Crazy Cycling Holidays - A Crazy Start

A busy start

January is a very indulgent month for cyclists in Adelaide, while the weather can be a bit hit and miss, we have one of the biggest cycling events in the southern hemisphere on our doorstep. The Tour Down Under has the wonderful effect of filling the streets with cyclists while at the same time encouraging Adelaide traffic to be on it's best behaviour. A cycling paradise! It's also a very busy time for cyclists, with at least half a dozen different rides on any given day, which does make planning what to do a little difficult. But for me, one ride was a definite - Ride Like Crazy!

Well supported!

 

Ride like crazy is a community ride held by the police, and is one of the best organised rides with the nicest atmosphere. It's well supported by the police and the volunteers at the rest stops are among some of the best I've experienced. I just have to remember not to let the scouts fill my pockets with lollies! It's a loop ride of just over 100km through the Adelaide hills, that ends at the Unley oval. It's held on the first Sunday of the Tour, and always makes a really nice start to the week.

 

Smile

This would be my fourth ride like crazy and the plan was to push a little bit as some extra preparation for the 156km Challenge tour on Friday. The previous week had been a bit warm (most of it was over 40°C), so I hadn't been doing as much riding as I had hoped. 

Posing for the camera

Mr Carl and I were joined at the start by Brett, who rode all the way to the start. We also bumped into some friends from the Outback Odyssey, Wayne and Libby, who had given us a lift back to Burra from Melrose, and Stewy, who had come over from Melbourne especially to do this ride.  

Not posing for the camera!

 I find that's one of the wonderful things about cycling, the more cycling adventures we have, the more friends we make! When I first started riding community rides, I used to get to the end of the ride and have to hunt high and low to find the people I knew. Now I find I barely have to turn my head before I've spotted someone to have a chat.

A leafy pit stop

Anyway, after a brief catch-up, we headed off. It was a lovely day for a ride and I found myself riding next to Brett as we headed up the free way. Brett and I seem to have a fairly similar pace and it's nice to ride with someone who struggles up the hills as much as I do! Mr Carl was never that far away and was happy to wait patiently at the top of the climb for Brett and myself. With the major hill for the day out the way, the three of us cruised around the course, enjoying the rolling terrain and grinning like maniacs as we flew down the descents. My recent improvement in bike handling meant I enjoyed the descents a lot more than I used too and the three of us actually passed quite a few people on the way down. 

Awesome

Unfortunately one of those we passed was Libby, who due to a recent accident had a bit of a sore shoulder and couldn't enjoy the downhills quite as much as she would have liked. I think it was impressive that she rode at all, since the injury seemed fairly substantial and was the second injury she had sustained on a recent bike touring trip.

Happy Carl!

Even with our flying downhills, we missed the cut-off for heading up Corkscrew Road. I have to say I was secretly pleased at this, while my hill climbing has improved, it hasn't improved that much. I'll tackle corkscrew again one day, just maybe not with 80km in the legs first. I was still feeling pretty good at this stage, though a slight shoulder pain was of some concern, with the 156km ride on Friday in the forefront of my mind. It's funny, 80km into a 100km ride and you're almost home, 80 km into a 156km ride and your barely over halfway. This was definitely what was going through my head as we headed into the home stretch.

The food queue

After flying down Gorge Road, we headed back into more suburban areas, which is always a disappointment after the relaxing scenery of the hills. It probably doesn't help that there's a slight uphill section that usually has a headwind, but soon enough we had turned onto Greenhill road and pretty much rolled to the finish.

Bikes are done

As usual, the food was amazing and there was plenty of it, bbq sausages and steak with multiple salads and a drink. We were well looked after, and then it was time to head home and get ready to head into town and watch other people ride!