Posts tagged suffering

…the best thing about cycling is stopping.

Some days there’s no better moment than when you swing your leg over the bar and stand with feet together while waiting for the garage door to rise. Hearing the little snapping noise of the clasp of your helmet as you release it means it’s all over and my, what a relief that is.

Yes, on Thursday evening I suffered on my bike in a way I haven’t done for a while.

After not riding Kew Boulevard for a few weeks, I decided it was time to tackle it once again. I had decided what I was going to do – a single complete circuit to test out my legs. Uh… yeah, it sounded good in my head. The reality was a little different. I was feeling weary before I even managed to get to my starting point so when I hit that first long hill, I wanted to die about two-thirds of the way up. I’m sure my face was screwed up in pain as I struggled my way up the hills. I didn’t even bother to pretend to pedal on the descents. All I could think about was those few moment of blessed relief when I didn’t have to turn the cranks.

I was gasping for air as I completed the first half of the circuit and I wasn’t certain I actually had it in me to complete the circuit. I stopped to rest while I ate my energy bar (I’ve found I can’t eat and ride hills at the same time) and contemplated what I was about to do to myself to get home.

I had to granny-gear it to get up all of the hills on the way home. I was turning those cranks at about 100rpm but still only doing about 14km and feeling like I was going to tip over any second. At one point, I even had to get out off the seat because I simply didn’t have the momentum to stay upright if I remained seated.

It was a war of attrition for me and I suffered. I crested one hill and I know my face was a mask of pain.

And the sad thing? Kew Boulevard isn’t in that hilly. The ascents aren’t that sharp. I shouldn’t have been suffering as I was. But what makes Kew Boulevard a challenge is that it’s about 12 kilometres of hills and corners if you do a full circuit. There is no flat, which means very little time to recover. Actually, wait! There is a flat section for about 200 meters on a bridge over the Easter Freeway. Wooh!

But I made it. I managed to get my sorry arse home and have that moment of sweet, sweet relief when I stopped. Sometimes I wonder what drives me to do this to myself. I know it’s because there’s always some good to be had – even if it is the moment I stop.