Sunday, February 4, 2018

2018 Chunky's revenge....

So 2017 finished off on a low after a crash in late October, that left me with bruised ego and a few fractured ribs. I had to skip riding the 94.7 for the first time in 9 years, due to my injuries (and also I was flying overseas on business on that day). So a few weeks off the bike for injuries and 2 weeks overseas, over-exerting my drinking hand, the Kilos pilled on. I got the shock of my life when I got on the scale in mid December (105kgs), the heaviest I have been for a few years. The extra kilos and the lack of time on the bike seriously took a toll on my riding. I seemed to have regressed from sort of ok, to useless. There were a couple of rides in late December and early January where I really struggled and couldn't match the pace of the groups that I was riding with. 

Really hard ride to Heidelberg 2 Towers and back, extreme heat and fatigue. At one stage, I had Sean, Alistair and the Tandem (Greg and Claire) all pushing me. Gee, I really struggled, it was a dark time and fortunately I had good mates to assist in my time of pain. The next weekend went slightly better, when we did a ride from the Home of the Chicken Pie to Hartebeesport Dam and back. This was a incredible ride, pretty hard with all the climbing and extreme heat (39 degree high) but very beautiful scenery. Awesome bunch of people led by Ashley and we went through a Game Park and saw lots of game and the views closer to the dam were awesome. I survived this ride and made it to the end, really glad that I did it. 
Chunky puffing up the hill... 
Group photo at the top of the hill over looking Harties.
Dam nice view
Sticking her neck out 
Awesome views 
Extreme Awesome
Chunky and friends
Chunky climbing Bedford Hills
Heidleberg hill, Chunky was not in the photo as he was still coming up the hill...
Wimpy Heidelberg, feeding the beast...
So there have also been a few other longer rides to Big Red Barn and back that were getting easier as I was getting fitter and shedding a few kilos. 2018 is when Chunky gets boot and I regain my dignity by not being the last person on the group rides.

Morning rides before work - sunrises and coffee stops