Sounds like an awesome experience oldnewby. Long flat stretches do have a different way of hurting though. I don't get them very often but notice the big difference is there are no breaks. Like you said, same position but also the consistent effort without the downhills to break up the efforts of the climbs, it becomes a completely different type of fitness.
Grantw and BLC, top work on the 200 today, the wind was certainly unkind for the run home.
I managed to set off a little before 12 for my
attempt at the 79 mile challenge ride. Things had worked out well with Grant and Ben's ride looking to be at Albion Park at around the right time to meet up with them. I noted as I headed off the wind was quite gusty which I thought would have slowed their progress through Calderwood with it being so open. I rode down to the suggested meeting point to find they weren't there yet so headed out towards Calderwood figuring they wouldn't be too far away. As I headed out I passed a lady and her son and after a friendly G'day as I rode by she commented to her son, "Look, there goes a real rider". I had to have a little laugh as I pondered her definition of real rider, they where both really riding bikes and I'm far from the club racers that frequent the rode we where on.
It was only a little further on that Grant and Ben came into view and I was turning around to join them as they where now into the second half of their 200. As we rolled back through Albion Park the first of my milestones for today would go by, passing the 6999km goal for the year. A golden bar is waiting for me upon the next update
Out the other side of Albion Park and it's time for me to start my climbing for the day. Grant lead the way up Mt Terry and was climbing really well for having some 130+km in his legs already.
The road from Albion Park to Kiama via Jamberoo is an undulating one and today the wind gusts where adding some extra challenge to it. More often than not it seamed to be coming from the side and making riding in a straight line rather difficult. After a few more climbs we're at the Blowhole in Kiama and it's time to stop for the guys to get their brevet cards signed and to get some food before riding on. Somewhere in the undulating terrain I'd managed to pass milestone number two for the ride, clocking up my 6000m of climbing for November. During our eating and chatting we check out the bom site and find the forecast is for the wind to swing around at some point. For Grant and Ben the sooner the better although for me with plans to continue south to Berry it would be nice if the change could hold off until I got there. Walking back outside the temperature had dropped notably and I was expecting the change to come well before I'd make it to Berry.
Farewelling the guys as they headed off on the final leg of their 200 I started towards Berry with the aim of clocking up the required miles for the Strava challenge as well as finding the Woodhill Mountain climb to knock another climb off my list. Continuing on to Berry and things where going along fairly cruisily with the wind mostly behind me. Coming into Seven Mile Beach there is a nice downhill section with a couple of flowing bends and today things really lined up nicely for one of those 'close to flying' experiences. On top of the gliding feeling sweeping around the bends as I rounded the last bend a crow flew in over my head before diving down below me, flying within a metre or two of the road suface, around the bend and grabbed some roadkill off the road before heading back up into the trees. It was like watching some aerial footage of bird flight from a documentary except I was really there and it felt like I was gliding above the bird.
From there it was into tree lined road that blocked most of the wind. You could look up at the treetops being blown around all over the place while the roadside grass, flowers and low lying branches where all relatively still. Before long I was turning onto Beach Rd and heading west towards Berry. I'd beaten the southerly change which meant the others would have been doing it tough working their way back to Dapto and beyond. Coming into Berry and I see the sign for Woodhill Mountain Rd. It's a quick toilet stop and time to refill my water bottles before heading out on this road for the first time. I had no idea what to expect other than strava telling me it was 5.6km at 6% and as I headed out towards the climb it was time for me to battle head on into the wind that still hadn't turned. I don't know where the official start of the climb was but I found myself riding into the wind on a small incline of 1 to 2% before at some stage riding into the lee of the hill and being on a gradient of 6%. The way the hill took over from the wind was so gradual it was hard to tell where it happened and the effort seamed to stay the same through it all. The climb stayed mostly in the 4 to 6% range with sections of up to 8% and very occasional and brief spikes of 10% on the garmin. It just seamed to continue like this and after a couple of kilometres I started feeling comfortable with it and started to push a bit harder.
Soon after that the climb flattened off and there where a few houses around and then the reminder of why I don't push too hard on unknown climbs as at the other end of the houses the road kicked back up, this time to 10%, around where it would spend most of the rest of the climb. It didn't get much steeper though with 12 and 13 showing up a few times but no more, making it one of the least demanding of the big climbs in the area. After climbing this steeper section for a little while there is a tight right hand turn. Usually on these kinds of climbs tight corners coincide with steeper sections but I was surprised as I went around it to find the road flattening out again for some more houses. Then it's another little rise before a left hand bend and a gentle descent into a rainforest section. There is a pleasant drop in temperature in this section and I wonder as I roll along if that's the end of the climb but another turn and another upward pitch tells me there is still more to come. Not a lot though as I pass a line on the road which looks very much like a KOM marking.
Then I'm at an intersection. It's left for Kangaroo Valley, turn around for Berry or straight ahead for a no through road and a tiny bit more of a climb to what looks like the highest bit of road. I decide to take that one and as I crest that point the road starts heading down again. I contemplate turning around now that the climb is done but decide to head on a little further as I still need the distance. Heading down the other side the road heads back into rainforest and starts getting steeper. I keep wondering whether I should be turning around or keep going. Just a bit further I think, may as well see where the road goes as I ride on towards half the required distance. I reach the halfway mark as the road seams to reach the bottom of the descent and crosses the creek. From here the road get's a bit looser and rocky but it's pretty much flat alongside the river so I continue on for a little while, across another creek and past a few houses. The road just seams to continue onwards and I end up deciding I have enough distance covered and it's time to turn around and head back to the climb back up and out.
I stop for a photo as I recross the creek that marked the halfway distance in the challenge.
From there it's up the steeper but shorter climb and then back down towards Berry again. As I roll back down Woodhill Mountain I wonder if I'm going to get blasted by the southerly as I come out into the open area at the bottom. That wasn't the case and I end up heading back into the North Easterly wind as I head back towards home. It's tough going as it shows no sign of letting up and I keep riding on waiting for the southerly to come and provide some relief. I do some quick calculations in my head and work out I'll still need a bit of a detour on the way home to get the 79 miles in and decide to head out to Warilla before turning for home. It's the turn at Warilla that finally gives some rest from the wind as my direction of travel changed to turn the prevailing wind into more of a tailwind and I start cruising towards home.
I'm around 6 or 7 kilometres from home, heading along the East/West Link when the world turns dark. There's a faint yellowish grey glow about and looking up there's dark and menacing clouds stretching across the sky. It appears the forecast isolated thunderstorms are one their way, it's just a question of where and when they'll actually hit. About 30 seconds latter the southerly hits and it hits like a shark attack with the sudden thump coming from nowhere and almost knocking me off the bike. The earlier wind now seams tame by comparison and I battle to stay within the shoulder for the rest of the East/West before turning to face it head on. It's a tough battle up the hill and back across to Hillside drive where I would get my one chance to enjoy the wind as I headed north, racing to catch the wind. There was a bit more battling the wind for the final stretch to home but I managed to make it without any thunderstorm and having completed the two main goals for the ride having climbed Woodhill Mountain and clocking up the required 79 miles for the strava challenge.