Hot days and multiple k's

Somehow, I think there's a bug in my Garmin as it reads 8,222m climbing in my 80km ride. I mean, it was tough...but it wasn't 8km vertical tough. I think if that stat was correct I would still be out there. In fact, the Garmin proves about as accurate as Strava (ie: not at all), as I somehow have managed to straightline a third of the South Boundary rd climb.

Also, has anyone noticed that on the connect.garmin site Mt Nebo Rd is labelled several times, but wedged in between 'Mt Nebo Rd' markings is a 'Mount Mee Rd'? Bizarre, the little gremlins in our new order, first world gadgets.

Various anomalies, seen here.

I have had a great week of riding. I even made it to the gym and did some punching of things, which I love to bits. The unfortunate thing is that the day I can usually get to gym is Monday night, and I am without fail exhausted at this time! It's post long ride day, invariably it will be following an evening where Elva decides she's hungry at 3am (all that crawling will be the end of me, I tell you!) and I am stifling my yawns. It's not boredom, oh no, I love gym. It's just dog-tired exhaustion. But I have to shoehorn myself off the couch of an evening and go, because I feel so much better afterwards!

My brother, who has been a cyclist since before I can remember, is living in Lennox Heads at the moment. He is a freaky wunspeeder, and my some of my earliest memories constituting him clopping around in road shoes at 5am and being taken to his triathlon swim squad on the back of his motorbike when I was about 6. (Mum and dad were away, my much older siblings being 'responsible' for me. They were quite unimpressed when I excitedly told them about the motorbike ride to swim squad).

I have been riding for about 5 years now—a long time. And I think I have ridden with him twice. Even when we lived a suburb away in Sydney. This week he drove up from Lennox, and while mum played babysitter for his two ratbags and my baby, we hit some local trails up in the searing heat. It was great fun. I never thought I would be able to ride with my brother, he was always fast and fit, but the arrival of the two ratbags mean that we're pretty well matched.

I braved the heat for a roadie out Brookfield way, encompassing some short, steep climbs and finishing with a couple of Coot-thas. A wind trainer or two, a short trail ride and all in all I can't complain.

Starting back at work on Saturday too—so lots going on and Aido has been an amazing daddy day care type.

He had lots of Elva time, as I went out for the long singlespeed ride, with which this post began, on Sunday.

It's funny what you think about when you're riding for a long time. I was riding up South Boundary post Gap Creek trails, when an analogy between riding up long climbs on a singlespeed and giving birth popped into my head. I'll have to draw a picture and scan it in to explain. The similarities are quite scary. Managed as extra 10km on last week's SS epic, with the top temperature reaching 39 degrees and averaging 34. Yes it was hot.

That coke tasted very good at the top of Nebo, and catapulted me down the GT, along the road, up the rail trail and powerlines, through the singletrack in Ironbark and back through some Bunya trails home.

And the best thing? I have felt a whole lot worse on the bike before. Winning!