Spring Cycle

A 5am alarm woke us up on the day of our 50km bike ride across Sydney. This country must have done something funny to me because never before would I have chosen to wake up at 5am on a Sunday to take part in a long distance event. And yet there I was in my Reebok shorts, vest top from the ‘active wear’ section of Target and shiny helmet. So we crammed our bikes into the back of a taxi and headed towards St Leonard’s Park where the event was starting. By 7am we were joining the crowds of people at the start line ready to set off. We were surrounded by lycra. But we didn’t let this put us off as we cruised across the Harbour Bridge, past the Opera House and through the centre of Sydney. There was a great atmosphere and I loved experiencing the city in a different way. However, 25km later and cycling through unknown

suburbs, I didn’t feel quite so positive! There were some tough uphill stretches and what didn’t help was having small children pass by effortlessly on their tiny bikes. We powered through though and luckily the final 10km that took us around the Olympic park was flat as a pancake (although we didn’t relax until the end because we couldn’t be sure there wasn’t another nasty hill waiting for us around any corner). It was a massive relief when we finally reached the finish line, especially because the home straight turned out to be a bigger loop than we realised. They handed us a medal which I snatched eagerly and hung around my neck without wasting any time. We parked our bikes and headed straight for the food stalls. It was definitely a well earned lunch.