Training Diary 18/06/2013

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 5,503 km 
• Elevation YTD - 51,482 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 227hr 25min
  
• Current Weight - 79kg

Well its has been abit quiet on the old Blog and riding side of things. After training long and hard for the big Bridge2Bridge ride (and doing the ride itself), I owed Bianca some quality time on the weekends and during the week. We spent it mostly eating haha which was handy because I lost a few kilos on the ride. It was enjoyable just lounging around and enjoying each others company.

I didnt get on the bike much during the last month or so - I had the odd mountain bike ride which was great fun. So the training stats from the last month are low but I am glad I took the time to rest up. Giving the legs a rest and letting the motivation build back up is important or riding will soon become a chore *shock horror* Something I never want to happen to me.

What Next?

So what next for me then? I have a few charity rides pencilled in which I hope to build up to. I haven't lost too much fitness from all the training so that is good. The next rides I have on my tentative list of options are:

• Brissie to Bay 100km on 23rd June
• Logan City Charity Ride 100km on 28 July
• Redlands Classic Ride 100km on 25 August
• Tour of Hope 120km on 8 September
• Robbie McEwan Gran Fondo 100km on 29 September
• Rainbow Ride 160km on 10 November

 There is also a couple of mountain bike rides I am thinking of giving a go too:

• Logans Run 75km on 11 August
• Freedom MTB Ride 60km on 12 October

Doing a MTB ride would be a great way to mix it up and keep things interesting. Hitting the trails on the weekend is a good way to fit a hard workout into a small time frame. If the weather can stay sunny and dry, the trails will be great this winter. You are also out of the cold winter wind in the bush which helps with the fun factor.

My new riding partner Dan and I are keen to do some more exploring around Brisbane. We have already done a hilly road loop around the Bunya Hills and Clear Mountain (which was cut short by a mechanical failure) but it was great fun. Anything is better than doing Riverloop every week! So I will map a few more adventures out and see if we can find the time to tick a few off.

Bike Fit

The other big activity from last week was that I had a proper bike fit done. I went to Physiotec at Tarragindi which is the same place Eddie has his late last year. Eric Huang is a mad keen cyclist and races almost every week so he knows his stuff. He did the fit taking into account specifics about my body/legs, my bike, the riding I do and any issues I have currently.

There was alot of detail in the 2.5hr session but a few things I learnt about myself:

• My knee pain experienced on the Bridge2Bridge was likely due to poor cleat setup. This was compounded by the fact I trained in my 'commuter' shoes and did the ride in my 'race' shoes. Explains why I had no problems in training but had some pain during the ride itself.
• Even though it is my dominant side, my right leg is less stable than my left. There are some exercises I can do which will help build up my stability in this leg.
• My right leg/foot tends to point outwards, where my left leg/foot is fairly straight. This requires different cleat position on each shoe.
• My right foot is actually 1cm shorter than my left. Again, it requires different cleat position on each shoe.
• My position on the bike was already pretty good. It only needed some slight tweaking (raising and pushing back the saddle). My saddle-to-stem drop is in area of 15cm which is pretty big! Slam that stem!

Eric suggested that I keep riding normally for 2-3 weeks and take note of any changes (good or bad) in my body and riding. I can come back as many times as needed, until I am happy - which is impressive customer service. All up it cost about $180, but as he is a physio (not a bike shop) I should be able to claim some on my private health insurance. I highly recommend it to anyone who has some pain on the bike, or if you just want to make sure youre not doing any damage to your body. Eric was very professional and pleasant to deal with.

I will do another update in a few weeks but so far things feel pretty good!

Safe cycling,

2013 Bridge2Bridge Wrap-Up and Photo Diary

 
"You've ridden from where?!" The lady sitting in traffic beside me asks. 

"The Story Bridge in Brisbane. Over 1,000km in a week." I reply a second time, with a half embarassed/half proud grin spreading across my face. 

"Wow. Thats a long way. Wow! You guys are amazing. Good luck for the rest of the ride!" She smiles and waves goodbye to the group. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That was a pretty typical interaction from strangers we had met along our journey. Whenever we would have to put the Bridge2Bridge into words and explain to someone that we were cycling from Brisbane to Sydney, it would hammer home the sheer distance and size of the challenge (in case we had somehow forgotten).

As a fairly regular cyclist, I knew pretty well how much pain 1,000km would inflict on our bodies. But some of the other riders were less experienced (and much, much less prepared) and basically went in blind. For me, this is what made their achievement even more amazing. I know plenty of people who would have pulled out even before the first day was over.

