Story of my Life

Yesterday I decided to ride home from work and as always I made pretty much every mistake that you could make.

It started out as a crazy idea I had a little while ago. I use to ride to work all the time and got pretty good at it but change of work venue change of workplace plus my fitness levels are not what they were. Add into that my accident and I was very scared about my first commute home but knew I just had to get other all that stuff and just DO it.

So I court the train to work with my bike yesterday morning and then headed out at 3:30 for the expected ride home of about 29K and about 90 minute ride. There are to rules when commuting;

1)Carry as little as possible.
2)Dress in layers

Both rules seem easy enough to follow but you sort of forget these things as time passes. As always the first commute is not your best I took way to much stuff to work and then insisted on lugging it all home on my back rather than leaving it there for me to collect the next day. So I was overladen from the start which was not a good move. It makes it a lot harder to get out of the saddle (something I am not good at at the moment to begin with). So mistake one, second and probably the worst one considering the weather I we had yesterday. Dress in layers is something that should be employed by most people in there day to day lives it really can save you in all sorts of situations. I have learnt this many times over my life with travel, bush walking, running, cycling and triathlon. So you think it would of stuck but unfortunately it looks like I will need to learn this lesson all over again. I put on one pair of shorts and one shirt. Considering the weather I am lucky not to be ill right about now. I hand in my trip home sun, rain, clouds, heavy winds and then more sun. I did pack a spray jacket but for got this till I got home still it is hard to stop in the pouring rain to dress so will need to raid my bike clothes and see what I can come up with for future rides.

The First Leg

Anyway so I headed out from work unprepared and not in the best frame of mind as I have not ridden in heavy traffic for a very long time. I knew the first part of the trip along Henry Lawson Drive would be fine I have ridden it many times and for the most part there is a bike path I can follow so traffic would not be an issue. This really was the most enjoyable part of the trip. Its quite nice riding along the Georges river near the end there (if you look past all the rubbish that people dump). Even stopped and got a pic of Lady (my bike) on the waters edge always nice to get a photo op in. Plus was good just to have a little break. I felt strong through here and was looking to the next stage of the journey with only a little dread.

The Dreaded

Next was the M5 I knew it was basically flat and that the bumps that people call hills on here were not going to be an issue. What scared me was the thought of cars flying past me a 110k an hour and some of those people just cannot drive. I drive this road every day and am very aware of the idiots that are on it still I was determined to make it so of I went. DAMN it really is a long way yes its basically flat and yes three years ago it would have been a breeze unfortunately its not three years ago and I am not the rider I was three years ago. This was a huge slog and I was so glad when I got to the Brooks Road turn of as I new home was now 9k away.

Home Stretch

The last leg was from the Brooks Road turn of then into Ingleburn and then onto Minto and then home. I knew it was only 9k but that still didn't make it any easier. Really the bumps were becoming hills and on their way to mountains (I have ridden mountains before so I know the difference). Still this part wasn't as bad as I thought but must admit the closer I got to home the harder it got. Unfortunately I had gravely underestimated the distance so it ended up being 36.5k not the expected 29k. Plus I have been very proud to say that I have never in my life gotten of a bike to walk up a hill. This can no longer be said still I made it home so need to focus on the positive. If there is one it would be that I get to do it all again on Thursday (YEAH).

Special Mention

Ok I need to make a few firstly;

1)To the Honda CRV who stopped in the brake down lane on the M5 in the worst spot ever thank you. Thank you for making me get of my bike and hope the guard rail and then proceed to crawl through the bush to get past you as I was not going to pass you on the road side. Special thank you to the kid that hung out the window to laugh at me as I crawled past really made my day.
2)To the two cars who on two separate feed in lanes actually stopped and waved my past so I would be stuck there all day waiting for a break in traffic to get past.
3)To the guy that leaned out of his car window to yell at me “come'on don't let it beat ya” as I climbed the last hill of the ride. You got me up that hill buddy so thank you (actually that's what I head him say but in reality it's who knows still it did the trick :).

First thing to relearn

I MUST relearn how to do a track stand, yes I know the hours I put into it last time and yes understand that it sucks that I lost the skill but when riding long distance with clip in shoes its a must on a bike. I must of spent a good 15 minutes on the ride home waiting for a break in the traffic when I really shouldn't have. There were plenty of opportunities to go but just couldn't as I knew my take of speed is just not what it should be.

Take aways

One thing I took away from the ride was just home much confidence I have lost in my riding ability and also my ability to read traffic. This is a serious issue if I am going to keep this up. When riding in traffic you need confidence in yourself and your abilities but also you need confidence to read what's going on around you. I use to ride in some very very heavy traffic and it never bothered me as I was just use to it. Being one with your bike and your surroundings may sound stupid but is vital if you are going to spend any length of time in heavy traffic.

Sum up

Anyway time to sum it all up, first I'm glad I got this one out of the way. The next will be much easier and things will improve from there. So yes there will be another commute on Thursday and hopefully all will be well. Already I can tell that I am much better prepared so here's hoping it all works out.

Total Ride Time: 2:02:146
Total Distance: 36.5
Average Speed: 17.8
Kilometres YTD: 245.6 (I know what your thinking that's just a normal weeks ride distance for me but seriously I'll pick it up and will try to get over 5000K before the end of the year)!!