I have worked the whole break - the disadvantage of working in an industry that is on demand 24 hours a day 7 days a week - but this morning the girl thing and I took a drive to check out the (rumoured) course for the upcoming Ride to Conquer Cancer. I'm both excited and scared that the ride will follow the route we took, and it made me realise one thing I've been lacking in my training so far... the dreaded hill training.
I have found so far that suburban Auckland is a relatively flat place - sure there are a few small lumps dotted around, but nothing that is a long grinding climb much like I used to get around Taupo or Palmerston North (See above). This is great for commuting, but in terms of training it's not optimal!
I took a while to ruminate on this small problem while catching the bus to work today and have come up with a few ideas
- Landscape Road - This street is pretty close to where I live, and has quite an intense gradient - although not very long. Could possibly do repeated attempts at it, but where is the fun in that!?
- Liverpool Street - The street known as one of the steepest in Auckland, and one I could easily add to my daily commute home from work. Once again pretty short, but I think the absolute madness of a gradient would make up for it.
- Short Street - As the name suggests, this street is short. But steep. Maybe a possibility if ridden as part of another training route.
- Ayr Street (Newmarket) - Quite long, average gradient. Could be worth a go if using it as part of a Tamaki Drive - Auckland Domain.training route.
These are all completely achievable in terms of places I can ride, but with most of them being in the central city other road users could be a problem. Does anyone else out there have any suggestions as to some pretty gnarly hills I can hit as part of my training regime?
Until next time - see you round, like a rissole!
:Doug
No comments:
Post a Comment