The dreaded diary pages

Its official!

2011-10-15T19:05:00.001+11:00

Well I had my first ride back on the road for 10 weeks today with the Sale Early Morning Crew and it was FANTASTIC!. I originally started this blog to write about my frustrations with cycling. the usual ones, how you can never beat a particular person, or a particular course and so for me it was a place to air my happies and sads with cycling. Then I decided to use it as a Nutrition blog and that is how it will be, but not long after I started the nutrition blog, I was studying and I got a new job and had a million things to do so I put the blog on hold for a while

NOW!

Life has changed and I am still working in my new job and have retired from racing. After my big crash 10 weeks ago, I have promised my parents and my partner that I will ride for fun and not let it stress me out too much anymore. You have to understand that it used to stress me out bigtime on race day and to cut a long story short I am now going to be a recreational cyclist and not race. That will still mean trying to keep up with the fast guys on the training rides, but not with the added pressure of the race. I had my first ride back on the road for ten weeks today and that was fun, except when I put my shoes on I had to clean the blood off them and the flashback of ten weeks ago came into my head, but once I was pedalling the memory of how much I love this quickly came back and I was RIDING AGAIN!

Seriously with a change in career due to medical reasons, a retirement from racing and lots of other changes I could write so many anecdotes about life and how you just have to take it and run with it and make sure you utilise every opportunity and get the best out of it, there are no second chances, its not a dress rehearsal....(I borrowed that last bit from my father in law...thanks Bill). We all know that, but when you get reminded you know that it is precious and the most valuable thing you have! Be happy and healthy....which brings me to the next bit

This BLOG is going to go back to a regular blog about NUTRITION and as someone who is doing a Nutrition degree I do know stuff and have a few good reference books to help me too.

So if you want me to write something in particular, email me at judithdove@bigpond.com and I will get to it. The blog will be updated regularly as I did start on some basic topics, I will continue from there starting next week. Hoping to write a weekly update, but will see how it goes from my next post due next week, so be ready for it.

Fat - Is It Evil?

2011-03-10T10:19:00.003+11:00

Common Sense:- How much time do you spend training? One hour a day? Ten hours a week? You train hard and expect results.

BUT...

How much time do you spend planning your meals and getting your food right?..........NO It does not look after itself...The arm that places the food into your mouth is attached to the body you train so hard. Unless you are training to be a sumo wrestler, there is no proof that being heavier will help you in ANY SPORT - But lots of lean muscle mass will. Think about it......Good strong lean muscle will win every time.

Lean Muscle Mass in the TDU bunch in January 2011

Get rid of those peaches
as soon as possible

SO HAVING SAID THAT it is common sense that if you increase your Power generated on the bike, the total number of watts you put out AND decrease your weight you will become a much stronger rider.

Increase Power – GOOD

Reduce Weight – GREAT

DO BOTH – Awesome!!!!

A tin of peaches (a small one weighs a pound), so instead of riding around with the equivalent of 10 tins of peaches stuck to your hips, you need to lose those cans of peaches, keep training and then see a fantastic improvement.

BYE BYE PEACHES

Reduce the number of kilojoules we eat every day
Increase activity

Think about every bite you eat, make sure it is healthy and filling. Stop munching on those empty Fat and Alcohol loaded calories (they seriously are what is making you fat!)

When you think about what sugar and fat loaded foods
do to your body? Are they good then?

This article is NOT ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS, it is about fat and some facts you should know.

We need fat as it serves as a carrier for fat soluble vitamins such as A, D E &K and so our body needs some fat per day just to be able to utilise those vitamins A, D, E & K that we eat.

If our body was fat free it would not survive as fat forms part of cell membranes, brain tissue, nerve coverings, bone marrow and your vital organs like your heart liver and kidneys have a layer of fat to protect them from physical damage and to provide insulation and protection.

Women also have extra fat in the “hourglass” areas, the breasts and the hips which is there to assist with hormone activity..

AN AVERAGE PERSON HAS ENOUGH BODY FAT FOR THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS OF CONTINUOUS RUNNING (Mind you fatigue would get you before your fat stores ran out.)

The fats and oils that you eat can be divided into three main groups, saturated fats, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.

Saturated Fats

Fats that are hard at room temperature such as butter, lard, cheeses and the hard white fat on meat are mainly saturated. Theses fats are used to make biscuits and cakes

The hard white fat on meat is mainly saturated fat.

Eating too much saturated fat has been associated with increases in the harmful LDL cholesterol, linked with increased risk of heart disease. Minimising saturated fats is the best way to achieve better health.

Monounsaturated fats.

Not all Monounsaturated Fats are as obvious as this
so read the labels (it doesnt take long)

These fats are usually liquid at room
temperature and include olive oil, canola oil and almond oil. These fats are thought to be the best for health benefits. This interest was boosted by low incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries, despite a high level of fat in their diet. Research has indicated that olive oil can lower total blood cholesterol and LDL (Bad cholesterol) when you use theses monounsaturated fats to replace saturated fats in the diet.

Polyunsaturated fats

Some foods will show the different amounts
of the various fats contained in their
foods. Monounsaturated - GREAT and zero TRANS!

Most vegetable oils, nuts and seeds and oily fish are polyunsaturated and are considered excellent source of fat, although whilst helping reduce the nasty LDL cholesterol, but have been implicated in reducing the good HDL cholesterol too. Still better for you than SATURATED FATS

You may have heard about Omega 3 fatty acids or fish oils. These are found particularly in deep sea fish like tuna, mackerel and sardines. Again studies of other cultures that eat a lot of theses foods, in this case Greenland Eskimos, have shown a low incidence of heart disease.

There are two polyunsaturated fatty acids, known as EPA and DHA which are the main reason why theses Omega 3 Polyunstaurated fats have been linked with lowering blood pressure, improving immune responses and helping with endurance and aerobic metabolism

Where is the best place to get fat?

Plant sources include:- linseed's, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, canola oil, and soybeans and the respective oils fro these products

Animal sources: Oily fish like fresh tuna, salmon and sardines.

BE CAREFUL OF THE HIDDEN "BAD" FAT

Trans fatty acids, found in processed fats are considered to be worse for you than saturated fats. Most of these fats are labelled as HYDROGENATED fats and oil which are used in a lot of cakes, biscuits, and chocolate bars. The hydrogenation process has two advantages for the food manufacturer, it prolongs the shelf life of the food and alters the texture of the food by making a liquid product solid and perhaps more spreadable.

Reduce the following to avoid theses trans fatty acids:-

Spreads that are made with hydrogenated oils. The more spreadable the margarine, quite often the less hydrogenated fat is included
Fast Food. Partially hydrogenated oil is often use to fry those fries
Cakes and Biscuits. This is where you will find the most "hidden" trans fatty acids. Shop bought cakes and biscuits can contain a surprisingly high amount of hydrogenated fat and shortening (high in trans fats)
Chips and snacks. Nuts are OK, just keep an eye on the amount of nuts you eat
Chocolate Bars. The label that states "vegetable fat" means hydrogenated fat.

The State Government of Victoria linked website "Better Health Channel" gives a guidelines when reading those food labels on the back of products. Remember to look at the 100g column not the "per serving" column

The following are large amounts per 100g:

30g of sugars

20g of fat

3g of fibre

600mg of sodium.

The following are small amounts per 100g:

2g of sugars

3g of fat

0.5g of fibre

20mg sodium.

This information is obtained from Better Health Channel

Fat is not evil - It is a necessary part of your diet. You just need to watch your sources and make sure you don't eat too many "bad" fats. So the best thing to so is eat a variety of fats and oils, try to avoid fatty spreads containing the words “hydrogenated”. In cooking use Omega-3 oils such as olive and canola and seed and nut oils. Try to eat oily fish several times a week.

Butters,margarines and spreads are usually all placed together in the dairy case of the
supermarket, so take a peek at the ingredients on the back to see which ones are best for your health.

Read about Protein
Read about Carbohydrate

REFERENCES

Bean, A. (2010). Sports Nutrition (6th Edition ed.). London: A & C Black Publishers Limited.
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2000). Understanding Pathophysiology (2nd ed.). New York: Mosby Inc.
Marieb, E. N. (2001). Human Anatomy & Physiology (5th ed.). United States of America: Benjamin Cummins.
NHMRC. (2005). Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. Robert Garran Offices, Attorney-Generals Department. Canberra: Australian Commonweatlh.
Wahlqvist, M. L. (Ed.). (2002). Australia and New Zealand Food & Nutrition (2nd ed.). Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.
Whitney, E., & Rolfes, S. R. (2008). Understanding Nutrition (11th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Protein - The Rebuilder

2011-02-22T19:36:00.004+11:00

I looked at "The Humble Carbohydrate" in the last entry so today I am focussing on PROTEIN.

Lean muscle mass, it is what gets us to the finish line or to the top of the hill (as theses legs from the 2010 Tour of Bright winners clearly show you)

So Carbohydrate is the most basic form of energy and it is clear that athletes need to include a good amount of carbohydrate for their ENERGY REQUIREMENTS. But the next most important nutrient is PROTEIN.

When you break down protein you get Amino Acids - the building blocks of proteins. There are 20 different amino acids, 9 of which are the essential amino acids which must be supplied to the body in what we eat as our bodies cannot make these amino acids, or make them at the rate the body needs them. The remainder are the are the non-essential amino acids, which the body can make.

What does protein do in my body?

It forms cell membranes
It helps with chemical reactions in the body including the metabolism reactions
In the blood proteins have important roles such as carrying oxygen (you may have heard of haemoglobin...the oxygen carrying protein)
In the form of antibodies, protein help to get rid of bacteria and viruses from the system
Proteins in muscle help with muscle contraction and the movement of our muscles (pretty important as an athlete).

IN REAL TERMS WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Improved strength from muscle growth, improved recovery from exercise as tissues repair faster, improved immunity to fight disease (so less time away from training due to sickness), decrease in injuries, increase in manufacture of proteins for all purposes in the body and increase in development of lean muscle mass.

Different types of exercise require different amounts of protein.

How much protein is enough?

Studying protein requirements is an interesting task in itself. Our diet needs to be looked at as a whole - NOT JUST PROTEIN OR CARBOHYDRATE

Our bodies are quite smart in being able to manufacture the things that may be inadequate and there are differences in requirements.A 25 year old bodybuilder, who effectively is causing muscle damage each time he pushes his boundaries with weight lifting - muscle repair is the key to “building” muscle, is going to have different requirements to say a 16 year old female dance student who trains in endurance type work for 6 hours a day. But there is a way to calculate your requirements.

The recommended daily amount is 0.8g per kg of body weight per day.....but HANG ON .. athletes need more! Are you an athlete? Do you participate in regular exercise? Then read on:

When we eat protein products, they are broken down into amino acids and theses amino acids top up the body’s pool of amino acids which will then be utilised to make those proteins used in the body, the excess amino acids are broken down to form energy (helping out the Humble carbohydrate) when glycogen stores are running low during exercise, the body will look to fat and a little bit of muscle for energy, which is why we need to rebuild with protein after exercise. If we overdo the protein, excess is just removed through waste, so too much protein is really a waste.

Your protein requirements will depend on the type of training you do. There is a constant stream of information and new studies stating particular requirements for protein.

As a general guide:-

Endurance – moderate to heavy training – 1.2-1.4 g/kg/day

Strength or power athletes (bodybuilders) 1.4-1.8 g/kg/day

So work out your daily requirement using the estimate above....An 80kg endurance athlete (hey that could be a cyclist) would need 96-112g of protein per day.

WHERE TO FIND PROTEIN IN "REGULAR" FOOD

Don't underestimate the amount of Protein
in Dairy - Try to choose low fat dairy where possible

Approximately

1 large egg has 6 g of protein

85g of Mince Steak has 21grams of protein

85 g of Roast chicken breast without skin has 26g

85g of Tuna has 25g of protein

1/2 cup of tofu ahas 10g of protein

1 cup of Baked beans has 14g of protein

200ml skim milk has 7g of protein

50g of peanuts (1 handful) has 12g

3 tbsp of boiled chickpeas has 12g

So this 263gram chicken breast fillet will give you
approximately 78g of protein. It adds up quickly

MORE IS NOT NECESSARILY BETTER

Studies have shown that a diet deficient in protein is associated with a loss of muscle mass, but a diets containing both a medium and a high amount of protein resulted in very similar increase in muscle. Therefore, excess protein has no real advantage.

 VEGETARIANS

Look to dairy products (low fat) and protein rich plant sources to meet your requirements.

Again when in doubt look at the labels,

200g of this low fat yoghurt (Jalna in this case)

will provide you with 10.6g of protein.

WHAT ABOUT SUPPLEMENTS?

ESPECIALLY AMINO ACID SUPPLEMENTS

It can be considered "trendy" to use supplements and with promises such as "building muscle". "high quality protein" they seem like a good way to get your protein requirements

Before using supplements, try this exercise:- for a couple of days, calculate your protein requirements, and work out how much protein you are eating without supplements. You might find you are eating an adequate amount without using expensive supplements.

Protein supplements remain a controversial area. I will just say that inadequate protein intake has been associated with loss of muscle, and excessive protein whilst not being harmful offers no real advantage for health or performance.

Read the labels, here we can see that 100g of tuna has 24.0g of Protein.
WARNING.- Be careful when reading the "serving sizes"
as sometimes they are a lot less (or more) than you might
personally eat in a serving

Studies have been inconsistent demonstrating that supplements are beneficial.

SO IN SUMMARY

Eat good quality protein such as that found in meat/fish/.chicken and dairy and plant proteins.

After your workout enjoy a post exercise snack, containing both carbohydrate and protein to maximise muscle repair and glycogen stores.

It might sound complicated, but just spend a few days looking at the contents of your food and you might be surprised to find that you are already on track to meeting your protein requirements

Next article I will look at FAT.....the good the bad and THE UGLY

The Humble Carbohydrate

2011-02-12T20:06:00.004+11:00

Carbohydrates are an important fuel for your day - Even more important for athletes and those who use a lot of energy.

Sports nutrition and low GI energy foods are easy to find in supermarkets and in sports stores

Energy for our body (Calories or kilojoules), is available in four forms:-

a) Carbohydrates (which contain 4 cal/17kJ per gram)
b) Proteins (which also contain 4 cal/17kJ per gram)
c) Fats (which contain 9 cal/37kJ per gram)****
d) Alcohol (which contain 7 cal/29kJ per gram)
****Fat is energy dense as it provides a lot of energy in a smaller amount of food.

The difference between each one is how it is processed when it enters the body and how quickly the energy is available for use.
Lets look at THE HUMBLE CARBOHYDRATE

The simplest form of carbohydrate is glucose and when the body consumes excess glucose, the excess is stored in the form of glycogen in the muscles and in the liver. HOWEVER we don't eat glucose and glycogen. It is when we eat carbohydrate rich foods that our body receives glucose for immediate energy and converts excess energy to glycogen for reserves. It is without question that the amount of glycogen stored in your muscles and liver has a direct effect on exercise performance.

• High muscle-glycogen concentration will allow you to train at optimal intensity and achieve better results

• Low muscle-glycogen concentration will lead to early fatigue, reducing the intensity of your training and this will be reflected in your race/performance results.

How much Carbohydrate should I eat?

Whether you are recreational or professional,
your diet will affect your performance

The body uses Carbohydrate for energy and excess is stored in the muscle and liver as glycogen, BUT the liver and muscles can only store a limited amount so eating TOO MUCH carbohydrate which cannot be stored contributes to weight gain. Inadequate carbohydrate, will only look after immediate needs but not restock the liver and muscles with that valuable and fatigue resisting glycogen. Getting the balance right means reviewing your daily consumption to ensure that you have are consuming an optimum amount.

Once upon a time, carbohydrate recommendations were based on a percentage of your daily caloric needs and although sports nutritionists recommend that all regular exercisers and athletes consume a diet high in carbohydrate and low in fat the amount of carbohydrate consumed is based more on the level of activity of the individual.

So your daily carbohydrate intake will vary depending on your activity level.

General exercise – (up to 1 hr of daily exercise) 5-6g/kg body weight of carbohydrate per day.

Moderate exercise – (1-2 hrs of moderate to high intensity training) 6-8g/kg body weight

Endurance exercise (greater than 120 minutes of high intensity training) 9-10g/kg body weight

Extreme Exercise (greater than 4 hours of intense exercise eg: a cycling tour) 10+g/kg body weight

Training over 1 hour means you should have some carbohydrate intake DURING the exercise 30-60g per hour
KICK STARTING RECOVERY - During the 2 hour post-exercise period, consume 1g/kg body weight of moderate to high GI food.MOST IMPORTANT - But if you train twice a day, this is ESSENTIAL!

What does 30g of Carbohydrate look like?
2 slices of bread
1 average bread roll
3 weet bix
1.5 cups cooked lentils
600ml of Milk
2 tblsp of susteagen powder
2 medium apples
1 medium to large banana
1 cup of pasta
0.5 cups baked beans
0.75 cup of cooked rice
0.5 cup creamed rice
10 Jelly Beans
500ml sports drink
0.67 Power Bar
* Check labels on your foods and ensure you use low fat varieties where possible

The Glycaemic Index

Carbohydrates are all different and will be absorbed and used at different rates and the effect of other items in your body, such as fat may slow down the absorption of the carbohydrate even more. The glycaemic index was developed to describe the effects of foods on your blood sugar levels by how quickly the carbohydrate is absorbed from your small intestine into your bloodstream, and this is found to make a difference to training and recovery.

