Oppy training begins.

Oppy 2012 is a shade under two months away and I'm  not particularly fit. I haven't done many miles and I haven't shed the festive season flab as quickly as last year. The goal this year is 400km in 24 hours, though at the moment I'm in no fit state. It's very rare I'll go for a ride for a reason other than for enjoyment or for transport, but I'm going to need some more miles in my legs than I have at present for this one.

I took the Crosscheck out for a quick 30km on the dirt today, a nice run up through the rolling hills to Lonnavale and back. Felt a bit slow on the way out but this ride is always a lot harder on the way out, being slightly uphill and usually into the wind. There was a little traffic from the campground on these normally quiet roads, checkout time must be 11am, after then it was quiet and I finished up out in the forest near the Russell River. The return ride is super-fast on lovely dirt roads, with the odd sketchy corner thrown in for good measure. The Crosscheck has a rock-hard seat on it, so I feel every bump. My homeward momentum was broken only by one of my bottle cages breaking - presumably because of the jarring uneven surface. I had wanted to add another 25km loop on the end, but it's only day one and it would be a shame to try to do too much too soon. Next week's goal will have to be a bit more ambitious.

My last Oppy was a good one, and while my January this year was a little better than last year, I've got a lot of miles to ride in February to make the 676km which set such a good base for last year's effort. Time to get busy.

411km so far this year.