A series of community rides held in communities across Nova Scotia promoted heart health - and cycling. The Heartland Tour is an annual affair promoted by Doctors Nova Scotia, Dalhousie University Medical School and members of the health community.
Each host community held daylong events suited for the entire family from kids entertainment and rides to expert rides both on and off road. I had occasion to participate in a posted intermediate ride of 65k from Wolfville Nova Scotia on July 7. Now, a critical part of the events were the inclusion of "core riders. "
These folks were competitive triathletes, cyclists and essentially highly fit people. I figured they would ride with the participants and split into different groups of faster and slower riders.
Maybe it was the 3 decades of smoking, but we were hitting 25 on the roll out of town - and the pace never really faltered.
I thought the pace would be about 15-18mph so I was breathing,uh,freely by the time we reached the first incline! However when we reached the first rest stop after about 20k the majority of remaining riders were Heartland core riders! What happened to the other participants? Probably the rapid pace forced more than a few to head for home.
Over the second section I made the mistake of eating a banana. I say mistake because I have never been comfortable eating solid food and with the pace I burped up quite a bit and bonked badly on a sinewy climb. The last portion of the ride I sucked back a Clif energy shot, which just happened to be "the long way" as by now the remaining riders were a couple of us committed enthusiasts with the core riders.
All told, it was a great training ride with a pace that has made me stronger, but I'm hoping the other rides had core riders staying with the slower groups.
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