MS Gong Ride 2012

Yesterday was the MS Gong Ride, an annual bike ride from Sydney Park, St Peters to Stuart Park, Wollongong where thousands of riders take part to raise money to help people with MS.

I deliberated on signing up for such a long time because of a few reasons: a) I'm not all that athletic b) I hardly have any experience with riding (read: none) c) I haven't been training and d) IT'S 90 FREAKING KMS!!

By 2 weeks before the ride I thought that I'd give it a go and that worst case scenario, I'd just take forever to get to the finish.

So the post below this one was from the first time I ever rode for a significant distance in one go - 25kms.

2 weeks after that (i.e. a week ago) I did another long distance ride. This time I rode 41.4kms in about 4 hrs.

And that was the only prep I had for the Gong Ride.

There was one week before the actual ride and since I still had work throughout the week, there wasn't any chance to train again. Esp if it took me 1-2 days to recover from the 40km ride!

So the night before the ride hits and I've got everything ready for the next day. Helmet, sunnies, gloves, arm warmers, shorts, camelbak, bib, bike, water - all packed!

Lucky me had number 10000! It was the biggest number possible in the race because they cap it at 10000 registrations.

It was a super early start to the day but we managed to make our way to Sydney Park without too much of a delay. I loved the chilled out atmosphere at the start. There was music playing, people handing out free Powerade for riders and a LOT of bikes around. Most had already left since the earliest start time was 6am but there still riders hanging around. So without much of a fuss, we put our bibs on, hopped on our bikes and away we went!

Mike and me at the start! Bright and early at about 8am.

So by the time we had reached the 2nd rest stop (out of 9 including the finish) I had reached 30kms and was a little tired from the steep hill before the stop but I was still determined to keep going.

At the 2nd rest stop - Loftus Oval

There were SO MANY BIKES AND RIDERS!

I don't have photos of the 3rd and 4th rest stops because we didn't stop for long. Really just a breather to drink water and reapply sunscreen before we headed out again. From the third to fifth rest stop the track winded through the national park and damn there were a lot of hills. Especially the last 5km one!

Happy riders at the fifth rest stop - Otford Lookout/Stanwell Tops

Following this, the sixth rest stop ended up being the last stop I reached. (So disappointed that I didn't get a photo! Was too eager to get going to reach Seacliff Bridge.) Just after the sixth stop at Bald Hill, I hit a bump on the road going downhill, fishtailed and fell over, smacking my head on the road at some point in the fall.

I'm not exactly sure how hard the impact was but my helmet had a chunk missing from the back left quadrant and had cracks running through part of it. Thankfully no bones were broken but the paramedics chose to take precautionary measures and send me via ambulance to Wollongon ER since I did hit my head.

And just like that, my ride was cut short.

I made it to 60kms in about 5 hours of riding and breaks. Furthest I've ever ridden so it's my new personal best! Not bad for a 3rd time rider hey?

Am so so so so disappointed and sad that I didn't get to finish the ride. Especially since I made it through the hardest part of the ride - getting out out of the national park! And I didn't walk any of the hills!

I definitely would have finished it if I didn't have the accident, even if it took a few more hours!

Oh wells, there's always next year.

Mega thanks to Tim, Mike and Mike's lovely mum for all the support and lending me the bike. Hope the fall didn't damage it!!