More hills and more km

The second long weekend in a row for Queensland (Labour day). This is always a hard couple of weeks at work, as in our job, a day off simply means trying to squeeze 5 (or 6) days work into 4, so I should not have been surprized that I a)did not manage to cycle at all during the work week, and b)I started the weekend of riding feeling very flat and unenthusiastic.
On Saturday, I was working a half day, so had planned a 3 hour ride, around 65km, but instead turned around at the Gap, and was home by 8am, having only 45km or so under the belt.
I was able to catch up on some things at home before leaving for work - there are distinct advantages to a shorter ride.

However, the trip is looming, and there are some nasty pictures of mountain climbs on the internet, so on Sunday it was 110km to and from Kenilworth over the range again.
This was a terrific ride. There were only 3 riders, and we found a happy medium pace (I did struggle to keep up, but managed mostly), with perfect riding conditions aside from a gusty headwind which managed to change directions whilst we stopped for another excellent coffee at McGinns, so that we could enjoy resistance in both directions. I was tired in the afternoon, but managed to carry out normal weekend catch up activities and thought I was all set for another ride on Monday.
This was a new ride to me, an extension of the 80km return ride to Pomona by crossing the highway at Traveston, and coming back on Mary Valley Road.
The hills to Pomona were fine, and I did some stomach training for France by having a croissant with my coffee at the Pomona bakery. No problems there at all.
Unfortunately, I was putting my watch on the front of the bike after the coffee stop, and was passed closely by a bus, and fell off. Sore shoulder, bang on the head, but the bike was fine. I rode the rest of the way with a head and neck ache. This did not help over a 14% gradient hill and its two nasty unrated companions. Traveston crossing is hard work. I was really tired after the hills, and by the time I got home, after 90km, I was completely exhausted.
The ride took only 4 hours, with a coffee stop, but I did not achieve anything else all day.
I do not want to be lying around on a couch doing nothing after the rides in France. More training is required. This is unappealing this morning.