Floating and falling

Phew, epic trip into the hills on the bike this morning. A good 160km or so of riding. The distance is a big part of what made it a solid session, however, the other factor was that Johan Borg came along for the ride too. Johan is a pro triathlete based in Perth who unfortunately crashed out of Cairns Ironman last weekend. With his race cut short last week he was happy to come along for a ride this weekend.

Johan floats up hills and falls down them. I suspect he defies physics, I am pretty sure gravity shouldn't work so lightly on somebody going uphill and so strongly on the same person going down hill. Riding with somebody like Johan brings a whole extra level of intensity to a session like this morning's. With the extra intensity the ride had an edge over last week's long ride, which was a similar distance, but probably a little bit easier. By the end of the ride the average power, and in particular the normalised average power were at a good solid level, particularly for a 5 hour ride. Nice progress.

As well as being a solid workout. The session was also a very pretty one. Unusually for me, this session didn't take me over any roads that I haven't ridden before, so the scenery wasn't new, but a combination of nice early morning light and mist filled valleys made for some gorgeous vistas. A lovely morning to be riding in the hills. And a freezing one. Oh so cold. A minimum of 2.4 degrees was the lowest we reached in one of the valleys I think.By that point I couldn't feel my face or the fingertips in my fingerless gloves. Luckily there was a big hill immediately after that cold section to warm up on.

With the ride taking up so much of the day there really hasn't been the time (or the patience from my ever tolerant wife) to get in more training. Nor has there been the energy if I am fair, so the afternoon has been a quiet one. The family unit spent a bit of time searching for Dory, but other than that we have just been relaxing.

Tomorrow is likely to be more of the same. I have a complicated morning and then a cruisy afternoon. The morning is made complicated by the fact that I have a long run to get done before attending the Triathlon WA Annual Awards breakfast at 7:30am. Getting the run done first will make for a busy morning, but I don't see any other way to do it. I am always really keen to support Tri WA where I can and the breakfast is a fun event. I might just be a little late unfortunately.

Should be a good morning though. With a breakfast buffet I struggle to see how it could be bad.