Socially-distanced Cycling

Julie and I were planning a ride on our touring bikes as our primary exercise for today, but an invitation late yesterday to join Detta and Steven, fellow Terrigal Trotters, for a "socially distanced" road bike ride incorporating the notorious Bumble Hill was too good to resist.

Normally, Sunday is "long run" day, but my hip/groin injury prevents any thought of long runs, and Julie, since she is not training for any specific ultra-distance event, is happy to invest some time building her confidence riding in cleats.

Despite rain as we drove to our starting point at Tuggerah in the pre-dawn darkness, it had stopped by the time we set out at 6:30am, and we enjoyed a very pleasant three hours and 63 kilometres of riding rural back roads, punctuated by the 4 kilometre grind up Bumble Hill in the middle.

I'm not a great believer in bike riding as training for running since it builds muscles you don't need for running, and vice versa, but it is good for cardio-vascular fitness and I was pleased to see my heart rate was up to the mid-160s on the Bumble Hill climb.

Apparently, Victoria has just introduced a maximum of two people exercising together (in New Zealand you can only exercise on your own), so it may just be Julie and me for future rides if New South Wales follows suit.