Foods with a low GI (glycaemic index) will provide a glucose response for longer and a high GI will provide more of a rapid energy. To find out more about Glycaemic Index, refer to the Glycaemic Index website which is written by the University of Sydney and provides a range of information about the glycemic index of foods and what it means to you.

The most important thing to remember is that choosing low GI foods should NOT be confused with low Carbohydrate foods, as an athlete, you want to keep your carbohydrate level high.

Considerations to be made on Carbohydrate Consumption

- Duration and Intensity of Exercise

Exercise lasting less than an hour

Provided you have enough glycogen stores and have eaten a meal with carbohydrate 2-4 hours before exercise, you should only require water and not require any further intake of carbohydrate. If you are racing though, you can delay fatigue by consuming carbohydrate during exercise to assist with the high intensity and delay fatigue.

Exercise over an hour

Racing and high intensity training increases the requirements
for carbohydrates and increases the need to
replenish the valuable muscle glycogen stores

IN the first hour of exercise, most of the carbohydrate energy comes from muscle glycogen (which you have looked after your stores by eating a good amount of carbohydrates in your daily diet). After an hour your muscle glycogen stores deplete rapidly and exercising muscles will use carbohydrate from another source, they will go to the bloodstream to grab any blood sugar (glucose they can find). After around 2-3 hours your muscles will be fuelled by blood glucose and fat...but have you ever hit the wall? This is your own fault......eventually blood glucose supplies dry up, blood glucose comes from amino acids and liver glycogen and once this runs out you just cannot keep going at the same intensity...you begin to feel tired, light headed and your muscles just don’t work any more....it just gets too hard to keep going and on the bike it is an effort to turn the pedals.

SO BEFORE fatigue sets in you need to take some action. Your muscles can take up around 30-60g of carbohydrate in an hour during aerobic exercise, so it is important to consume some energy during exercise. Medium to high GI foods are generally best as they move quickly into your bloodstream and therefore become available for these working muscles. Sports drinks and energy gels are a choice for many athletes to replenish energy stores.

A study in 2003, demonstrated that consuming a drink containing protein and carbohydrate improves endurance to a greater extent than carbohydrate alone. The study of cyclists showed they were able to exercise for 36% longer by consuming a carbohydrate/protein drink before exercising then every 20 minutes during exercise than just a carbohydrate drink. Other studies have suggested that consuming protein and carbohydrate during exercise improves recovery and results in less muscle damage. Most of these trials used a ratio of around 4:1 carbohydrate:protein. So for every 40g of carbohydrate, the drink would have 10g of protein. Check the labels of your foods to find items that will suit your requirements. You also need to find foods that don't cause you unnecessary discomfort. Bloating, nausea and headaches are some side effects caused by foods, so ensure you practice during training with the foods that you plan on using during racing to eliminate any unnecessary side effects

After exercise

In cycling, the large muscles of the legs are working at a high intensity,
especially during racing

Factors that influence your recovery include:-

1. How much your glycogen stores were depleted. Were they good before you started and did you eat along the way?

2. Muscle damage

3.Your fitness

If you fully deplete your glycogen stores, they can take anything up to a week to fully restore. Ask a marathon runner, when they feel recovered enough to take on another one.

If your muscles get damaged from intense efforts, or heavy weights, glycogen storage may be delayed.

Finally as your fitness improves your body's adaptation to ensuring the glycogen storage levels are at optimum improves.

Within a few hours after exercise (without fail), you should begin your replenishment of the muscle glycogen stores. Think - a shake, or a sandwich, cereal, fruit, and if you have the milky options, your body is getting the protein which will help with muscle recovery too. A high carbohydrate meal eaten within 15 minutes of the end of a training session will accelerate the rate of glycogen storage by 300 per cent. You have a window of approximately 2 hours after training to replace carbohydrate to ensure that your muscles will accumulate glycogen.

I mentioned the benefits of chocolate milk in a previous blog post

IMPORTANT CARBOHYDRATE POINTS-

High Carbohydrate diet, will assist with muscle -glycogen storage which helps with endurance and delays fatigue.
Read about GI index to understand why some foods are better for stabilising glucose and therefore energy levels than others.
High workload/intense efforts require additional carbohydrate
Don't forget to "top-up" carbohydrates during longer training sessions, during races.
RECOVER faster by replenishing your muscle-glycogen storage.
Protein will assist with recovery and endurance
Although I haven't mentioned it here, carbo-loading (later topic) can improve endurance capacity by up to 20%.....it is that muscle-glycogen level AGAIN!

Carbohydrates can be found in many foods, not just those traditionally thought to be high carbohydrate foods. Foods containing theses ingredients as well as Lactose (milk sugar), Fructose (fruit sugar) are carbohydrate foods.

REFERENCES

DeCastella. R., Clews.W., (1996). Smart Sport - The Ultimate Reference Manual for Sports People. Paragon Printers.

Wahlqvist, M.L., (2...). Austyralia and New Zealand Food and Nutrition.

Whitney, E., Rolfes, S.R. ( 2008 ). Understanding Nutrition 11th ed. Thomson Wadsworth

Bean, A., (2010). Sports Nutrition.

All photos courtesy of actionpactpix

Calculate your energy/caloric requirements easily

2011-02-01T10:04:00.003+11:00

We know a healthy diet will help you reach your goals

OK, it is the 1st of February and I know that losing weight is a big new years resolution and I have also tried to get some weight off since December 26th and so far it is going well.

Fundamentally to lose weight you need to reduce energy in and increase energy out BUT it is a known fact that you need to concentrate on energy in to get the results. As an athlete you may need different needs during competition phase as opposed to training so how much do you need to eat?

You can estimate how many calories you need a day in 3 easy steps:-

STEP 1:- Calculate your base metabolic rate (This is BMR - Not to be confused with your BMI)

WOMEN BMR = weight in kg x 22 (eg a 70kg women would be 70x 22)

MEN BMR + weight in kg x 24 (eg an 80 kg man would be 80 x 24)

STEP 2 - Workout how active you are - Your activity multiplier

The activity multiplier is based on your level of activity

If you are mainly inactive or sitting then your activity multiplier = 1.2

Fairly active so you exercise 1-2 times per week and do some walking = 1.3

Moderately active so you exercise 2-3 times per week = 1.4

Very active meaning you exercise vigorously daily = 1.7

STEP 3 - Multiply your results from step one by your activity multiplier

If you are an 80kg male who rides a bike 3 times a week your result will be

80 x 24 = 1920 then multiply this x 1.4 = 2688 calories per day.

To convert to kilojoules, multiply your calorie requirement x 4.184 to get your kilojoule requirement

NOTE - This is the most basic way of calculating your calorie requirement and may vary between individuals as "level of activity" is quite variable due to human nature and our level of reference. IN our peer group we may be the slug but actually be quite active.....

This calorie guideline will not mean you will lose weight, it is a guidlien on how many calories you need each day to maintain your weight. A healthy weight loss is around 1% of your weight per week as a maximum, so if you weigh 90kgs, you could aim to lose 900g per week.

BUT CALORIES ARE NOT JUST CALORIES:

Energy (or calories) comes in three forms

1. Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates like pasta

2. Protein

Proteins like eggs

and 3. Fat

and then we have Vitamins and Minerals contained in foods which are important in considering whether the food is a good or a bad food...oh and there is Alcohol which is actually the 4th energy supplier, but as you may be aware, it is not an ideal source of energy.

My next post will talk about Carbohydrates solely and the benefits and drawbacks of Carbohydrates. If youhave any questions about them, contact me on judithdove@bigpond.com

As I have already mentioned I am not an expert, but I am studying to be a dietician and using my blog as a means of study...All information comes from a variety of text books, journal articles and from next week will be referenced.

Some of my text books......and other references, this is the tip of the iceberg and I havent bought this years books yet?

TDU - Womens events ( yes there were two)

2011-01-28T11:28:00.000+11:00

Women's Cycling at the TDU

This year there were two events tied in with the TDU which were designed for Elite women. Two criterium races, the rendition homes series which was run in conjunction with the TDU. Although not a road tour, it is a step towards having womens events run in conjunction with this fantastic tour and it had a class field of elite Aussie women racing.

I only managed to get some pics of the first race and the pace was on, Peta Mullens told me after the event that it was fairly fast, but coming off the Melbourne Bay Crits and then the National Criterium Champs, I am sure that the pace was different here (it certainly has made me realise I need to work on my cornering for crit racing though!)

Full results after the two races are available here. In Brief Chloe Hosking won, South Australian rider Annette Edmonson was second and Victorian rider Nicole Whitburn finished in third place.

More pictures of the event can be found at Womens Cycling which is a fantastic website run by professional cycling photographer CJ Farquarson, who travels the world following women's racing.

I have included some of my pics here of race 1, I love watching women's racing as it is always so inspiring. Racing at an Elite level, theses girls are just so committed to training and racing.

Nicole Whitburn (in white) who eventually finishes third overall

AIS Development Squad rider

Fast Legs look just as daunting in womens racing

Tiffany Cromwell

Chloe Hosking wins and celebrates!

Tour Downunder - Final Stage (last diary entry for the TDU)

2011-01-26T14:34:00.000+11:00

It was down to the wire on the TDU, Cameron Meyer (non sprinter - Garmin rider) was leading by 8 seconds over gun sprinter Matt Goss. With two intermediate sprints and the finish all providing valuable time bonuses, it was going to be a nail biting end to a great Tour. The final average speed for this stage was 47.7kph....for 90km...with twists and turns...I cant even imagine that!

Well after intermediate sprint number 1. Another new name came into the picture with Michael Matthews winning the sprint and Goss coming in second meaning the numbers were now, Meyer with a 6 second lead over Goss and a 9 second lead over Matthews with a 2nd intermediate sprint and a stage finish still to come.

The 2nd intermediate sprint had two Rabobank riders and Astana rider Allan Davis all collecting points leaving the result still hanging on the final. The final sprint saw Ben Swift take the win frm teammate Greg Henderson and Goss grabbing 4 seconds in third, but still fninshing 2 seconds behind Cam Meyer......I was nervous......it was great and exciting and cant wait until next year already.

Some pics from the final stage

Matt Goss from HTC has to wait until the sprints to earn the time bonuses to win the Tour

An early break included Stuart O'Grady from Leopard Trek and Luke Durbridge from UNI SA

Cameron Meyer from Garmin in the Ochre jersey which he managed to keep.

The Omega Pharm Lotto riders flying along

Stuary O'Grady and Luke Durbridge

A Rabobank rider admires the sea ofd color behind him

The race was touted as a battle between Omega Pharm rider and defending champion Andre Griepl and HTCs gun sprinter Mark Cavendish......but this battle never got off the ground

The pace for the stage was an average of 47.7kph......bloody fast

Matt Goss

A sea of color

Lance was thanked for helping to improve the Tour Downunders publicity and make it become the event it now is

FAST LEGS

The final sprint......Goss was the next rider out of the picture, but it was Ben Swift who won the day in front of Greg Henderson (who had spent the whole race ..or most of what I saw right at the back of the pack.......)

Stage 4 - Tour Downunder - Norwood to Strathalbyn

2011-01-22T13:44:00.001+11:00

Stage 4 - Norwood to Strathalbyn 124km
Also the day of the Mutual Community Challenge ride

Today for something different we decided to go and watch a start of a Stage as we had done a couple of finishes and a hill climb and it has been a great week. So today we went to the start and watched everything at Norwood. The best part was that you walked beside the team line up so it was a great chance to see the riders all getting ready for the stage. I took a lot of pics (as you can imagine) and so this is some of the pics I really liked

I can only imagine what these two could be saying to each other. This is Andre Griepl from Omega Pharma Lotto and (not sure who), Paul Sherwen the commentator is in the background, there were a lot ofmedia doing interviews

Andre Griepl looks relaxed talking to the cycling fans

Womenscycling.net doing an interview with current Young Rider jersey wearer, Michael Matthews

Two Saxo Bank riders, discuss how to program the bike comuter/power meter...(Seriously one was explaining to the other how this particular meter worked....the downside of havig to use new "sponsored" gear all the time........TOUGH)

Giant Bikes belonging to Rabobank. No 43 is Michael Matthews who won stage 3!

Relaxed before the start. Dan Jones from media is filming Cav behind...

Mark Cavendish stil showing some signs of his fall from the two days earlier.......just patches on his head and his legs

Cav's war wounds from his stack.......HE actually finished last yesterday as he was suffering from his crash the previous day, but today is a new day and he has been patched up and is ready to ride

UNI SA - You can see Luke Durbridge wearing the red number signifying the Most Aggresive rider from the day before

The BIkes from the Uni SA team, they dont match or anything, much different to the big Protour team set ups......STILL GO BLOODY FAST THOUGH

Tough riders, patched up and ready to race, posing with the team masseur (probably the most popular person in the team by this stage)

CJ Farquarson, (award winning photographer) from Womenscycling.net is in a prime position to capture the start of the race

This Media bike looks like a comfy ride, there is a whole line up of motorbikes, official jobs, spare wheels, media, all lined up and ready to race!

The start of the race, Race is under control (see the red flag in the lead car), and until the red flag goes, they have to roll out of town behind the lead car.

Griepl starts the race with one of the "Shack" boys

The voice of cycling gets an armchair ride today!

Tour Downunder - TDU - Stage 3

2011-01-20T22:33:00.000+11:00

STAGE THREE - Unley to Stirling - Total 129km

My pictorial diary of today, but briefly we drove to Stirling where the riders would pass through the town twice before the final sprint. I got myself sitting by the fence in the feed zone on the first pass and watched the riders pass in what I would call an orderly and quite slow manner through the feed zone collecting feed bags full of goodies on the way. The riders were probably thankful for the break as they had been racing for 85km and it was a long drag to the feed zone up an incline, and there was a break of 4 riders.

Then I moved back to our group at the 150m to the finish spot which is a great place to watch the attcks being launched and you get a spot closer to the fence too.

The final lap of 22km was full of attcks and the funniest thing was that as we saw Graeme Brown from Rabobank pass us he was elbowing another rider out of his way and we were just talking about it when they must have only got about 2 km up the road and there was a crash and he was in it. On the news he said that it was just one of those things......it makes you wonder what might have really happened.

Anyway some brief pics......The winner of the stage was U23 World Champion Michael Matthews who was clearly too good at this finish for either Griepl or Goss who had to settle for 2nd and 3rd.....awesome win for the upcoming aussie (and world champion).......very exciting stuff

also see my other TDU pics at:-
Stage 1 and 2
Lance Twitter ride

The podium girls are all very pretty and their outfits look great.

Feed zones are dangerous, this guy has dropped a bidon which could cause havoc in the group.....by this stage of the race there are a lot of riders wearig bandages already

More feed station chaos....it was ineresting being at a feed station......lots of riders everywhere and total chaos....

This was the break which was reeled in with around 18km to go (Luke Durbridge - most aggressive rider for today is in the UniSA colors and he attacked at any opportunty and won the KOM !!!)

HTC leading the pace - what a strong team along with Team Sky and in the background is Lance Armstrong from Radioshack

Matt Hayman from Team Sky looks like he is working hard with 22 km to go

The looks on the riders faces say it is a hot day and they still have 22km to go (and have just come up a nasty rise (which I rode up yesterday, not too steep, but they were going FAST!)

Young Aussie fan waits patiently for the peleton!

Goss wearing the Young Rider jersey leads out the sprint. Goss had punctured in the last 10km and had to chase to get back on and is now in the front thanks to his HTC team and he is going for it. Matthews is on the right of the pic and he gets the win......he just takes off about now and seriously guns it and makes it look easy

These riders were well down on time after this stage. Recognise anyone!

We had great car parks, about 150m from the finish line.......WOO HOO

Tour Downunder - TDU - Stages 1 and 2

2011-01-20T19:14:00.003+11:00

My picture diary of Stages One and Two

STAGE ONE - Mawson Lakes to Angaston

Just a few pics of the stage. IT is a big day as it is about a two hour drive to Angaston and we watched the riders come through a couple of times, watched the sprint and then drove back which took a long time too as you drive through the Barossa Valley past all of the wineries including Jacobs Creek...past the Garmin team who were riding back to Adelaide from the end of the stage. GREAT DAY!

The Parade which follows the Tour and gives out lots of freebies like hats and bidons and stickers and some other useless stuff that is still exciting to get as the car cavalcade goes past.

