Around the Bay in a Weekend

Last year, I trained for and then completed the 'Around the Bay in a Day' bike ride. Naomi was planning on doing it too, however a little person growing in her belly put an abrupt stop to her training. This year, Naomi is up to the challenge, and Genevieve and I are support crew. Most Sundays have seen Naomi going for a ride. Starting at about 25 kms, she's built to 50, to 75 and then over 100 kms in a day. The next is to try the route (or close to it) around a month prior, but instead of completing it in day, to take two.

So after months of training, Naomi was ready to do the distance in two, bite sized (ha ha!) chunks. After a big feed of pasta on Friday night, we hit the hay early, ready for a long couple of days. Unfortunately, Genevieve decided that, for the first time in ages, she'd wake up at 4am. Oh well... at least we got quite a lot of sleep, even if not quite as much as we'd wanted.

The members of Team CPA who were doing the ride met at our place, or joined the mini-peleton a few km's down the track. So after sending off Mummy, and saying hello to Layla, our next-door neighbour's cat I gave her a quick feed and then it was into the car for the first of many, many miles. (Of course, much easier in a car than on the bike!)

The first rendezvous with the riders was in Werribee. The first 50kms went quite quickly and we only managed to beat them there by 15 minutes or so (it didn't help that I got lost - but not TOO lost, so I just followed my nose until I found the way). The weather was great and both the spirits, and the speed, was high. So after a toilet stop, a quick feed of Pat's cookies, cakes and orange wedges, (and a quick photo opportunity - Nai 2nd from the left), they were off again.

So after a quick squirt down the freeway (whereas, the riders had to take a much more scenic route), Genevieve and I hit Geelong and spent some quality time together at Rippleside Park. We went for a few walks (with Genevieve in the Baby Bjorn sling) to watch the kids playing on the amazing adventure park there. After not too long, the riders rocked up. So after another food and water stop (and a quick feed of Genevieve) they were off again for the final ride of the day, from Geelong to Queenscliff.

Genevieve and I arrived in Queenscliff about 30 minutes after we set off, and headed into the shopping strip to try and find a birthday cake. We didn't have much luck, so we got a chocolate cake mix to see if we could get something going that way. We then went back to where we were staying (thanks Kellie!) to await the riders. By that stage it was around 2 or 3pm, and she was pretty hungry. So I prepped a vegetable mix (carrot, zucchini, parsnip and swede I think), grabbed a beer and we sat in the sun out the front, both getting a fix of something we needed.

The riders were very happy to have finished for the day and after some showers and a bit of down time, we were off to the local pub for a feed. We tried to ensure Genevieve's evening more-or-less kept to her regular routine. So after another feed, she had a bath and some boob and we set off.

The walk to the pub was good to stretch the legs, and Nai and I were hoping that little G would lull off to sleep. Alas, that didn't quite happen and so we spent much of the next 90 minutes nursing a particularly grumpy girl. She finally did nod off, but beforehand, she still managed to win a lot hearts in the dining room. SUCH a cutie! The food was OK, and the choccy cake (yep... it ended up working out that way) wasn't all that bad actually.

Much to Naomi's relief, Geneview slept from the minute she was put down to when we awoke. Of course, she's in a different room to us generally, so we did get seranaded by the little snores, snorts and chuckles that she does to herself in the smaller hours.

Naomi was quite ravenous, however she can never eat too much before exercise, so I made her some toast with banana (yep... spared no expense) and honey. Genevieve helped out, of course, and this photo shows one of the few times when she left the lemon bowl standing upright. So after some coffee (mmmm..... coffee) and breakfast, we packed up the car and headed off for the ferry.

Now, I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to get a ticket for the ferry, but I think the touch-screen terminal that the poor woman was using made a 20 second job a 5 minute one, as we were in the queue for some time. So anyway, we drove on, parked the car and headed up to the lounge area to give Genevieve her breakfast. The trip across took about 45 minutes and then it was time to get back on the bikes (well... for them anyway - for G and I it was back into the car).

Both yesterday and today had awesome weather. But, this morning was just perfect for cycling. Absolutely no wind at all - the bay would have been glassy if not for the container ships slowly gliding by. Nice sun, but not yet too hot. So the crew made very good time from Sorrento to Dromana, our first stop, and the stop before the BIG hill. The crew again refuelled and compared notes as to when to ingest their high-energy 'goo' for the best effect to beat Jackson's Hill. After they left, Genevieve and I went to the local bakery for something slightly more paletable to ingest.

One more stop, this time in Frankston. I took the chill off Genevieve's lunch (it's amazing how hot the dashboard gets) and after a quick feed, we headed home. Naomi got home only about 1 hour after us. So she did the whole 210kms of the Around the Bay in a Day ride in just on 9 hours. Our route went a little further, so she was the better part of 10 hours on the bike over the weekend.

I had a great weekend and it was wonderful spending so much time with my little girl. I can't believe I can love her any more than I already do - but I think this weekend upped it just a little bit more.

You can sponsor Naomi in her quest - your money goes to The Smith Family to help provide education to kids who are doing it tough. Just say you want to sponsor an individual, and put in Naomi's name and follow the prompts.