SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2008

Left New Orleans Cafe in Crows Nest with Aaron B for a long day in the saddle. We rode up to Hornsby where we met up with Mark Newton and his HERT squad, including Vlad S. From there we headed through along Galston Rd, climbing out of the gorge and along Old Northern Rd to Wisemans Ferry. Here we had a pit stop and then caught the ferry across the Hawkesbury, where we continued along Wisemans Ferry Rd.

There was a steady 5km climb somewhere between Spencer and Mangrove Mountain where myself, Mark, and an English bloke named Lucas turned up the heat and split from the main group. This was not a bad move as we got to wait at the top for a bit before heading back towards Calga, Mt White and the Pacific Hwy. On the climb from Mooney Mooney to the Pie in the Sky near Cowan I popped onto the front and together with Vlad we skipped ahead of the rest before having another pit stop. Shared in with Vlad and Aaron on an Apple Pie then again on a Blueberry Pie. Boy did those hit the spot! From there on we headed back to Hornsby where we left the rest of the guys, before Aaron and I floated down the Hwy towards home. Ate and slept for the rest of the afternoon.

Generally I felt pretty good all day, which is probably in part due to the stimulus of having so many people to talk to, and the fact that I ate heaps whilst on the bike (2 x gels, 1 x Power Bar, 2 x peanut butter/honey sandwiches, 2 x Uncle Toby's muesli bars, 1 x handful starburst lollies, plus 1/2 apple pie and 1/2 blueberry pie and a couple of dried apricots pinched off Aaron). Was happy with the way I climbed the hills, and stoked with the total distance covered. Over 70km more than my longest ride! We did have a fair few pit stops along the way but it was good to get the k's in the body.

TRAINING:

AM: 6hour 45min ride (201km). Avg HR 129BPM (176Max). Avg Spd 29.7kph.