Today was a short day riding a return trip of 54km, starting and finishing at the hotel we've been staying at for the last few days in Quito.
The weather was near perfect for riding, and quite beautiful.
We left the hotel at 9am and rode to mitad del mundo, which is the place where the equator passes through. The ride there was easy and downhill. We even had a police escort for the most part, which made life immensely easier getting through the traffic.
Roughly half way through, we then had a steady decent, dropping roughly 500m. I was constantly on the brakes just to maintain 55km/h behind the police car and our lead rider Rob, who is part of the Bike Dreams crew.
There was a cheeky uphill at the final part before arriving at our destination, and that's when the rest of the riders all went cruising past me. At present I carrying more weight than I should be, and haven't been able to train anywhere near as often as I would have liked. On the way up I see a fellow rider Adrian (and he's also one of the few riding dual suspension like myself). He's sitting in the shade, having a rest. Turns out he was quite unwell from an illness he gained a few days ago, and the ride out didn't do him any favours. He later went to hospital for a drip and observation. So on day 1, we already have someone in hospital!
Along the way I also noticed I had to keep pumping my back brake for it to work (it's hydraulic). On the return trip it failed altogether leaving only front brakes.
On arrival, we all find ourselves a place to leave our bikes together and grab some cold drinks and relax before the moment when the start of the ride is announced, have some photos taken, and the traditional pumping up a bike tube until it explodes is done.
Straddling the northern and southern hemisphere
The group, a great bunch of people
All faster than me uphill currently!
After lunch courtesy of one of the trucks, we head back to the hotel. Roughly 13km of climbing at gradients of between 6-8%. To put that into perspective, the trucks climbed passed me in low gear, you'll see steep hill signs at around 10%. Again the other riders drift off in front of me, and I have to say I went into the climb too enthusiastically, too early, and burnt myself out. It's a long climb, at altitude, and between the bike, me and my pack containing water, I'm hauling perhaps 125kg uphill. My legs have the strength at least! The result was a racing heart rate which I had real trouble bringing down. It got to the point where every few 100 metres I had to stop to get my breath. Not helped by the buses and trucks that really belch out some nasty black smoke, straight out the side to the ground. Thick enough to chew. By this stage, our lunch truck had finished packing and was on the way back, and they pulled over to see how I was going. I went to stop behind them, and being too exhausted to unclip from a pedal in time, I tipped to my side. I have this technique perfected, and so not even a scratch. I told them I was exhausted, but otherwise ok and I'll see them at the end.
Once the climb was out of the way however, it was a very nice cruise back to the hotel, mostly flat, or very gently downhill. No police escort this time, so got to ride with the traffic a little bit. These drivers are FAR better than Sydney drivers around bikes.
On arrival at the hotel...oh how good is this. Bowls of soup, fruit salad and cookies. They were GOOD. Whoever thought of that is pure genius. Not too heavy, but enough to take the edge off.
So today was relatively short, but today showed that on these longer climbs, I have no choice to go for an easier tempo and lesser effort on the climbs to be able to last through the next one, and the next one. Back in Australia the climbs are far shorter, and I can blast up the hills, with little regard for what's left in reserve. Not the case here.
Tomorrow brings a full distance day of close to 100km, taking us out of Quito. Time to see new places!
An awesome post Scott! I've read it a couple of times! A little bit concerned about your struggle, but I feel that your stubborn side will ensure that you take it more steady on the hills! You're doing just great! Proud of you kiddo!
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