I have this amazing little piece of technology that allows me to track my rides, my heart rate, power output and basically everything else about my pain and suffering while out on the bike. I have chucked the link in here for you all to have a look at and to keep me honest in my training goals. Don't be scared to post up a comment or to follow the blog. I currently have a goal of a 200km week this week and you can follow that in the goals tab at Garmin Connect. Enjoy!
http://connect.garmin.com/activities.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Every Journey Begins with a Cup of Coffee.
Never let two mountain bikers go for a ride and then sit down to a nice cup of coffee. You just never know where it will end up! It all starts innocently enough, a joke about my recent efforts at a 24 hour race, my comment about maybe him hardening up and having a crack at one himself and finally the fateful step past the point of no return. I open my big mouth. “We should do something really hard. I reckon that Terra Australis race would be the go. I know it would be tough but you’ll still be telling your grand kids about it.” Spencer and I have been mates for years. We met via mountain biking. We love riding together. In Spencer’s words, “This is the challenge of a lifetime and I need a challenge.” Not in my wildest dreams did I think he would say yes. Now what?
Well we start training, we start to prepare and we start to beg the forgiveness of our partners and kids. A race like this is a big commitment not only financially but on your family time. If you don’t prepare properly things can go pear shaped before you know what hit you. That’s a scary thought. In the middle of the Victorian Alps somewhere with a serious problem and the possibility of a long wait before assistance you really want to be sure it’s not the first time you’ve considered this outcome. Then there’s trust. I have a family, Spencer has a wife. Is it really responsible for us to undertake an event like this without preparing properly? Our partners have to trust us to be prepared, we have to trust each other to be there throughout the training and the race, we have to trust in our abilities to finish each day and back up for the next day for seven grueling days.
Am I scared? Hell yeah. Is my wife scared? No. She thinks I’m nuts, but she's not scared. I hope that as the preparation progresses that she will see my efforts in the training and planning for this event as an indication of how serious I am to finish this thing. Hopefully she won’t get scared.
Well we start training, we start to prepare and we start to beg the forgiveness of our partners and kids. A race like this is a big commitment not only financially but on your family time. If you don’t prepare properly things can go pear shaped before you know what hit you. That’s a scary thought. In the middle of the Victorian Alps somewhere with a serious problem and the possibility of a long wait before assistance you really want to be sure it’s not the first time you’ve considered this outcome. Then there’s trust. I have a family, Spencer has a wife. Is it really responsible for us to undertake an event like this without preparing properly? Our partners have to trust us to be prepared, we have to trust each other to be there throughout the training and the race, we have to trust in our abilities to finish each day and back up for the next day for seven grueling days.
Am I scared? Hell yeah. Is my wife scared? No. She thinks I’m nuts, but she's not scared. I hope that as the preparation progresses that she will see my efforts in the training and planning for this event as an indication of how serious I am to finish this thing. Hopefully she won’t get scared.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Old mates and old trails.
Today was fathers day here. I got to stay in bed late, eat home made pancakes with bacon and maple syrup and drink cups of tea all day. I even got to go for a social relaxed ride around some favourite trails in the afternoon to top off the day. Bliss.
The topper had to be getting the call from my mate Adam as I sat at the start of the ride telling me he was parked next to me and was joining the ride. I haven't ridden with Adam for nearly 2 years. We tried once a few months ago but he crashed and injured his shoulder so we cut the ride short. He puffed and huffed up the hills, looked like he might chuck the cookies at any minute but still laughed and joked at the rest stops. Onya Adam!
Bloody tops ride. Heres hoping for many more.
Get on your bikes people.
The topper had to be getting the call from my mate Adam as I sat at the start of the ride telling me he was parked next to me and was joining the ride. I haven't ridden with Adam for nearly 2 years. We tried once a few months ago but he crashed and injured his shoulder so we cut the ride short. He puffed and huffed up the hills, looked like he might chuck the cookies at any minute but still laughed and joked at the rest stops. Onya Adam!
Bloody tops ride. Heres hoping for many more.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Breakfast in the Trees
It seems that the Brisbane Forest Park is my playground. As I climbed out of bed and put my obligatory cup of tea on I was a little concerned that the morning was already warm enough to not need warmers or a vest. That soon fell by the wayside as I hit the road on the way over to meet my friends at the base of Mount Coot-tha.
My course takes me on a 12km warm up ride across a steep climb on the bitumen with a full tilt run down the other side and finishing with a little singletrack in Gap Creek Reserve to the carpark. The gang of intrepid explorers planned to scoot straight up South Boundary Road to the recently re-opened Boombana Cafe for a bite to eat (read an enormous breakfast and 2 lattes in my case!) a nice chat and then a run back down the hill and off home. The day was perfect.
There were 9 of us at the start with a varied skill and fitness range from the whippet like racer boys to the slow and steady "more mature riders" and me probably somewhere right in the middle. I am always amazed at the breadth of conversation that occurs on a ride. We start talking about mountain bikes but soon that dissolves into talk of holidays, books, movies and basically anything else that you feel like chatting about. Needless to say there are some small breaks as a little pinch climb takes all your breath or the next descent thins out the rockets from the more cautious riders but miraculously the little groups reform and the conversation continues seamlessly. I must point out we always regroup along the way, noone gets left behind. We're like the marines, never leave a man behind.
At the top the cafe was run off its feet as 9 hungry mountain bikers descended along with a couple of surprise guests. The coffees flowed, the talk was of seeing our mate Eric up there and on his feet after a horrific incident on the road and the feeling of cameraderie could have powered a small town. Erics crash was an awful shock to a lot of us. He tirelessly organises adventure rides and weekend trips and gives so much of his time to the mountain bike community. Seeing him upright and talking about when he can get back on a bike was awesome.
