My father and I completed the Olds 200 with the Alberta Randonneurs yesterday http://www.albertarandonneurs.ca/

It was a good ride and a lot more work than any of my previous 200Ks.

We cycled from Olds down to Calgary with a strong tailwind which was wonderful! But we were a little concerned about the trip back. Calgary was the 80 km control, so we had a bite to eat and then headed north and west.

At first there was some wind to deal with but when we turned west, it wasn't so bad. However, the route became quite hilly. I would have to say that the hills reminded me a lot of the PBP hills, except that with the PBP hills we went down, and immediately up again. With these we went down, lost all our momentum on a flat bit, and then went up again. Over and over and over!

I dropped my father in this section (we had discussed it before and knew I probably would), and rode the remaining about 120 kms solo.

The first part of the route down to Calgary was pretty barren with hardly any trees and not too much in the way of scenery, but the last half of the route was quite lovely. The mountains were right in front of me as I headed west, and then when I went north again, they were along side, and I was riding through forests. Those forests were great for a reason beside scenery -- the wind I'd been concerned about was mainly blocked.

From Calgary to the next control was 73 kms, and there were absolutely no services or towns or anything in between, so that section started to get a little bit long and I was very glad to finally top a hill and see the town in the valley.

After a much needed break, and after consuming my secret weapon, I continued on my way and felt strong and renewed ... until I had to turn east again for the last 30 kms.

I was into a headwind on that last bit and didn't have the help of the forests anymore. I was also still climbing and getting a little tired of that. I still think of myself as a flatlander and these hills are a challenge. There were sections in that last bit where I was happy to be doing about 13 km/h.

Eventually I dragged myself into Olds, having completed 213 kms in 11:25. My father came in a little less than 2 hours later, so he did well. (The time limit on the 200K is 13.5 hours)

The season has begun!!


(And I think I've got a race - a TT on Tuesday. That might be challenging!)