Shane getting a good vantage point at 150 metres to go at Stage One in Angaston. Waiting as we watch around 15 Motorbikes go past - Lots of POlice as they clear the roads as the Tour goes through

The final sprint and at 180m to go Matthew Goss (Australia- Tean HTC) is leading and sprinting hard

Matthew Goss still just streeting away from the bunch on the way to winning Stage One of the TDU - GO AUSSIES

Shane and Leigh walking towards the presentations

A sea of hats - lots of freebies Santos and free Skoda hats amongst a lot of others watching the presentations

Matthew Goss wins, Sprint, Young rider and Overall leaders jerseys on the first stage

STAGE TWO - Tailem Bend to Mannum

We rode to the top of the KOM and it was a 109 km ride all up and there were a lot of people riding to the start.
So this is my obligatory pic at the KOM (we did ride to the top from the easy side, although we did a lot of hills prior to that).....Fun day on the bike. Leigh won the KOM in ou group and I was second....we did lose Gary who was our navigator for most of the trip to the KOM and so just blindly followed another group and finally got there, not sure how that happened......but WE MADE IT!!! Just quietly our group has too many leaders........but that just adds to the fun.........lol

Me at the KOM looking sunburnt.......I took some pics from there so got a great shot of the riders coming under the KOM banner

Vantage points included "in a tree"

It was a race for the line of the KOM......and looks like hard work from the two hill climbers......Winning by a small margin was Mitchell Docker

The peleton coming through lead by Team HTC......looks like hard and hot work...it was a hot day in Adelaide!

Tour Downunder - Twitter ride - Lance Armstrong

2011-01-15T17:07:00.002+11:00

The first big event of the TDU was the Lance Armstrong "Twitter" ride which was dedicated to the flood effort in qld and all involved twittered to donate money to the Flood Relief fund in Qld. A good idea, if you haven't already, then donate some cash to the fund.

I got a Prime place to take some shots and say hi to Lance - I was very excited..... :-)

Lance was signing autographs at the start of the "Twitter" ride

Lance practised his Aussie slang, with a Gday and a Cobber (who talks like that), and then shared stage with Mick Rogers, teammate Robbie McEwan and Stuart O'Grady

All the riders said a few words with a safety message being a common theme

Our local riders getting ready to go and see the start of the Twitter ride

Leopard Trek bikes - and Stuart O'Grady's legs

Riders of all shapes and sizes shared the Cancer message.

A lot of riders heading off to do the Twitter Ride

Lots of Bikes of all prive brackets and abilities

Radioshack wanna be's

A good fun day on the bike with Lance

Not sure how fast this guy went, or how easy he was to draft off.

How to Train on the Bike

2011-01-12T13:37:00.019+11:00

Its raining outside and I feel lucky that I did my killer one hour (just over one hour) session on the Kurt Kinetic this morning and it was hard work....lots of sweat and my legs were tired...thinking now I might have been able to push slightly harder in the first of 6 efforts, not sure, but am getting ready to take it up a level (I think)...HOW DO YOU TRAIN ON THE BIKE

- How do you get faster
- How do you get stronger
- How do you become a better rider
- How do you improve your skills
- How do you become the feared one that everyone is in awe of when you turn up on a training ride (you know the types, the ones that half wheel continuously, say that they havent been training, say that they only did one ride last week as they take off and begin a ride that gradually wears you down to the point where you are chewing on the handlebars (cork tape tastes better) and your legs are going to explode.

Maybe you don't want to be the feared on...but how do you get better?

I HAVE THE SECRET, it is not in a book, it is not on some dodgy internet (pay by the month) training site.

IT IS IN YOUR HEAD

- COMMITMENT
- CONSISTENCY
- DEDICATION

These are motivational words I stole from Mountain Biker and World Champion, Jessica Douglas' blog and they sit on the wall in front of my windtrainer........My "stolen" mantra

Easy peasy now that you know that, training should be a piece of cake.

STEP ONE
ON a day when you are feeling good about yourself, not one of those days where you are shattered from you last ride wondering why you lycra up on a regular basis, set some goals....Short term and Long term

Ideally

A weekly goal, so that by the end of your week, you can say you have acheived something, it might be to ride 6 days with one long ride. Ride six days and one interval session......

Make it acheivable......

Long term goals, may be a race or challenge ride you are aiming for so you have a plan

This is our local Wellington Cycling Club, club champion Dave Arnup, he basically set a goal to become club champion, worked consistently and acheived it....This is also in the shed, still makes me laugh

STEP TWO

Write them down. Have a book, or a noticeboard, or something that you can see that reminds you of your goals. Make sure you believe and have faith or confidence that you are doing this for good reason and you really want to see improvement.

My training journal and some of my Garmin data which I sometimes stick int he journal, to look back on the following week...I sometimes write a lot for a day, sometimes just one line....

STEP THREE

Refer to the Three main words, Commitment, Consistency and Dedication. Short term goals are priority.

Remember that you want to get better/faster/improve and this will take time and dedication/commitment and consistency.........so most of all and very importantly BE PATIENT

I guess I am writing this as a reminder to myself as much as anything that anything is acheivable by being dedicated and patient and chipping away just one week at a time.

Nothing in here that we didnt know already but if like me you are getting back on track - New Year and New Start and all of that, then maybe it is time to set those goals and look at where you are going and what you want to acheive this year.

I am off to the Tour Downunder tomorrow which starts next week, I am riding while I am away, but when I come back will have some pics of those riders that have Commitment, Consistency and Dedication, they are no different to any of us (they do just ride a bit quicker.........lol)....

I used to write this blog as a way of recording some of my races and training and stuff, but now want to look more at motivation and get into some nutrition and health tips that will work with cycling......I will still have the personal stuff as it is my blog, but nutrition is a huge area that I hold a real interest in and so will share my learnings in here......Good luck with your short term goals this week.

Carbohydrate Replacement

2011-01-08T12:18:00.002+11:00

Today I have written something we all as cyclists should know about, and that is carbohydrate replacement and being someone who is guilty of not drinking or eating enough, I just want to remind everyone during this hot time of year about carbo replacement.

Sports drink - IMage borrowed from deviantart

Am I qualified to write about this, I have a B Health Sc and am now into my second degree, this time it is Food and Nutrition with a view to becoming a dietitian someday so I do read about stuff!

We know that you need adequate nutrition if you are undertaking physical exercise as activity needs fuel in the form of Carbohydrate (CHO) and Fat and to build and maintain lean tissues you need protein and you also need vitamins and minerals to support the metabolism of energy and tissue building. Don't forget water as it will help with distribution and also with heat management and waste management.

The main topic I am focusing on today is Glycogen Storage. Now when we eat glucose, the unused part is turned into glycogen and stored in he liver and the muscles. When we exert ourselves the body breaks down the glycogen and releases glucose into the bloodstream and we feel good and full of energy and can complete our workout. IT is when glycogen becomes depleted that our muscles become fatigued.

To maximise your supply of glucose you need to:-

1. Eat a diet high in CHO
2. Consume some glucose during activity, especially activity of over 45 minutes
3. Eat CHO IMMEDIATELY following activity
4. Train your muscles to store as much glycogen as possible

How do we achieve No. 4?

Training will affect how much glycogen that your muscles will store. If you constantly deplete glycogen through hard training, your muscles will adapt to storing a larger amount of glycogen to support the work - Especially important for people training more than once a day.

Eating high CHO after physical activity will increase glycogen stores. A high CHO meal eaten within 15 minutes of the end of a training session will accelerate the rate of glycogen storage by 300 per cent. You have a window of approximately 2 hours after training to replace CHO to ensure that your muscles will accumulate glycogen.

SO ONE GOOD REHYDRATION- GLYCOGEN REBUILDING PRODUCT IS:-

"Chocolate Milk"

Milk and Chocolate - Borrowed image from Deviant art

But what about my sports drink?

Well chocolate milk contains CHO and protein which is what your poor depleted muscles need to recover. Water is simply not enough and as for sports drinks, they contain water but lack NATURALLY occurring protein and CHO found in milk. Milk also has Vitamins A & D and calcium which helps build muscle and with bone strength. Water gives you back fluid and energy drinks give you back electrolytes (along with a heap of sugar.....too much sugar and not too good for you). Milk is a smarter option.

If you want the scientific stuff:-

A study back in 2006 presented in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, of 9 male endurance trained cyclists showed that chocolate milk with high CHO and protein content may be considered an effective alternative to commercial Fluid Replacement and Carbohydrate replacements for recovery from exhausting glycogen-depleting exercise.

NOTE - Post ride today (38C) hot weather I had a mix of ice, milk and choc toppi8ng in the blender - bloody beautiful, although I wouldn't advocate filling your bidons with Milk in this hot weather.......Not so good.

This is all food for thought

Full of Resolution

2011-01-05T09:15:00.000+11:00

Well it is January 5th and so only day 5 since we set all of those New Years Resolutions, so how do you stick to them. My big one was to be consistent in my training and in my eating as the day after Christmas I weighed myself and realised I had put on 5kg in the past 5 months (sneaking kilos), so I have gone back to my old weight watchers books and yesterday I rejoined weight watchers. It all sounds a bit dramatic, but seriously the best things about weight watchers are:-

- The support of others (and supporting others)
- The meetings are good and a good time out to reflect on your own life, get some personal time
- You get great recipes...lots of ingredients that are good that you might have forgotten about or never tried.

I love the recipes and I have now got all of the info about the new propoints plan which is great and once you get your head around the first couple of weeks and your eating habits, you find there are so many great low points things you can eat like fruit and most vegies (not to excess of course...but great for snacking)

BIKE TRAINING TODAY

Well the aim is consistent training, so I got on the Kurt Kinetic trainer, and to be consistent, I always have the bike set on the trainer the same amount, when the wheel touches the trainer I wind the trainer onto the wheel by 4.5 turns and always have 110 pounds of air in the tyre too, so it is always the same.

Today was 5 intervals at 100 cadence at a set gear, the benefit of making sure the trainer is always seet the same means that you can use a particular gear and compare results from time to time.

Today was hard work

I have my garmin set up and a towel and a drink and TV (and a fan which you cant see in this picture)

We also have a selection of DVD's and music from time to time (when TV is boring....like when there is only cricket on).

So far this week, I have stuck to my program so by the end of the week I will get a Gold Star (well I have to give myself that)

Diet and exercise, just stick to it, one bit at a time and make sure you make short term and long term goals.
My short term goals are week to week - stick to the program and watch what I eat, and long term I have some races I would like to target and I want to actually look fitter....must put a pic on here....will do that next time. I have also been testing ouyt the new SKINS I got from SKINS to try and they are great, I will have more info on that next time......I have been reading about them and wearing them on longer rides, even got my long SKINS out to wear walking this week, as I have been walking my dog for about 1.5 hours a day (he has to lose weight too) and the SKINS were great.

WEEK TO WEEK AND TRY TO TICK THE BOXES AT THE END OF THE WEEK.

New Year Goals

2010-12-31T15:46:00.000+11:00

Well this year has come to an end and so it is time to start thinking of those new year cycling goals.
IN summary this year:-
- I crashed one frame (wrecked it)
- Got a new coach
- Lacked some motivation at times during the year
- Raced average at National Masters events
- Raced average (but improving) at Tour of Bright
- Bought a Garmin 500 (Love it ...although I forget to push Power Off and have to charge it everyday...theres one for the resolutions)
- Race One of three days of the Three Day Tour in Gippsland (lack of fitness and motivation)
-Started a Core Strenngth program

Oh and personally
Finished up with my job (That is a long story), I crashed my car, I had my parents living here for 5 months, but I did complete a Cert IV in photoimaging and completed 4 more diettian subjects so new things are on the horizon

So it is easy to plan 2011 goals by looking at the 2010 list and making some "notes to self"

I will only put 5 goals here as I think the rest will come as I think about them more

1. Be more consistent with riding, I should have learned from Mountain BIker Jess Douglas (world Champ) from her blog where she says

No Short Cuts, just consistence and people who say you can do it and
THE COURAGE TO BELIEVE IT

I wrote this in my training diary in October but things kind of went pear shaped for a while personally. My new coach has been great but now it is up to me (with his guidance)......in short "Head down....be focussed"

2. Race the Three Day Tour and be prepared for it and believe in myself

3. Race Masters focussing on the Time Trial and be trained and ready

4. Focus on Core Strenght

5. Believe in myself more and be confident

When I am focussed I do improve and enjoy my new fitness.......Just this week I have been really consistent which is great and we all know that anything is possible if you dare to dream (but you have to take action as well)

It was a big year perhaps not as I would have planned it but John Lennon was credited with saying

Life is what happens to you, while you are busy making other plans!

Tour of Bright

2010-12-07T16:53:00.001+11:00

The drive home over Mt Hotham on the Monday

Just realised before writing this that I had my camera with me and we were racing, but have no pics of either me or Shane in bike gear at the Tour of Bright, but we did race.

We drove up on the Friday and I knew I was undertrained and underdone for such a big mountain event and it was going to take a lot of mental toughness to get through it, I had just slightly underestimated my preparation.

The event is THE TOUR OF BRIGHT

Day One:- 91km (plus 5km controlled bit) trace which takes in Tawonga Gap and Rosewhitew Gap. It is very beautiful and Tawonga Gap is the tough bit
Then in the afternoon (I had two hours between one and the other (approx)
ITT - 16km (or thereabouts)...very undulating

Day Two - 56km from Bright to the top of Mt Hotham and this incorporates some Alpine climbs and is stunning scenery and some tough climbs

Mountain climbers legs - not sure which age group but they were winners!

The road along this alpine road just keeps going on forever.

So how was it?
Well lining up at the start I was quite anxious and there were nearly 30 riders in my grade, which was awesome. I was thinking we will cruise out to the hills and the pace will go on then! - WRONG
The pace was on early and the first 30km and we were around 40kph a lot. I am not sure who was putting the pace on, but it was steady the whole time.......Then Rosewhite the first climb and I was dropped, I think a bit more training would have seen me hang on here, but I was being kind to my legs and just getting through the day. On the downhill we ended up with a group of five and on the next climb we all split up again and I ended up placing 14th overall on the stage (pretty happy with that)....My climbing was very steady and constant and I felt ok although hot. I tried to maintain my 39/27 at a cadence of 70 which gave me something to aim for and a few times I got it to 80 (but not for long).......

The TIME TRIAL - I must admit in my warm up, I knew my legs were feeling this mornings race, so I wasnt sure what to expect, the girl who was leading our grade started her time trial 20 seconds ahead of me which was good as I had a good rider to chase.......and I did chase and chase and she ended up putting about 20 seconds into me, but it was a great challenge and I came 5th in the ITT which was great as I had told people I wanted a top 5 placing (in your own head though that still means that you would dearly love to win it....and I didn't, but I was happy with my ride, I felt that I had put in as much as I could.).

HOTHAM ---- I will say that again a bit louder this time HOTHAM!!!. Our race commissaire said to us at the start, that if we get dropped not to panic but to get to the end, and that was an awesome thing to say as I had that little voice in my head that was doubting myself.....The first 26km were pretty flat and we rode like a friendly bunch and in fact I spoke to a few girls and there were some like me "just want to get to the end", then the hill (mountain actually) starts with about 1km of 10%ish which is a shock and I remembered how tough this mountain is. Then there is about 8ish km of constant climbing and a section called the MEG a KOM part and I lost my rhythm completely and never found it again, the road flattens out for a while, where you are on a climb, but not very steep and about 5 of us regrouped, I knew I was in trouble then when I couldnt hold their wheels and we were not going flat flat out........and I dropped off.......over the last 7km my speeds were dropping into the 7ish and 8ish, I was GONE.....my gears had been jumping and I could only use my 25 and 27 on the back and I was suffering from hunger flat...OH and my legs were trashed .....just any excuse that you could throw in there....it was my worst ride for ages!

How do you know when you have hunger flat?-
- you cant move your legs
- you look at empty gel packets wondering if there is anything in them
- you feel flat as flat
- you cant hold onto wheels that you know you could normally hold
- you want to walk your bike

Then a girl caught me and I asked her if she had any food and she gave me a Gel (THANK YOU SO MUCH...MY PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED).

I picked up for a little while then, but the last two km were tough tough tough. I finally saw the 1km to go sign and I got off my bike and walked about 50m, I was a broken rider then decided riding would be quicker so I rode to the end and I MADE IT!

My Hotham time was 3:05 and about 18th I think and I finished about 13th or 14th overall on GC.......I only had one gel on Hotham and dropped it before I got to eat it all, so I learned that it is better to take too much than not enough...I am so happy to have made it and I feel mentally tougher for the experience and I was driven to egt to the end..........Shane was at the end and that was awesome and I got a ride in a car back to the bottom of the mountain and rode the last 25km back home with Shane - Boxes Ticked and done! Well done to Deb Chambers for an awesome ride on the weekend (even though I couldnt catch her on the ITT, she won the GC and was fantastic)

Racing

2010-12-02T09:00:00.000+11:00

It has been a bery busy few months, I have been training and getting back into racing, but I have had my parents living here since early July which has made studying and training and everything more difficult. I have managed to finish two uni subjects and my Certificate in PhotoImaging this semester which has been fantastic and so for bike racing I got a new coach and have been slowly improving my power (No I dont have a power meter, I use my wind trainer and my gearing to work this out....well my coach does that bit)

This weekend is the Tour of Bright and I just hope to ride a great time trial. There is a 80km stage in the morning, a time trial in the afternoon and the next day is a ride up Mt Hotham which will be hard and probably cold and wet looking at the weather report for the weekend.

I also have been contacted by SKINS who want me to test their new knicks which will be awesome, I love my Skins for recovery and so a pair of knicks will be awesome.

I will have a report on the skins in the next couple of weeks.

