The prep...
530pm friday spin class burried the legs deep.
Then a 4.5hr car drive back to young arrived just before 1am...
The alarm was set for 530am..
Saturday....
I was straight into my breakfast of weetbix and toast.
Then it was a battle of rugging up, i was a little under done for the 2degrees start.
My fsa booties and vaude spray jacket was working overtime, the fingerless gloves
was not a good idea, just as well i didnt need to change gears or anything...
I hit the first climb 2kms from home and the legs were snapped frozen, the first 10km from young is all up and the legs felt quite stale.. after days of dreamin of smashing the hills in this challenge my focus changed to survival and try to keep up the pace when ever i was in the saddle... I soon make it to wallenbeen and hop off to slide my saddle forward, that was definately needed... The climbs to coota werent as bad as i thought they were gona be so i just danced on the pedals to reach the top... i coasted down to the long flat road into coota, and i was so close to getting to the caltex depot before my dad left but we crossed paths near the sheepyards.. with a big HONK HONK !!!!!!!!
I strip off the spray jacket as the cloudless sky was warming up..and the big hills....i wastruly dreading the first one out of coota... i got to the quarry laughing at the climb... oh but it didnt let up and i was truly breathless when i reach the top... there was another nasty one to follow which kicks early and with stale legs i just tried to keep the rythm smooth and strong... The roads kept going skywards..... pssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst WAT!!!!!!!! a flat on armadillo tyres...
Dismount and get there repair under way. i check and and re check the tyre amongst the million buzzing flys... i pull out my only tube and only co2.. hmmm the tube has 2 patches on it... this could end bad... i refit tyre and inflate.. kool.. all good. i put my wheel back on.. pssssssssttt oh dammit... fine ill ride it flat then 10m later i wake up to thats a bad idea... i start the walk and thought id save my best "i need a ride thumb" until i see a ute.. 4th vechicle along comes a ute and he pulls up to see if im ok.. thru the bike in the back and cruised to wagga on another form of v8,,, had a great chat to,(just another person in the world who thinks im a freak)
The engagement party was tops, it was a very very relaxed affair so boardies and no shoes was ok in my books.. and the food was great 2nd time around as well..
On sunday we just woke up and hit the road it was a shame to leave the green and colourful countryside, driving back to the coast i craved a quinte cafe... there sure isnt many out in the country and i just couldnt handle the other maccas.. so we pulled into gunning the antique shops were a let down,, but call into the MERINO CAFE its a great little place with a very nice sunny courtyard out the back, big thumbs up on there choc banana bread.
Once on the coast we went straight to the single track goodness of ourimbah, well for charli anyways.. i saddled up the single speed and rolled out to yarramalong... i had BUMBLE HILL on my mind.... ive only ever driven down it but i wanted to know wat going up it is like..HELL..
320m in elevation about 4km and 18mins i reachd the summit.. then rode from there allthe way home via mangrove mt... and good solid 2hr session..
IM back commuting, it was a slow trip to teach at tuggerah yesterday so slow i got there 5mins before i had to teach a 45min spin classs after riding for an hour, the trip home was into a solid head wind the whole way... another class this morning but only 5mins away. better get out to work as we (matt reekie) are doing kariong hill repeats but the rain could put a stop to that..
CHOPS
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
2009 scott 24hr..
The journey kicked off on thursday night after packing the car i drove down to sydney to stay at hiran's house because iwas seeing a guru about my shoulder..
from friday morning my stomach just didnt feel right, but i hit the freeways into the looming clouds( so how do new foam grips hold up??) i never made a stop till bundanoon turnoff as i had intel pheasents nest was not worth the stop. so i loaded up with a sandwich and some drinks.. i was cruising past lake george and my stomach got worse and felt totally drained so i pulled over for a nap into a boot load of gear very squashed but i fell asleep quite quickly no idea how long i was asleep for but made it to stromlo around 230pm.,, ifound one of my team mates (brodie the roadie) national U17 crit champ... so we set up camp and then headed out on a lap with mr & mrs vin pretty cruzy but it made me feel better till i stopped... and when we did hiran had arrived so we had to move ourcamp to our secret location...:) and hiran had our lights http://www.radical-lights.com/ awesome lights... any light can do the job, but the spread on these were fantastic icouldnt even tell i had one on my bar and one on my helmet except i was casting shadows on every rider icame across :).
I had dinner at a mates place then did my food shopping and backto camp..(still feeling crap>it lasted all wknd) the other half of the team RADICAL-LIGHTS in the form of charli mccabe and matt reekie arrived around 1130pm..
I awoke around 7am after needing the toilet for hrs i couldnt hold out any longer but caught up witha few mates on the return trip back to camp.
