March 12, 2023
A tough day in the saddle
Today was the longest thus far at 83km and also the toughest with a good climb and steep, fairly technical descent. It was a fairly easy start around Lake Ōahu and mostly down wind. However there was a tough up wind section as we approached the Ōahu Lodge where we had lunch. After lunch we tackle the longest climb of our entire tour. It was 11km long with the first 6km averaging about 3% over crushed gravel. The last 5km average 6% over very lumpy rocks that made it tough to keep you momentum. I was the last one up but far from the last one down. The descent was also quite bumpy over rocks on single track. Once again my mountain bike training came in real handy. ( Thank you Sylvie) By the time I got down to the van at the 60km mark I was pedalling squares (ie I was out of gas). Once I refuelled on half a bag of gummies and 2 cookies I was good to go. The last 20km was gently downhill and down wind but half on gravel. The gravel road was tough and I almost lost it once. Unfortunately 2 of our group did take a tumble on the deep piles of gravel. I was very happy to see our accommodation for the night followed by beer and food. I was the second one of the group who rode it all to reach the end, even ahead of all of the e-bikes.
The best part was burning 3300 calories on this ride, no guilt having beer tonight.
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Today's ride: 83 km (52 miles)
Total: 528 km (328 miles)
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