Long ride at Yatala

I picked up Megan and we headed down the coast to Yatala for a ride.

This was a good ride; the goal was to ride 4 hours so Megan and I got there a bit early to get some extra time in before the others were due to arrive.  Eventually everyone arrived and we had ridden just under 30mins so that was a good head start.

There was Megan, Trish, Alex, Chris, Sophie and myself which was a good group.  Trish and Alex are training for the Goondiwindi Hell of the West so they didn't need to do the full 4 hours.  We managed to ride 3hours 45mins and covered 105kms, so I was really happy with that.

The ride was hot, really hot.  I drank 4 bottles of electrolytes and ate half a vegemite sandwich.  I could have done with another bottle of electrolytes as I rode back empty. 

We rode from the Yatala roundabout at the BP out to Jacob's Well and then out through the GCHIM course onto the V1 down to Dreamworld and then back up the V1 to where the cars were parked.  This is where we reloaded with fuel and then we rode back down to Dreamworld and back.

On the way back the wind picked up and there were a couple of gusts that really moved the bike - very disconcerting!

I felt probably the best I have ever felt after doing in excess of 100kms.  I certainly didn't feel as though I wanted to run a marathon (who would!), however I did feel as though I could have shuffled off the bike.  I was happy to get off the bike, but I didn't need to get off.  So, I like that I can feel like that now as it gives me a sense of confidence that I can slowly build up the distances and my ability to cope with the extended duration of exercise.  I also wonder how much of this I can attribute to my bike and I think that I can attribute a fair bit to it, I feel good on it, I don't have any pain or discomfort (ok, sore bum, but that's a given!).  Maybe it's the carbon bike making me feel a bit more comfortable after a long ride...