Pedals at Dawn (or more like 11.30am): cycling through lockdown, a delayed account.

My previous post is a little out of date! It became stuck fast in my drafts folder, and I forgot all about it.

So, here it is now ... very out of date, but perhaps still interesting to read.

It has now been four weeks since my last swim, on the day we went into full-on lockdown. At that point we didn't really know what to expect. The 'worst-case scenario' modelling by the Ministry of Health suggested that there could be 27,000 deaths, and a third of the country sick by July: this was a terrifying prospect, and so I was and still am heartily in favour of a strict lockdown. Here, for the record, is what 'Level 4' looked like:

As we've now discovered (touch wood) this approach has worked. After four weeks of lockdown, we have had 14 deaths in New Zealand. As of 22 April, there were only 6 new cases, a total of 1451 confirmed and probable cases, and 11 people in hospital. So,while not swimming has certainly been tough, it's been worthwhile. In fact, our Level 4 Lockdown was initially scheduled to end today,but on Monday 20th it was extended by a week. This means that on Tuesday, we'll be able to swim again!

Four weeks is the longest I haven't swum since August 2014. Even when I had a bung shoulder after last year's Chopper Swim, I kicked my way through three squad sessions a week, and did a couple of small sea swims each weekend.  On 25 April it will be ANZAC Day, and it was exactly a year ago on ANZAC Day that I did my first lighthouse swim in over a month, part of an informal event to commemorate Bernard Freyberg's aquatic feats at Gallipoli. 

Anyway, what have I been doing instead? Well, the initial plan to get good at running didn't really make it off the ground. It felt unpleasant, and in the slightly tense lockdown environment, I just wasn't in the mood to do anything unpleasant. Instead, I tried the bike. 

My first ride was an anticlockwise trip around Miramar Peninsula/Te Motu Kairangi, a 19.5km loop from the house. It was grey day, a fairly strong southerly, and pretty chilly. It also felt like a long way although the views are good. The stretch from Point Halswell to Cobham Drive, into the southerly, was very painful. I arrived home sweaty, windblown, sore of thigh, and numb of hand. 

However, since then, things have improved. While I'm certainly not 'bike fit' in the manner of my triathlete acquaintances, and have been riding my brother's fairly heavy mountain bike, I am now much more bike fit than I was four weeks ago. My rides have become longer, incorporating little mini-tours of Seatoun and Miramar, or adding some extra loops over the incline at the Pass of Branda. In a southerly, I now ride around clockwise (which means there's a fair amount of headwind, but also a nice tailwind for the final 1.5km) and in a northerly, I go clockwise.  The northerly headwind is always stronger than the southerly, although the two sorts of wind are very different in character. The northerly has the unnerving capacity to shunt you sideways across the road, and it's necessary to keep your wits about you.  As I tend to drift into fairyland when riding (much as when swimming) the shunt causes a little heart-rate spike.

Here is our little spreadsheet. The boxes highlighted in yellow indicate when I cycled. The distances have increased every week, getting to 104km last week. 

What have I learned from these excursions?

1. Just as I swim better (in the pool) if I plan and write up the set, it was a good idea to plan my route in advance.

2. The first few 20km loops hurt all manner of body parts, even my toes, and my throat. Then it very quickly got better.

3. I started planning ways to get in some extra distance (usually by doing a few loops of Seatoun and exploring the streets) and watching the numbers add up on my spreadsheet was really helpful in dispelling Lockdown Despondency. 

4. Wellington's winds are remarkable. They funnel through the hills, they hit you from unexpected angles at unexpected times. They can move you and your bike sideways across the road.

5. To beat the wind, just keep pedalling (unless it's really dangerous). Look where you're going, and keep pedalling.

6. I love a schedule, I love setting goals. Planning how far I'd ride in a week became very exciting.

7. I am very lucky to live here, near Lyall Bay, with all the beauties of Te Motu Kairangi on my doorstep.

Here are a few of my rides. 

This was a funny one: the road between the end of the airport and Breaker Bay was closed because of a tidal surge that damaged the road. 

This was the tidal surge - the road along Seatoun Beach was engulfed by waves. Amazing!