Back on the bike.

Well, I did my first Kings ParkEB event, at the suggestion of my daughter. I got up at the unbelievable time of 5 o'clock AM. I'm on school holidays, I should have been sleeping in, but no, it's on the bike. It wasn't too uncomfortable on the drive to Kings Park, after all, I had the A/C set at 22 degrees. When I got out of my ute at the park though, it was already 30 degrees and humid. I was beginning to wonder what I was in for.
I borrowed Holly's wind trainer and did a bit of a warm up to loosen the legs and then realised that I was 4 minutes from my start time so off I went. The start was okay and then I went into the downhill section. What a blast - doing over 50 km/h downhill, then all too quickly I was at the first turn around. I hate the turn around (in two lanes). This is something I have to do out here in the bush all the time so you would think I'd be used to it. Used to it, yes, like it, no. Anyway, after the turn it's all uphill for like FOREVER! I haven't been on the bike for about 5 weeks - at least since harvest started - I'm afraid of trucks.
Back to the hill. It didn't take me long to find granny gear. Halfway up the hill I was ready to quit and it was only the first lap. By the time I got to the finish line I was knackered. Then I saw Lorraine and when she said "Come on Mark, you can do it..." I realised I can't just quit, so I soldiered on, after all, the downhill section WAS a rush.
Foour climbs later and it was all over. I put the bike in the ute, changed my shoes and walked over to see what my time was. I knew it was just over 45 minutes. I saw it posted - 45:48, not bad I suppose for my first EB event. There is definately room for improvement. We'll see what next week brings, hopefully some cooler weather.
I finished last but I finished, and I didn't lose.