There were definately times when I was hurting badly (physically and mentally) and thought about stopping or slow down. But the combination of the ride purpose, the people I was riding for and my determination to see it thru soon and give it my best soon banished those thoughts to the back of my mind. In the end, I completed it without too many problems and felt pretty good the next day. I even pushed myself on the climbs and set a quick average pace each day. My only real issues were:

• Saddle sores - They came on after 4 days of riding. I had used copius amounts of Assos Chamois Cream but they still appeared. They weren't too bad and I was able to continue riding (with a grimace) for the rest of the week. I would hate to imagine what it would have been like if I didn't use the cream (ouch!).
• Knee pain - My left knee was hurting quite abit when we hit the cold tableland country. Armidale, Scone and Glen Innes were all below 5 degrees and I found that my knee would hurt for a few hours until I had sufficiently warmed up. It didnt affect my riding too much as I would take it easy and warm up for the first 30-40km then hit top speed with Ivor and Lawrie later in the day. I should point out that I usually hate, hate, hate, hate the cold - and this ride would mark the coldest weather I have ever ridden a bike in.
• Flats - I was lucky with only 2 flats. Poor Ivor had 8 altogether, with 4 occuring in one day! That would have tested my patience I think.
• Shifting - My shifting on the bike wasn't as clean as I would have liked. I dropped the chain off the front a few times and there was some noise in the rear cogs too. I will have to spend some time looking over it this weekend.

The Team

The A-team! (L-R): Mark, Alex, Randall, Cure For Life rep, Graham, Rochelle, Lauren, Lawrie, Ivor, Kevin, Cure For Life rep, Andrew, Peter (and son), Me

Evil Masterminds (Randall & Mark): The key organisers. Randall lost his daugher to an aggressive brain tumor which lead to his first ride from Gympie to Sydney solo. After rebranding to Bridge2Bridge, Randall hopes to continue the ride for years to come. Mark is his key offsider - organising media appearences, meet & greets, school visits and rider preparation. Mark also loves a beer or three.

Guardian Angels (Graham and Rochelle): Our saviours. They drove the van and tended to our every need. I know how whingey and annoying I can be after a hard ride so I am so grateful for all their help managing and looking after 10 riders day-in, day-out. They put out breakfast, picked up our luggage, organised our motel bookings, provided drinks and food, warmed us up, cooled us down, encouraged us and provided vital distance and time checks (how annoying would 10 cyclists asking "how far to go now?" everyday be haha) and generally putting up with us. Without them, the ride would have been impossible.

The LJ Hooker crew: The major sponsor for the ride this year was LJ Hooker. This was led by the Sunnybank Hills branch. Peter is the head honcho and his team of Alex, Kevin and Andrew were along for the ride. Lauren (Alex's partner) and Lawrie (Peters friend) also joined up to boost numbers. They had strong motivation to complete the challenge with Lauren losing both her Dad and Sister to brain cancer and Lawrie losing his brother.

The Leftovers: Me and Ivor. Ivor knew Randall thru a friend and signed up for the first time this year. And me, well I just was on the internet one day and ended up on the B2B website. The rest is history.

Memorable Quotes

"Yep, they're screwed" - Was the resounding conclusion when Lawrie, Ivor and I had finally staggered into the motel in Warwick on Day 1 after 170km and the monster Cunninghams Gap climb. We were absolutely shattered and had little hope for the other less-experienced riders, especially after hear they had to walk up Cunninghams Gap. It was hours until we saw the next rider limp into the motel and the last rider finished in the dark. But none of them gave up, which speaks volumes for their mental strength.

"Damn you, Bolivia!!" - Muttered by me when my knee was giving me some grief climbing the long Bolivia hill outside Tenterfield. I still have no idea why this random climb is named after a South American country. Good news was I hit my highest speed of the trip - 75km/hr - down the otherside.

"How many hills are left?" - I think Lauren asked Randal this question daily haha. Safe to say Lauren wasn't a keen cyclist when she joined the ride but I am hopeful we have converted her now. She was the most determined person on the ride, with only 4 months of cycling under her belt she never gave up.

"Andrew crashed his bike further back. Peter might have pushed him off." - On the last day, Andrew had an unfortunate accident crossing a freeway onramp and was left sprawled across the tarmac. When his brother Peter, arrived fresh as a daisy miles ahead, we concluded that Andrew may have been caught up in sibling rivalry.   

"Oh look, dead pig." - After seeing close to 50 dead wallabies on the side of the road, we were somewhat excited about a different dead animal. For the record, we saw only 1 dead pig, a few foxes, a deer and a couple of cats. My nose is now finely tuned to the stench of road kill - I can smell it coming a kilometer away.

"Kevin is lucky to still be alive. He ended up in a bogan coal mine." - On the second last day we passed thru Cessnock which has the reputation for being somewhat....bogan. Poor Kevin (our funny Korean rider) had set off by himself, was promptly verbally abused by some racist kids, got angry and rode off in a huff. Only problem being that he went down the wrong road and ended up on some Cessnock coal mine access road. Safe to say if Graham and Rochelle didnt find & rescue him, those rednecks would've had Kevvy for dinner. Funny story tho.

Afterthoughts...