I have also been working on my photography business and have my new website at http://www.actionpactpix.com/ and that is coming along, I only really got the whole thing up and running this week so slowly but surely getting better there..........

Oh and amongst all of that I have been applying for a new job and so far no luck, but it will happen........just keep on trying.

I have missed my blogging friends and those who have kept me motivated so often and I really have no excuse for not putting a few words down from time to time........so will change that from now......!!!

Thanks for readng and hopefully I will have a good story about the Tour of Bright......it will be a nice weekend as Bright is beautiful!

Core Strength

2010-07-28T14:57:00.001+10:00

Its been a while since my last confession/update...so quickly

I had my crash in May, then a sore back, was off the bike for a month and now back on and have a whle new energy (I hope).

Since May I raced the Three Day Tour in Gippsland (4 stages in three days), I rode stage one an 8 km time trial. Pulled out of stage two and then was a DNS - I became a photographer instead. I had a miserable time on Stage 2 - got dropped very very early and then basically was in a foul mood for the rest...you know the way it goes, when you are having a bad day and it is getting worse, but hopefully that is all in the past now.

THEN I raced Gippsland Time Trial Champs - Won first lady
THEN Club time trial and was 2nd in B grade (BY ONE SECOND)

THEN the Riviera Tour - Five stages in four weeks, I pulled out of B grade in Stage one, after getting dropped on the first lap - too hard, feeling too sorry for myself and overall just "princess behaviour". "I am no good at this, why so I even bother"....etc etc even though you know better, your head was to do the negative self talk!!!
Stage 2 was time trial and they let me ride C grade - It was my favorite course from the Tour last year and I won C grade and rode really well. (Note to self- when a club lets you drop a grade to help your self confidence, dont win!....looks like back to B grade)
Stage 3 - The time trials in the Tour. I was 8th of 28 riders all up that rode the time trial. so Very Happy with my ride, I really had a great day and rode well
Stage 4 - I didnt ride as it was the day before our club Time Trials - which I lost by ONE SECOND - Did I mention that??????
Stage 5 - Now Bairnsdale rearrange the grades a bit and put anyone sitting and doing it too easy in a grade up to the next grade. I rode the new B grade, and on the hills, four of us were away and in the sprint I won! I won the race.....lol, I got help from Chris at Bdale who gave me a great lead out and John at Bdale was very helpful and encouraging too and I sprinted hard AND WON...I was in shock.

This week, new focus and training hard and this is my Core Strength (All the pics are from the net None are me)

Thats it for now...must get back in touch and say hi to all you happy riders, and share some enthusiasm, it is back on track........have got Nationals in about eight weeks, so will have to try and get some training in. On Friday we go to Sydney for a holiday, you know the holiday ones, no agenda just have fun and relax!!!

If you are wondering where this new enthusiasm comes from, it is a long story, it comes from a whole range of places and overall there has been some positive news in the past few months for my work sitiuation and just studying nutrition and my photography course has really begun to show me that there is plenty out there in life to do, and enjoy. I dont know really, it just doesnt pay to take yourself too sseriously all of the time.

SO DO YOUR CORE STRENGTH - YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO AND YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD BE DOING IT!

Bike crash (WARNING - pictures of cracked carbon)

2010-06-10T09:29:00.001+10:00

This is the new frame the day it arrived from WA.........The forks were included, just not unpacked yet!

This is the new bike ready to go! Basically it is a 2007 Trek Madone SSL frame which I got at a great price from a bike shop in Western Australia with all of my gear on it.

The gear shifters are new though as my old ones were ruined and had to be replaced and I think the bike bits needed a bit of tweaking here and there, but now the bike looks like this...I have always been a black tape person, but now I have white.

This is the downtube from the old bike, the crack goes three quarters around the carbon on the tube.........not a good look

The front fork on the old frame was cracked right through too.

This is another pic of the downtube showing the crack even better

So I had to buy the frame and shifters and now the bike is ready to roll. I picked it up yesterday and am racing it this weekend, must admit I am a bit nervous about riding it on the road, I have only had one ride on the road in three weeks. I was on the windtrainer on my other bike this morning for about 40- minutes, it has been a crap run, crash bike, have a week off to recover, then really busy and then my back went on me and so have been laying low letting that recover and it is nearly ok now......ready to ride new bike tonight! Looking forward to it (I think)!

Not sure what is getting the better of me at the moment, I just have so much self doubt about my riding, I have to let it go and rememebr that I ride ok, and if I have a crap ride...then so what?!......it is still hard work though trying to rebuild my head....and this is from way before the crash......just have to get out there and what is that? Oh that is it...ENJOY THE RIDING...especially on the new BLINGY bike!

Bike Riding

2010-05-30T17:12:00.006+10:00

Well, in recent months I had found motivation was a little low to ride the bike, but May was a huge improvement and I began to do some good training, nothing mega long in distance but just some consistent training and great intervals THEN - On May 23td (one week ago today), on a training ride I crash and wreck my bike......OK here is how it went:-

- Easy training ride, recovery ride - I touched the wheel in front and then I was on the ground and not sure how I am feeling, I end up standing up, as I am thinking I am going to have to ride home, but I get told that I have to sit. I have blood all over me and an ambulance has been called. In a nutshell I felt ok, but my bike frame is cracked in three places (my Trek 5.9 Madone) and my brake levers are wrecked, but I am ok, I had a lot of blood as my sunglasses had cut my head and heads bleed a lot and so blood had dripped down my face and down my brand new white bike top!.

Minor scrtaches on knees, and L elbow and L hip and L shoulder but absolutely no joint pain or really sore spots. I didnt need any pain killers and I am not that tough really. I just have to get a new frame and brake levers. So this week I havent trained much as I have rested. I went out with th Friday morning group on a borrowed Trek as they do a crash replacement thing, where you get a heavily discounted Frame, so I am just weighing up my options. I still have a fantastic steel bike, which I had custom made years ago and is a good bike with Shimano Ultegra, so I do have something good to ride. My ride in the bunch was good, didnt feel nervous in the bunch, just cruised along, the bike I had borrowed needed a torque wrench to get the seat up to my height, and as we dont have one so I rode the bike with the seat a bit low, but it was a 2010 Trek Madone 5.2 demo and may I just say that Trek do have a good warranty on their bikes and the ability to ride a test bike is fantastic.

Lately my riding had been going ok, In the Gippsland Hill climbing champs, I came second and won a silver medal and in our club road racing championship I rode B grade and stayed with the main bunch for the first 30km lap and only got dropped on the steepest part on the second lap, so I was pretty happy with my ride really, I was the only female in the race, so it was me and the guys in B grade!

Gippsland Hill Climb Placegettters (3rd Katrina East, 1st Kristy Glover and 2nd Me (with the stupid look...lol...)

Photography and study have been full on and you can see my gallery at Red Bubble by following the link: http://www.redbubble.com/people/jebcar/ I have taken way more pictures, but at the moment have limited what goes on to the gallery to my favorites and that is about it.

It is an interesting year on the bike, I just have to set my goals and get focussed. Overall had been happy with my riding it was going ok, and I have just had one week off and been missing the bike, but decided that I should rest and then I can get back into it next week., plus I had TAFE Monday and Tuesday and I had a photoshoot in a studio on Saturday and had to make sure I had everything done for that. For the photoshoot I was the stylist and photographer, I made the dress and apron for the model and cupcakes which were a prop and put a lot of thought into the shoot and it was heaps of fun, so now that is done I can focus back on Biochemistry and Maths in my other course, there is never a dull moment really (except for the reading Biochemistry bit - I would rather lick paint off the walls)!!!!

My goals at the moment are on the bike - Three day Tour in two weekends,
Then I have two exams the following week and I must be on holidays for a month from study. I had a job interview at the gym this week too, I used to teach aerobics and loved it and hopefully the interview went well.

Thats all for now.

This is some of the bike club in out new kit which we only just got - my wind vest does now have a minor hole on the back of my L shoulder (damnit!!!)....Looks great I reckon!

Back in the game

2010-04-30T14:33:00.001+10:00

OK, have been absent from the keyboard, well more specifically from the blog keyboard this week (or three), have been learning photoshop and on the computer until my eyes were bleeding...well maybe that is a bit of an overstatement, but they were too sore and I have learned to back off and perhaps ride my bike more otfen.

Cycling - Raced in the Sale to Bairnsdale on ANZAC day and I was iniitally talked into entering B grade (there was A through to D) and right near the start someone who had looked at the start lists and saw the state mens 50-54yo TT champion amongst a few other very strong riders in the B grade list and said I could change to C - BEAUTY so I did it. At the start, I was lined up and saw a man walking over to me and proceeded to tell me that I couldnt change. So there I was in a race with a few very very good time triallists and 70km of mainly very good tailwind ahead.,...we will see what happens.

Ready - Set - Go - and we were off, at the first chance there was an attack and we are going 54kph (around 32mph) and then we hit the first hill, one I climb once a week and my top speed has been about 29kph at the top, well in the race I was getting dropped before the top doing 29kph!. So now I am chasing around 23 riders and on the next climb (only a rise) I am catching them and looking like things will be ok and further up the road the bunch had to slow down for a RH turn, now after that turn the bunch went like the clappers and I was still chasing, even though I got through the corner ok. I did manage to pick up two other riders and so had a group of three, but riding 55km off the bunch was no fun and I should have been allowed to ride one grade lower, especially when there were guys in the bunch that normally ride A grade......NOW PREPARE FOR THIS i AM ABOUT TO GET ON SOAPBOX

My BIG GRIPE is that an A grader is an A grader.....some people think that they are an A grader for a particular style of event, say crits, Time trials, road, hills etc, but in anything else....and I mean ANYTHING ELSE, they complain and say "I cant ride hills/crits/time trials/etc etc and request to drop a grade....NO NO NO.....if you are an A grader and can ride with the best of them in A grade in ANYTHING then you are a FRIGGIN A GRADER....SO SUCK IT UP AND RIDE WHERE YOU BELONG.....

..........................I feel much better now...thanks for reading....

PS...I did have a great ride, we averaged about 38kph in our group of three and I felt quite strong, but I have got some work to do as I am a bit behind the 8 ball at the moment, just havent had the best few months emotionally and everything, have been a bit flat at times which is not great but just plugging away here trying to sort out my life. I have a doctors appointment in Melb next Tuesday which will hopefully be good - who knows.
Got a speeding fine yesterday from a bloody camera in Melb from my last trp there and this week I had submitted 10 photos to a photo stock agency for review and approval so I can become a contributor and all ten rejected (no surprises there though.....it is a tough gig and I didnt really think they would be approved.......a bit too arty for them, they prefer pure clean pics of objects!!!!!!.....I liked the pics I sent), I also found a place in Hallam that does reasonably priced printing of photos and so that is also quite positive)

The wheels just keep turning.............................................

Back Home

2010-04-11T16:31:00.001+10:00

We spent Easter up at BRight which is a cycling mecca as it has lots of hills/mountains and is a holiday destination for cyclists from mountain bikers to Road bikers. Last Year I broke three bones on a descent at Bright but this year managed three descents of Tawonga Gap, it is about a 9km climb and we rode it every morning, total ride 40-60km and one major climb and I got down the climb four times.

This is Mt Hotham........we drove over Hotham to get to Bright

As part of my photography course I was trying to get good B &W pics to channel my Ansell Adams (a master BW photographer) and so spent a few afternoons driving up mountains. This is just on Mt Buffalo. I took a couple of decent photos but just added this one quickly to the blog. We played golf one afternoon at Bright Golf course, I am no golfer, but bashed the ball around and tried not to destroy the greens.

The weather was perfect, we had family visiting during our trip too which was great, so bike riding, relaxing and spending time with friends and family was fun.

This was our ambient accommodation at Bright "Roses on the River". Shane loves to pick out accommodation and spends hours looking on the internet for somewhere to stay. I have my bed and a shower theory being a comfy bed and a hot shower as you will always remember those dodgy beds and cold showers more than a picture on the wall!.

Then I had uni for a week and no riding, so back into training this week........busy week this week, have another job interview and just heaps of things on..........so having a rest today and catching up on some internet things and still trying to figure out photoshop!

Forgive me for I have sinned.......

2010-03-27T11:58:00.002+11:00

Serioulsy committed "wife sin".......very bad and not sure if Shane will ever forgive me. IN my excitement of raving about my race and how happy I was with my sprinting and my commitment to the sprints as opposed to the "I cant sprint so I wont try" attitude that constantly raises its head. I forgot to mention that in the big scheme of things, Shane came third in what was the Gippsland Criterium Championship. It was a fierce A grade field of riders including all of the local club criterium champions and when the move was made by Kane Walker (2XU) and Sam Beveridge (Apollo), Shane worked hard, got on the wheels and rode on the back the rest of the weay...Easy to be a wheel suck I hear you say?.....you dont have to say it so loud. Shane did do some turns but in smart cycling fashion kept it so that if there was another attack, he had fuel in the legs to go with it and maybe try for a better place. Race smart!

On the final lap, Shane lead the boys out for the final sprint and Kane took off earier than expected and Sam hot footed it on Kanes wheel and left Shane coming in for third. This group nearly lapped the rest of the field and with 6 laps to go were in a position to lap the field. BUT wanting to keep their sprint clean and avoid messy and dangerous stuff happenng at the end, remained behind the lead car which was now travelling behind the main bunch. It was very exciting and I am very proud of my husband in his race., As you can see by the pic there is a slight age gap between the two younger riders and Shane (He is on the Right in case you are still not sure).

So well done Shane - third in Gippsland in the open crtiterium championship and it was awesome to see Sammy Beveridge in second behond Kane, he has improved heaps and heaps

Stilesy from Warragul and Ben from our club both worked to get on but never quite made it to the breakaway group who gunned it away from the bunch. So fundamentally none of the regions crit champions were in the right place at the right time.....

I could write a bit more about the race, but just wanted to give Shane a big rap, even though these are MY diary pages......I thought he deserves special mention. x

Time flies......getting busy

2010-03-23T19:11:00.001+11:00

Well like most of us from time to time, I have been a bit absent from blogland for a few weeks....and there has been a bit happening in bike racing. Last weekend I raced the Tour de River which is a three stage road race at Latrobe City and it was tough. I was in C grade and ended up 3rd in the time trial, 6th in Stage 2 and last in stage 3. Stage three was really hilly and I was trashed. I started my new hills campaign about 5 weeks ago and I am starting to do some long rides, I rode 100km this morning which was tough too.

Then last Saturday was the Maffra Mardi Gras Crits, I was in C grade (A to E on offer) and I was happy with my ride, unlike the week before when I had a mini meltdown after the final stage as I was seriously knackered. IN the crit, the intermediate sprints I was dropped on the first one, last on the second one (of about 12 riders, 6th in the third and 5th in the fourth so that was amnazing result for me. The big difference is that I was trying and not just thinking "I cant sprint so whats the point" ...maybe that should be in capitals. I even had some pics taken which was great I took pics of ABDE and a friend from Warragul took C so I am in them...yippee.

I am in the ambulance gear and the middle pic was after the fourth sprint where I was fifth........I think this is a turning point in my sprinting........

This Sunday si the Stratford to Dargo road race which will be hard and my legs might be suffering after todays ride.....will wait and see.

My photography course is great and I have to get some pictures done over the next few weeks, I have to research a master photographer and try to emulate their style. I havent found one yet...That is tonights job, research master photographers. I think there is one named "Minor White" who I want to start researching, but seriously I think it is their name that fascinates me as much as anything.

I finished my patchwork quilt and it looks awesome..pic to go on here soon, just as soon as I take one.

That is about it for now. I am happy at the moment, busy and life is ok.....I am into Biochem stuff which is testing and I have a math assignement due nest Monday and that will be testing too, that is tomorrows job and it is Biochem on Thurs and Fri.....I just divide up my week and usually give each subject a day or so and then I can focus on that. I do one long ride eachg mid week and so that is a photography day too which was good today as I got my new photoshop book in the mail and it is going to be awesome. I think this book will help solve some of PS mysteries....who knows. The book acknowledges that PS is a difficult programme to learn as it is packed full of things.......

So Photography and two subjects of a Nutritionist course, and I think I am going to have to look for a job soon........not sure..........BUT no more sewing projects until I get further into my courses and have less reading to do.

Hope everyone is well and training hard and getting results they are happy with...results dont have to be first places, but a sense of acheivement and getting the benefits from training are important in keeping you motivated to go harder........Must go it is 7:00 and the "Biggest Loser" is on TV soon and I dont like missing it...The Commando is HOT!

Road to Dargo

2010-03-09T11:04:00.000+11:00

It was a nervous sleep last Fridy night as a group of us were riding to Dargo on Saturday. The actual profile can be found here, although we didnt do the final hill which is a killer, I was on a 42/27 and might have made most of it had I not ridden 108km before the hills really start to get BIGGER. IT was a great ride, 7 of us rode to Dargo and Shane and I rode about 5km past Dargo, but decided to turn around as I had done enough and until then was enjoying the ride and had a smile on my face.

Some that went on had the same gearing as me, but some had more gears.......

