22nd September 2012 - First long cycle on new bike.

This is a repost as I couldn't find the original post (if there ever was one).

I decided to go out and visit a local lake I’d been told was a good short walk away and was good for cycling around. Set the GPS to record for future reference.

I didn’t head there directly, as I thought that’d be too short, so set off on a more circuitous route. Unfortunately I wasn’t used to the paper map I had, and couldn’t really relate it to the scenery, or roads I could see around me too well. Thought I knew where I was on the map and was waiting for a right turn to head back to the lake I was supposed to be heading for. Saw a few people on bikes heading downhill. I said hi as we passed each other, but they didn't acknowledge me at all. Miserable bunch. Probably why they were on their own in the first place. The hill started to get steeper and steeper with no signs of a turn.

Up ahead I saw another cyclist struggling up the hill. As I was catching him up I thought 'Right I'll take this one, easy'. As I passed I said hello and then realised the guy was over 60. Hollow victory that then.

As I carried on, I saw another cyclist. Not taking anything for granted this time. By the time I caught him he'd stopped to wait for the guy behind. He was also over 60. When I asked for a position check on the map, he said I was actually off the map and heading in the wrong direction. Duh! Bugger. Didn't want to turn around just yet. “Not to worry” he said in broken English, (still a lot better than my Norsk), they were also heading back to Asker. “Just carry on up and turn right at the farm. Easy” he said. Yeah right. The hill got even steeper but I managed to make it to the Asker ski club car park.

It looked like a dead end, with only a track leading further up the hill to a farm. Thought I'd stop to have an apple and ask some locals if they knew which way the track back to Asker went. They had less clue than I would’ve credited, given the propensity for outdoor activities here. They all said I needed to head back down the hill. Typical car owners. I did start to have a thought that maybe the old guys were having a laugh at my expense though. As I rested, and contemplating how long I’d wait before heading back down, they both came up the hill walking their bikes. They both just pointed on up the hill.

The farm seemed to have lots of visitors, as it was a nice place to visit on a sunny day I guess. Thought it must be some sort of activity farm. As we left through the other side, the first guy (I never did get their names) said he'd had his birthday there last year to celebrate his 80th. I nearly fell off my bike there and then. His mate who was in front again was 82! Certainly put my efforts into perspective. Hope I'm as active at that age.

The ride went pretty smoothly after that. I just kept in touch with the two guys as they went round. The older one would always be in front. There's no way I would have found my way round on my own, without them pointing the way. Hopefully the GPS recorded everything. Might still be a struggle even then.

We stopped by a lake for a snack. Not the one I was supposed to be going around but one further away. I had my usual orange. Any more than that I feel wasted afterwards. There were plenty of people about even though I thought we were quite a ways from anywhere. Some other cyclists were actually towing trailers with kids in. Not sure how far they had come or were going. After lunch it was fairly easy going. Had to walk through some muddy sections but no real uphill bits. In fact some of the downhill’s were pretty steep but good fun. I like the disc brakes on the bike. Very good at stopping, as long as I remember to use the back more than the front. Having the adjustable front forks is also a great bonus, but only if I remember to switch it to soft on the downhill sections. I did forget at one point and it caused a jar to go into my wrist. That actually hurt for a day or two.

Towards the end of the ride we exited a very popular road, where people parked up, to walk around the small lake, but the younger of the two guys didn't exit with us. The older one would've carried on if I hadn't noticed. We stopped and waited a little before he said he'd go back and check, while I waited. I was just about to head back to check myself when he returned on his own. He said that his mate must've gone another route! There wasn't an ambulance! Oh well I wasn't going to push it, and we carried on, on paths alongside the roads. They switch sides quite a lot which I actually think is more dangerous than riding on the road itself. The total ride was about 25km and 4 hours which was a bit more than the 2hours or so I’d thought about doing.