For days after the ride I would flip flop between two trains of thought:

• Well, that wasn't so hard. I am not even that sore. I didn't bleed, I didn't sacrifice a body part and with abit of training anyone could do that ride. Heck, even a rider with 4 months experience managed to finish. Its not that big of a deal. 

and 

• Holy moly that was hard. Don't forget how low you felt coming into Warwick on the first day - that was the worst you have ever felt on the bike. How many other people do you know that could do that? Sure the less experienced riders finished as well, but their mental strength is what kept them going. Its mind over matter when the body gives up. That was a tough ride. 

After talking to a few people back in Brisbane and hearing their reactions to the ride, I think its probably a mix of both trains of thought.

Yes, it was the hardest week of riding in my life. But, it was also the most rewarding thing I have ever done. There is that magical feeling of pushing yourself to the absolute limit of exhaustion, yet still being able to smile and laugh only an hour later. Add to that the fact we were doing it for charity (and in memory of friends we lost), then you have this whole mixed feelings of achievement, honour and sacrifice. Regarding the charity side, its nice to know someone, who I will never meet, will benefit from the money we raised - and one day if a cure for cancer is found, I can quietly be proud to be one of the many who helped that happen.

All in all, I would count it as a life changing experience. One which I would love to repeat again.

Wide-eyed and Legless....exactly how I felt at the end of the ride

Photo Slideshow

News Articles

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/east/six-dedicated-riders-will-take-on-1000km-this-week-when-they-take-part-in-the-bridge-2-bridge-bike-ride/story-fn8m0sve-1226632796207

http://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/1490373/on-bikes-to-save-lives/

http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/pedal-power-to-find-a-cure/1871087/

http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/story/1485089/putting-the-brake-on-cancer/

http://www.tenterfieldstar.com.au/story/1468298/riders-arduous-trek-for-cancer/

http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/pedalling-for-cure-to-cancer/1849798/

http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/bridge-to-bridge-riders-get-ready/1853297/

http://www.cessnockadvertiser.com.au/story/1596244/pedalling-for-a-brain-cancer-cure/?cs=459

Training Diary 03/05/2013

Charity Ride Stats:

• Weeks until Bridge 2 Bridge ride - <1 day!
• Donations collected - $3,703.45

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 4,074 km 
• Elevation YTD - 36,567 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 167hr 53min
  
• Current Weight - 78kg

Well its nearly ride day! Geez that crept up fast! I can still remember the day I was down at the coffee shop under my work and first spotted the Bridge 2 Bridge webpage. I sat there for a good 30mins pondering whether I could do it or not, and finally after remembering my friend Eddies words I pulled the pin and committed to doing the ride. I had a nervous but excited feeling in my belly at that moment. I have the same feeling now.

Training Plans

Training leading up to an event like this is very very important. However, no matter how well I plan - it seems that I can never fully stick to the original training plan. Admittedly, my original training plan was rather ambitious (pencilling in 500km/week for 6 weeks straight) so it probably was never going to work. I think the key things to remember when doing a training plan are:

• Be realistic. You have to be brutally honest with yourself about how much training you can actually fit into a week. If like me, you have a day job and a (very forgiving) girlfriend - you will need to take these into account time-wise. No good putting yourself down for 5hrs a day on the bike - chances are you will end up unemployed and single before the training plan is over!
• Be flexible. Sometimes things don't go to plan. You get sick, have to travel away, or just plain don't have motivation for a big week of training. That's okay (to a certain degree) - just make sure you either catch up on the missed kilometres or do alternate activities like running or stretching. Some activity is always better than no activity. 
• Diversity. Make sure your training plan has a mix of training. For me, I got pretty sick of doing riverloops day in, day out. As nice as the scenery was, it just got plain boring. Mixing it up with group rides, climbing hitouts, 'just for fun' rides and rides in new places was great to keep boredom at bay.
• Be Inspired. Especially in winter, its all too easy to sleep in and put off the morning ride. For me, it was important for me to keep up my motivation and inspiration to get back on the bike and train my butt off. This mainly involved watching replays of my favourite cycling races, reading magazines on riding tips and of course visiting the local bike shop and browsing the fancy new bikes!
• Talk the talk. This is something I found out by accident. A great way to keep up the training and to self motivate is to tell all your friends and family about your goals. This helps in a few ways. The first is that once you tell people (and if you tell alot of people) you feel the obligation to go thru with the challenge instead of pulling out. If no one knows about it, its all too easy to give up! The second way it helps is that you will find that everyone will want to talk about your training, how you are going with fund raising and just general interest in your challenge. It really perks you up and gets you motivated to keep going. This type of crowd support can really gather momentum and you will find fund raising will become easier. 

All in all, my training for this event went well. There were low weeks where I didn't get to do as many kilometres as I had hoped - but I usually made up for it the following week. I am also counting on the old 'race performance' factor, where you tend to be able to perform faster/longer/better in a race-type situation than in training. I am pretty confident that I will make it to Sydney just fine.

