Back on the bike.

Well, I did my first Kings ParkEB event, at the suggestion of my daughter. I got up at the unbelievable time of 5 o'clock AM. I'm on school holidays, I should have been sleeping in, but no, it's on the bike. It wasn't too uncomfortable on the drive to Kings Park, after all, I had the A/C set at 22 degrees. When I got out of my ute at the park though, it was already 30 degrees and humid. I was beginning to wonder what I was in for.
I borrowed Holly's wind trainer and did a bit of a warm up to loosen the legs and then realised that I was 4 minutes from my start time so off I went. The start was okay and then I went into the downhill section. What a blast - doing over 50 km/h downhill, then all too quickly I was at the first turn around. I hate the turn around (in two lanes). This is something I have to do out here in the bush all the time so you would think I'd be used to it. Used to it, yes, like it, no. Anyway, after the turn it's all uphill for like FOREVER! I haven't been on the bike for about 5 weeks - at least since harvest started - I'm afraid of trucks.
Back to the hill. It didn't take me long to find granny gear. Halfway up the hill I was ready to quit and it was only the first lap. By the time I got to the finish line I was knackered. Then I saw Lorraine and when she said "Come on Mark, you can do it..." I realised I can't just quit, so I soldiered on, after all, the downhill section WAS a rush.
Foour climbs later and it was all over. I put the bike in the ute, changed my shoes and walked over to see what my time was. I knew it was just over 45 minutes. I saw it posted - 45:48, not bad I suppose for my first EB event. There is definately room for improvement. We'll see what next week brings, hopefully some cooler weather.
I finished last but I finished, and I didn't lose.

Does it really need to hurt like this?

Well, I did my second time trial yesterday, and I think I learn something new every time I get on the bike. Yesterday I learned what pain is all about. I woke up a 5:00 am listening to tree branches bounce off the roof of the house - oh well, I guess it's going to be a bit breezy. By the time we got to the course, the breeze was gusting up to 52 km/h!! OMG or what?

It was a real treat to be in an event with my daughter, and ATTA really run a nice event. I did a bit of a warm up and everything seemed okay, so I went back to the car, dropped off that which I didn't need and proceeded to the start. Was I nervous? Nah, I do this for FUN....

Well, as I took off, it was breezy, but not too bad. By the end of the first leg, short turn and run down wind. Hey, this isn't bad! Then the turn onthe West side of the lake...It was like running into a wall! The winds were gusting to 52 kph, and I have a lot of "sail area" for it to hit. I was doing all I could do to pedal faster than 22k's.

By the end of the first lap, I was starting to feel sick. By the end of the second lap I was HOPING I would be sick. Holly had passed me and (I think) she yelled out "DON"T STOP PEDALLING!" I'm not sure, but by then I was praying for a puncture - anything.

On my third lap, Holly, Bec and Anna had already finished and I think they were cheering for me to go faster. What a DUMB thing to tell a TT rider....How the fricking hell can you go faster when pedalling INTO a cyclone? I then thought that Holly said something like "What are you doing?" which I translated into "you should be finished" and "get off the track". Hey, cool, I'm outta here! No, I looked at my computer, I still had one lap to go. As I started my last lap Some of the ATTA comittee were cheering at me (I assume it was encouragement..) so I gutted it out - one more lap.

When I went past the start, one of the other largish riders was starting and I thought "I'm not going to let him catch me..." but he did. Again, I was questioning why in Hell I was doing this? I looked ahead and saw the larger than normal rider and thought, I can at least close the gap a little bit, so I pumped harder. I came around the last straight (into the 52 km/h breeze) and tucked down and gave it all I had. It worked for a bit (about 2 metres) and I "bonked". It was all I could do to keep going, but by now I was determined not to quit.

Nearing the last corner, I could hear another rider coming and I found some energy and didn't let him catch me. At least I don't think he caught me, I could barely see the track.

I made it over the line, and while I was 3 minutes slower than last time, I still beat two other riders and lived up to my family motto "Never finish last"....

When is the next event? I'm still looking for that PB after my time.

Do I qualify as a TT rider yet?

The 241

In October of 1983, while I was a Hospital Corpsman servine in the U.S. Navy, I was stationed at Atlanta, Georgia. One day I got a phone call from the Naval Hospital I was attached to in Jacksonville. I was told to pack my bags and be ready to deploy to Beirut as a part of the surgical support team there. I had a particular specialty at that time and I was needed. In a way, I thought "cool, I'll finally get to do something!" I had been married for two and a bit years and my wife and I had two kids, one almost two years old. I had been working in medical supply for the last 3 years and frankly, was really looking forward to a change. It was only going to be a temporary assignment anyway.

My boss at the clinic, however, was less than impressed to be losing me for any amount of time and he got on the phone to the Naval Hospital straight away. After a couple of hours on the phone I was told I was NOT going anywhere, and that another Corpsman would take my place. I had mixed feelings about this, part of me wanted to go, but I really didn't want to leave my family.

