In 5 days time I'll be competing in my longest ever cycle race...K2. It's a cycle race that goes around New Zealand's Coromandel peninsula. It's not so much the 197km that is the issue. It's the 2,800m of hill climbing involved. Sure, you get to go down the other side but you gotta get up 'em first. A few friends from Hawke's Bay here have done the event and are doing it again this year so it can't all be bad.
About two months ago I bought a new TT (time trial) bike for racing in triathlon. Unfortunately these bikes are not the best for hill climbing. There is one other thing...amongst a crowd of 'roadies' (road cyclists) someone on a TT bike is bound to be labeled the idiot triathlete and who can therefore do all the work at the front of the bunch. So, to avoid these problems I now have a new road bike. Certainly a different ride - more relaxed and upright - faster? No.
So, back to K2. The coach asked me to fill out a race plan. One of the sections discusses attacking - i.e. when are you going to attack? Attack? Hmmmm. The only thing doing the attacking in bike rides involving me are the magpies (birds that become quite vicious during nesting season - about now). Before begging with the coach I'd never done race plans before. It's a discipline he's got me into and it does help, especially on the day when things go a little wrong.
The quickest riders will do K2 in about 5hrs45min. They also have something called the sub-6hr club. Some how I don't think I'll be joining that one any time soon. As for the time I'm expecting? Who knows, I'll tell you next week.
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