And let me just say [hit me with a virtual high five here] this ride was awesome!
BUT, But, but... Before I go into too much detail about that, one of the reasons I was on my own was because Shane was racing the Cowichan Challenge Sprint on Sunday morning.
He did so freakin’ great – 6th place overall, 1st in his age group, and 2nd fastest bike split of the day! Not bad eh?
It was fun to be up at the race site cheering, and admittedly I only wished I was racing a few times. I’ve never experienced the Cowichan Challenge before, but after spectating, I can say that it definitely seems like a really great, low-key, community driven race. Oh, and Fuller Lake is absolutely beautiful.
In fact it is so beautiful that around 10:45ish, as I was sitting with Shane waiting for the awards ceremony, he convinced me that I should check out the lake and that I totally had time to get my swim workout done for the day (it was a short one). Something to keep in mind, the awards were scheduled for 11:30. There were multiple signs all over the park, as well as numerous announcements that it would in fact be at 11:30. So I had plenty of time, right?
The lake was warm enough to not need a wetsuit, so I borrowed Shane’s tri-shorts, swim cap and goggles, and stripped down to my sports bra and went for a quick 1000m-ish swim. Of course, probably about 5’ after I entered the lake, they started the awards early and I missed seeing Shane on his first podium. *sad face*
I think it bugged me more than Shane, but I’m still kinda bummed I missed it.
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| So, instead, we took photos at home on the deck. WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER! |
Now, back to Saturday’s long ride.
I started the day nice and early, getting on the road about 5:45am. My plan was to get on the ‘hat and head north. As I had hoped, the roads were super quiet. I was also treated to one of the best sunrises I’ve seen in a long time. I almost stopped to take a photo of the big golden sphere as it rose above the Saanich Inlet, but knew my crappy old phone wouldn’t do it justice. So I will just have to keep it in my memory I suppose.
The ride itself was fairly uneventful (which is always a good thing on a long bike, non?). I cruised along, trying to keep my cadence and my average speed up without killing myself or trying to crush any hills. I ate and drank as planned and just kept spinning. Honey Stinger Waffles are my new favourite thing.
As I passed the Nanaimo airport I realized I desperately needed to refill my water bottles, and also desperately needed to pee. Luckily, like a little oasis on the horizon, the next place to pull over was the Cassidy rest stop and it also happened to coincide with my planned turn around mileage.
I was the only one there aside from a maintenance worker, and I only had one moment of irrational fear that he might be a serial killer (too many Criminal Minds episodes again I suppose – see #4 here).
I emptied my bladder, made the turn to head south back to Victoria, made a quick stop for water and Gatorade at the next gas station and was once again on my way.
Traffic picked up as the day wore on, but it never felt too busy. The hardest part of the day was climbing back over the Malahat, but since I was carrying on past home and down to Juan de Fuca Rec, I was rewarded with a great descent. I love Love LOVE riding fast down hills!
I rolled into JdF with a riding time just under 5:50 and an average speed of 27.5km/h on the day. This may not be fast to some, but for me, getting in under 6hrs definitely helped boost my confidence a little and definitely made me want to do a little happy dance.
46 DAYS – 9 HR – 43 MIN – 4 SEC TO GO!
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