In the saddle

I'm definitely starting out with what's necessary,
with complete faith the rest will soon follow!
- http://pinterest.com/swiftwick/cycling

What a 3hr ride looks like:

Wake up and have a shower, to actually wake up.

Make a smoothie: spinach, rice milk, banana, frozen berries, almond butter, chia seeds, kiwi fruit - yum!

Get my gear on: full length leggings, padded shorts, long socks, my trust worthy lululemon swiftly long sleeve top, riding vest, wind break jacket and head band.

Pack my gear: bike (obviously), helmet, bike shoes, shoe covers (my poor toes get so cold!) 2 pairs of gloves, water bottle, 2 x clif bars & 1x clif gel.

The preparation in itself depending on how efficient I'm am can take up to an hour!

This particular ride was on Wednesday, it was a 3hr including 6 x Two bays road efforts -  easy/mod/hard/easy/big chain/out of the saddle.

I know I need to practice the mental strength of riding for a long period of time by myself for Ironman, however at the present I'm really enjoying having company on these rides. Today Morgan was my riding buddy and for that I was so grateful. I love having someone to set a steady pace and for me to match and focus in on. And I especially love having someone on the hill of Two Bays with me whilst doing repeats. Morgs also help me timed my eating so I could get the most out of my delish clif treats!

Our first 1hr and a half we warm our legs up and headed out of Frankston up to Mordialloc with a head wind then sailed on back, Olivers Hill is always a rude awakening to the legs, followed by a steady incline up Humphries Road all the way to the beginning of Two Bays Road. It's not the greatest surface, and my brakes get a work out on the way down. Slow and steading on the first decent, yet by the sixth decline I've gotten a feel for it and can fly down with less brakes involved.

I feeling stronger each time I head out on the bike and on my big chain effort I was able to click down a few gears heavier and really work it up the hill. I get such a kick out of these small little milestones in improvement, it's great!

The ride home is all down hill (my favourite thing about riding, to no ones surprise!) with an amazing view of the city over the bay. We fly down Olivers Hill, Morgs has taught me to take up the whole lane, at first I didn't that that was the wisest move, but coming down that hill is the last place you want to be sharing a lane with a car, bus or truck!!

Now I know I just said that cruising down hills was my favourite part of riding but let me amend that. It's actually getting home having a shower and then heading out to eating delicious food and coffee. The rewards of hard work :) Our hot spot at the moment is Om Shanti, a vegetarian cafe in Frankston on the Neapan Highway; the food and coffee is amazing and you leave feeling fabulous!

till next time

Maddy xx