Some Days Are Just Tough!

We awoke this morning to the best weather we'd seen since starting the Ride on Friday - beautiful blue skies!

With Mel and Stuart K at St Marys

On paper todays stage was definitely the easiest and so spirits were high as we drove south and east to St Marys and the start of todays ride.  Our welcome at The Salvation Army didn't disappoint either; Mel and friends greeted us enthusiastically with freshly baked muffins (Phill rather liked these!) and of course, a cup of tea!

Out in the sunshine and feeling upbeat; after couple of photo's off we went - and at a good pace too!

The brightest the sun's shone so far!

However, after only a little while - just a matter of minutes really - I knew today was going to be a tough day.  The sun frequently shone warmly on us, but our constant companion for the day was a strong, steady and often gusty head wind.  Coming in from the west, as the road meandered westward down the Fingal Valley the wind blew into our faces all the way and a little from the right.  There was little shelter even behind each other.

We out rode one rain front and attempted to do the same close to lunchtime.  We got ahead of this second front and had just stopped when the first rain (for us) of the day hit.  Thankfully though we were able to take shelter at a cafe and get some much needed hot food!

Trying to outrun the rain front

Two thirds of the way to the end, we set off again after a brief lunch stop hoping to finish in an hour.  Up until this point it had simply been tough going, but as we started off again I could feel myself getting down; negativity hit me full force as did the rain and a renewed stronger head wind.  A lunch stop should energise a rider, but this one felt like it had sapped us of all energy - it was slower going.

Well of course we couldn't - our conditions for the last hour; obviously can't see the wind

With about 10km still to go I had to do something to break my mood - so I started singing to myself.  The wind blessed Phill and Stuart at this point (though they probably didn't know it) as I was singing quietly to myself at the back of our line, the wind blew the sound away so neither of the other two needed to hear my dodgy voice.

The singing worked, but I was still happy to get off the bike in Conara.  As I sat in the door of the bus to change my shoes, I was suddenly greeted by the warmth of the heater - Hhhmmmmm!

Phill's face summed up our day

I'm tired this evening and so is Stuart, but I guess neither of us are as worn out as Phill.  This week Stuart and I have been really bless with others doing much of the 'pulling' at the front - even though we tried to do our fair share.  Today Phill went straight to the front and sat there for about 45km.  After a brief stop I rode myself back to the other two and got a feel for the workload Phill was putting in for us.  We stopped at the 50km mark for lunch and when we set off again, Phill went back to front and 'pulled' us all the way to Conara - it was a champion effort and I'm sure Stuart and I will appreciate it tomorrow.

Getting the doldrums on a multi day event like this is probably to be expected at some point.  Today they hit me in force.  Today should have been the easy day and perhaps that was part of the problem.  Tomorrow is going to be a really test.  It's the longest leg of the Ride (150km) with the highest climb as we head up onto the Plateau.  At this point, I'm happy to just stop and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

I'm sure Phill and Stuart would be as encouraged with some more sponsorships after days ride, so please be generous and head over to our fundraising online platform.