[re:]cycling people

Located in the north western Hills district of greater Sydney, Tour de Hills is an event run by the local Rotory Club to raise money for Early Intervention Program at St Gabriel’s School for Hearing-Impaired Children in Castle Hill and other charities supported by the Club. The name of this event sounds far more daunting then it was, however, you should of course expect some hills. My intention for the this road ride was to prepare for the upcoming Dirtworks Classic, so the more hills ridden between now and then will still probably not be enough.

Arriving at the start was a little daunting as I see all the weight weeny roadies, stumbling around in their skin tight lycra. I turn up with a 16kg mountain bike with more rubber in my front tyre to make four of theirs, thinking quietly to myself, I hope there is some supper steep sections with a 20% grade. I have many gears before I have to walk. After getting over their initial hesitation and meeting my riding buddy, of cause this does help when he turns up on a brand new full carbon road bike weighing in at 7 point something kg and physic to match. Here I am with a ten ton truck and the truckies physic in comparison, my whole rig with, me included, weighing in well over the 100kg mark. Needless say I did do well down the hills, regularly clocking over the 70km/hr, unfortunately this doesn’t last to far up the other side. OK, enough of my insecurities about the initial few minutes. Once we began, everything is much more comfortable, setting a blistering pace off the start, after some time you slowly being to realise that you haven’t encountered any real hills for about the first 20km, not knowing the course, but understanding the principle of a loop, you must go up that you have come down. We pedal on and find that some of the largest obstacles are the condition of the roads themselves. As my buddies teeth are chatter over every single bump, I cruse quietly over not even any chain slap that you become a custom to on the trail.

The fist fifty came and went with relative ease, yes we did encounter a few hills in the later section, but nothing to make me shift from the middle chain ring. Our first brief stop was made at the 50km mark, too this point we had done reasonable time within 2hrs. As we embark on the next loop, slowly the first sign of cracks began to make their presents known. This time around the bike was not travelling at quite the speed of the first lap, there must be a lesson in there somewhere about pacing yourself. Never the less, continuing on and still able to pass the odd lycra clad weeny on the way up the hills………. After doing some kamikaze leap of the previous hill crest. Hay, I never said I would not try and use the weight to my advantage if at all possible. This tactic can only last so long and possibly more a sign of the desperation the skill or endurance. As the km,s wore on and we reached the 80 mark, the legs really begin to fade at this point. Knowing that the only way home from here was up and those hills that I did not think much of first time round suddenly becomes a true obstacle. Continuing on km by km and sucking down the energy gels more frequently I am able grind my way up, thankfully due the occasional some help from the very lowest of gears. With a short flat run, finally we reach the finish line not before time. This second fifty taking another 15-20min longer, this saw our time at 4hr 20min for the 100km. After a good injection of Carbs from the pasta lunch for recovery, it was time to enjoy the feeling of not moving. With a time hot bath the legs slowly, slowly began to recover.

On reflection, Would I do it again? The answer is of cause yes. Would I do it differently? Again yes. The biggest concern after all this is…… this was 100km on road with no sections of 20% grade, with a total climb of 500m. One single hill on the Dirtworks course is 300m climb and I know that there are two of these. Oh what have I really got my self in for with this?