Packing for the Ride

It looks as though I will be one of the more experienced cyclists on the trip in terms of mechanics, so in addition to my standard riding gear I will be bringing along some tools/spares to help the team out. So far, I have included the following on my ever-growing list of items:

• Puncture repairs: 3x spare tubes, 2x spare tyres, tyre levers, CO2 bulbs and head, patch kit
• Common tools: screwdrivers, Allen key set, chainbreaker, chain lube, grease
• Special tools: cassette remover, chainwhip, pedal spanner, pliers
• Misc: electrical tape, zipties, rags, rubber gloves
• Spare wheelset, spare chain, spare gear/brake cable

I have also dropped my bike off with a reputable mechanic for a once-over to ensure theres no big problems on the ride. It looks like all the training I did may have used up the last of my tyres, so I will be buying some new ones tomorrow to fit. Better to be safe (with new tyres) than sorry (by getting flat tyres all the way to Sydney)!

Other important things for me to bring are:

• Baby wipes - these things are a godsend. Great for cleaning yourself if you cant make it a shower for awhile. Great for wiping the bike down. Excellent for getting grease and dirt off your hands after you've been working on the bike too!
• Small amount of laundry detergent - Just in case we cant find a laundromat along the way, Ill bring some of my own laundry detergent so I can wash my kit in the shower. Nothing is worse than riding in a dirty kit (guaranteed way to get saddle sores) so clean kit is a MUST.
• Familiar hydration and energy gels - a long ride is no time to start experimenting with food and drink mixes. You can imagine the horror story if you find out that the energy mix you decided to 'try' actually doesn't sit well with your intestines. Not many roadside toilets out west! So I will be bringing along my own stash of High-5 Zero hydration tablets and Winners Energy Gels - these are the same ones I have used in training and know they work for me. I'll also bring my own box of muesli bars in case I need an emergency energy hit.
• Tablets - To minimise any annoying health problems I will be bringing my hayfever tables and an assortment of Fish Oil, Garlic, Magnesium and Zinc tablets. I have found these to be of some benefit to me after big rides and I figure they can only be helping my immune system in times of stress (eg. 150km rides). 

Fingers crossed I dont forget anything!

Thankfully I dont need to carry it all myself!

Final Fundraising

At my work I have been spreading the news about the ride and fund raising for the Cure for Life Foundation. Rachael, the mother hen of our team, really went out and took on the role as my official fund raising coordinator. It was great! As a naturally shy person, having someone willing to 'spruik' on your behalf is really nice and the support I got was amazing.

My branch at work collected all their spare change over the last few months and threw them in the fund raising tins. We also had a morning tea/bake sale yesterday for the ride. The end result was a MASSIVE collection of $1,003.45 which made me really, really happy. I know for a fact that the men and women at Cure for Life will be very grateful for the money we raised. To date, we have raised a total of $3,703.45 for the foundation. Amazing work everyone!

Donations:
Big thanks to the following people who have donated - It really means alot to me to have your support!
Simon Coombs, Lex Dewar, Darren Evans and BCC's City Projects Office.

Training Diary 15/04/2013

Charity Ride Stats:

• Weeks until Bridge 2 Bridge ride - <3 Weeks
• Donations collected - $2,480.00

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 3,542 km 
• Elevation YTD - 31,757 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 145hr 30min
  
• Current Weight - 77.5kg

Training has been great lately. Last week especially was good and I managed to squeeze 440km (3900m climbing) in, finishing it off with the Ipswich 100 charity ride (more below).

The weather has still been abit hit & miss with a few days of rain/showers last week. I am desperately hoping that all this rainfall now will mean a dry winter (i.e. a dry Bridge 2 Bridge ride). The plan from here on will be to continue the high-distance training for the next fortnight then use the last week to taper down (only riding say 100-150kms) in order to let the legs recharge.

I have been lucky to dodge sickness so far this year. This weekend was the only time I have felt abit 'off' and I think it was mostly due to lack of proper sleep and the up & down temperatures. That being said, I still managed to knock out a 170km ride while I was feeling off so I'm not too fussed about it. I have been taking the following supplements to help avoid any sickness and injury problems:

• Fish Oil capsules - to ease joint pain and for the Omega3
• Garlic tablets - for an immune system boost
• Multivitamin tablets - to fill in any gaps in my diet for vitamins
• Hay fever tablets - to stop me sneezing every morning (especially at change of seasons)

 So far these have worked for me so I will make sure I bring some with me on the ride. Fingers crossed I don't get sick in in the next 3 weeks! Touch wood...

 Snaps from the Ipswich 100 mile ride...

Ipswich 100 Charity Ride

On Sunday I took part in the Ipswich 100 charity ride. Its the third time I have signed up for this ride and they offer three distances; 50km, 100km and 100 miles (or 160km). The last two times I did this ride was with Eddie and we did the 100km ride each time. As an extra challenge to complement my training, I signed up for the 160km ride this year. Its my first ever Imperial century (100 miles) and was my biggest single ride to date.

 Great countryside scenery...

