Robyn Twemlow – Girls on Bikes, Mission Complete!

Posted on February 25, 2010

Robyn - at the start

That’s right folks – I made it to the finish line of the 76km Girls on Bikes road race without a scratch – and was still able to walk, talk and smile afterward!
 
Conditions today could not have been any better out at Methven. Sun, no wind, loads of spectators and a finely tuned team of marshalls and volunteers who ran a spectacular event.
 
The local farmers probably didn’t know what to do when they saw over 800 women in lycra lining their streets! The rural road users were so awesome and friendly to us cyclists – very patient and no one gave us any grief. Gotta love the country hospitality.
 
There ended up being 398 riders finish the recreational class of the 76km road race and 31 graded riders (of which only 30 finished unfortunately due to a nasty crash).
 
I came home in a respectable 77th place in my age group and 197th overall (so just scrapped in as being in the fastest half of the riders!!) in 2hrs 34mins…..the aver time was 2hrs 36mins apparently. I am absolutely stoked with that effort and can’t wait to tackle the event next year with a year of training and weight loss under my belt – watch out Annaleise Farrell…..I’ll be gunning to beat her time of 2hr 3min!
 
I was not only riding this event for myself but also to raise awareness of the Postnatal Depression & Family-Whanau Trust NZ – they run the website www.mothersmatter.co.nz which is very dear to my heart.  Donations are much appreciated.