We elected matt to start us off because he had the crapiest shoes... and also the crappiest first lap i think he said he stopped at the pub, all i heard was something about bottles over my twisting cranks as i took the baton...
whoa i did some overtaking the amount of people on track but it became an added feature of staying upright... i really enjoyed the track but not nearly throwing up each lap, but i did manage one lap under 55min, my legs had all the power but my body just couldnt handle it..
But the team did a great job of getting us to 4th place once we found some timing results.. we all went lap for lap the sun went down and charli went for her first night ride..1137 lumens ha it wasnt really night time now..:)
on an early morning lap we managed to get the batteries mixed up and the lights died on charli and took 1hr 40min to find her way home again and thru the tears a smiled appeared when i checked timing and we moved into 3rd place wen at last check we were 20mins back, and that lapped could of been charli's last as we were chasin the poduim the boys were gona finish the race off... the lead from 4th was enough to let charli to enjoy her 5th lap around 9am but with 2flat tryes it was another unhappy charli.. matt put in a smoking 55min lap just outside the teams fastestlap (mine) i did wat i could but the tank was running dry but it was enough to get brodie out one las time and came over the finish in style with the radical lights banner as a cape, which grabbed the announcers voice,,, to bad for the company sponsoring the event hehe.
so we took 3rd place in the mixed fours all happy smiles... i will add the poduim pic when i receive it...
JUST CHOPS :) ps planning a 140km ss epic on saturday...
from friday morning my stomach just didnt feel right, but i hit the freeways into the looming clouds( so how do new foam grips hold up??) i never made a stop till bundanoon turnoff as i had intel pheasents nest was not worth the stop. so i loaded up with a sandwich and some drinks.. i was cruising past lake george and my stomach got worse and felt totally drained so i pulled over for a nap into a boot load of gear very squashed but i fell asleep quite quickly no idea how long i was asleep for but made it to stromlo around 230pm.,, ifound one of my team mates (brodie the roadie) national U17 crit champ... so we set up camp and then headed out on a lap with mr & mrs vin pretty cruzy but it made me feel better till i stopped... and when we did hiran had arrived so we had to move ourcamp to our secret location...:) and hiran had our lights http://www.radical-lights.com/ awesome lights... any light can do the job, but the spread on these were fantastic icouldnt even tell i had one on my bar and one on my helmet except i was casting shadows on every rider icame across :).
I had dinner at a mates place then did my food shopping and backto camp..(still feeling crap>it lasted all wknd) the other half of the team RADICAL-LIGHTS in the form of charli mccabe and matt reekie arrived around 1130pm..
I awoke around 7am after needing the toilet for hrs i couldnt hold out any longer but caught up witha few mates on the return trip back to camp.
We elected matt to start us off because he had the crapiest shoes... and also the crappiest first lap i think he said he stopped at the pub, all i heard was something about bottles over my twisting cranks as i took the baton...
whoa i did some overtaking the amount of people on track but it became an added feature of staying upright... i really enjoyed the track but not nearly throwing up each lap, but i did manage one lap under 55min, my legs had all the power but my body just couldnt handle it..
But the team did a great job of getting us to 4th place once we found some timing results.. we all went lap for lap the sun went down and charli went for her first night ride..1137 lumens ha it wasnt really night time now..:)
on an early morning lap we managed to get the batteries mixed up and the lights died on charli and took 1hr 40min to find her way home again and thru the tears a smiled appeared when i checked timing and we moved into 3rd place wen at last check we were 20mins back, and that lapped could of been charli's last as we were chasin the poduim the boys were gona finish the race off... the lead from 4th was enough to let charli to enjoy her 5th lap around 9am but with 2flat tryes it was another unhappy charli.. matt put in a smoking 55min lap just outside the teams fastestlap (mine) i did wat i could but the tank was running dry but it was enough to get brodie out one las time and came over the finish in style with the radical lights banner as a cape, which grabbed the announcers voice,,, to bad for the company sponsoring the event hehe.
so we took 3rd place in the mixed fours all happy smiles... i will add the poduim pic when i receive it...
JUST CHOPS :) ps planning a 140km ss epic on saturday...
Monday, October 5, 2009
Im back in the saddle..
Its been 8days since i re mounted my specialized epic... i battled with teaching spin classes one handed for around 2weeks..i definately rushed my recovery but i justhad to keep riding...
my first ride back was straght up kincumber mountain..i felt good so i did 3 repeats of thefire road climb up from erina.. one day was good so more riding on tuesday after my spin class just up and over kincumber mt (no real mountain but thats wat they call it) wednesday i dont i went for a ride just a spin class in the arvo which didnt feel like enough, thursday arvo i met reekie at the summit for a very fast blast of the flat single track on top of kincumber mt... i took off to lead the way throwing the bike every where(it was nice to 4get about my shoulder) we smashed it to the lookout n grinded italongthe sandy track towards the mudhut but turning right at (link track) and over to the wiggle track drifting thru the corners before coming to a real hault at a fallen tree... up the grass section to the mudhut down the sandstone steps then smashed it back to the tower reekie passed me on the way the back but i reeled him back as the road slightly tilted, but i paid for it for a day or more...i was so close to having a chuck... we then did the lap again at a leisurely pace then in the fading light reekie fired up some lights, we dscended down the tar road and flogged it as hard as we could on the road home,... friday 530pm spin class was a battle my legs were still burnt out....