It wasn't exactly a smooth start for me - I underestimated the time to drive out to Ipswich and the extra traffic at the designated parking area had me running late. The scheduled 160km start time was 6am and I was ready to ride at about 6:15am. But the time I got to the start line, the 160km group had long gone. Rather than give chase all on my own (a tough task), I opted to start with the front group of the 100km in the hope of catching some of the slower 160km riders on the way.

 Mountains in the distance...

Boy did those 100km 'elite' rider fly! We were doing 45km/hr for the first hour and the bunch was breaking up everywhere. I dropped off the back of the fast bunch eventually and I was mindful that I had used up alot of energy so far. I recognised a few guys from the forum shortly afterwards and slowed the pace right down.

 One of the many hills...

From there on, I stuck with my newfound friends Brett and Pete for the rest of the day. It was a long day of riding (over 7hrs) so we all went at our own pace. I was abit quicker up the hills (and it was a really, really hilly course) so we would regroup periodically along the way. I was glad that I had been training lately as the constant hills were energy sapping. I had an involuntary 15min timeout when I had a slow leak puncture (from a pothole I think), but once that was fixed I was off again.

 Don't think this old car's roadworthy anymore...

The scenery was beautiful - green grass and bright blue skies with wisps of clouds. It was amazing riding weather. There was minimal traffic and the ride was really well organised. I filled up on my fair share of hot cross buns and bananas! The men and women manning the food stops were cheerful and always up for a chat. A big thank-you to them for taking the morning off to help the riders out.
 

 Long road to nowhere in particular...

Total distance was 170km, total climbing of 1700m and time of 7hrs11mins. All in all a great ride and I will be back again next year!


Ride Website: http://www.ipswich100.com.au/
My Strava Ride: http://app.strava.com/activities/48691197



Donations:
Big thanks to the following people who have donated - It really means alot to me to have your support!
Anonymous donation of $100 and Vanessa Vong.


Thank you all so much.

Training Diary 05/04/2013

Charity Ride Stats:

• Weeks until Bridge 2 Bridge ride - <5 Weeks
• Donations collected - $2,330.00

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 3,080 km 
• Elevation YTD - 27,851 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 127hr 12min
  
• Current Weight - 77kg

Only a short entry this week.

Training has been going really well. I have broken the 1000km/month mark for both February and March which is a big step up from my normal totals.

We have had the odd rainy day each week which has meant I have been cleaning my bike regularly. Its important to keep things clean and lubricated on the bike because it maximises the life of all the components. Before the big ride, I will need to check for wear on my chain, cassette and bearings. I already know that I will need to buy some spare brake pads as the wet weather has wore the existing ones down quite abit.

The other thing I want to do is mix up my training routes. I have been doing my standard commute and riverloop commute quite abit - and while it is handy for extra kilometers - its getting boring riding the same track over and over again. I joined Kirsty Broun for a group ride with her coaching group. The original plan was to tackle the hills of Brookfield but due to rain, it turned into a flatter Nudgee Beach ride. It was fun to ride with a different bunch of people so I'll look to join them again.

I am also hoping to meet up with some other cyclists from the forums for rides. Its always nice riding with others, chatting and joking around - it can make 100km ride go by pretty quickly.


Thats about it training-wise. I have a big ride coming up next week. I have signed up for the Ipswich 160km charity ride. It will be my longest single ride to date and I am looking forward to the challenge. It will be a tough day in the saddle but Im sure I'll make it.


Never give up.

Training Diary 21/03/2013

Charity Ride Stats:

• Weeks until Bridge 2 Bridge ride - <7 Weeks
• Donations collected - $2,330.00

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 2,364 km 
• Elevation YTD - 20,950 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 97hr 33min
  
• Current Weight - 77.5kg

Continuing on the theme of the year - it has been a mixed bag in terms of training. The weather in Brisbane has been terrible for training - rainy days with the old day of clouds, then more rain again.

This has made training hard (as morale can get low if you spend 10hrs a week sopping wet and cold). Cleaning the bike is just about a weekly chore and I need to buy some new brake pads as the water is quickly dissolving mine away.

I have still been putting in long commuting hours (incorporating the Riverloop) which has been good and I am looking forward to finding some new weekend rides to do. Strava has a great "Activity Search" function where you can see the rides other cyclists have been doing near you. Good for new route ideas!

Newcastle and Hunter Valley Trip
Bianca and I flew down to Newcastle on the 9th March to spend just over a week in the area. The main reason for the visit was to see my grandma for her 89th birthday (not a bad innings!!) and see my aunty and uncle as well. I also wanted to spend some time in Newcastle city and Hunter Valley with Bianca and explore a little bit.

Contrary to most peoples opinion - I found Newcastle to be a great city to visit. Its a smaller, sleepier city compared to Brisbane - its CBD is only a few blocks across - but this was a great change of pace. Work has been really hectic lately (I had to work late in the days before we left) so the slow pace and lack of schedule suited  me just fine.