A few weeks later, we saw on the news that terrorists drove a truck with 12,000 pounds of explosives into the barracks, killing 241 Marines and Corpsmen that morning. It happened at about 6:20 on a Sunday morning, one of the few days servicemen get to sleep in. I was supposed to have been there...

For many years this event has haunted me. I have since been able to deal with the guilt I carry for not going, but on the other hand, I have had three more children since then. If I had gone, I wouldn't be here writing this now, nor would you be reading this. I have to assume that if there is a higher being, he/she has put me here for a reason.

After trying to deal with this by myself, I had to seek counseling (compounded by other events in my past) and this has helped greatly. To get out of the dark, I have started riding a bicycle (as you would have figured out if you've been following my blog). I wanted to do something to honour the fallen, those I could have been with. Quite simple was my solution - I put the number 241 on my bike. That is the number of men that died on October 23rd, 1983. So now when I ride and when I race, if the legs start to ache a bit, or my butt hurts, I look down and remember those who paid the ultimate price.

To those of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Semper Fi.....

Faster, fitter...

I have upped my personal training schedule. Where I was riding 20 km to train, now I'm riding 30+. I am feeling better and I think I have more spring in my step. I'm sure my family are getting tired of me telling them how great I feel and how well I did this or that section of road...
Anyway, I am feeling great, and my butt hurts less and less after each ride. The weather is warming up though, and now my real problem is sweat running into my eyes, which stings a bit at times.
I really feel the need to ride now, and cycling has helped me get out of a very dark place and into the light.
Till next time, keep an eye out for pot holes.

Time to set new goals.

Today I did my first ever Bicycle Time Trial, and it sure looks a lot easier from the other side of the track. This has been an interesting journey for me, especially as I have only been a "roadie" since July of this year. Prior to that time I rode a mountain bike occasionally (read: rarely), but I have been working on the exercise bike since April. I started out riding only 2 kilometres and that was an effort.

With the purchase of my Avanti Giro from Fleet Cycles in Perth and my oldest daughter as my inspiration, I started training. Originally, I wanted to be able to do the TT in less than an hour. After a bit of training out here in the bush, I realised that I could probably do the 20k in about 45 minutes. So I reset my goal to 45 minutes. The more I trained (and especially after I didn't train), I seemed to be doing worse. Holly said to me that I should ride for fun, not to do each ride like a TT. The only real hole in my training plan then was I was riding 20 kilometres to train.
This seemed to work okay for me today because I managed to break 42 minutes! I rode in 41:55 and I wasn't the last one to finish! Hey, I was second last, but it was a victory for me. A Time Trial, after all, is the "race of truth" and my only competition was me and the clock.
I am happy with my result, and considering I am carrying 30 kilograms of extra baggage, I can see that I will improve. I am now shooting for 40 minutes, and my next event is on the 1st of November.

I really need to thank ATTA for running a first class, top notch event. It's also nice that people know who you are, but I am sure it's because I'm "Holly's Dad". Maybe if I'm good, people will know me for who I am (that fat out of shape old man in the Cat in the Hat jersey!).

For complete results, you would need to go to the ATTA website and click on "results". Well done Anna and Bec! Thanks also to Caillan and Kaelynn for getting up so early to see the old man ride.

Riding the Boards

This week I had a chance to do something I have always dreamed of - riding a bike on a velodrome. Our school is in Perth for District High School Country week, a week of sporting events and cultural experiences for our students. One such experience was an hours training by the state TID coach Mr Peter Robinson. Peter was great with the kids and I was wrapped that I could finally live out a dream.
I'm a roadie, so the track was totally new to me. Fixed gears, no brakes, hold on and pedal like hell. I managed the "pedal like Hell" part, but I forgot you can't coast and almost lost a leg. Once that was sorted out, I was doing okay and managed to get to the blue line. A few laps later though, some of my students were ducking and weaving in front of me and after I threaded the needle, I figured it was time to quit. By now I had managed to slow down without amputating my legs.
The bottom line: I am scared shitless about the thought of doing this in competition, but I have the greatest respect for those riders that ride the boards. If you have never seen an event on a velodrome, it is magic. I also learned that there is nothing that I could ever tell my daughter about riding on the track. I thought I knew a few things, but no, it all looks easy from the stands, totally different from the track.
I tried it, I didn't fall, but I think I'll stick to the road...

Cheers!

