June is officially the first month of winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, so I always try and get the big rides out of the way early. You never know what the season will bring. With a morning of “acceptable” weather predicted, I bagged this month’s metric century resolution ride on the second day of June. No messing!

It was a dark 7am depart, the temperatures hovering around 5 degrees coupled with an annoying-but-not-hellish headwind to contend with from the start. I wasn’t feeling 100% into the ride, not sure why, but I was just a little “cloudy” mentally. As the distance ticked over my legs and headspace improved somewhat. A couple of hours in the saddle can do wonders, helped of course by riding awesome bike…

I pulled into Richmond at 45km to join the RBWR guys for the first part of their ride. It was good to have a wheel to follow for a while to break things up (and take some of the headwind). I rode with the bunch out to Brighton, before waving them on and spinning back around for home. I knew from this point it would be 100km no matter which road I took.

With 75km down and the wind predominantly behind me, I was starting to feel a little “clearer” mentally. I pushed harder on the pedals. Most of the climbing was out of the way, so it was head down, spinning fatigued legs, trying to keep the speed up.

As I skirted around Hobart Airport my Garmin beeped, alerting me I’d just rolled over 100km! The other good news? I’d managed to bring my average up to 30kph. The not-so-good news? My legs were done. Spent. I just had to grit my teeth and head back to Sorell. As it turns out, I had a little further to go than anticipated.

Rolling back into Sorell on empty legs, I saw 114km on the Garmin and hit save. A little more than I was planning, but it’s all good at the end of the day. I grabbed a quick coffee and waited for Mrs TC to pick me up. I waited a bit more, tried to call, then waited a little longer. Eventually, it turned out she’d been held up, so I had to get back on the bike and ride home as well, making it almost 125km for the day. That’s six Resolution Rides down, six to go!

Distance: 114.2 km / 73.4 miles
Total elevation gain: 925 m / 3040 feet
Average speed: 29.8 kph / 18.5 mph