The Loop

The Southbrook Loop Ride

After being sick for weeks now with a bad sinus infection I finally went to the doctor yesterday and got some antibiotics. Deciding that they should work whether or not I do some exercise I decided to go out riding anyway, and head out towards Southbrook and do the loop I created some time ago in Strava. I knew I'd be fatigued and tired from being sick, but I thought I'd be OK since it was only 70k or so.

That was a big mistake in my thinking! It turned into a really hard ride, with an average heart rate of 153, but I’d imagine once I put it into Strava it’ll show as “Epic” as my HR alarm spent a fair bit of time beeping cause I’d hit the upper limit and I couldn't get it down despite slowing and "relaxing". 

How it panned out

Things started out ok but by the half way mark I was dead with fatigue (no doubt from being sick for weeks). Figured rather than go back the way I’d come (which had some pretty decent hills thanks to the "heavy" bitumen) I’d keep going in the hope that there’d be no more of them. After swinging south from Southbrook I then had to negotiate 20k’s+ of badly corrugated dirt roads with hills! That slowed things up considerably, spending half the time going back and forth across the road avoiding potholes, water and corrugations, and by the time I hit bitumen again I was shattered and had nothing left in the tank. Crawled home at a snail’s pace totally dead with fatigue. The "wall" never looked so big when you're an hour or so away from your bed! It was a tough ride back and it was a case of just turning the pedals and ignoring the constant thoughts of stopping and walking.

Cobbled Classics bike

The Pulsium more than earned it’s stripes last night. Despite the terrible road it was still smooth, quiet, and pretty fuss free. I was hoping against hope I wouldn’t get a puncture! And I woke up this morning without a sore backside too! I couldn't imagine taking my TCR down that road. Those wavy forks certainly do suck up the worst the road has to offer. Seems every time I ride that bike it reaffirms my decision to buy it instead of an Emonda or Domane.

On the bright side, the countryside was gorgeous. Never seen it in the half-light before since I do almost all my riding in the middle of the night, and it was really great. Amazing what you miss in the dark. I did have some rabid cattle dog come at me too, but I yelled at the mongrel and the owners came out and called it back (thank God! It was foaming at the mouth!). 

Joys of cycling…

Stay right side up and stay safe.