Then Sunday we did 60km and yesterday 50, it was supposed to be more but I got a flat tyre, which reminds me, that tyre is buggered and I need to put a new one on. We ride Vredestein Tricomps which are good allraound tyres, and we buy them when they are cheap so that makes them even better. Havent really experimented with different tyres as we like these. We did try the Vredestein superlights, but on the rougher road surfaces, they got a bit chewed up and didnt last all that long really, maybe a good racing tyre, but not for training and expecting to get a lot of kms out of.

I ate honey sandwiches on the ride, I have a terrible problem with food choices as I have a fussy stomach when I ride and it either is a good food ie honey sandwiches, or my stomach says - nope, cant digest that one quick enough and I subsequently throw up...(pleasant reading huh!).....So I just trial and error foods and the time betwween eating and riding which also affects the digestion. Eg; Salad sandwich needs about 5-6 hours. Weetbix - not very long - 30 minutes to an hour......etc etc....and the amount of water consumed also affects the whole thing too...such as bad food and lots of water just speeds up the process...

So 120km of hilly riding and I was pretty happy with my hill climbing, would like to improve which means just getting out there and doing more hills.

The weather in Melbourne over the last few days has been freakishly bad, but here in Sale we have missed a lot of bad weather and even though the weekend had storms and bad hailstorms in parts of the state and millions of dollars in damage, all of our rides were quite pleasant, the Dargo ride was quite humid really, but ok for riding.

Special mentions in the Dargo ride to Ben who smashed up the killer hill and looked like something out of a scary movie according to Ruby when he got to the top, bulging eyes and a red face, and to Phil who just made hill climbing look too easy, Phil follows Joe Friel and it seems to be a good programme and doing wonders for him as he climbed easily up the hills. Kristy keeps improving and her hill climbing will get better when she gets a lighter bike and Ruby also had a great ride, taking on the Beverleys Road section on her own, which is no mean feat.......we were all happy campers.....

At the crossroads

2010-03-03T15:09:00.000+11:00

Three points to the post today - Training, Photography and well...just me.

Training
Went out yesterday for a 90km workout and originally was supposed to be with two guys that scare me a bit (they are a bit quick and it was undulating), but ended up being with one quick and one like me and we ended up doing sprints up hills and it was awesome (I was patheitic and basically broke down in tears because I cant sprint, and my confidence is at a bit of a low at the moment, but I am facing it and getting out and trying harder, if I do my best then that is a good thing...but I loved the workout and I need more of it, where I can find someone to help me, I just cant get that type of thing on my own)......We did about 4 sprints, my sprint on the flat was ok (not great) but on the hills I was pathetic.....I just had no real pedal speed or when in a smaller gear just ran out of puff......It was fantastic

Photography
I was pretty happy with the pics I took at our crit on the weekend, I raced B grade but took pics of A and C and they can be seen here actionpactpix. I have now had two days of my course and they have been fundamental boring stuff, but I have set up my dual screen PC at home and have got photoshop ready to load (next job after this)...the wifi is great too by the way....but I have had to reload the printer, the scanner, blah blah it has been a pretty big job changing computers and internet service providers at the same time.

And Me
Well at the crossroads, I have to start uni this week Biochem and Statistics for health which both form part of my dietician course I am doing......havent heard anything about work.....Trio will send you an email, so this week is get my study all in place after the big mess I made changing the computer and then look at study and subject dates assignement dates and stuff.......Oh and I started a patchwork quilt on the weekend, which is on the backburner for a few weeks.......I did find a great training thing on the net last week and will post it soon on my blog...not sure where I found it as it doesnt have the web address on it......

So mood........up and down and I am sick of the mood swings (probably not as much as my hubby, but today has been ok.....going for a ride later about 40 easy km..............life goes on.....when I need to do something quietly I sew.....I should put a pic of it on here, it is pretty....next entry

Update and Training

2010-02-25T08:28:00.001+11:00

Tuesday I went training with two friends and we did hills (lots of undulations), total ride was 90km and my thighs were in agony yesterday like I had been doing heaps of squats......Even today I gave the fast ride a miss this morning and will do an 80km ride on some smaller undulations and stuff on my own. Basically I cant sit down without putting my hand down first to support myself as my thighs are in PAIN!. So I am here in my knicks ready to go and will be on the bike as soon as my breaky goes down.

AND the best news is ...no work hasnt rung to say I can come back tomorrow, but I have enrolled in a photography course which starts next Monday and I got my new computer which I havent connected yet. The photography course will be great, learning to use Photoshop and do some really creative stuff. These pics are some of the photos I had in my portfolio to apply to get into this course. I didnt have a lot as I have only had the camera for three months so I have been on a steep learning curve.

But just being motivated by something has helped my moods, and before you think I am overdoing it, I am basically doing this photography course and a couple of nutrition subjects and will either end up back at work and have to stop this course, or I will have to get another job and therefore will have to reassess. The photo course is only one and a half days a week and it is local. So I have to get my new computer set up on the weekend (but I might leave it until next week, when I will have my new internet pack. Does anyone have any hints on setting up Wi Fi and the risks with a wireless network? I have to read a bit about that before I get into it all.

This is a cool pic of a girl in our club who is riding really well. Hopefully she will continue to keep getting stronger too.

Anyway feeling happier and it is a really nice day outside so a good day for a ride, I will do the first 60 and then reassess, my legs might have had enough by then......seriously my thighs are killing today, but once I warm up they might improve.

A lesson to all - Dont play with Ocky Straps!

2010-02-20T12:21:00.000+11:00

OK....well firstly nothing too serious, but I was in the garden and had to get the wheelbarrow into the front yard, opened the gate which is tied to a trailer to stop it rattling on windy nights.....I just released the bolts and the gate just rebounded into my jaw!.......not tied with a rope but tied with an elastic ocky strap.......this was yesterday and other than the initial owwwww, I later found that chewing food hurt......it is better today, but I hav bruised my jaw bone..........didnt ride last night as I felt a bit yuk..rode today though and will be racing this afternoon........just be careful!

Not a bike story but a warning that it is easy to get hurt!

Other than that I have had a much happier week......have a few plans for the future, work is still an ongoing saga, but I am applying for a TAFE photography course and I have an interview on Monday and have to present a portfolio of work....well I have some...you can see http://www.actionpactpix.com/ to get an idea but I am only new and still learning so it is basic stuff. If I actually get into the course, I might not be able to complete it so I have a few things to think about, BUT I have to have an interview to have any chance and the course is one and a half days per week.

I have been doing a bit of riding, had a good race on Wed night we averages 36.6kph (I think) for a 36km undulating race so I was happy to be with the bunch, it was a handicap so I had to do my share of turns too, but I finished 6th overall (not unhappy with that though). I am still a bit tired in the legs from that. I did ride a slow 75km the next day and the weather was fantastic. Anyway the race today is only about 40km I think and not sure how I will go as my legs got hammered last Wednesday so I am not expecting anything other than to have fun (I hope). Thats about it, must start getting organised and mybike in order for this arvo.....

Technology

2010-02-15T15:52:00.001+11:00

Well this week I am working on a few things, I need a better computer for my pics and to use photoshop and stuff and uploading to the web, so we are buying one and getting faster broadband and photoshop (I only used a "try-hard" photoshop before).

This is very exciting and I am getting a bigger screen.....the new computer actually is not costing a lot as we have a friend putting it together but it will be awesome......cant wait.

Mood this week still flat........but my new computer/broadband/software project is huge this week......so that will keep me busy and then I will be here all day blogging, uploading pics, photoshopping pics. Oh and I am studying nutrition part time so there will be study (not much of that is on the computer, mainly textbook and notes) and there is riding my bike........

I found some interesting stuff on lacking confidence and handling insecurity on the livestrong website so have been reading that and will be journalling positive thoughts and things that I do each day that are good...not journalling here as you dont want to know that I made a nice dinner or plucked my eyebrows here......nah I dont think you do...anyway I am about to do a Chris Carmichael on the trainer and there is yoga tonight (I have poor flexibility but determined to stick it out and get better as I am enrolled for first term) Shane is going along as well and between us we struggle with the poses, but give it our best shot.....I have discovered my balance is great then whoops......then ok...then whoops.......core strength is ok.

Cant wait to get my Photoshop and Lightoom and photo managment stuff so I can put more pics on here easier. The new computer will be great as this one crashes constantly and I think it actually cost more than the new one and I will be going from old XP with not enough RAM and stuff to Windows 7 with heaps of everything.....woo hoo......I didnt get the job, I had an interview for the other day, but had positive feedback from the interview panel and so hopefully will be able to get something happening soon.....just trying to keep positive thoughts at the moment.....:-)

"Determination determines the outcome"

Turning the cranks

2010-02-07T12:20:00.000+11:00

Well January was about the National Time Trial Champs and then to the Tour Downunder and now I am back home and there is nothing much going on. Riding the bike is about turning the cranks and just riding at the moment. I have had to apply for a position at work that is nearly three hours from home as part of a redployment programme. Whilst that is not good and who knows if I will even get the position, I did have to write up a CV which was a first for me, I had never had a CV and I must say it looks impressive......I would employ me!...lol.....It was a learning experience for me trying to write a CV.

That was last week. I have been riding and fighting off some depressive moments where I seriously struggle to ride my bike, just feel sad and not coping with my emotions, other days I am fine.....some of you may not be aware but I am in a work dispute, which has been going on for 9 months and who knows what is going to happen. I just want my job back as an on road paramedic, but there are medical issues and basically it is red tape.....too complicated to write here but basically I dont tick the right box according to the ambulance doctor so until further notice I am off the road.

I am still training, will be back studying next month as I am doing a Nutritionist course (started early 2009) and getting into my photography business http://www.actionpactpix.com/. The business is only very new and I am learning about my camera and I just downloaded GIMP (the free photoshop) and it is fantastic.

I am really writing this entry in response to my dad who has noticed a lack of diary entries of late, not much to report. I have been busy taking pics and riding in some shocking wind.

I did buy the Cycling Tips knicks they are capo knicks and they are great. I am not one to rave about gear usually, just use whatever, but the capo knicks are really comfy and a good lycra. I have a lot of knicks, most bought on special or end of season run out etc etc........

No pics today, just an update......This week I will probably have a job interview, I have to see my doc in Melb and I want to do some longer bike rides and get my endurance back up a bit........Who knows what will happen in the nexty twelve months in some ways I am at a HUGE intersection in life and there are a few choices, and my GPS is malfunctioning and not sure which direction to send me.....it will sort itself out.......I just have to stay positive and remain assertive and get rid of that friggin self doubt that is sneaking into the back of my head!..........Cant believe I am actually voicing all of this here....just keep turning the cranks and focus on where you are going!
"Its not what happens to you that matter, it's what you do about what happens that matters."

A Mans Shed is his castle

2010-01-27T14:11:00.001+11:00

Well I have mentioned my father in law Bill often in this blog and after spending 10 days on holidays with him and Shane I have learned a lot about cycling. In a nutshell, if you spend a lot of time with an 80 year old who has stories to tell going back decades, of bikes of all descriptions, of the diets the riders used to get by in long races, the clothes the tactics and the life of a cyclist. In brief Bill has won a big race here, The Melbourne to Warrnambool and a big track race, the Austral and has won two world titles in Austria and has a huge trophy collection from racing in Europe.

Having said that, spending ten days with Bill was educational. We heard lots of stories (and I mean a lot...like a lot....), some of which we have heard several times before. But I think one thing that makes Bill just typical of his generation, is his passion for junk....more like just keeping things..."just in case".....I dont think Bill has ever thrown out anything. Having read One Story of someone who has accumulated too much stuff in five years...imagine how much stuff is accumulated in a cycling life of around 60 odd years and I have included three quick photos.

The Overview of the shed.......Bill is also a builder...so there are lots of bits of leftover wood and stuff...if you click on the pic, you can get a better look

Bike frames and tubes.....and some wheels

Some handlebars from his track riding.......

Bill has got just about everything in the shed and on our trip to Adelaide, we actually gave Bill a luggage limit which was "one bag" mind you he brought a bag that was HUGE!!!!!

PS There are a couple of other smaller sheds which have other stuff in them............never ever throw anything out.......

Tour starts

2010-01-19T19:26:00.000+11:00

Well no gratuitous pics of me with some international bike rider, but today was the first stage of the Tour Downunder and it was fantastic. We went to the stage finish at Tanunda which is a lovely town about 100km from Adelaide and saw the ambience of the Tour. We actually got a spot near the rails bout 60m from the finish so we got to see a sprint and he finish and these are my pics.

This is the cars that lead the race, they represent the leaders jersey, the KOM jersey, the young rider jersey and sprint jersey.

The leaders jersey (the Santos jersey) is Ochre

The KOM jersey is white

The Sprint jersey is Blue

The most aggressive rider jersey is reddish

Young rider is very [rpetty multi colored and team is blue

This is mid way through the race and show riders eating and just getting to the end, it is about 36km to the end and just past the Tanunda sprint

This is the final sprint and Greipl who wins the stage is on the left and Gert Steegmans (Radioshack) comes 2nd. I am not sure who came third

On the way home we saw Team Radioshack driving back and we sae Johann Bruneel in the passenger seat, but didnt get a pic.

Lance rides number 11 and his bike is on the roof.....It is very exciting............To Be Continued

Tour Downunder - More highlights

2010-01-18T17:39:00.001+11:00

It has been an awesome week here, we are lucky enough to be staying in Glenelg, by the beach in Adelaide and it is a hive of activity for the teams here for the Tour Downunder. Glenelg is just a beachside town and the tour teams who are all staying at the Hilton in Adelaide seem to ride a loop which includes a stop here in Glenelg for a coffee which means we get to see them if we are out and about at the right time.

Yesterday was the Anti Cancer crieterium and we got to see the teams presentation and I had a great place to stand just in front of some enthusiastic kids collecting autographs.

In the criterium, there were a few breakaways including one which included two Tour DeFrance winners, Oscar Pereiro and Lance Armstrong, but it came down to a sprint and Greg Henderson from New Zealand won the race.....The Tour starts on Tuesday (tomorrow).

But he big highlight was that Shane went to the supermarket while I was just playing with the pics I took yesterday and he came home and told me that Allan Davis (last years tour winner), and Oscar Pereiro (The Tour DeFrance winner) were having coffee in Glenelg along with team mate Gorazd Stangeli, so I grabbed the camera and went down to have a look and ended up talking to them all. They are very approachable and it was great, Goazd is Slovakian and had great grasp of English, with Periero you had to speak slow which was difficult given how excited I was to be talking to legends........When they left I got a bit teary, I was a bit overcome with emotion, I was talking to a winner of the Tour De France and he was very friendly. I took lots of pics and cannot believe how many people I have met this week and the tour starts tomorrow.

So I am barracking for Astana at this stage Pereiro is a very good looking man..........I took pics of his shoes which have his name embroided on them, Stangelj asked if I wanted to take a pic of his shoes, he said becasue his name is "specialised"....pretty funny guys....

So these are some random pics, Cadel during the race, Lances bike taken on the day of the big "twitter" ride, Me and Oscar Pereiro - very exciting, the famous shoes, and Lance during the criterium....it has been a big few days and no doubt the best is yet to come, cant wait for the race to start and I am sure you can get all of the information about the race at cyclingnews.com or just google "Tour Downunder".

So thanks Shane for the heads up for a fantastic opportunity to not only take pics but to talk to the riders. PS Pereiro has removed his leg hair lots of ways, Laser and waxing and shaving.....just for the record. It is the off season for these guys in Europe at the moment, but they are looking forward to a great week of racing.

Lance - We saw him

2010-01-16T14:11:00.000+11:00

We got to Adelaide on Thursday and had a quiet night and found ou that Lance had "twittered" a ride here in Glenelg for today....the chance to ride with Lance.......we decided straight away that we were not going to ride with him, but would come down and have a look and then go for a ride when it was quieter. That proved to be a good move as there were some falls in the bunch and there were thousands here to ride with Lance. This is a quick pic of the people that were grouping for the twitter ride about 30 minutes before the ride start. There were all types, road bikes, mountain bikes, fold up bikes...it was a huge day.

Then who should arrive but the man himself, and I was right in the best spot to get a pic...I could have touched him....but didnt...I got a great pic of his bike too.....next time.....so it was a highlight to see him in the flesh.

This was on top of meeting Stuart O Grady yesterday in the city

So we are in Cycling heaven here....just hanging out with the pros....the best part was though that we rode later than Lance and missed the big bunch, but we saw Team Milram and TEam Garmin out training and THEN we came around a corner and there was team Rabobank and we sat on the back of them for about 10km......very exciting...we said hi to Graeme Brown (their gun sprinter) and it was a real highlight.....dont speak much dutch though..Shane took a video of me on the Back but will have to see if I can bluetooth it over later to the laptop.............

Tour Downunder starts tomorrow with a crit (not part of the actual tour but all of the teams ride), it is more of an exhibition event...and then first stage is Tuesday.......I cant wait!...if I get some good photos I will put them here.....Go Aussies!!!!!!

