We were up at the crack of dawn, and I mean the crack, 5:45 AM in the MORNING to be exact. Luckily in anticipation of hating getting up I got most of my gear in order the night before. We all met around 7:00 am, loaded the bikes and we drove out to Oliver.
We parked at Tuc El Nuit lake (where the Oliver Triathlon is held) got organised and left to ride out to Osoyoos. The ride out was pretty uneventful except for the snakes on the side of the road, gross. We had a nice tail wind on the way out, it was about 20 km out to the Husky in Osoyoos which apparently is the water filling station for triathletes. We all met up again and headed over to the giant mountain named Anarchist we were going to ride up.
I was excited about the ride, I recently discovered I love to climb so I was ready for the challenge and started to make my way up the mountain. I started at an easy pace, just trying to get into a groove. I stopped about half way up to take a picture (see below), have some food and chatted with a few bikers (of the motor variety). Naturally they thought we were crazy biking up this giant hill!
It was at around the 12 km mark where I was beginning to get tired of climbing. I wasn't sure where the top was so the last 3 km seemed to take forever, finally I saw the guys coming down and I knew I had to be close! At last I made it to the top and it felt awesome. This is a pic at the top with the Eagle statue which was our turn around point.
The way down was tons of fun, we were catching up to the vehicles that had to slow down to make the switch back turns! The wind was blowing pretty hard so there were a few crosswinds as we made our way down the mountain. This is a pic of everyone outside the Husky after the climb!
We were into the head wind on the way back so we all rode together. I have never really ridden in a paceline before, and I did not take my eyes off the wheel in front of me. The last thing I wanted to do was crash by not paying attention. At first Mark was riding behind me, turns out I don't block a lot of wind! I let him go in front of me and it was smooth sailing. For those of you who don't know Mark, he is about 6"5' so it was a smooth ride back for me once we switched places! This was the fastest 20 km I have ever ridden with a strong head wind that is for sure!
When we got back to the vehicles a few of us went for a little jog, trying to get those legs moving and test them out after a hard ride. As soon as I got back to the lake I went straight into the lake, I was BOILING! It was sooo hot out and the lake was really warm but it did help cool me off a bit. We loaded the bikes back into the truck and went back to Penticton.
Once we got back I did some running around, I needed more water, food, and electrolyte drink. When I got back to the hotel a couple of the guys were going for a swim so I tagged along, but I just stayed on the beach and relaxed while they went for a dip!
That night I was so so so so so very tired and I was in bed by around 9:00pm. Early night for me, but the next day was a big one, we were doing the Ironman bike course so I needed my sleep!
1 comment:
Arg I'm soo sooo jealous reading about your training. I wish I had gone to train with you guys too. So many memories from our May long camp, and now I feel like I'm missing out! Oh well, good for you, you'll be so ready for anything Aug. 24th throws at you. :)
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