Cycle Challenges

Cycling has somewhat taken over my life currently! I'm sure Jo would agree! I am so fortunate that Jo at least pretends to understand my fanaticism for exercise!

I have been a competitive runner for the last 30 years but only recently have I got the competitive cycling bug. There are several problems with this with the major one being money. Are there any sponsors out there who are prepared to subsidise an aged but keen and potentially competitive masters cyclist?

A bigger problem is that it takes twice as much time in training compared to running. A long run of 2 hours has to be a 4 hour bike ride for similar benefits.

This morning I did my favourite ride around the Aka Block that I have managed to do several of over the last few weeks while on holiday. Today's ride was special as I rode with Bryan, a competitive cyclist with the Kapiti Cycling Club who also is strong on hills. We took turns into the wind and completed the 90 km [56 mile] course in 2 hours 55 minutes. This is my best by over 15 minutes! It is a great time for 2 riders to do in windy conditions over an extremely hilly course. We averaged over 31 km [20 miles] an hour! We managed 70 km [45 miles] an hour on some descents and 50 km [30 miles] an hour on some flat bursts.

Here are some recent photos of the course for those who are not familiar with the ride!

Tired legs are pproaching the Summit of the Akatarawas before the descent.

At the summit and ready to pick up speed!

There is a lot to learn for me about cycling but that is exciting and I like challenges!

Along with the hills and long distance rides there is the challenge of riding fast in a group. This happens on Tuesday nights and for the first time I started with the second fastest group. There are only 2 riders currently who are capable of holding the pace of the fastest group called Scratch. Two nights ago I completed the 40 km [25 miles] in under an hour which is 4 minutes quicker than my previous best!
Click here for Tuesday's results

I'm sorry if I've bored you with facts and figures but I am truly excited about the new world that has opened up to me and the possibilities of tapping into unknown potential! I'm sure with the way my training is going and with the wise advice I'm receiving from my mentors, I will be competitive when racing in 2012!