Me enjoying my morning coffee and paper

We stayed at the Novotel near Newcastle Beach which was right in the heart of the city. The cost was pretty good and the room was very nice. Our morning ritual consisted of waking up (without an alarm) and wandering off to find a good cafe for breakfast. One our favourite places was the Estabar Cafe which overlooked the ocean and had really good coffee. They also served yummy bircher muesli and gelato (which we sampled many times). I highly recommend visiting.

Estabar - A must visit cafe

The trip was timed perfectly with the 2013 Loop the Lake charity ride, which circumnavigates Lake Macquarie over a distance of about 90kms. The lake is a beautiful area and I was really keen to take part in the ride. More on that ride below.
I borrowed a hard bike case off a forum friend, and packed the bike neatly into it. The only other cost was for additional baggage on the flights and for 2 waterbottles as I forgot mine in the rush to pack! The hard case was excellent in protecting my pride and joy, but was a little on the heavy side. I have heard many horror stories of heavy-handed baggage handlers breaking carbon frames on delivery - I was keen to avoid that happening to me!

After 3 days in Newcastle, we caught the train down to Morisset where my relatives live. Its a sleepy town (theres only one main street) next to Bonnels Bay which is a part of Lake Macquarie. I was amazed that every area around the lake has beautiful views and barely any of it is ruined by high rise apartments or commercial developments. Its a great place to live. My extended family was excited to see me and even more excited to meet Bianca. I can read them like a book and I can tell they absolutely loved her. Nan was especially delighted to have someone new to tell all her stories too. I think I heard over 1000 stories during our 3 days stay - theres no secrets about the McGlinn family now!

Family portraits

From Morisset we hired a car (Nissan X-Trail) to drive up to the Hunter Valley. The car was beautiful to drive and I was thankful for paying more for a "4x4" as the potholes in the Hunter Valley would have swallowed up a small car.

We stayed a Peppers Guest House in Pokolibin, just north of Cessnock. It was very expensive and in high demand as there was some country music festival on the same weekend. The room was nice, but I couldn't help compare it to the places we have stayed in on our trips to Asia (for much, much less money). But it is what it is.

We visited a few winerys (even found a Petersons Winery, which we bought two bottles of Shiraz from) and drove off road to the various lookouts. It is not a flat area and you seem to either be driving uphill or downhill. I even got to take my bike out a few times and it was very hard work. It was quite hot during the day (between 25-30 degrees) which was quite a change from the dreary Brisbane weather. The scenery on my rides was fantastic - like nothing I have ridden thru before. I am glad I took lots of photos (which are now on my electronic photo frame).

 

Mt View Lookout - This climb was tough!

All in all it was a great trip south and I was really happy to have the sunny weather. Can't wait for our next adventure!

Hunter Valley Ride Strava Link


2013 Loop the Lake
I rode from Newcastle city to the start of the Loop the Lake at Spears Point, about 20kms away. I knew the Loop ride was about 90kms so I was in for a big day on the bike. I decided to go pretty quick at the start to keep up with the fast groups and then take my time on the last leg so I didnt have to limp back to the city.

  

 Loop the Lake - Looking euro pro...

It was a beautiful ride - the weather was just perfect with blue skies and whisps of fluffly clouds. As we started early at 7am it wasnt too hot either. The roads on the loop are quite good considering you are pretty rural and alot of the roads had a generous shoulder. There were some parts of bad shoulder and potholes but this was less common than I had expected.

Although 2000 riders had signed up for the ride (it has several route lengths you can choose from), I found myself riding alone or with a handful of others most of the time. This was quite nice and allowed me to enjoy the scenery and new sights without being worried about crashes or crowds etc. On the last leg, I made friends with Russell from the Central Coast and enjoyed a good converstation which made the last 20kms fly by. Russell has signed up for the Five Peaks Challenge in Canberra which is on my bucket list of things to do one day. Lots of climbing but we cyclists are suckers for pain :)

After we rolled into the finish area, we shook hands and bid farewell. I ate a banana and refilled my bottles and headed back to the hotel. Bianca had made her way down to the beach so I showered and promptly filled up on a delicious steak burger and chips (hey, I earned it!) and met her on the beach to watch the late afternoon sunset. Dinner that night was shared spanish tapas and a jug of sangria - a great way to end a great day!

Loop The Lake Ride Strava Link




Donations:
Big thanks to the following people who have donated - It really means alot to me to have your support!
Chris McGlinn (my brother), Damon Oudejans, Tara Puzin, Nik Vassilev, Mum & Dad, Josh Taylor, Brody Willys, Dorothy McGlinn (my grandma) and Shirley & John Schulz (my aunty and uncle).


Thank you all so much.

