previous attempts. Then it fell apart. I had the plan to go with just liquid calories but i didn't drink enough. I bonked badly on way back. I had no solid fuel and was craving an energy bar or a cookie. I was riding into a headwind (although not that bad) and it just seemed ALL uphill. I was dying. I hadn't gone out too hard as I had kept HR below 140 even on the Hell's Gate climb. Average out was 136 which is definitely in my comfort zone.
Think it was just lack of calories (and general unfitness obviously!) ... it was actually a relief to get to Hell's Gate climb on way back because I knew I could just spin up and I didn't have to force the pace/speed. Back along the airport road (that is a sh!t road surface!) wasn't too bad as I think the wind was more tail/side than head and i was soon at the left turn. It was then that I got a call from Jo (who had come with me and spent the time in Rotorua) saying that
she had got a call from the school and Laura was sick. She was at the roundabout so I got back onto the Tarawera Rd and turned right instead of left towards the lake. It meant I didn't even make the last climb and my time was over 3 hours and I was spent. Average HR on way back was 125 ... just couldn't get going - legs were empty! Need to sort out my nutrition. Garmin Watch says I burnt 1250cals and I drank about half that! DOH!!! Next time I'll go out a little bit slower and take on board more calories and maybe actually finish the course. Laura was fine btw :) We'll both be back at school tomorrow :)
Jo took some pictures of me at the start and also stopped the car at various points on the ride and took some pictures. It wasn't 'in the plan' and I was so excited to see the action photos. Here are just a few of the best ones.
:(
4 comments:
Haha. It took me MILES longer than that last time I tried!
wow. very pretty area!
Liquid calories only? Are you insane?! And Kate, given the excellent work you've been putting into your riding lately, I'm sure you'd register a huge improvement if you went back. You're making me feel feeble.
Must start using Buckeye again. THE PROGRAMME has started. Which means hitting the pool.
Anyway, good to see another blog post. I might have to do the same!
Atleast you got to ride this time. You didn't get to finish the course, I'm sure you were disappointed !!
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