Longest... ride... ever!!! Since moving to Ipswich in Qld & having the in-laws living in Warwick Ive been keen to do this, ride from Warwick to Ipswich, please note not the other way round as that would mean going up Cunninghams Gap & thats just for crazy people ;) Had a shocker of a nights sleep the last 2 nights with Tate up every 2hrs Friday night & hourly last night (he just likes his own bed), my poor wife was up with him trying to settle him but nothing worked, eventually disappeared (yes great husband there!) into the spare room at the in-laws as had the alarm set super early to get my ride home happening, I did push the alarm back 20mins which being in a slight state of wtf is happening when the alarm did go off meant I left Warwick about half an hour later than planned, just wanted to get a fair chunk of the ride done before the summer Qld heat set in :) Was soon into the ride once on my bike & woke up properly, was amazing going along the highway once there was light, my wife & in-laws were worried because of the trucks etc driving 100km/h straight past little old me on my pushie but they were awesome, every single vehicle overtaking me either changed into the fast lane if there was one or crossed the centre median, not once did I feel at risk and truckies & motorbikes going the other way virtually all waved back when I gave them a wave to say good morning :) Then came Cunninghams Gap... 9km of winding downhill - this was the main reason I was so keen for the ride & it didnt disappoint, recently improved the bitumen was smooth, the corners on the bike long enough to follow round without touching the brakes once & just simply amazing gliding down, was left with a huge smile on my face for many kilometres after reaching the bottom :D (Im yet to check the footage but also had my GoPro running for the descent - if any good will post later) Straight through Aratula a planned rest stop I kept going until moving off the highway & texting Elise to say I was still alive and heading onto the back roads, in hindsight this was a bit of a mistake, smaller roads means cars going the same speed on the hwy but with nowhere to go when overtaking so they were a lot closer not that I saw too many, and also being a smaller road the road surface was a lot rougher and went over every little hill of which there were many, I was starting to feel the fatigue setting in when I made it to Peak Crossing and a little shower came over, the cloud cover and the rain was a welcome relief & I stopped for a short break to stretch the legs & text Elise again with a progress update. Back on the bike & it was the final hour back into Ipswich now, never have I been more grateful to see the sign at Yamanto pointing towards Ipswich Central although I was still moving okay I knew the end was in sight, at this stage the Garmin had clicked over 110ks and this was well & truly my longest ride, in fact my longest self propelled journey as Id previously run 108km at last years Kokoda Challenge. Home & with 118km completed on my trusty 10yr old mountain bike I grabbed a protein shake for instant nutrition back into my muscles & hit the pool to relax, after a short stint I jumped out again & completed Day 11 of the January Challenge - didnt want my legs stiffening up later & be unable to squat ;) connect.garmin/modern/activity/670544626 https://app.strava/activities/239389329 #takingthelongoption #mtbontheroad
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 02:31:03 +0000