ACTAS Road Camp: Day 2

Day 2 promised to be the hardest day of the camp…and it certainly didn’t disappoint! The full schedule was around 150km of undulating terrain with 4 significant climbs: Jamberoo, Mt Berry and twice up Saddle back (up 1 way then up the other side, because just going up there once wasn’t painful enough!). Unfortunately I missed out on climbing Jamberoo as Chloe and I were put on a shortened schedule today but from the looks on the rest of the crews’ faces, it looked like it was one hell of a climb! Except for maybe Bling who smashed it all the way to the top and he was even able to give us a smile as he rode past the video camera to the top! Thinking back on it, it is probably best that I didn’t climb it, considering the massive box I found myself in for the rest of the ride…but I’d still rather ride up it than descend it any day :. Chloe and I got out at the top of the climb at the Pie Shop at Robertson and rode about 40km before coming face to face with our first climb of the day: Mt Berry. The climb itself wasn’t too bad and I found the gradient and the length of the climb to suit me quite well, in saying that though, it wasn’t easy! All up the climb was around 6km? and I was cruising up with Vicki, Bron and Fabio (who we started counter attacking in the final stages of the climb, lol ‘apparently’). Unfortunately with every uphill comes a downhill and so we were again faced with another dodgy descent albeit not as bad as Jamberoo. After conquering Mt Berry, we stopped in Berry to fuel up and regroup: Berg 1 complete. Only a few more to go…The thing about this ride was at no particular stage was the ride ‘flat’. It was constantly undulating which meant that there was no real chance for me to recover and I was having a hard time just trying to sit in!
We looped back nto Kiama where we would face the much talked about climb = Saddleback. We started climbing and Glen and John (Potholes) rolled up next to me in the car and asked ‘Do you want to do this climb? Because you don’t have to if you don’t want to’. For one split second I though that I should stop. Go home. I was buggered. But then I’d already started climbing and the thought of NOT doing the climb didn’t even come to mind before they asked me. I shook my head. If I can do this, I can do anything. And besides, I love a good challenge! My goal on the climb wasn’t to try and keep up with everyone, it was just a simple case of focusing on my technique and just trying to make it to the top. It was one bitch of a climb, 3-4km with gradients of 23% in some parts. I swear I nearly came to a standstill. But I made it to the top and I was pleased that I had achieved my goal!

View from the top of Saddleback (photo from google)... just to give you a little bit of an idea of how steep it was :)
Another interesting aspect of this camp is that Grant (the sports scientist) was filming some of our climbing and was able to provide us with feedback about our technique. This proved very beneficial as we learned ways to preserve our strength and it also proved to be entertaining as we watched everyone scramble and grind their way up the climb. There was definitely no style points awarded today! Once we had reached the top, we were given the opportunity to ride up the reverse side of the climb which was apparently shorter, although steeper than what I’d just done. Oh god. Or ride home. I was given my marching orders and finished the ride with about 100km.
After that, got home, had a much anticipated shower and pretty much fell into a heap. People can tell you that I looked pretty average… even after I had a nap! Lol, but hey, was broken…but you have to break yourself in order to rebuild yourself to be better and stronger than before! Before heading to bed though, we watched the decisively messed up and average Clock Work Orange and I ventured down to the local ice creamery I spotted when I was rounding up my Ks..and indulged in a scoop of ‘stairway to heaven’ ice cream. It was a reward to myself for pushing myself that little bit further, to expand my mental boundaries. Today, I surprised myself with my determination and dedication…and I think that warrants ice cream :P


Pie from the Pie shop (google images)

The Robertson Pie Shop (google images)