So yesterday I finally got onto the bike - the rain had stopped and I had convinced Massimo to join me on a 15km ride - the up down ride! So off we went. It was overcast and the rain had cooled things down some. There we were, pedalling along, enjoying the scenery, when a terrible sound emanated from Massimo's bike, and that was the end of his cycle. His chain had snapped. I continued on my route, while he pushed home. Pretty uneventful the rest of the way, except for some hoons in a silver ute asking me for directions when I was half way up the biggest hill. It's really hard to get started again on a hill in granny gear!!!
Today, more rain, which caused our cycle to be on again, off again. But eventually loaded my bike into Kev's car and met Megan and Alan at Gap Creek to try out my first Mountain biking orienteering event. Basically, they give you a map with some markers on it, and you have to get to the all of the markers and back in the quickest time.
So off we went - three girls on the bikes - in between the splutters and downpours of rain. We were at a bit of an advantage, as these routes are our regular stomping ground. Also, because of the rain earlier, some of the markers had been cancelled, and so we only had to find 3. This was accomplished pretty easily, but the final marker was half way up the hill to the top of Rocket Frog, which is our all time favourite downhill route. So the "get back as quickly as possible" idea went out the window, and we dragged poor Candice up the hill, just so that we could show her how cool Rocket frog is. Finished my first orienteering course, and it was fun! Will definitely try it again. Looked a bit like a mud bunny by the end of it!
A few weeks ago, my old school friend Janet, commented on facebook about my being a fitness fanatic. She asked when it had come about because she remembered me at school as too lazy to walk from one class to another. Now Janet, I think I've answered that question earlier, re the pending 40's, but here is my little rant for the week:
At school we are forced to do sport, and even if not forced, if we don't feature and do it really well, we are considered crap and nobody encourages us. I remember being the last one picked for any number of teams on numerous occasions. Now, I am not sporty - my ancestors were built to trudge along hills and gather, not run around furiously being chased by man eating animals! And instead of the likes of me being encouraged to do sport at school (because we are the ones who really need it), we are discouraged by the attitudes of the teaches/coaches because we aren't good enough, and similarly by the kids who are really good at sport naturally.
So what I would like to know is this: how many of those school sporting boffins are still playing sport? How many of them have run a marathon or half marathon? How fit are they now?
Because, although sport is competitive by its nature, the competition should be against ourselves first. Once we are focusing on bettering our own performance and gaining maximum enjoyment, does the rest really matter? There are only a very few people in this world who make it to the Olympics, and I didn't go to school with any of them.....
Today, more rain, which caused our cycle to be on again, off again. But eventually loaded my bike into Kev's car and met Megan and Alan at Gap Creek to try out my first Mountain biking orienteering event. Basically, they give you a map with some markers on it, and you have to get to the all of the markers and back in the quickest time.
So off we went - three girls on the bikes - in between the splutters and downpours of rain. We were at a bit of an advantage, as these routes are our regular stomping ground. Also, because of the rain earlier, some of the markers had been cancelled, and so we only had to find 3. This was accomplished pretty easily, but the final marker was half way up the hill to the top of Rocket Frog, which is our all time favourite downhill route. So the "get back as quickly as possible" idea went out the window, and we dragged poor Candice up the hill, just so that we could show her how cool Rocket frog is. Finished my first orienteering course, and it was fun! Will definitely try it again. Looked a bit like a mud bunny by the end of it!
A few weeks ago, my old school friend Janet, commented on facebook about my being a fitness fanatic. She asked when it had come about because she remembered me at school as too lazy to walk from one class to another. Now Janet, I think I've answered that question earlier, re the pending 40's, but here is my little rant for the week:
At school we are forced to do sport, and even if not forced, if we don't feature and do it really well, we are considered crap and nobody encourages us. I remember being the last one picked for any number of teams on numerous occasions. Now, I am not sporty - my ancestors were built to trudge along hills and gather, not run around furiously being chased by man eating animals! And instead of the likes of me being encouraged to do sport at school (because we are the ones who really need it), we are discouraged by the attitudes of the teaches/coaches because we aren't good enough, and similarly by the kids who are really good at sport naturally.
So what I would like to know is this: how many of those school sporting boffins are still playing sport? How many of them have run a marathon or half marathon? How fit are they now?
Because, although sport is competitive by its nature, the competition should be against ourselves first. Once we are focusing on bettering our own performance and gaining maximum enjoyment, does the rest really matter? There are only a very few people in this world who make it to the Olympics, and I didn't go to school with any of them.....
No comments:
Post a Comment