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Review of the South Australian Oppy 2008 |
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Glen Thompson shares his thoughts on the 2008 Oppy twenty four hour all day challenge held in South Australia.
As a relatively new Audax member I was uncertain I could do an"Oppy" until I completed a 300km a few weeks earlier, as my previous maximum in a day was 200km. Then as the day drew closer, uncertainty crept in again because of the ongoing (record) heat wave and high forecast temperatures for the day. However, the chosen route went through Victor Harbor (known for its sea breezes and lower temperatures) in the middle of the day and I still held hopes that it would not be cancelled. Then on the Thursday evening about 36 hours before the ride I received Matt's email confirming that he would be riding despite the hot weather. I realized then how disappointed I would have been if it had been cancelled. Now we were going to ride this stupidly long distance in stupidly hot weather and I couldn't have been happier (albeit stupid!) Seriously, I had done many long rides in very hot weather and I knew I could handle it. In fact I would still say I prefer heat to cold, rain and wind.
The first 85km heading south was with almost no wind and the next 50km showed that the forecast northwesterly was gathering strength, though still not too strong. The next 140km was going to be basically north, against this wind and mostly in the heat of the afternoon, so it was hard not to keep thinking about it. Victor Harbor was even cooler than forecast and it was a delightful spot to sit outdoors and eat lunch. The cool didn't last long, however, and the afternoon was, well, about as expected. It could have been worse - the north-west wind could have been stronger - so, given the weather forecast, it wasn't too bad. Then as the sun went down the wind dropped and the evening was warm and humid but with a nice cool-ish breeze while you kept riding.
Our only "incident" was when we were waiting to re-group and a motorist said it looked like a cyclist had had an accident. Matt rode back and found that the "accident" was only Richard sitting awkwardly on the side of the road, trying to relieve his cramp. We had no punctures, which was a good thing because we had enjoyed our breakfast so much we only arrived back in Adelaide with 10 minutes to spare.
Richard had selected the route brilliantly, given that he did it long before the weather forecast was available. He had also arranged a short overnight stop and a breakfast, both of which were very welcome. When I thanked him and congratulated him on his choice of route he didn't agree, but I put that down to his having had a bad day with cramp. Many thanks to Matt too for organizing this and many other Audax rides, and for staying with us slower riders.
I could rave on much more. Please forgive my enthusiasm as this was only my second Audax ride and until a year ago I hadn't even heard of Audax. Fortunately I heard about it just in time to follow the Australian riders in the P-B-P. I watched their progress on the web site with as much or more interest than the Tour de France.
Glen
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