Iron Jack

I had an amazing bike ride today around the stunning countryside of Hawkes Bay - and a great time to boot!

We’re away for the weekend visiting old friends from Rotorua. We used to spend nearly every second evening with Lou and Aaron when we first moved to Rotorua. Our four year old adores them, and their three year old, and Toby has quickly joined the fan club. They left Rotorua in February - just after I became addicted to triathlon.

Aaron has always been a huge cycling fan, often taking off for four hour rides on both days of the weekend, and fitting in a cool three hours after work during the week. We’ve always given him grief for it. That was before I got bitten by the bug. Not only was I gutted when my best girlfriend left our town, I lost a potential riding buddy as well!

So naturally one of the first things that got packed before we left Rotorua was my bike, shoes, gloves and all other accompanying accessories. The first thing Aaron did when we arrived was take the bike to pieces to clean it, grease it, and generally give it the once over that apparently I should be doing every week. Ooops.

We saddled up just after lunch, I was pretty nervous about heading out. Fortunately I had one thing going for me - Aaron is recovering from major knee surgery. He had a serious workplace accident nearly a year ago when he got felled by the tree he was meant to be felling. Twelve months, major physio and eventually knee surgery later, he’s back on the bike and heading for the Round Taupo Cycle Challenge. A huge inspiration.

The other thing I had going for me was the fact that Hawkes Bay is beautifully flat - not dis-similar to the cycle leg of the Tauranga Half Ironman. A good chance to spin my wheels and test my legs after the hard work I’ve done over the past few weeks.

We headed out. Amazing scenery - unbelievable to ride past literally miles of vines - and several historical churches surrounded by old cemetries. The sort of scenery and places you just don’t notice so much when you whizz by in the car.

As I said along the way, now I get it.

Of course I had to pick a few sandflies out of my teeth on the way around, and I had to stop to use the toilet at a tavern in the middle of nowhere, but a fantastic ride. Forty kilometres in 1h46 - a great time for me, giving me a massive boost of confidence for the Half.

Just wanted to finish with this quote from Lance Armstrong that was posted by my dear friend, Lisa Whyte (and fellow cyclist - but again, I caught the bug after she left the country!). Thanks Lise!

“Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year. But eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever” - Lance Armstrong