So you’ve found yourself with an unexpected free day to do whatever you like. It’s chilly outside but sunny and dry, do you…

A) Sit at home in front of the fire and veg out.
B) Mow the lawn.
C) Wheel that sexy bicycle out of the garage and RIDE!

Okay, that’s not a real question because the answer is always C! Today I had some plans which fell through, which left me with ample time to complete this month’s Resolution Ride (or mow the lawn, guess which I chose).

Because of the last-minute decision, I didn’t really have much of a plan apart from “pedal until I hit the metric century.” June is the beginning of winter here in Tasmania. The long thermal bibs and long sleeve jersey had to be dug out of the cupboard for this one! I’m not quite as “hard” as I used to be either, so I waited until the frost had melted before donning my kit and heading out the door.

It was a struggle at first, but I’m glad I got out there! For the first 20km my legs were telling me it was a bad idea, but my head was shouting louder that I needed some quality pedal time. By 30km I’d just about warmed up and it wasn’t until 40km that I finally found my rhythm.

It was all familiar territory today – no big climbs – just rolling roads and a couple of flatter sections around a still very quiet airport. From 40 clicks onward the kilometres flew by. No cafe stops, just pedals turning, wheels spinning. I was back at my door in under four hours elapsed time with a smidgen over 104 kilometres on the Gamin. Tired and happy. And that’s all I really have to say about that!

Oh and I guess I still need to mow the lawn…

Distance: 104 km / 65 miles
Total elevation gain: 780 m / 2550 feet
Average speed: 28.9 kph / 18.0 mph