Tour de Vic, 2013 Edition

Last weekend I participated in the 100km ride that is part of Ryder Hesjedal's Tour De Victoria. This was my second year taking part in the event, and once again, it didn’t disappoint.

This year was a little different though…

Last year it was just me and my Dad riding the 100k. (Kirsten and Tyler took on the 140k, but we never crossed paths with them).

This year it was a family affair, as my Dad, Kirsten, myself and even my Mom took on the 100k ride.

Last year the weather was pretty much perfect. Sunshine-happiness and all that good shizz.

This year the weather was ugly. Rain, wind, more rain… oh, and a little teeny-tiny bit of sunshine to end out the day.

Last year Shane gave me grief for not stuffing my pockets full of Honey Stinger products at each feed zone to help fuel our Ironman training that year (and the fact that Kirsten had done this, and used the “free” Stinger products all season long only gave him more ammo for his “grief giving”).

This year, I took everything and anything I could get my hands on at the feed zones, and finished the ride with pockets so full they probably added 10lbs (or more) to my back. I’m pretty sure the kid volunteering at the Parkland feed zone will never forget me, haha.

Judge me if you will, but the event is expensive, and training for an Ironman is also expensive, so yeah…
a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

Last year the ride was in June and I was healthy and fit and heading into a peak block of Ironman training. 100k on the bike was a pretty regular occurrence at that point in the season.

This year I came down with a slight sore throat a few days prior to the event, only to have it turn into a full blown chest cold the day before. Oh, and with all the time spent running on the trails this summer, about 55k had been my longest ride of the season.

So yeah, I felt like crap, and the idea of riding 100k in the rain with a chest cold wasn’t super appealing, but I also have major cheapskate tendencies (^see evidence above) and I wasn’t about to throw away the registration fee (or the Honey-Stinger-getting-opportunities).

On top of that, I had been looking forward to riding with my folks and Kirsten and I really do enjoy the “no pressure” aspect of this event. So I sucked it up and well… onward we rolled.

Anyway, what can I say?

Despite the rain and the wind, the day was super fun. Aside from a little bit of laboured breathing on the Munns Rd hill climb (it was the chest cold, I swear) and some minor “my hands and feet are numb” wussy moments, my body felt good at the end, and it made me excited to really get back on the bike and get into training for IM CdA in the coming weeks (if only I could kick this damn cold).

Getting to ride on roads with little-to-no traffic, having flag people control all the intersections, and just being out in our beautiful city with a bunch of other like-minded people is a pretty awesome thing.

So yeah, if you couldn’t tell, I had an absolutely great time soaking up the day (pun totally intended); rolling along at Mom’s pace, just taking in all the cheers and cowbells of the [awesome, amazing, super-fantastic] volunteers on course.

Oh, and did I mention the Honey Stingers? Yeaaahhh!!!

 

Photos by Art Box Victoria.