Enjoying a Hill Ride

Sunday morning, as regular as a church outing, we are out riding.  Coach Dave decided it was that time of the year when we should be getting back into the hills, but post-earthquake our options have become quite limited.  Half of the Summit Rd above Christchurch is closed due to rockfalls.  Evans Pass, the road between Lyttelton and Sumner is also closed, and is apparently so munted it possibly won't reopen.

So we took the only other real option: up Hackthorne and Dyers Pass Roads to the Sign of the Kiwi, turn right onto the part of the Summit Road that is open, head all the way along until we hit Gebbies Pass, turn right and head down Gebbies, right onto the main Akaroa-Christchurch highway and back home via the compulsory coffee stop at Tai Tapu.

It was a gorgeous day, not too cold, no wind and beautiful views across to the snow-capped southern alps as we headed along the Summit Road.

It was also a day when I had the opportunity to reflect yet again on the progress I've made in the last 12 months.  This time last year I would have been freaking out about biking up Hackthorne, especially in a group.  However today I chugged my way up, led the way down and when we stopped at Tai Tapu for coffee made Coach Dave do a double-take with my comment:

"I really enjoyed that".

Who would have thought...

Removing the Albatross

OK, let's get this out in the open right now.  I love cycling, but I hate hills.  Call me a Clydesdale, but set me on a flat (or downhill!) course and I'll settle down onto my aerobars and pedal for hours quite happily.  Put me on a hill and a turtle could beat me up it.

Long Bays, then, is a great hill ride but, at the same time, an albatross around my neck.  It's a circuit from the city, out the main highway towards Akaroa, over Gebbies Pass to Diamond Harbour, to Lyttelton and then back over the hill to Sumner and back into the city.  Gebbies Pass itself is a decent climb and it's pretty much up and down from the pass all the way around to Sumner.

The last time I did this particular ride was a couple of years ago.  I was on my old bike and training for the Source to Sea (a 160km bike race from St Arnaud to Westport).  It wasn't a fun day.  Vivid memories of walking up Gebbies Pass and a couple of hills after that have turned Long Bays into one of those rides that I have since avoided like the plague.

While training for the half ironman last year I was more than content that I could get away with training on the flat only, as the half IM course was flat.  Even with a new, faster, bike I wasn't tempted.  Afterall, how demoralising would it be to be attempting the circuit on a better bike and still not conquer it?!   However the same can't be said for Taupo.  While the IM course is generally flat, there are a few hills to negotiate around the town area and so I'm going to have to suck it up and face my demons head on.

Coach Dave has got his work cut out for him, but I thought I'd help him along the way with my bike ride on Sunday.  My plan called for a 3 hour flat ride, cadence 85-95.  I headed out with good intentions and kept to the plan for the first hour.  The day was cold, crisp and fine.  Not a breath of wind, a perfect winter's day for riding.  I was heading out on the main road towards Akaroa and all was well with the world, when I came up to the turnoff to Gebbies Pass.  Suddenly this voice inside my head started suggesting that we give Gebbies Pass a go.  Afterall, I was on my own (so no fellow riders would be having to sit around and wait for me to dawdle my way up) and it would give me a benchmark to see how I'm going and, later on, compare my progress.

Before I know it I'm heading up the road towards Gebbies.

What an experience.  Grovelled my way up the hill, but didn't walk(!), so that was good.  Remember, though, that this is winter and so by the time I got to the top I was negotiating not only the climb but also the grit that had been so considerately put down to stop cars drifting off the side of various cliffs.  It was therefore a pretty slow descent, much slower than I'd usually go as I made sure I didn't do any out of control 2-wheel slides.  The road didn't change much through to Lyttelton - grit on all the shady bits of road making the whole experience more conducive to a spot of mountainbiking.

On leaving Lyttleton behind and starting the climb over to Sumner I discovered that obviously no cars are expected to drive that stretch over winter.  There was no grit to be seen (fantastic) BUT as a result there was plenty of frost and ice.  Bugger.  About 500m from the summit the road was completely white in front of me and when I started to feel the back wheel slide around that was enough for me.  Pedals were unclipped and I very gingerly walked the bike across the approx 200m stretch.

All in all, then, a great ride.  Hard like you wouldn't believe and not particularly fast, but I can at least say the albatross has flown...