Having not done an organised ride of any sort for a number of years now, I’ve signed up for Sally’s Ride 2018 in November. It’s a yearly event here in Tasmania and I’ve been told there’s a lot of local guys and gals who turn up and ride VERY hard, especially over the middle distance 100km route.

That’s what I’ve signed up for. There’s a 160km route as well but I prefer the shorter distance so I can hammer, rather than having to pace at a lower intensity for the longer distance. The distance or elevation gain are nothing new to me. With roughly 1000m (~3200ft) of elevation over the course it’s lumpy, but not hilly. The main climbing being a pair of Cat 4 climbs stacked on top of each other, which works out to roughly 7km of climbing a short distance from the start. After that, it’s all rolling country road lumps.

I’ve never been a big Sportive or Charity Ride fan, unless I’m doing it with club mates. When I’m wheel to wheel I prefer to know and have utmost trust in those in front, behind and beside me! Riding in close proximity to a bunch of testosterone fuelled strangers of unknown bike handling skills is not all that relaxing!

But anyway, hopefully it’ll be a good day in the saddle riding some new roads in the North of the state. It’s about time I actually signed up for something rather than just hammering out all those solo miles. Maybe I’ll even get a few new professional photos along the way. This photo from a few years back (with clubmate and all round top guy Steve on my wheel) is still one of my favourite Sportive snaps:

Now, possibly I should do a bit of actual training…