I cant help but be disappointed.......but have learned a lot

2010-01-07T09:39:00.002+11:00

OK I am disappointed, let me just say that before you read on..........
Yesterday (was it only yesterday I raced the Australian Open Time Trial Championship at Buninyong near Ballarat and whilst I knew I couldnt win, I had a couple of goals an people I wanted to beat or ride similar times to based on previous time trial events. I had done heaps of training and maybe in hindsight not enough recovery but hindsight is 20/20 and so I will give you a quick run down on the last two days:-

Shane couldnt come with me so I had arranged for a close friend Rocky and my father in law Bill to make the trip and help, Rocky for emotional support and her calm nature and Bill for mechanical expertise. I trained and did some short 1 minute efforts on Tuesday and then picked Rocky up from the staiton, packed the car and then we were off, we picked Bill up en route and drove to Williamstown to watch the last day of the Bay Crits which was cool (but in hindsight part of my undoing really...it was a warm day and my timetable went tlike this
5:30 - alarm goes off - go training for an hour
7:00 - pick up Rocky from the station
8:30 - Drive to Melbourne to pick up Bill
at about 12:30 we were at Williamstown, park the car and walk around for three hours!!!!
3:30 - leave Williamstown and drive to register at Buninyong (about 1.5hours drive), then did two laps of the circuit and a hugge photo opportunity was missed. On our second lap of the circuit a car had stopped in the mddle of the road and when we stopped, there was a koala on the middle of the road and the driver was trying to shoo him back into the bush......and I didnt take a pic...........it was quite cute (but they have nasty tree climbing claws and can be quite nasty...........
about 6:00 we checked into our motel and then went and had dinner and it had been go go go all day
9:30 I went to bed......I was exhausted

BUT there were some highlights at the Bay Crits

I got to meet Phil Liggett the "Voice of cycling" and I got a hat signed by him too which was a bonus.

We spent a while in the Jayco sponsor tent as Bill was a guest in there and Rocky and I got guest passes.

Bill enjoyed the food and wine, but we didnt drink the wine.....

I got to meet Shane Kelly the olympian, probably most famous for "pulling his foot" at the Olympics, unfortunately, although he is an awesome track rider!
The other gentleman is Kevin Hine (I think) who has won world champsionships.

Saw Robbie McEwen being interviewed by David McKenzie at the start of the mens crit.

Then we headed to Ballarat and on the day of the Time Trial, I did my morning pre-start on the windtrainer

At Buninyong, Bill was on Bike duty, Rocky was on photo duty, I just gave her my new expensive camera (that you need practice using and said "take some pictures".....she did a great job...she took the photo with Phil Liggett the day before so that was a real highlight and her job was really done then. (awesome)

Bill geting the Plasma right before the race, and I will say the bike ran like a dream. The wheels were great, the tyres were great, everything was going well and so I cant complain there.

This is Bill and I and a marshall just before the race. I was very nervous.

On teh Time Trial day

7:00 - woke up did 30 min pre-start on the windtrainer

8:00 - drove to Buninyong for race briefing which wasnt actually on, as it was mainly for the marshalls but that is not what it said in my programme - back to motel

10:00 - Drove to Buninyong to set up for the day

12:12 - started time trial

1:00 - had coffee and wind down

then we found we had a flat battery in the car and had to wait for road assistance to come (it took an hour) to restart car. Lights had been left on - they were on as the car was a support vehicle during the time trial.

6:00 dropped Bill home

9:00 got to my home - another big day

So the race........I did 28.1km in 51.05 which was an average speed of 32.88. Taking into consideration that I missed a turn which probably cost me about 20 seconds, I was still about 5 minutes slower than a time trial I did in August at the state champs and about 3.5kph slower. It is a tough course, but so was the one in Aug.

Ok the positives:-

I rode a National Championship against some world class riders. The winner rode 40.57, 4 seconds in front of the 2nd place rider.

Everything ran smoothly, the bike, my prep on the day and my warm up and I was pretty calm considering.

The negatives.

Where were my fast time trial legs?

In the wash up I can only say that the walking around in the heat the day before did me no favours and perhaps I was lacking in recovery at times during the hard training I did in December. I was training much harder than I had trained for a long time and racing and just putting in lots of work, which will be a fantastic base, but it did me no favours on the day. I placed 29th of 30 finishers and learned a lot. I want to try again next year so I havent set the base too high...lol.....

The two days just flew and it all feels like a bit of a dream today as it was go go go.

I will give it another shot and continue to build on the base I have started to get now.......I know I could have ridden at least two minutes quicker on better legs based on history in the last twelve months....not disheartened, just a bit disappointed and yes I know you will have good days and bad days on the bike......it was one hell of an experience though, surrounded by officials, coaches, mechanics, awesome riders, nice bikes, everything.....awesome......my ride - not so awesome....next year I will do better.

Huge thank you to Steph Frawley for her encouraging words after the race, to Bill and Rocky for their awesome work and help and anyone else I spoke to yesterday - to Karen Munro for reminding me that it was a big task and to Dave Arnup, Gary and Gabby, Tony and Kristy for their nice text messages......I had a bad day - learn and move on....2010 will be one hell of a year!...nearly forgot my husband Shane for his encouragement too - on the phone before and after the race....and my coach Bob for believeing in me and he was also a bit disappointed as he knew I could do better........this year my new years resolution is to believe in myself more.........!!!see what happens.

This is it.........2 days to go

2010-01-04T19:09:00.000+11:00

Well as I have blabbed on a it, I have been training to race the National Time Trial Championship which is only 2 days away. There will be an Australian title up for grabs and I am ready to go.

Shane wont be coming with me as he is away with his daughters and a mate for the New Year period which makes it a bit challenging from the emotional side, but I have a girlfriend coming for emotional support and my father in law (Bill - ever reliable) will be there for mechanical and bike support and to drive my support car.

I have trained hard for about five weeks now, maybe nearly six, but five have been very constant and challenging and I am ready. Realistically I wont win, but I have the following goals:-

Not get to stressed on the day, be calm, this is familiar territory, I have time trialled a lot before
Enjoy the day (yeah right)
Ride to plan and warm up to plan and give it everything

I rode State Champs well finishing 28th of about 43 riders, so that is a baseline, but this is Nationals. I have other goals in my head like finish in the top half of the field! But seriously I have no major expectation other than to finish knowing I could not have gone any quicker.

My wheels are ready, my bike is clean, I am pumped and nervous (and it is still two days away).....It will be a fun day and to be competiting at an event at this level is awesome and will be a fantastic experience.

Thanks for the comments on the blog...will let you know how I went, and hopefully have some photos of the day.

Hello...sorry have been busy

2009-12-24T19:57:00.000+11:00

I dont really have any excuses as to why I have been so absent other than my new SLR digital camera which I love and so in two weeks and 1740 photos later, I spend a lot of time on the computer just playing (and deleting pics). I have also kept up my training for the time trial in Jan and that has been going well. I mean here we are Christmas Eve and at 4pm I was out doing motorpacing behind Shane driving my car (I could have been doing family and friend stuff...but no...must keep to the program). I have had a couple of days early in the week where I found the efforts were just too hard as my legs were dead....but overall going well and I just hope that my6 focus on cadence hasnt cost me too much strength as the course profile

On top of all of this it looks like I wont be going back on road as a paramedic in a long drawn out battle with the ambulance service at the moment. It is a long story and I had a meeting in Melbourne on Tuesday about it. This is not the palce to write all about it as there were some positives, but I still cry when I think about it all as it has been a very difficult few months for me....havent said much about it before as no decisions had been made, but now my career is at a crossroad (again).....I just try to stay focussed and happy and think of all of the good things...I have also registered a business for photography (I am a beginner and have loads to learn), but actionpactpix is the name of the business and you can see the beginnings at http://www.actionpactpix.com/

So that is my news at the moment here........Bike training has been consistent and my racing has been a bit unpredictable as I am doing a lot of steady state and that is not ideal when people attack bunches in races, but hopefully I will race the best time trial ever on January 6th.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, sorry I have been around less lately, I have read a few entries from time to time, but overall have spent computer time with photos. I hope you all have an awesome Christmas and New Years, I have found you all to be very inspiring and at times, even though I havent met you, you all make me smile and just help to cement that faith in friendship. (Must be having a deep and inspired moment.......but I do mean it........) Will try to update my training more in the next two weeks before the big time trial and keep up to date with your lives as well.....

Training continues

2009-12-08T13:53:00.002+11:00

Well it has been about a week and a bit of very serious training and it has been HARD so far. Last week started with a day off (WOO HOO...also known as the calm before the storm), then on Tuesday I did morning hard ride then 3 x 10 minutes aerobic threshold efforts and in the afternoon I did cadence stuff and then Wednesday I raced a 3km undulating road race in the afternoon. Thursday was sprint efforts after the morning hard ride, Friday was some easy kms and Sat was 90km of hills and Sunday another race - a criterium,

MY LEGS have been very tired...I had yesterday off the bike, but went to Melb to buy a fancy dancey digital SLR camera and walked around the city all day....today I did 3 x 10 minutes aerobic threshold efforts which was hard as my legs are still a bit tired. This is supposed to be an easier week from last week, but tomorrow night is still a race and Thurs is 3 hours on the bike.......

It will be worth it....won't it?

Help me please!

2009-11-26T13:44:00.000+11:00

OK, as from next week I am training HARD and this week has been a bit of "back into it" after three weeks of not riding very much....Why? well needed a break, a bit of a mood thing, having a bad situation at work which has made me feel a bit depressed, but I am climbing back out of that now....I had felt quite down though but now I have a big race in January I am putting the pedal to the metal and looking at my program next week I can see that I have just become a full time athlete for the month.

So Help? Well I find it hard to motivate myself at the moment and I think I am going to get people to help me do some of the long rides.

The program is broken up between long rides, motorpacing. (does anynoe have any tips on motorpacing) and efforts which will just about kill me but I am determined to bring out my best and get a good result in January.

Last weekend, we had the hospital charity ride and 175km on Saturday and 90 on Sunday and that was hard work and I am only just recovering. I did Chris Carmichael TT yesterday and the fast ride today and just spent a couple of hours cleaning three bikes.......and I am covered in grease...but it is done now. Time to watch Oprah!

Wedding photos

2009-11-19T09:06:00.002+11:00

I have just uploaded some wedding photos to the blog (even though I try to keep it cycling), but hey we are both cyclists and if you look you can see my bike tan (under the fake tan) on my arms.

We got married at a small private beach near Manly just north of Sydney and I highly recommend being in a memorable place, being on a boat after the wedding and going under the Harbour Bridge and by the Sydney Opera House was just too surreal. No pics of that as the photographer didnt come on the boat with us.

There were just four of us and the celebrant

at the beach:-

Oh and Little Dovey (the Teddy Bear) at the

front, he even wore a little tux jacket.

I was quite emotional (nothing new there) and this was during the vows.

Then we signed the certificates and had a couple of

posed photos

We had some nice pics taken on the beach

But the photo at the bottom of the wharf would be my favorite as it was getting later in the day and it is just a great pic. It was just before we got on the water taxi and taken on our harbour "cruise"

The photographer sent us a disc with about 300 photos on it and I made a DVD of the pics using a program I have, adding some music and some movement to the images and it makes me cry......and we had to choose 40 pics for an album. I think she did a great job of capturing the whole emotion of the day and lets face it that is what makes anything in life......big days like weddings, it is about the emotion and the occaision and we got some lovely photos too of us posed smiling, but the wedding ones are my favorites.

BIKE RIDING - OK, I have had a couple of weeks not motivated to ride the bike sine getting home, have had some stress and some study to do and today got back "on the horse" and am about to start training for a big time trial in January....So I will keep this up to date of my whole progress on the bike as I will have to do some testing with my HR Monitor to see where I am at. I know after todays ride, I need to get stronger and fitter.........I have a chem exam on Monday and then I have got time to train HARD!

Stratford to Dargo

2009-11-09T17:57:00.003+11:00

This is a story about a race that our club ran and I volunteered, I didnt even race, I did race the crit the next day and will give you more info in a sec. The race was an open event, listed with Cyclesport Victoria and a KOM event so it was a challenge. At the moment, the "Baw Baw classic" holds the title of the toughest climb in the Southern Hemisphere in an open event and our event is just as hard. For the record, the race was called the Stratford to Dargo, but continued 14km past Dargo up a nasty climb and a total distance was 104km and tough.

One rider that rode the race had his garmin file here. The top of the big hill is the end of the race, apparantly he had his garmin on for the drive home in the car so thank you to Gerard Donnelly who finished 2nd in Masters 4+ and rode himself into the ground, he has an excellent race write up too

Gerards race info:-

Garmin File:- http://connect.garmin.com/player/18252489
Race write up:- http://tfmceltic.webs.com/

This is a pic of Gerard receiving 2nd prize in his age group.

I drove lead car for Masters 4+, forgetting I was going to be in the car for 4 hours, I failed to obey rule number one and that was to have plenty of food and WATER for me! let alone anyone else.

There were 81 entries over 3 grades and 2 masters categories. The ride was NASTY and I hadnt even seen the last 14km, I had ridden the rest and I knew that the last 14 was really bad as my husband (lol still sounds funny) had walked part of it in a race as he only had a 25 on the back and a 27 or 28 is almost a necessity to get through it. Basically 45 riders had DNF next to their name. Some began to ride the steep section beyond Dargo and turned back but thanks to temperatures of 28-32 degrees C, some were just too dehydrated to consider going forward.

SO......In the race I was leading (in my air conditioned car), there was a break at the 5km mark and he stayed away until the 25km mark, either he obviously didnt know about the big hills but once he began riding the undulations realised that this ride was not going to be a picnic. The bunch mainly stayed together, a rider Roland Elsdon tried a break for about 5-8km on some steep descents, but was caught and then a group of two - Donnelly and a rider named David Sturt broke away together at around the 80km mark. These two riders were going hard together until David had enough and pulled out leaving Gerard to keep on going alone.

There was a chasing bunch and Gerard still had the toughest part of the ride ahead. We had passed a couple of stragglers along the way from B and C grade which had started as one bunch only 10 minutes ahead of these guys. The last 10.5km has an average gradient of 8.3%, but given that probably 5-6km of that has a gradient of around 3% in spurts along the way, there are several pinches of up to 13-14% in the climb.

The winner ([pictured here - Rowan Dever) rode 3:37 in A grade which is amazing and the last rider to finish was 5:02. and that was a MMAS7 rider who does ride well at the Tour of Bright - Robert Pagey. He was also the rider I identified at the start as the lone breakaway who nobody chased and who finally realised that this was a long haul race! Of 26 mens Masters 4+ only 12 finished.

PS that is Hubby on the right!

Gerard looked to have the race won, but unfortunately was being tracked by hill climber extroadinaire Ken Ford who past Gerard while Gerard was having a mechanical and cramps and all of the ugly stuff that happens at the end of tough hot bike races, when you are dehydrated and perhaps a little insane for continuing! Ken Ford was the winner in 3:55, with Gerard 2nd in 3:58.

This is Ken Ford crossing the finish line - First in his age group. Masters 4+

Watching it all unfold from the comfort of my car (while I was dreaming about food and water), was interesting and I could not believe how fast these guys descend. I had to put the pedal to the metal a couple of times. Driving a lead car fast around corners to avoid having cyclists meeting the tow bar is FUN!. It certainly reinforced the fact that mental toughness is such a big part of racing bikes. Just to continue on every rider would have had huge amounts of toughness and it was amazing to watch. As riders crossed the line, people were ready to catch them as they cramped up and you could feel their pain and suffering. Lots of water was given out. The St John ambulance volunteers did an amazing job on minimum resources. It was an amazing thing to be part of.

Course profile can be found here, although 8.3% does not seem to give the course justice.

tp://www.cyclingprofiles.com.au/HTM/CSV2009/CSV_StratfordDargo.htm

Oh and the crit, there were three grades, I raced B grade and got smashed, I rode it to the end. In hindsight A grade would have been better as it was a fast smoother ride, I was racing against about 4 18 year olds who just kept attacking. For the record I was in the bunch for 14 minutes of a 50 minute crit. We only had about 7 or 8 starters so I got to ride a lot on my own. It was still fun although very hot. The other girl that raced usually races well and she got dropped as well......overall happy that I had learned some mental toughness.

Most photos here credited to Charmion Phillips from Aeon Photo or ME!

Married!!!!.

2009-10-25T12:03:00.000+11:00

OK, the crit story will have to wait along with the pursuit story at World Masters in Sydney last week....the big story (and I have no pics to show yet....well only a couple but no connection from camera to PC on holidays)...is that Shane and I got married on a secluded beach near Manly last Friday (oh 2 days ago)...It was a great day, perfect weather, the celebrant was fantastic and the guests (all 2 of them) had a great time and didnt even know we were getting married until 24 hours before hand.

It had been in the pipeline for 6 months and was a secret because we didnt want to make a big fuss, second time around for both of us. I had a dress and Shane had a suit and we had two witnesses and it was just quiet and lovely then we had a water taxi ride around Sydney Harbor for an hour before all dining in Manly to top off a fantastic day..........Booking the wedding reception was fun...Can I please book a table for four?......

Whilst a wedding with all of our friends would have been an option, having done the full wedding, I knew I didn't want to do it again like that and so did Shane so we agreed to do it this way......Photos to come....we did have a photographer and she was fantastic too............so that is exciting news...!!!