Riding for fun

I sit here with aching legs this morning because I worked myself harder that normal yesterday. I have been training on a dead road and I have figured out I have many options of how I want to train - road wise. If I ride in one direction it is fairly easy to ride with only one "less flat" section (i.e. HILL) on my return leg. If I halve that, I can have an essentially flat (for me) 10 k loop which I ride twice.
In the other direction I have more "less flat" (i.e. bigger HILLS, a whopping 2% for 4 kilometres) and I could do that in a 10k out and back or two 5k out and back loops.
Lately I have been going 5k South (hilly bit), then 10k North (more flat) and 5k to return to my start. I have managed to reach a whopping 33km/h on the flat dead road, so I am optomistic of doing at least a 40 minute TT in October.
During the week, we also have here at school, 20 mountain bikes for students to ride, thanks to a really great deal from Fleet Cycles in Perth. We are giving kids a chance to experience the open road, fresh air and "bugs-in-the-teeth" real fun. I have a mountain bike and join the Phys Ed class for their Thursday ride. I shocked the kids a bit when I showed up in lycra, and my daughter was VERY embarrassed. Oh well, I guess the sight of a fat old fart in skin tight clothes is just too much for some people...
Monday our school will be taking the kids to the Speed Dome for a training session, and hopefully this will be my first ever ride on the boards. I'm looking forward to it!
Till next time...

My butt hurts

Well, I've completed my third "real" training ride on my new bike. Amazingly, I didn't fall off this time. I managed to ride 12 km in 30 minutes, not as quick as I had hoped, but one has to understand where I ride.
Firstly, I live in rural Western Australia. Really rural. The road I train on is as my daughter tells me "dead". Even down hill, you need to pedal. Sure you can coast, but not far. The first part of my ride is all uphill, about 4 km. Holly would tell me that the road is "essentially flat", but when you are a fat old fart like me, any hill is a hill. It is nice to go down hill on the last half of the ride.

I wanted to go farther, but I'm still getting used to the seat. It's like sitting on a broom stick, but a broomstick is probably softer. Even with knicks it's still a bit hard, but I'm getting used to it - slowly.

So, to recap, what have I learned so far?
1. Unclip your feet before you stop lest you look like an idiot laying in the middle of the road.
2. Little teeny-weeny stones kicked up by the tyres do hurt when they hit you in the neck.
3. Ride with teeth clenched. Bugs down the throat can seriously ruin your ride. It's really hard to sprint while gacking on a fly that's dancing on your tonsils.
4. Pee before you go riding.

5. Lastly, any extra weight you carry is a handicap. This is something I should have known, but picture this: How fast could Lance armstrong ride if he was carrying 40 one-litre water bottles?

If I can lose 20 kilos, I'll be VERY happy. BTW, I have lost 5 already.

That's it for now. Where's my pillow to sit on?

The new bike

Well, I was going to rebuild an old Ricardo bicycle that I found on the trash heap, but things got too hard. I got ao good deal on this Avanti Giro from Fleet Cycles, and what the heck, I figured it was time to learn to ride again.

This is my first bike with clip on pedals, which proved interesting on my first ride. I thought I'd see how good my training on the exercise bike was going and if it was helping me in the real world. I have been managing 10 km in about 23 minutes and last week when I tried to compare the ride on my mountain bike, I thought I was going to die. My legs were dead at the end of the first kilometre. The Giro however, is very nice. I practiced the clipping and un-clipping a couple times before riding off and knew what to do so I wasn't fussed.

Up the road I went and the bike is really fantastic to ride. The first 3 km of my ride is a gentle uphill but it was relatively effortless. At the top of the hill I turned around and really motored down hill back to my ute. I got up to about 38 km/h and it was really nice to be able to ride like this in the real world, not just pedaling while watching t.v.

I pulled up to my ute and unclipped my RIGHT foot, came to a stop and tried to put my LEFT foot down. SHIT!!!

Anyway, I landed on the road, scrapping my knee, bruising my elbow (and ego) but was not too hurt. I put a couple scratches on the new bike but didn't break anything, thankfully. Falling off at 0 km/h is much better than those guys in the TdF at 40+.

Next ride I practice getting on and off without blood.

Ready for a Time Trial - not just yet...

After spending the last three weeks walking around the cities of London, Paris, Cambridge and even Swansea (Wales), I thought maybe I would like to try and get in shape for a Time Trial. My daughter is my inspiration, but I am old, overweight and very out of shape. Never mind, I have a bike of sorts, for now a mountain bike, but I have this old (very old) Ricardo that I want to re-build. It needs a lot of work, and in future I'll post a couple of pics and keep everyone (if anyone actually reads my posts) up to date with the progress.

Anyway, after all my walking, I figured I'd hop on the bike this afternoon and see how out of shape I am in. The first thing I discovered is that you don't use the same muscles in walking as you do in riding. After about 500 metres my thighs were killing me, but I had a goal. I rode to the end of my drive and back, without falling off or having a heart attack. It was a whole 2.06 kilometres, and I did it in about 8 minutes. I have a LONG way to go.

In travelling abroad, I have lost at least 2 kilos, so that is good.

I'll start out small, try to eliminate excuses as to why I can't ride, work on the other bike and hopefully attain my goal of riding at Champion Lakes.

Let's see what happens tomorrow...