So I am not 100% sure this counts as training, but yesterday I embarked on a 40km ride from the top of Bali, down to a village called Ubud.
We drove from Kuta for about two hours towards the Volcano, and up into the hills of Bali, and we provided with 'Polycon' mountain bikes, in pretty reasonable working order, including disc brakes which made me mildly nervous considering the added stopping power when compared with calipers on my road bike.
It was downhill from the outset and while it took me a few minutes to get over the totally weird sensation that I was driving a truck rather than riding a bike (giant MTB handlebars, seat way too low, flat pedals and front suspension) pretty soon I was pushing the pace!
Fortunately there were only two other aussie girls in my group and they were both keen to go at a decent speed - I think it might have been a bit annoying if there had been a bigger, dawdling group but soon we were overtaking the other tours. (Ok i know it wasnt technically a race, but I was still pretty pleased when the guide looked back, grinned and said "you're a strong rider!!").
The tour had been advertised as 40km of downhill and they werent lying. The roads were generally pretty great, with some slightly bumpy bits and we rode through village after village, all decorated for a recent festival. Cute kids lined the road and held out their hands for high fives and in every village people were smiling and waving.
The guide mentioned something about having a big challenge for us - two hills. I was quietly confident, figuring that this being a touristy thing - hill was likely to mean gentle incline at most.
Boy was I mistaken!
Our guide stopped us before the first descent into the first climb to forewarn us and get us into a low gear, then we tore down into a gully and were faced with basically a wall on a 45 degree angle. I think I got maybe five pedal strokes in and then actually had to stop and walk the rest of the way!
Jane would not have been impressed!
The second hill though I was determined and was first to the summit again getting a "wow, strong woman" comment from the guide so I felt like I redeemed myself there!
The kms of downhill, out of the saddle for a fair bit trying to aero tuck and pick up speed actually left me a bit sore today, but the ride was so worth it - it was just fun all the way.
So excited about getting back into proper training, which is exactly what this holiday was about. I'm already planning next year to take two weeks in Bali right after DBR 2012. Except I'll time it better so I can watch the whole TDF from here. In fact - lets make that a squad excursion!!!
See you guys soon!
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