Hunter Valley...blue skies, dirt roads and vineyards

Training Diary 28/02/2013

Charity Ride Stats:

• Weeks until Bridge 2 Bridge ride - <10 Weeks
• Donations collected - $1,100.00

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 1,668 km 
• Elevation YTD - 14,554 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 69hr 46min
  
• Current Weight - 78.0kg

Training wise, the last two weeks have been good and bad.
Good because I got a solid block of training in and did some good totals of kms and hours on the bike. I am feeling the added fitness of the extra miles and finding I am less and less tired after big efforts.
The bad has been the weather that SE QLD has seen lately. Nothing but rain, rain, rain, rain, abit of sun, then more rain. Even the next 7 days are looking to be wet and wild. This can make training abit harder. I dont particularly like training indoors (wind trainer or rollers) as it takes the fun out of riding a bike but will do it as a last resort. Last week I put my race fenders on and rode thru the storms but the cleaning up of the bike takes alot of time. If you dont properly clean all the dirt and sand out of the drivetrain you can grind away your chain/cassette in no time. So its a catch 22 scenario. Fingers crossed for some sunshine soon!

Rain rain go away, come again....next year.

In terms of training program, I think its working quite well. I have set distances for various routes which I peice together to meet my weekly total. For example:

• Standard short commute = Approx 23kms
• Standard commute + Uni loop = Approx 26km
• Longer bikeway commute = Approx 35kms
• Riverloop commute = Approx 50kms

So if I leave early and have time to spare I'll switch to the Riverloop Commute and log the extra kms. If its going to storm or I am short on time - the standard commute can be done in 40ish minutes. Then the weekends allow me to do longer rides to whereever I like. Its working well!

 Cycle of Giving 2013
 So as part of my weekend hitout, I signed up for the Cycle of Giving ride held last Sunday. The other bonus was that a couple of people doing the Bridge 2 Bridge were also going to be there. Good chance to meet them and put some names to faces.

The Cycle of Giving aims to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation and is supported by The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation and Medtronic. It has several distances, with the longest starting at Landsborough (west of Caloundra) and ending at Chermside on the northside of Brisbane (100kms). I planned to ride home from the finishline so that would give me a total of about 130kms for the day.

Unusually, this ride does not start and finish in the same location - which can make transportation abit difficult. Either you ride to the start or organise another way there/back. Thankfully, QR has come onboard and provided a coutesy train up from Roma Street to Landsborough (stopping at a few stops along the way for shorter distance riders) in time for the start. It was great! The train was a bit squeezy with a few hundred cyclists and their bikes but better than missing out altogether. Great work QR and CoG!

We alighted at Landsborough and I signed in at the registration tent and found out that I had won a Cycle of Giving jersey - SWEET! I met Randall (B2B ride organiser) and a few of the LJ Hooker riders who have signed up as well. They turned out to be a great bunch of guys (and girl) so I am looking forward to the big ride in May.

The first 30km were quick with me flying along with a fast bunch. There was a quick stop when Randall broke a front spoke. We later reassessed it at the pitstop and figured out that it was rubbing on the fork crown - not good when its made of carbon! That pretty much ended Randalls ride and we bid him farewell. Hopefully our next meetup is more successful.
From the first pitstop I rode with the LJ Hooker crew at a slower pace. Some of them are newer to riding so we didnt break any speed records. I also helped out one of them who flatted on some broken glass. At the second pitstop (75km mark) the rainclouds had gathered. I didnt want to spend the next few hours in the wet so had a quick bottle refill and headed off on my own.

As I caught and passed riders, I came across a blonde lady in an Australian Nationals kit. I thought nothing of it, as anyone can buy any team kit they want online now. Anyways, so I sit behind her drafting for awhile and after about 15mins I swing up next to her and ask "Do you want a rest? I can sit on the front". For those not familiar, sitting on the front of a group of riders is harder and uses up more energy than sitting in behind. The lady said something back (which I missed) as I swung onto the front. Abit further down the road she came up next to me and we started talking. Turns out she was Kirsty Broun (previous 2 time Australian National Female Road Crit Champ!) - talk about embarassing!! Here I am, asking a national champ if they are tired and want a rest after 80 odd kms hahaha. Oh well.

Luckily for me, she is a really nice lady. We talked about womens cycling, some of the races she had done and her current occupation which is part-time lawyer/part-time cycle skills coach. She had some of her students at the ride sitting behind us and they looked like they were having a great time. For some it was their first 100km ride and it was great to see the smiles and enthusiasum. I have since traded emails with Kirsty and might join her on a few of the organised group rides she runs. It'll be fun riding with a pro cyclist!!

Anyway we arrived at the finish near midday and I grabbed a quick sausage on bread & a fanta and sat in the shade. After a rest I set off down Gympie Road heading to the city - HOLY MOLY that is a dangerous road. I DO NOT recommend riding on that road to anyone! Once I was in the Valley it was a steady ride home - by this time is was pretty hot and humid. Got home, jumped in a cold shower and stretched out the legs.

I felt pretty great on this ride - only a little tired afterwards but managed 130kms no worries. Looks like the training is paying off.