Canberra - Part Two

2009-10-13T00:06:00.000+11:00

The Race schedule worked in our favor, we raced the ITT on Thurs, then had a day off on Friday where we went for a ride from where we were staying back to Mt Stromlo (along the flat), to where the first day of raod racing was taking place. The change in temperature was amazing. We raced the ITT at nearly 30C, and now it was freezing. Stopped at "The Lodge" home of the Prime Minister for a photo stop and I am sure I was on CCTV somewhere. The road races were on Saturday and we were both very nervous as the course profile was not for us as there were some nasty climbs

From this profile my race was 61km. We rode to the 10km mark and then back to the start, around the crit circuit for a lap and then the second lap was this whole profile. The profile doesnt show you that at the botttom of the nasty descent there is a SHARP LEFT HAND TURN, THEN ONTO SOME (IN OUR CASE...WET) CONCRETE, TURN RIGHT OVER A BRIDGE WITH NO SIDES, AND THEN TURN LEFT AND NASTY CLIMB! You can see that the two lefts and the right turn were all executed in about 800m of racing. My top speed for the day was 73kph. The road race was wet as it rained pretty much the whole time, which made the fast descents even more fun!

In my road race, two age groups were combined which is not good as the result can be distorted as two age groups get away help each other (that is just how it goes and if I was away with someone, I would do it too). We had 16 starters and were together until the turnaround at 10km, where three got away on a nasty hill. I ended up in a bunch of about 7 chasing. I was being referred to as the hill climber as I seemed to be doing strong turns on the uphills (I have to write that as I have never been thought of as a Hill Climber before), truth is that the true hill climbers were the ones we were chasing. We caught one girl at about 20km mark and so about 8 of us chasing 2. On the next hill climb (after the bridge and stuff), we dropped two and so 6 chasing, then on the final climb we dropped two more so 4 chasing two. The race at this point was two away (One masters 3 and one masters 4 girl), they had about 2 minutes on my chasing bunch of four (3 masters3 girls and 1 masters 4) I am a masters 3 so do the maths I am in the top 4 in my category. I attacked a couple of times on the hills but at about 5km to go (after racing 55km) I just ran out of legs and was dropped. I finished 6th over the line and 4th in my age group.

At the top of the final big climb I was feeling ecstatic that here was I still "boxing on" with the main group, as hills have never been my strong point so I was feeling like the training is paying off. I played my cards the best I could, but in hindsight should have perhaps let thm dictate the race to me and sat on IN THE LAST 10KM. Not being a sprinter, I was trying to get away or at least drop one rider. During the race I had spent a lot of time sitting in the bunch as I knew that to get up the hills I had to CONSERVE BIG TIME! Whilst disappointed to get dropped so close after such a great effort, I had showed real improvement. I must admit the other mistake I made was to sit at the back of the bunch on the fast descents as I was a bit scared (Thanks to a broken collarbone and two broken ribs in April.....which were attained in a fast descent). If I had raced faster on the downhills, which until April I have loved to do, I could have perhaps opened up that gap that I was desperately searching for at the end (who knows....and hindsight is 20/20...but during the race we think about so many things).

Shane had double the scare factor as his race included a rider Simon Claringbold, who is from the Canberra and so knows the climb VERY WELL, Shane said they were absolutely flying down the hills, and his top speed was more like 85kph and he said he watched two riders ahead of him, fail to negotiate the SHARP BEND and they had to go straight and he is not sure if they managed to get back onto the bunch or not. Shanes race was two laps of the whole circuit and with the crit laps included it was around 84km, compared to my 61km. Shane ended up 9th. Two riders came in, then a group of four and Shane was 3rd in his group sprint, but wasnt sprinting too hard as they were effectively sprinting for 7th place!

Aust Road Champs - Part One

2009-10-07T08:31:00.004+11:00

Well I survived a tough week at uni - chem pracs and just busy we had a lot of pracs and some of them took a few hours with all of the processes we had to go through but it was interesting......but to the cycling

Shane and I got to Canberra on Tues night and rode the TT circuit on the Wed, the course was very undulating starting with a nasty climb from the starting line. So we knew we were in for a tough day on the bike.

On Thursday it was ITT day and I was off at 9:48am. The interesting part was the bike check, my bike only just made it as the front of the seat has to be 5cm behind the crank/bottom bracket and I only just got in. The end of the ITT bars must be no further than 75cm from the end of the seat too. Next year is going to be worse as there is a 3 to 1 rule which will make some bikes illegal, it has to do with the width of the tubes in the frame, and some handlebars that are too flat will be illegal too, the word is that some of the Cervelo P3's may not pass. Then there are wheels - next year any wheel that has not been signed off the UCI list will not be allowed. End of story. So already nervous and relieved that my bike was ok...and my helmet - as the helmet has to have the Australian standards sticker so it can be used (That means don't buy helmets from overseas as they wont have the sticker...even if they are the same helmet...Go Figure?)

Warmed up on the windtrainer and my legs just didn't feel peak, but they felt ok, I got to the start and was in big chain ring (my first mistake for the day)....Disc wheel in, fast helmet, new skinsuit on and set. My first two kms was terrible, my HR was too high, my legs were screaming and I took too long to get into my small chain ring (will I, wont I etc etc.....) anyway it was a headwind and I changed to small chain ring and stayed there for most of the ride. My minute rider was getting closer, but the hills were hurting and HR still too high (settle settle)...at the turnaround, suddenly slight tailwind, I caught my minute girl and kept motoring, I stopped pedalling a couple of times at the top of hills as I was stuffed....crossed the line feeling like I could not have gone any quicker but thinking I might have stuffed up.

Then Shane rode his at 12:15....My presentation still hadn't happened as they said they had trouble with the timing equipment. Shane wasn't happy with his either, the hills were worse than on our little test of the course the previous day, but that is expected. Then they called the medallists for my ride and I had won silver - woo hoo....14 seconds behind the gold medallist. When we collected our medals the gold medallist had gone, so only had silver and bronze on the podium.

Happy with winning the silver medal as these events can go either way and with a course like that I was not convinced I was going to win anything.....

I found out later that the gold medallist was a world champion from the para world championships, she has a leg injury in her lower leg and only just three weeks ago won a world championship so hats off to her she was awesome.

Full results here

Part two will be the road race and then there is the crit to come but overall I was happy with a medal

Cramming the training in

2009-09-23T12:22:00.003+10:00

I am off to Wagga Wagga on FRiday (for the americans...it is not the city so nice they named it twice...it IS JUST WAGGA WAGGA)....I have uni for four days. It is my first uni day on Saturday and the AFL Grand Fnial is on Saturday and my boyfriend is a massive CATS supporter and they are playing, this leads to two problems,

1. Can Shane find a pub in New South Wales that will televise the Victorian Grand Final, and
2. If the Cats win, will I be able to study on Sat night with Shane dancing around and running high from the excitement of the day.....(yes I do hope the Cats win!).

Then on the Tues we head to Canberra (not a city so nice they named it twice) for Australian Titles, Time Trial on Thurs, Road Race on Sat, and Crit on Monday. I think my form is ok, but we will see when the courses are revealed, you can actually do a recon of the course thanks to the magic of youtube but we will go and check the course out on Wednesday.

Then home for a week and a half and then off to Sydney for World Track Titles where we will be racing the pursuits. I have had two track sessions in twelve months so no big expectations there....but will enjoy it all the same. I practised starts at Warragul Cycling Club last night with a proper starting gate....make sure your pedal is in the correct position, sit, focus up the track, 5..4..3..2..1...GO!!!! and you are off and belting along, arms straight but not too straight, dont throw the bike around, energy to the legs, then finally sit and arms on the pursuit bars and you have 8 laps...seems easy.....4 to go...getting harder....2 to go...who put this friggin big mountain on the track...legs won't spin anymore....BELL GOES final lap.....pain, mountains, are you sure this was only 2km...and you clock your time...I am hoping for a PB this year...but what size gear to ride? I trained on a concrete track last night on an 86...have ridden a 92ish before...should I go bigger...not sure??? too hard.....

The other exciting news is I have new bike clothing with ambulance victoria written all over it and have regsitered that as my sponsor so I can wear it for all of the titles and look like someone fast and important (which will of course make me ride faster and more impressively...absolutely)...If anyone has suggestions on gear to ride I would be interested.....But of course the best way is to train on the wooden track on the gear I am going to ride at the Champs......might only get one training session in like that (or two)....but will give it a go then....

Will post a pic of bike gear soon..too wet and miserable today to get outside in it as I want it to look nice in Canberra.....

My Apologies to anyone who reads this stuff

2009-09-19T16:24:00.003+10:00

The title just about covers it at the moment. To cut a long story short, I havent been working for the last couple of months...now that is a long story and I am in a bit of a...dispute with work and will leave it at that until it looks like getting resolved. I have been on full pay blah blah but basically caught in a pile of red tape and loopholes at the moment.

This has meant that I guess I am a full time athlete and blogger to a degree and studying too....it has been good but stressful and after a meeting with work yesterday, I am quite stressed, I got dropped on this mornings 90km ride...it was the A list (tongue in cheek...but basically the riders who are stronger do this ride...and I tag along and try to stay on the bunch)......I got dropped 2km from the banana hill (where we stop to eat our bananas about 50km into the ride), and at the end I struggled when the pace went up to 50kph........

I havent commented on many blogs this week as I have been feeling a bit flat and with National Masters Titles only a couple of weeks away I am happy with my training, but wish that my work situation was a bit more resolved.

Great to read everyones stories, actually I have read bits from time to time, just been a bit quiet on the comments and getting up on my soapbox and delivering my opinion (wanted or not)....Just thought I would share another non cycling post today. Tommorrow we head to our local track to practice pursuit starts which will be fun as I have not been on a track bike for about 10 months......so tommorrow will be concentrate and remember that you CANT STOP PEDALLING!!!!. Track Bikes will buck if you try to stop pedalling.....

Got lots of good things coming up, Road Titles, Track (pursuit for me) titles and just some fun rides...My training has been going great, I have done heaps of cadence training and it seems to be helping my general fitness......I have missed being up with the blogging community and this week should be better and I will be checking in until Friday when we go away to Nationals .

Just reread this and I sound a bit sad, I think everything will be fine....just practising my jumping through hoops....Might take the Boofhead mutt for a walk now which always brings me back to the simpler things in life and puts a big smile on my face...

Gold star for the week.

2009-09-01T19:53:00.005+10:00

Well I have whinging about how "hard training is" poor me....and this last week I have nailed a great week (despite the horrendous winds). I have made a couple of fundamental changes namely:-

1. Riding a route that includes a good coffee stop and USING IT....I had been heading out on 2-3 hour rides with no stopping and finding them a bit gut wrenching, but if you add a coffee stop (in my case at about the 1.5 - 2 hr mark, it makes the ride so much better.

2. Working hard on the intervals as I LOVE them......seriously I do, the feeling of your HR going at 85-02% is great. Improvement needs some real commitment, if you are going to do intervals, you have to give them your best and you feel better for it.

3. Last week I did all of my core strength work so I gave myself a gold star in my training log.

I also think a big change was to change the times I ride, I think "knocking over a Morning ride" as opposed to having your training "hanging over your head" all day, gives you a fresh start and a feeling of accomplishment.

I laughed tonight on my ride, as I did efforts this morning and a "spin" this afternoon on my time trial bike and I rode past a paddock full of young calves and another with some lambs and then I saw a rabbit tearing across the road like he was on a mission and in my mind I was all gushy about how wonderful nature is.....and how cute animals are...then my piece of solitude was DESTROYED by the magpie that has made his home along our RAAF base loop as he nose dived for my head.........nothing beats looking around to see a HUGE magpie flying behind you about one metre away from your head. Screaming at this guy just didnt work (I think he was laughing on the inside)

Spring it is the season for magpie swooping, there are three vicious ones that we have found so far on our rides, they peck helmets and land on helmets with a mission to attack (not like the rabbit mission of running.....). There are two types of magpies around here, the ones that swoop as a warning and the ones that are more like suicide bombers that have one thing on their minds and if you are riding along unaware and in your own world thinking about life, a BIG FAT magpie colliding with your helmet will bring you into reality very quickly. Dangers of magpies are; they scare you, they can hurt you and can distract you from watching where you are going, which we all would agree is not a good thing.

I have been doing a lot of cadence work lately and I must admit I am beginning to find it much easier. I am a bit of a masher which I have found doesn't work too well in hills and when your legs get too tired. I have even been taking my camera out for some pics on the way.

Finally the last thing I did was rearranged the sound system in the shed and hooked up some old (but great) speakers with my Kmart CD player for playing when on the wind trainer and the sound quality is a zillion times better and so it is a party on the windtrainer now compared to having the volume lower before to avoid killing any more of my favorite songs.

With my new passion for training, I am already looking forward to tomorrow which is two hours on the bike (try to ride at 100rpm as much as possible). Thursday is high cadence intervals in a bigger gear on the trainer (in party central....).

Motivation and training

2009-08-22T16:27:00.004+10:00

Everyone has a love of morning pics, so this was my Friday (not riding, but walking the dog pic) at the lake near our house. Thursday was even more picturesque, but no camera on Thursday.

This is Bill (Shanes father with all the gear for the night in Geelong)

For the road trip to Geelong, Bill who never travels light had one suitcase, about 5 bags of stuff (not sure what exactly but I know there were shoes, laptop???!!!, an approx 10m long power lead for the laptop??? and...well...just stuff), a toolbox, pillow and neck pillow, jackets, thermos and bidons and this was one night! Me on the other hand who was racing had clothes bag, foodbag, bag for gear needed on the day and toolbox (oh and two bikes , windtrainer, two sets of wheels and the back wheel for the windtrainer).

Bill is handy though, just in case you need a kitchen sink on the day.....you can bet he will have one!

I have just had one tough weekend on the bike, went out with the fast bunch yesterday on a very undulating circuit and I have never ridden so fast......the final section mainly downhill, we hardly went under about 42-45kph (and not exaggerating), speeds up to 62kph...it was fast....overall 90km and the middle 60 were just like racing. The main culprits were Ben, Dave A, Andrew A and Gary. I was hanging on up a couple of hills and on the way home looking for bigger gears. Today was again very fast. Gary and Andrew A and I said "we are all tired from yesterday so wont be going too fast". Well I did do a fast turn up the first hill and from there Andrew and Mike kept the pace high on the way out with Dave and Mick helping on the way back in. My legs actually feel better today then after yesterdays ride. I had to do some SE efforts when I got back into town so rode into the huge headwind at a cadence of around 60-70 for 3 minutes with 3 min rest, I did this x 3, so have got 185km for the 2 days and I feel ok at the moment. Tomorrow is a day off the bike.

I guess my training is for National Masters Road Champs in about 5 weeks, so will have to get some time on the TT bike and find some hard countryside.

I have found it difficult lately being motivated to push myself sometimes. I train a lot on my own so I have to find a system and I think I will SMS friends the day before I have a specific ride and they might like to join me to do some efforts and get a longer ride in. There are days where it is hard to just get on the bike. After this weekend though I can see that my training is helping me and so it makes it exciting to get on the bike and work through the efforts to get stronger. I guess I should expect ups and downs and don't get me wrong but I love getting fitter and reaping the benefits, but some days knitting seems like a better way to fill in spare time.....

Victorian State Time Trial Champs

2009-08-15T19:25:00.009+10:00

I went to Geelong on Thursday to race the Victorian State Time Trial Champs - a 28.2km open time trial event and my first real open time trial - other than the ones in tours that I have raced. As support I took my father in law Bill who has a great knowledge on all things cycling....so a second challenge was set - have a pleasant 24 hours away with the father in law!

On Friday, everything went well, I set up my trainer near the car which was parked next to my coaches car and I had everything all organised except I was very very nervous...a little bit too nervous and I set Bill a job to take some pictures to get the atmosphere captured....He didnt really see the point in that (what but you wont be in them??..."Yes I know Bill, but I just want some stuff to remember the day and show my friends")....still no pictures" He did take three pics after some nagging from me - this one is in Shanes skinsuit! a friends bootie covers - love the red!

Warm up went well and I started to relax a bit (in the comfort zone now). The course was 8km out (mainly downhill - speeds up to 60kph) and then u-turn back (mainly uphill at first) and keep going along the road for 20 km. The course was undulating and ended with about 3km of much bigger up and down hills. The last 2km was a tough uphill.

I knew that Kathy Watt who is an excellent time triallist and Olympic Gold Medallist was 4 minutes behind me and expected to see her somewhere after 25kms. 43 women were entered so it was a big event.

I got on the ramp with 45seconds to spare, the ramp was quite steep and a bit spooky, but once down the ramp, I was off and the going well. Bill followed me in the car (can I just add, that I have been in a car with Bill for one reason or another at bike races and to cut a long story short - knowing he was behind me in my manual car -not an automatic like he usually drives, and that he is 80 years old ...was just a bit unnerving in itself...)

The actual Time Trial - My max HR is 165 so I am usually around 150-160 in TT and I was there for most of it and I used my legs as a guide (and speedo.) My race plan went well and I was overtaken at the 25km mark (but not by Kathy Watt, but young rider Rebecca Borthwick who is part of the Talent ID programme) I stayed with her (legal distance etc), until a big descent where I was a bit spooked and the gap opened up, then a killer climb, another descent and the final climb and the finishing banner. My final time was 46:23 which placed me 28th and average speed of just over 36.5kph. Special mention here to Steph Frawley who at 50yo, finished 6th and is a major inspiration and she is not into the fancy teams and everythings, she is an honest rider who trains very hard and gives me hope for bigger and better things. The winner was around 41:30 and a minute faster than second place.

