April 29, 2008

Loop The Lake Challenge



Hi all
Well i have finally learnt how to blog so I can now update you on the what is happening.
I looped the lake in Lake Macquarie recently covering 92kms in just over four hours . It was certainly the longest training ride to date on the penny and i found the going very comfortable. My butt was a little sore , my legs were fine but much to my surprise my chest was very sore the next day. My pec muscles copped a flogging on the 92km journey. Who would have thought you have to work on your chest muscles to ride a bike?
I did have mechanical trouble along the way that nearly made me pull out. I broke three spokes in a matter of seconds . I carried two spares with me and fixed what i could leaving one spoke wrapped around a few others taking it out of harms way. You can ride her with up to a few broken spokes but i had to make a decision on the side of the road weather to continue without any spares and maybe damaging something or pushing on with my fingers crossed . So i pushed on with a bit of a buckle in my 52 inch rim , eventually breaking another spoke just before finishing in one piece.
All in all i was very happy with the performance of both myself and the penny-farthing covering 92kms in four hours. I just hope i can cover 160kms in one day and do exactly that for seven days straight ?
Cheers,
michael.