205 k's of grind

Last Sunday I took on the Audax, Wandong winter wander ride.....
I had been watching the weather forecast all week so I was expecting a frost when I Left the house at 6.15am, but I was not expecting the doors of my car to be frozen shut, back inside for some warm water for the doors and windscreen.
I got to Wandong just after 7am and the 8 am start saw a good gathering for the 200k bunch with lots of familiar faces poking around.
I adopted the onion aproach and put on lots of layers though I only removed one the whole day.
The road to Tallarook then Seymour was up and down but mostly down then flattish to Nagambie, so I was able to chug along with Richard and George Judkins for most of the way though keeping an eye on my heart rate monitor I knew things were going to go pear shaped at some point, not having done a long ride since march, that point was Nagambie, at about 90k's into the ride.
After a bite to eat I told the lads I would have to wave them off, as I would only be holding them up from here.
Getting back on the bike was nice but I had not gone 5k before I realized this was going to be a very long day. It's been a long time since I felt this knackered only 100k's into a 200 and was beginning to wonder, how I was going to get home ?
It's days like these where I need to set myself goals and my first one had to be really close, 8 metres on and things weren't getting any better but I managed to roll on to Lockington then Longwood where I saw most of the guys that were ahead of me pass me on their way to Avenel.
I managed to steer clear of the pub at Longwood and opted to use the store as my checkpoint where I tried eating a piece of apple slice, but for the first time ever on a ride, was not able to finish it. I like longwood it's a pretty little town.
Back on the road to Lockington my cadence was not much quicker than that of a 3 toed sloth on Valium.
I always feel better once I'm past the half way mark on a ride and at Avenel I was not feeling too rotten, till I got passed by an old guy.
The next control was in Seymour, at about 150k mark and I scoffed a peanut butter and banana sandwich...no problemo !
With about 55 k to go and mostly uppish I headed out on the same road we used in the morning but at a far more leisurly pace through the hills and gullies to Tallarook. I lost my awesome sunnies somewhere along here after hanging them in their new "special spot" on my Ayup mount.
I got back to Wandong in 6 days 19 hours and 27 minutes and dug in to a bowl of soup and had good chat as per usual after an Audax ride.
Even though I knew my time on the bike was minimal leading up to this ride, I was surprised at how hard I found it, yeh, I probably went out a lot harder than I should have but I have done that before and recovered along the way, eh ! Good fun though.
Thanks to Lorraine Allen and her crew for putting on a great ride.
WELCOME HOME ANDY GLO AND PETER.

Steve