I was glad to have been given a 7:20am race start for the 20km (1 lap) race (other crazies did the 40km!) so not too early a morning start. With a plan to meet at Terrey Hills shops to ride to the start line, as my sense of direction can't be relied upon (thanks Logan!) it was a good warm-up for what was to come.
Helpful volunteers directed me to sign in and it was lovely to see some familiar faces. Rolling up to the start line, with a few tummy nerves, and a quick look at the electronic sign board with the numbers ticking closer to my start time, and before you knew it Deanna gave me the countdown and 'Go!'. A quick click into my pedals and I was off. It was lovely riding through the National Park, although my eyes were concentrating mostly on the tarmac in front ... and the hills ... can't recall any mention of those hills in the 'Athlete’s Guide' and the map of the course looked completely flat, very deceiving. But for every ‘up’ there is a ‘down’, the positive of all those hills! Hearing the friendly cheers from cyclists going by encouraging me along gave me that extra motivation to keep going ~ that's Warringah Tri Club for you, surely got to be the friendliest club, not just the best. Comforting seeing so many cyclists on the road, even if they were passing me by at great speeds, so I knew at least I was headed in the right direction. Reaching the halfway turn around point, was relief but a sense of dread that I had another 10km to go, with legs burning I started to regret having done the crit race at Heffron yesterday. At this point my 2 main thoughts were that everyone else here is probably feeling it and in the same boat, and more importantly, that I better get a job quick smart as this looks like a pricey sport with some of the get-up of my fellow racers. Finding a steady cruising pace and telling myself to just keep it up to the end became my goal, with a little thanks to my brother for playing ‘The Power’ by Snap! in the car on the way here, as it was stuck in my mind as I hit home down the straight to the finish line. Thank goodness it’s done … now looking forward to seeing you all at the next one! If you haven’t yet given one a go, sign up and give it a try - I bet you’ll then be back for more. A big thanks to WTC and MWCC for putting this event on and all the volunteers that made it happen. Millie
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