Well, what goes up must come down. The down bit is actually slightly misleading. While there is definitely more down than up heading back to Gap Creek there are still some tough little climbs to face and man had it got hot! 32 degres, in August! I did suffer a little on the way back but I found my salvation at the Mobil service station half way home. I had run out of water so I stopped, bought some water and Gatorade and scoffed a Chocolate Billabong. Aussies know, that would be heaven. The Choccy Billabong is the king of ice creams. Refreshed? Hell yeah.
The final slog home. Up over the same nasty little bitumen climb, this time on the steep side and then down to home in a flurry of big ring and bravado. The road is really narrow in parts and I don't like riding it at all. In fact I avoid it normally but I really wanted to ride over to the start of this one to rack up some more K's for the day. Some motorists are very stupid though. Wait a second maybe 2 until it is clear and safe to go around. No, lets fly past and see how many coats of paint we can remove on the cyclists jersey as we do it. One lucky motorist learnt that you shouldn't do it at the top of the hill though where the cyclist has a more than fair chance of thumping it down the other side and catching you at the lights. The extra little burst of adrenaline only made for a more imaginative stream of expletives as I pulled in front of the clown and made my displeasure known. He felt me.....
Home and exhausted. I sat on the yard serat, turned the hose on and dowsed myself to cool off. I downed a big drink of water and checked my stats. 70km, average speed of 16.4 km, 1700m of climbing and 3 goannas. Not a bad day for a social ride.
My course takes me on a 12km warm up ride across a steep climb on the bitumen with a full tilt run down the other side and finishing with a little singletrack in Gap Creek Reserve to the carpark. The gang of intrepid explorers planned to scoot straight up South Boundary Road to the recently re-opened Boombana Cafe for a bite to eat (read an enormous breakfast and 2 lattes in my case!) a nice chat and then a run back down the hill and off home. The day was perfect.
There were 9 of us at the start with a varied skill and fitness range from the whippet like racer boys to the slow and steady "more mature riders" and me probably somewhere right in the middle. I am always amazed at the breadth of conversation that occurs on a ride. We start talking about mountain bikes but soon that dissolves into talk of holidays, books, movies and basically anything else that you feel like chatting about. Needless to say there are some small breaks as a little pinch climb takes all your breath or the next descent thins out the rockets from the more cautious riders but miraculously the little groups reform and the conversation continues seamlessly. I must point out we always regroup along the way, noone gets left behind. We're like the marines, never leave a man behind.
At the top the cafe was run off its feet as 9 hungry mountain bikers descended along with a couple of surprise guests. The coffees flowed, the talk was of seeing our mate Eric up there and on his feet after a horrific incident on the road and the feeling of cameraderie could have powered a small town. Erics crash was an awful shock to a lot of us. He tirelessly organises adventure rides and weekend trips and gives so much of his time to the mountain bike community. Seeing him upright and talking about when he can get back on a bike was awesome.
Well, what goes up must come down. The down bit is actually slightly misleading. While there is definitely more down than up heading back to Gap Creek there are still some tough little climbs to face and man had it got hot! 32 degres, in August! I did suffer a little on the way back but I found my salvation at the Mobil service station half way home. I had run out of water so I stopped, bought some water and Gatorade and scoffed a Chocolate Billabong. Aussies know, that would be heaven. The Choccy Billabong is the king of ice creams. Refreshed? Hell yeah.
The final slog home. Up over the same nasty little bitumen climb, this time on the steep side and then down to home in a flurry of big ring and bravado. The road is really narrow in parts and I don't like riding it at all. In fact I avoid it normally but I really wanted to ride over to the start of this one to rack up some more K's for the day. Some motorists are very stupid though. Wait a second maybe 2 until it is clear and safe to go around. No, lets fly past and see how many coats of paint we can remove on the cyclists jersey as we do it. One lucky motorist learnt that you shouldn't do it at the top of the hill though where the cyclist has a more than fair chance of thumping it down the other side and catching you at the lights. The extra little burst of adrenaline only made for a more imaginative stream of expletives as I pulled in front of the clown and made my displeasure known. He felt me.....
Home and exhausted. I sat on the yard serat, turned the hose on and dowsed myself to cool off. I downed a big drink of water and checked my stats. 70km, average speed of 16.4 km, 1700m of climbing and 3 goannas. Not a bad day for a social ride.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Just when you thought it was safe to visit the blog site......
Oh my poor neglected blog! It's been pretty busy since my last post. Not busy in the fun exciting way but the dull, nagging and dragging way. I hadn't ridden for 6 weeks until last Sunday when I took a day off from my commitments and sat on the bike for a nice 50km spin through the hills.
First the commitments. We have a rental house, the tenants moved out and left it in a mess and ever since I have been there every weekend fixing it up and trying to get it ready for new tenants. So far the tally is 3 dead rats, 7 bags of rubbish from under the house, countless cockroaches and other bugs and LOTS of money to get the place to a livable state. Soul crushing probably describes it best.
So how bad did I need a ride? Until I managed to get out on the bike I was seriously considering upping my medication. My stress levels were through the roof and I had started feeling pretty low again. Along came my mountain bike buddies to snap me out of it. Its funny how suffering up some steep climbs and cracking a few jokes about it makes most things come rushing back into perspective. The day was perfect and the conversation oscillated between the riding and the usual collection of blue references to butts and the coffee and food waiting at the bakery after the ride. I was exhausted when I got home but SO happy. So far this week has been tolerable and with the prospect of another monster ride on Sunday things can only get better. I tell ya, get some exercises people. You won't regret it.
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