SAturday i had organised a group ride for guys coming up from sydney and some locals butwith the rain alot pulled out so it was only me and anthony and tony... itworks out to a 60km loop 1400m of climbing some tar sections and we managed to miss the rain except for some drizzle on the last 20mins so we finished a bit soaked from tyres flicking water up... the hot coffee and pasta tasted extra good after that one :).
SUNDAY 4weeks to the day i dislocated my shoulder, i put on the same socks to break the voodoo arrived at ourimbah to the surprise of many but i was keen to go... sitting on the start line knowing id wrapped the points series and reekie getting second.. matt murphy was there to join in on the fun, with one rear spoke missing...lol.
i think it was me who mentioned the idea of a reversed grid... and so it went off with us atthe back of the pack... which would of been handy instead of being off the front because b-grade would over taken me i think.. i felt really slow out there and i just couldnt smooth the track with being a nervous wreck about crashing, but i got my 4laps done ate more food and saddled up for the long ride home... it took 2hrs we got lost a bit..i was running the tank empty so my head wasnt working welll. i managed to pick up a 40mm screw in my rear tyre, i left it in there and stans did its job,,,and then piddled on my floor wen i took the screw out. so my arvo consistant of eating food in terrigal..
pedalled my way to a spin class this morning the gym was quite full and they were eager for extra so they sure did get it... i whimped out on riding the mountain home.. legs are empty...
ive picked up some roval wheels to this week, which i might put on for the scott this wknd..
my shoulder needs surgery and im not sure wen that will happen.
oh yea and ive signed up for the kona 24...
chops:)
my first ride back was straght up kincumber mountain..i felt good so i did 3 repeats of thefire road climb up from erina.. one day was good so more riding on tuesday after my spin class just up and over kincumber mt (no real mountain but thats wat they call it) wednesday i dont i went for a ride just a spin class in the arvo which didnt feel like enough, thursday arvo i met reekie at the summit for a very fast blast of the flat single track on top of kincumber mt... i took off to lead the way throwing the bike every where(it was nice to 4get about my shoulder) we smashed it to the lookout n grinded italongthe sandy track towards the mudhut but turning right at (link track) and over to the wiggle track drifting thru the corners before coming to a real hault at a fallen tree... up the grass section to the mudhut down the sandstone steps then smashed it back to the tower reekie passed me on the way the back but i reeled him back as the road slightly tilted, but i paid for it for a day or more...i was so close to having a chuck... we then did the lap again at a leisurely pace then in the fading light reekie fired up some lights, we dscended down the tar road and flogged it as hard as we could on the road home,... friday 530pm spin class was a battle my legs were still burnt out....
SAturday i had organised a group ride for guys coming up from sydney and some locals butwith the rain alot pulled out so it was only me and anthony and tony... itworks out to a 60km loop 1400m of climbing some tar sections and we managed to miss the rain except for some drizzle on the last 20mins so we finished a bit soaked from tyres flicking water up... the hot coffee and pasta tasted extra good after that one :).
SUNDAY 4weeks to the day i dislocated my shoulder, i put on the same socks to break the voodoo arrived at ourimbah to the surprise of many but i was keen to go... sitting on the start line knowing id wrapped the points series and reekie getting second.. matt murphy was there to join in on the fun, with one rear spoke missing...lol.
i think it was me who mentioned the idea of a reversed grid... and so it went off with us atthe back of the pack... which would of been handy instead of being off the front because b-grade would over taken me i think.. i felt really slow out there and i just couldnt smooth the track with being a nervous wreck about crashing, but i got my 4laps done ate more food and saddled up for the long ride home... it took 2hrs we got lost a bit..i was running the tank empty so my head wasnt working welll. i managed to pick up a 40mm screw in my rear tyre, i left it in there and stans did its job,,,and then piddled on my floor wen i took the screw out. so my arvo consistant of eating food in terrigal..
pedalled my way to a spin class this morning the gym was quite full and they were eager for extra so they sure did get it... i whimped out on riding the mountain home.. legs are empty...
ive picked up some roval wheels to this week, which i might put on for the scott this wknd..
my shoulder needs surgery and im not sure wen that will happen.
oh yea and ive signed up for the kona 24...
chops:)
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