Grand Slam #1 route

[steveoc]

Wow - great ride, good turnout, gorgeous scenery, and fantastic support. A few familiar faces too. If only the MCCT death march was half as well organised.

But &**&*% me .... I am completely shattered after that effort. One the hardest I have ever done, I gave it a decent enough shot, and Im pretty pleased with my results (for a change). Spent a lot of time out of the saddle too and I am happy with the way I got up the climbs pretty fast for me. Something is working.

I kept up the food at regular intervals - that helped a lot. I kept thinking of Alex S's words in a recent post here on VO2max testing - he said something like "If you can still think clearly, then you are not done yet". Thanks Alex, that is real HTFU stuff.

But I am truly spent now.

Turning back to Mt Torrens on the last stretch a twig or something fell from a tree and hit me in the chest on the bare skin (jersey unzipped a bit). Did hurt a little, and kept stinging a tiny bit for the next 10km. Slightly sore, but nothing to worry about compared to trying to stay upright in those cross winds, dealing with the complaints from the legs, accelerating up hills, etc.

Anyway, get home and check it out - some black evil looking thorn like thing stuck in my chest, pulled that out. As I get ready for the shower (which is a polite euphemism for taking my bib off), I find a mostly dead bee floating around very close to where a live bee should never ever ever be allowed to be. (to bee or not to be). I am amazed at how little it hurt - bee stings normally turn me into pathetic little cry baby, but I hardly noticed this one. Strange.

Anyone else stubbed their toe recently and not given a damn ?

Absolute Legend of the Day award goes to - that guy on the recumbent doing the whole 85km with just his arms (non functional legs I assume).
Total Respect !!!

[bionic wombat]

What a day! freaking cold start with blustery conditions thrown in for a good mix! I did the 85 km slog and boy some sections where crosswinds were strong for me to lean on one side. Looking forward to next ride at Littlehamption ( 100 km slog feast )

[Patdys]

Cheers, beat me too it by a minute.

Looking fwd to this one - its all flat !!

I clocked in 900 metres of flatness. Nice ride. Challenge number two looks equally flat. Nairne hill might bre fun at the end.

[candy08]

Did the 80km

man oh man that crosswind was a hassle....A brilliant event, well organised, great catering and friendly volunteers made this one a success.

I managed the 80km with around 26km avg so im pretty happy with that.....many of you prob overtook me....i was up front for the first 5km until the 10 man rd train came bursting past....got busted taking a leak on the main rd too hahaha stupid long lines at Mt Torrens.

[Ric]

Did the double loop in my first BikeSA event and I really enjoyed the experience. Thanks for the earlier comments on wind and elevation as it helped me get my head around what was likely to happen. Can't wait for the Coast to Coast.

[SeanB]

windy forecast for the ride - bugger!

you weren't kidding.

[KRG]

Couldn't believe how cold it was this morning. Rode out to the start which warmed me up but once we were all waiting around it was arctic. Was in the slowest male toilet queue of all time too.

The section of road over near Tunkillo was perfect, downhill, smooth like a highway and a tailwind to boot. The section from Birdwood back to the oval was super difficult with the gusting head/side winds. I was reminding Mother Nature to be kind to me, being on a bicycle and all, just to lay off for 5 minutes but no. Had a couple of close calls with falling branches, one bunch (branch with large tuft of leaves still attached) on the first steep climb was very close when it hit the ground. Made me warily eye off the overhanging boughs for the remainder of the trip.

All the people that helped did a great job, rego all 3 times was swift and easy, the roll was great being able to assemble it ourselves too. Fruit cake - cycling fatigue - heavenly. Who knew? Great work. Was my first GS and wasnt sure about doing the whole series but definitely will now, very relaxed and a good motivator to keep up the kms.

[kross]

Hi guys,
First time poster, long time reader. Did the ride today and, wow, it feels like I've done 120km not 80km! Didn't think the wind was as bad as the last 30-40km or so on the TDU ride but it stayed with us all day. Looking forward to the other 4 rides of the Grand Slam plus the Coast to Coast.
Well done to BikeSA - a well organised event