Long ride/run = 11 bottles of fluid!!!

This was to be my epic ride.  My programme has this as my longest ride leading into Ironman New Zealand and it was supposed to be 6 hours.  However, I threw caution to the wind and decided that I really, really wanted to cover 160kms in a long ride prior to heading over to NZ where I would have to ride 180kms.  So, I mapped out 160km's which was from Kenmore to Hope Island and then back again.

I was initially going to do this ride solo as a bit of a mental hardening exercise.  However, when fellow triathlete and soon to be IM Australia entrant Lisa asked if I wanted company I nearly begged her to come along with me!  We made it clear to each other that it was to be a "bum on saddle" ride and we were taking it at a nice comfortable pace.

I headed home from Kenmore at 4:30 and I met Lisa at Active Stride at South Brisbane at 5 and she had her shiny new TT bike that was carbon everything - it is hot, very hot!  After some ogling we headed out.  The roads were nice and quiet and we settled into a nice relaxed chatty ride.  It was great, it was really lovely riding with Lisa as neither of us were out to prove a point, we weren't chasing an average speed and it was just a case of being able to scoot along comfortable and hold a conversation.

The time really flies by when you are able to spend it chatting away!  We refuelled our drink bottles at the Mobil at Coomera which was the 75km mark.  There were some other cyclists there refuelling too and Lisa knew them which was quite funny.  They were riding down the coast and then catching the train home.  I wasn't even tempted!  I was feeling comfortable and in no need to think about shirking out of the ride.

We rode down to Hope Island and then turned around and headed for home.  It always feels better heading for home!  Immediately we seemed to have a head wind and I was a little concerned, but not overly as it wasn't too strong and I still had plenty in the tank.

We refuelled at Loganholme on the way back which was the 110km marker and then we continued on towards home.  I waved to Mum at Ikea on the way through.  I'm not quite sure why she wasn't standing out the front waving to me, but never mind - she probably had some customer's that needed serving!  Thankfully, by this stage the wind was no longer on my mind, I think we were pretty lucky with the weather.  It was just hot.

We started to hit traffic about here and it certainly does make it just that bit more difficult.  Mentally, I find it tough to contend with traffic and traffic lights - the constant start/stop and watching behind you and going around parked cars, etc just takes that extra bit of effort and when I start to get tired it often becomes my undoing!  As we came in to Brisbane I still had 15kms to do.  Lisa said that she would do the extra k's with me as we should finish the ride together, so we headed out to do a reverse river loop but instead of going out to Indooroopilly Bridge we cut it shorter and just went over the Goodwill Bridge instead.  The traffic lights were really starting to irritate me, I just wanted the ride finished and it was hard to finish when we were stuck at traffic lights!

Finally the ride was finished and I had 161.5kms on the clock.  I was really glad to be finished, but it was mainly because I was sick of getting every traffic light and having to be stationery in the heat.  I felt as though I could have ridden longer without too much trouble, but would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if it was rolling without delays.  Thankfully at IM there won't be traffic lights or delays, I can just keep on riding.

Craig had parked the car at South Bank when he went to ride with Gerrad this morning, so I found the car and packed the bike away and changed into my running shoes.  Gerrad's car was parked in front of ours and he had just returned from his run.  He said that Craig wasn't too far away.  I arranged to meet them at the coffee shop after I had finished my run.

I hit the Cliff Young shuffle and headed out towards the Storey Bridge.  I turned around at the stairs and headed back to South Brisbane.  I felt slow, however it was really hot.  I was pretty comfortable though and didn't need to stop running when I returned although I was very grateful to!

A well earned Iced Coffee went down a treat!  It was bliss!

My Garmin told me that I burnt just over 4000k/cals.  I consumed 9 bottles of Hi-5 4:1 electrolytes and consumed 3 Anzac cookies and part of a Gingerbread man.  I also drank 1 bottle of water and 1 bottle of water with a Hi-5 Shotz tablet.  I had a chocolate shake after the Iced Coffee and weighed myself when I got home and I had put on 1 kilo since I weighed myself in the morning.  Pretty happy with that!

I am very relieved that this ride is done and I can bank the training session. Oh, and ride time was 6hrs 47mins.