Strava Ride Link

 Stretching/Recovery
The other thing I did this week was re-join the free gym at work. I was member aaaaages ago when I was bulking up and doing alot of weights. Now my priorities are alot different and the main purpose of my membership is to participate in the Yoga and Pilates classes. The aim being to work on my flexibility and core strength to help with my recovery and reduce the chance of any injuries in my big training weeks.

My results:

• Resting pulse = 77 bpm
• Blood pressure = 130/90
• BMI = 23 (ideal)
• Bodyfat % = 14.72 (below average)
• Lean body mass = 66.52kg, Fat mass = 11.48kg
• Hip & lower back flexibility = 1cm (minimal)
• Aerobic fitness (VO2Max) = 68.37 (very high)

They had my details from the last time I was a member and some key differences include:

• My blood pressure seems to be a tad high. Nothing too alarming but higher than normal.
• I weight less. No surprise but last time I was a member, I weighed 85kg. I am down to 78kg now.
• My fat % is much less. Again no surprise, all that riding has reduced my fat stores.
• My VO2Max is very high. This was determined by a bike + Heart Rate test so again no surprise. Good to see that the number match my exercise though.
• My flexibility is much, much less. This would make sense as I used to do weights and stretches a few times a week - but since moving to being a "cyclist", my leg muscles are alot tighter. Bigger and stronger, but tighter. So its a good thing I signed up!

Regarding my blood pressure - I will be retesting it every month to get a handle on whether it is consistantly high, or just occasionally. If it proves to be high all the time, I may need to see a doctor.

Bianca is buying a yoga mat for me (no smelly loan mat for me!) so I should start the Yoga classes from next week. In the meantime, I have some suggested stretches and foam roller excersises which I can do at home after every ride.


Donations:
Big thanks to the following people who have donated - It really means alot to me to have your support!
Gavin Blakey, Lara Dark, Franz Jacobsen, Lisa Pollard, Dan Young and James Hansen.


Thank you all so much.

Fingers crossed from some rain-free mornings soon!

Training Diary 14/02/2013

Charity Ride Stats:

• Weeks until Bridge 2 Bridge ride - <12 Weeks
• Donations collected - $850.00

Training Stats:

• Distance YTD - 1,153 km 
• Elevation YTD - 11,087 m
  
• Ride Hours YTD - 50hr 19min
  
• Current Weight - 77.5kg

I will be trying to do a regular (fortnightly maybe?) summary of my training leading up to the Bridge 2 Bridge ride. It will feature some stats (I'm a sucker for stats and numbers) as well as some commentary about how my training is going so far.

First of all, I had a pretty great start to the year training wise. I completed the Rapha Strava Challenge and rode over 500kms in between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. After that I tapered back down to a more sustainable (for me) 200kms per week.

My overall cycling goal for the year is to ride 10,000kms and climb 100,000m by December 31st 2013. This double what I did last year so it will take some persistence and routine to reach.

The training leading up to the Bridge 2 Bridge will be fairly simple. The ride doesn't feature crazy amounts of climbing and is mostly long, undulating days of 120kms or so. So the training aim is to increase my mileage each week so that my body grows used to riding that kind of distance day after day (without falling apart). I will try and add some climbing in here and there to keep things interesting. By mid April I want to be riding around 500-600kms per week. The week before the ride will be reduced to maybe 200-300kms to 'save the legs' for the big ride.

Already I have been ramping up to 250-300kms in a week and I have started to notice that my leg muscles are getting abit fatigued and sore when riding repeat days. I am learning to warm down at the end of a ride (easy spinning for the last 4kms or so) and trying to stretch the muscles out each day. I am also looking at starting Yoga classes to help with the stretching and flexibility side of things.

In other bike related news - I bought a Garmin 800 GPS Bundle from a guy on the cycling forums. I haven't figured out how to use it yet but the hope is that it will help with training (especially with the Heart Rate Monitor). I am also looking forward to the GPS navigation aspect where I can map out a new ride on the computer and just have the Garmin navigate me around the course. This will be great to stop me from riding the same old courses over and over again. Bianca's going to get so sick of me babbling about this thing, I can see it now haha.

So anyway, in the next period I will be ramping up the kms and figuring out my routine for riding to/from work, stretching and warming down. Fingers crossed the body cooperates and I dont come down with any injuries or sickness.

Donations:
Big thanks to the following people who have donated - It really means alot to me to have your support.
Kuzaini Sani, Taryn Clarke, Olivia Sanderson, Shree Kalokhe, Anonymous donation of $300 by "Tony"!!, Marilyn Cameron, Mark Tinnion, Kieren Davis, Tammy Crockford, Cheyne Honeyman, Scott Glover, Blake Boulton, Rach & Keith Lindsay and Sarah Springer.

Each donation is special - but I would like to point out the anonymous donation of $300 by a "Tony". They did not include any contact details, and while I only know a handful of Tonys, I am pretty humbled that someone wants to part with that much money for this cause and not want any recognition. That is just amazing to me.

Thank you all so much.