Full Cycle

A year ago, this very day, I came home from Ballarat with a brand new ebike.

The next day, the first of December, I cycled for the first time in about 30 years. A good friend had encouraged me to take this bold step so I wrote to him …

Hi John

Went for a ride this morning on my new bike. I rode 37 km at an average speed of 16 kph. Top speed was 35 kph which I can assure you was down hill with a following wind. I was praying not pedalling. I ended up buying a Merida tourer/mountain bike with a Shimano motor. I hope to be able to walk tomorrow.

Cheers

Rob

I turned the engine off a few days later and soon after I bought a Mountain Bike. That kept me happy for a while. There are plenty of gravel roads and forest trails around home. Not too many mountains. I still use it occasionally. Variety is the spice of life.

But quite soon I was unable to resist a road bike. Or a head unit, a heart rate monitor, a power meter and lots of lycra.

In 12 months I have ridden 12,900 km and climbed 65,500 m, my longest ride so far is 200 km and the biggest single climb 1,358 m. I’m 14 kg lighter today than I was a year ago.

This is the highest point on the Great Alpine Road. I am a tortoise rather than a hare but reached more than 60 kph on the way down. It is testament to how far I’ve come that I didn’t start praying. I was too distracted by the smell of burning coming from my brakes.

And I could walk the next day.