Okay, I take it all back!!

Today we went out for a longer ride. It was minus 3 degrees when we started, and the riders were a totally different kettle of fish to the academy! (and/or maybe I have finally been shown just how unfit I am!)

We set off and the first climb was about a kilometer long. Not too steep, compared to HK, but by the end of it, I was puffing hard, and from then on, I was a lost cause! The group was super-fast on the flat, and I just couldn’t keep up, nor could I do any more of those ‘slopes’! It reminded me of when I started to ride and had to drag myself up the monument hill in Sai Kung swearing at Kurt as he walked next to me! I still don’t know how my bike stayed upright at the 3-4kph speed I was doing.

Those days seemed long gone, until now. I had to be pushed up what I would normally hesitate to call ‘hills’ and on the flat was hard pressed to get much past 15kph!?!! My legs just wouldn’t work! At the first stopping place, I actually threw up!!

The rest of the group had to keep moving, so Kurt stayed back with me while I recovered, and then he pootled forward with me for a few kilometres at snail pace. But after a while, who did we see in the distance heading our way, but Bev and Mills, the group leaders. They’d turned around and ridden back to check we were okay, and then they cycled with us almost all the way ‘home’. Absolutely amazing!! I peeled off at the final roundabout to limp back to the coffee shop where we’d parked, while Kurt went with them and was finally able to stretch his legs properly as they sprinted to catch the rest of the group.

By the time they all got back to the café, I was fine. Kurt told me how all the riders had been checking with him that I was okay – really lovely people! And it was great to sit down for a coffee with everyone afterwards. The group was, like the Saturday set, super-friendly and had a lovely feel to it.

Hopefully my embarrassment and mortification will be catalyst enough for me to get my act together and get fit again. It is easy to forget how much walking around I did at work; I seem to have spent most of my time here sitting with my laptop or a book. And all the good intentions of doing regular TRX and gym have, until now, come to nothing. This clearly needs to change, so tomorrow morning will find me looking for a suitable tree to loop the TRX to!

The crazy thing is that once the fitness is back, I can see that cycling here will be a real pleasure. Good wide roads, lovely smooth bends (without the risk or going over the edge of a mountain on the downhills) and no mad taxi drivers or cows to contend with! And even with the minus 3 degree start, by 9am, the sun was out and the sky was blue. What more could you want?!