Top two Inches - 5.1cm

I'm not tough!                                                                                               30 Days of Biking  2012 - Ride #17

As a cyclist I tend to just get on with it. Out on the road or the track some days are harder than others and at times I do have to concentrate and bring in some 'top two inch' skills to get to where I want to be. That was until I read this:

http://www.adventure-journal.com/2012/04/are-you-tough-enough-the-answer-is/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+adventure-journal+%28adventure+journal%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

In this article I found out what I do is 'tough it out' just like I used to do when tramping or climbing!

Never really considered that to be the case.

Last Tuesday's ride from my Aunt's home in Milton to my home via the mainly gravel roads through Toko Mouth, Measly Beach, Wangaloa and Kaitangata turned out to be one of these rides!

It started out with a mild ride beside the Tokomairiro River:

Within 10km darkness had come on, this was easily overcome with a good light, what I found difficult to overcome was riding in the 7-10cm of loose gravel distributed all over the road by a grader.

Many of the corners have a steep camber which pushes the bike down into the ditch. Combine this with the gravel layer and a healthy dose of corrigations meant riding up the many rolling pitches took lots of head spin.

While there were only a couple of decent down hills to negotiate there were a good number of rolling down hills all of which cause the sphincter to clamp shut.

I considered the safe option of pulling over and calling Mary for a tactical pick-up. Shelving this idea, applying concentration to the needed bike skills and enjoying the ride made a difference. The difference is, I guess,  that I conscoiusly 'toughed it out' and felt better for it.

Almost euphotically I biked up hill past the hated grader which was parked up for the night surrounded by it's hi-vis safety layer and was delighted to lay rubber onto the bituman over looking Kaitangata.

I dd stop and call home at the Balclutha bridge over the Clutha River, but only to report in because I was nearing the end of the agreed 'rime window'.

So, having read the above article and  after riding every day for the last 383 days I suppose I can reluctantly agree that I can still 'tough it out'.

Eclectically toughing - Cheers.