Today was one of those training days I'd rather forget. Well that's not quite true. There were some definite positives, but it was more of a day that seemed to put more than the usual number of obstacles in the way of a great training day.
I had taken the day off work especially.
Yesterday (Sunday) St Pete was competing in his first ultra marathon, 50km in Hagley Park, and so I had arranged for Sunday to be a rest day for me so I could support him in his quest. In return, I took today off work so I could complete my traditional long bike ride.
So I was set down to do a 5 hour bike followed by a 60 minute run. The plan was to break it up into two rides. First would be a 3 hour circuit out through Kaiapoi, to Sefton, Rangiora and back to Christchurch. I would call in at home to replenish the food and water supplies on the bike and then head out again for a 2 hour ride around MacLeans Island to Prebbleton and back home.
Simple.
The day dawned fine and warm, and not too windy to start off with and so Pete suggested I put the new aero wheels on. Great idea. So it was done and by 8.00am I was out the door.
As I headed out of town the wind started to pick up a bit and, by the time I got to Kaiapoi there was a persistent nor-wester making life reasonably miserable. Never mind, I thought, once I turn at Sefton it will be on my side and once I turn towards Rangiora it will be behind me all the way back home.
Until then, though, life was challenging. Having deep dish aero wheels does improve your performance but it's a bit like going from the comfy family station wagon to driving a Formula 1 race car. In side winds they can be quite twitchy and so you do need to be able to keep your nerve and pay attention to what's happening around you in order to stay on the right trajectory.
And then there are the trucks. Big trucks. Logging trucks. Milk tankers. The side winds they generate as they tear past you with less than half a metre to spare are enough to blow you off your bike if you aren't paying attention and I definitely had a couple of F... moments.
After a reasonable slog, however, I was rewarded with the turn towards Rangiora and I knew from then that I'd be able to make the most of my speed wheels and have a great run back into Christchurch (and get my average speed for the ride up as well!). For half an hour I had a fantastic time, getting up to about 44km/hr. It felt really good, powering along and the wheels were doing their thing in fine style.
And then it turned to custard.
Just as I was approaching the bridge that goes over the motorway, just before the Waimak bridge, I realised that the back wheel didn't feel right. I stopped to check it and, sure enough, it was punctured. Bugger.
Never mind, I had a spare tube and so set about replacing it. Unfortunately I only one spare tube so it was going to be a case of getting home and then changing the wheels over and using the regular wheels for the second ride. Not to worry, I set off again.
And got about 3km down the road. To Belfast, just on the outskirts of the city.
Yep, the back wheel was flat again and this time I was stuck. I didn't have another tube and so the SOS phonecall went out to St Pete (who had also taken the day off work) to come out and get me. Damn.
We got home and I proceeded to change the wheels over and, while doing so, noticed that the tyre on the front wheel had a pretty big bulge in it. Double damn. A quick ride around to the bike shop confirmed my worst fears - the tyre was stuffed (broken they called it) and was likely to blow at any time. Even worse, a blowout on the front wheel could be pretty nasty so I really didn't want to be riding it at all.
New tyre on wheel, and wheel back on bike, I finally headed out the door for my second ride at 1.00pm - two hours behind schedule and feeling reasonably fed up with the whole thing. Because my first ride had only lasted 2 hours 30 minutes I needed to increase the second ride and so had to aim for a further 2 hour 30 minute ride.
By this time, though, the wind had gathered sufficient force to turn the ride into a total grovel. Heading out to the airport and around the back past MacLeans Island was right into the wind and I finally got to experience a decent tailwind once I crossed over the Old West Coast Road and started heading towards Prebbleton. As with the stretch from Rangiora earlier in the day, this section of the ride finally put a smile on my face and the wind had increased sufficiently that I was able to hit a top speed of 48km/hr. Awesome!
Of course it didn't last nearly long enough and before long I was back at Halswell and riding around Cashmere and up Colombo St, again into the wind, before getting home.
By the time I walked the bike through the front door at home it was 3.45pm and I was completely over the day. Physically I could have done the run as scheduled. Mentally I just couldn't drum up the enthusiasm after the events of the day.
The run can wait until tomorrow.
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