So my goal was initially
1. To enter
2. To ride well
3. Average over 37kph
4. Finish in the top half of the field.

In review I missed 3 and 4. I failed to meet 3 and 4. On mindtools.com

Where you have failed to reach a goal, ensure that you learn the lessons of the failure. These may be:
1. that you didn't try hard enough
2. that your technique was faulty and needs to be adjusted
3. that the goal you set was unrealistic
Use this information to adjust the goal if it was set too high, or to set goals to acquire new skills or build stamina. Feeding back like this turns everything into a positive learning experience - even failing to meet a goal is a step forward towards perfect technique!

Remember that the fact of trying something, even if it does not work, often opens doors that would otherwise have remained closed.

I know I tried hard and I rode well, I felt good, I was breathing hard and my HR maxed out at 159. The only complaint I have with my ride is my lack of practice on the TT bike on hills and I was definitely unnerved with the steep descents. On each downhill I tossed up between riding on the wide bars vs TT bars and on uphills debated between climbing out of the seat vs climbing in the seat on the TT bars, I wasnt sure what would be quicker (take into consideration very tired legs here....) So other than the hills, I did try hard enough, my goal was probably a bit stretching but I love the quote about opening doors and I had a go and was not disappointed.

I have some new training focusses and number one is when training to believe in myself and just enjoy the journey as it makes the destination so much better. As a footnote to this I rode club race today, yes just the day after a big day and my plan was to ride at the back of C grade as a recovery ride, but ended up entering B grade for the 50km race (with hills) and coming third...so my form is not so bad...tomorrow my legs may hate me but that is tomorrow.

Full time trial results can be found here - (scroll down and there is a link to the PDF)

Checklist for Friday

2009-08-10T11:26:00.005+10:00

OK it is just a time trial (oh yeah the state championships), so time to get my race checklist ready:-
Accommodation - check

I took this today to check my position on the bike and I am pretty happy with position on the bike, I made a couple of changes but only mm nothing much as I have time trialled on the bike before. I had one video with my dogs head right in front of the camera, but he decided to come over a bit closer and check my position on the bike, think he must have been happy because he walked away. Will head out later with disc and 404 in to check that everything is running smoothly and ready.
Skinsuit - check
Bootie covers - Borrowed some
Music on IPOD for warm up - I went and saw Pink in concert last weekend so I should take some of her stuff...."get the party started".....maybe some ACDC - Highway to Hell...lol....that is how a time trial can feel........
Towel
Make sure helmet is packed
HR monitor and speedo work on everything..
It is exciting...and my goal is to ride a good time and gain a lot of experience in the event 28km of pain and suffering...what a way to start a weekend.
I have to check that I am allowed to wear my Victoria skinsuit...I should be as I bought it to be able to wear in any time trial event so I think it will be fine.....There are so many rules about clothing.......
I am babbling because I am nervous thinking about it all at the moment....
My training last week went really well and I had a great ride yesterday in the bunch, started with the slower bunch and then went with the faster bunch when they caught us and did a couple of turns to keep the pace up, it was a great ride and I think I should feel good by Friday, today is a spin on the bike (short one) to test the gear but nothing much, tomorrow is some short intervals and thursday is an engine starter ride and Friday is the ITT..

Training with a goal...

2009-08-06T12:33:00.005+10:00

OK, it is 8 days until my time trial next Friday and I have been busy training, although filling in at netball last night was not on the schedule and I thought it might be a bad idea and tired legs today with a three hour bike ride ahead of me is going to be interesting.....

Getting my gear sorted, I just had to get a new front derailleur on my road bike as my old one snapped in half last week so I have been training on the big ring for a few days with the occasional stop to put the chain back on.

I might take the time trial bike out today for a while to practice more on the bars

Have been reading through the blogs and some great stories, great training, what seems like a great bike pump to take training, good results, I just hope everyone is doing the all important recovery thing........

Tuesday was a great day, we had a march to Parliament House as part of industrial action with Ambulance Victoria which was interesting......about 25 from Gippsland, went to Melbourne in a bus. Not going to comment on what I think about it here as this is a cycling blog, but it looks like a long drawn out process ahead!

The road to bigger things

2009-07-29T10:21:00.001+10:00

OK, I love time trials - not when you are on the road doing them.....but the actual race and the results (being your own race and not whether you got on the right break, the right move, got dropped ont he hill, blah blah blah).......SO I noticed that there is an Elite time trial - The Victorian time trial champs on August 14th at Geelong which is a 28km time trial and so yesterday I changed my licence from a masters licence to an elite licence so I could ride it......I dont have high expectations, just want to do it.......With and wlite licence you can ride masters or elite....Elite sounds kind of "up there" and I can assure you that I am not there.......

I have tried to get a profile of the course, I think it is undulating so after my effort on a windy undulating course last Sunday at just under 37kph, I dont have high expectations at all.....lol

Anyway I have got about 17 days to prepare for the ITT, yesterday was 5 x 1 minute intervals at max effort which I must admit I did about 30 seconds well and then watched my speedo gradually dropping as my legs died......today is 2hours of just riding on the flat, trying to stay around 75% of max HR, yesterday was two hours in undulating countryside so will see how I go today.......I must admit I am a bit excited to enter a big event.

Racing Racing Racing

2009-07-27T08:15:00.003+10:00

Well I have done a bit of racing over recent weeks so to summarise:-

Bairnsdale Cycling Club held their "Tour de Riviera" over the past four weeks and I rode B grade, Bairnsdale is a smaller place (pop about 10,000) and there were three grades.

Week One - I broke away with two others (and came third in the sprint), aside from not believing in my sprinting, I mistook the second last rise for the final one and so worked on that one and then had nothing left for the final sprint, but may have still come third.....LESSON - know the race finish and leave nothing to second guesses. In the warm up - I should look at the finish and note where say 200m is so I know the end of the race.

Week Two - I broke away (by accident) on the KOM climb, I got pipped for KOM points by a stealth rider, but still managed to get 2nd on the KOM and the second part of the race I ended up towing 2 riders for the final 30 km and came third......it was an uphill finish and I thought I might go ok, but I had two young guys who were desperate to beat each other so I was lacking the testosterone to win......I had backed myself a bit better in the hill, but underestimated the steepness. The best thing was that I did have a go!

Week Three - Stage Three - An ITT with a guesstimate of times posted prior to the event and the idea was to beat your guesstimated time and points went to those who beat their times by the biggest margins.....I was well down as I was expected to average around 39kph and the course was VERY UNDULATING with a headwind for the last 2km and I averaged about 35.6 it was a tough course. I was initially disappointed but I had felt like crap in my warm up, I did ride the best I could but the course was 2km shorter than we were told and so my race plan of leaving everything you have left on the road in the last 2-3km kind of went pear shaped.
Stage Four - Road Race up and down the same course, I came 5th out of 15 so I was happy with that, if I was a confident sprinter and practiced that I could have come up to third or 4th, but either way I did a lot of work during the race. The pace was much faster in this race as we had another rider who was happy to drive the pace. The pace on the races was:

Race 1 - 32.5 (Main pace driver - ME - Distance 53km)
Race 2 - 30.8 (Main pace driver ME - Hilly course Distance 37km)
Race 4 - 34.1 (Main pace drivers Nige and ME - Distance 36km undulating)

So with one other person helping, the average speed picked up which was great.

Week Four:

The final stage was last Saturday and I didn't race as I was racing the Gippsland area time trial championships the next day.

It was great watching, in A grade, you could see some riders were trying to bust the bunch on the hills and the final sprint between Shane Dove (lots of lovehearts here) and Linc Kelly from Bairnsdale, was fantastic with Shane winning. They must have dropped Ben Dowsett and Rob Deery which was no mean feat as those riders are very strong, but have the tactics of triathletes, and must have missed that split second decision by Shane and Linc to attack!. Pic of the A grade bunch

Gippsland Time Trial Championships
After a very late night watching the Tour which went to about 1:30am (must admit I went to bed before the final summit to Ventoux), up early for two hour drive. At the Gippsland Champs there were only two women, me and a very good track rider, Karen Munro. The course was 20km and it was quite windy. At the finish my time was 33:43 which was slower than I would have like, the actual course was closer to about 20.7km so my average speed was close to 37kph (not as quick as I would like), but I won!. Shane rode 31:13 and came third in the Masters 456. I mainly judge my performance in time trials against Shane so 2:30 is a lot and I definitely want that to come down. We had a tailwind/sidewind out and head/side wind home. I had to get off the time trial bars a few times to steady the bike as the wind was quite gusty in a couple of spots. Overall happy to win, but I have a lot of work to do to improve!....I want to lower my handlebars to give me more aerodynamic position on the bike too

One other interesting thing that happened was that I was training on my bike last week and the bearings in the cranks sounded funny and so my LBS took it apart and found that just about all the bearings were gone and there was a big crack in the bearing casing.......so I rode the first three road races at a disadvantage (and to think I didn't notice).....I definitely noticed it on my training ride though the cranks were not smooth and there was some disturbing noises coming from the cranks

I can take on anything

2009-07-19T21:51:00.002+10:00

You know how somedays you feel like you can take on the world and be a winner. Your training feels right, your racing feels right and you just feel fantastic. Maybe it was something you heard, something you saw, someone close to you or just something within, but there was that "something" that gave you a positive vibe that is locked into your mind!

The funny thing is that "positive vibe" is not in a jar or a packet or wrapped in certain clothes you wear or only available in limited quantities. It is right within you and you have it all of the time..........and even on down days, if you think deeply enough you can find it.....even just a glimpse of it, hiding behind the cloud of negativity and self-doubt that sometimes tries to overpower it.

There is no magic solution to controlling the negativity other than to put it into perspective. Racing against a young guy yesterday, who seemed to be having a flat day, I asked him what was wrong and he proceeded to give me a list of excuses, busy, no training, had the flu, too this too that. I said to him, they sound like a bunch of excuses, when really all you need to say is that you are having a bad day on the bike.

If you have had the flu - you will get better
If you haven't trained - you can fix this
if you have had life stresses - you will accept the fact that life does have stresses and maybe train for a break from stress or re-prioritise for a while
if you have mechanicals - Get your bike checked...and then again if necessary

We will all have bad days, but we can choose to not let our bad days form a dark cloud over our cycling. Think of where you are now and where you have been in the past. I am not a great hill climber, but I am much much better than I used to be and if I keep training, I WILL improve.

Bike riding and racing is hard work - IS hard work, it is constant and sometimes, we just don't want to play....but we know the benefits - the improved fitness, the better racing, that feeling you get in races which is just like "YEAH - THIS IS FUN - I AM SPEEDING ALONG A ROAD IN A BUNCH AND ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN - A BREAK - A SPRINT - A HILL - I COULD EVEN GET DROPPED - BUT THIS IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT - FUN FUN"

I have had a great week, I got most of my planned 13 things DONE - excpet the stretching after my race and yes I took my camera and yes I forgot to take pics! Raced yesterday, times for our time trials are not posted yet.......waiting waiting.....the road race I was 5th of about 15 riders and I did a lot of work during the race so that was good. I have been training and I am regaining some fitness. I had a crap post-race ride this morning - but you know what? That is OK, the big picture is that I am improving and cant complain about that one bit.

So I guess I am writing this to remind us all how important it is to reflect on where we are with things in life and where we came from, not to get stuck in making excuses on why things are going bad............Now if you excuse me I have a voice in my head nagging me to do some stretches........I really need to improve there and sitting here is not going to help me flexibility one bit.......then I am going to make a plan for the week.......there must be some things I need to do, things I have been making excuses for and now will set a plan to get them done......

What the? Thursday 13?

2009-07-17T12:53:00.003+10:00

After reading the blog from Tri like a girl and her list of 13 things...I tried to find out the significance of the whole Thursday 13 thing and since I try to keep this blog totally cycling I thought what 13 things can I write about my cycling....13km, 13 intervals, max speed 13kph....trying to think and the lightbulb went off!

13 things totally cycling to acheive(d) this week ....ends Sunday.....

1. Follow my training programme as set out by my coach totally (including core strength)
2. Do intervals (have done them this week...and properly!)
3. Fix up HRM on my training bike
4. Fix seat on training bike
5. Clean my bike and Shanes bike for racing tomorrow
6. Clean TT bike too (could have included in above but forget)
7. Take camera to race tomorrow (kind of cycling)
8. Pedals on TT bike need adjusting especially the R foot
9. Clean up some of the mess of bike stuff in the shed...there literally is gloves and stuff everywhere and I need to tidy one section up (to start with)
10. Put new cleats on my old bike shoes (which are now my cold wet weather bike shoes as they can get dirty and I dont get too concerned)
11. Fix the handlebar tape on my racing bike and replace the plug on the right hand side.
12. Make sure I cool down after the race tomorrow properly and stretch
13....did I say core strength and stretch already...well ditto ditto ditto.....must strecth more and do core strength.......AM I HEARING MYSELF STRETCH AND CORE STRENGTH........I hate it when I nag myself......

OK...that was fun, now I have to turn off Oprah and get out to the shed........

Racing and Bike Pumps

2009-07-13T12:50:00.005+10:00

Well I have been absent for a while for several reasons:-
1. I discovered Bejewelled Blitz on the computer and am an addict and as such have neglected the blogging community
2. Shane is on holidays (he is a teacher) and so between Bejewelled, cooking and trying to emulate Masterchef on TV I have been TRAINING ON THE BIKE. I have just racked up two weeks of around 380kms.
3. The Tour (Just two words there nothing more nothing less)
4. Great to read about everyones latest wins and losses
- Parking tickets
- overtraining etc
But my favorite is about PUMP FEAR

So I ventured into the shed and counted our track pumps. Our big nightmare on pumps began when we started pursuiting on the track and the need to put around 230psi into the tyres made our old pumps redundant. THEN you also need a piece that you can hook up to the valve on disc wheels which was another adventure as well.....THEN there is our supply of tubes that are going to get fixed one day....and finally we have a few tyres which are for training wheels only - not for race wheels and we are gradually using these. We ordered a bulk supply of tyres a long time ago for about $35-00 a tyre for Vredestein Tricomps which was a bargain and they are tyres we love.

So five track pumps from over the ages. The connection for the disc wheel which looks like a device that is banned in some states!

I have raced the Tour of Riviera the last two weekends. Week One Iwas third in B grade, after towing two riders for 40km (could not ditch them) and then last week in undulating country the story was the same (different two riders). I did think last week the final hill would suit me better (wrong) and so was happy to push to the end (wrong) and this coming week is the time trial (my third of the series)...to their credit the two young riders on my wheel this week, were really racing each other and I was just the bus driver...so neither wanted to do any work....

The time trial will be interesting as the handicapper will be posting a time for each rider on the net and our job is to beat the time and points will be allocated to the riders who beat their allocated times by the biggest margins.....Now being someone known to love time trialling, I may be handicapped out of points......just like any non-astana rider (ouch). So I will have to try just that little bit harder.

Thats the round up for me...sorry have been distant.......life gets busy.

I am now committed to training and getting ready for the Pursuit at World Masters in Sydney in October which will be awesome.....I am hoping to ride a PB - and seriously not sure how I will go as I was way down the pecking order last year so need to get very serious!!!! and focussed.....(and practice the track starts...last year I went on the one and not on the beep and so I lost a couple of seconds before I left the gate!)

Nutrition in riding............

2009-07-03T21:44:00.003+10:00

Well I have recently been to see a dietitian about my riding eating as I have experienced some weird symptoms when riding that suggest - hypoglycemia type stuff.....never been tested and normally I am fine, so I know that it is only an exercise related thing.......
After a long detailed discussion about what I eat and what I don't, it was obvious that I don't eat enough before long rides. Part of the problem here is that I find it difficult to hold down foods that are low GI/take a long time to digest etc....so I avoid eating too much before a ride altogether..then wonder why I feel like crap..I am fine for about an hour or so but longer than that and I suffer..I take Staminade but it is not enough for a longer ride

A second thing is that I don't drink enough...Winter here is cold and so I find it difficult to chug down a lot of water and I LOVE COFFEE!!

So In summary I have to drink more water - ie have a bidon with me and just drink it and drink a glass with each meal to gradually up my fluid intake. Also drink during rides, have some electrolyte replacement then too so you don't wash everything out.

Food - Need to have pre ride snack and it should be higher GI (as I cant hold down the stuff that takes a long time to digest)...so good foods include - Cornflakes, weetbix (although they are medium GI), rice bubbles, white bread, honey cornflake bars, rice bubble bars. AND THEN I NEED AN AFTER RIDE SNACK - I never eat after a ride.

Weight - well my weight is within normal range, but I have to watch it and after my week in Melb I might have to keep a careful eye on what I eat.

In summary I learned to DRINK MORE FLUIDS include herbal teas and chai teas opposed to COFFEE!!!, Drink with meals Refer AIS - Hydration guidelines.

Also eat more BEFORE AND AFTER RIDES and not just rely on what I had in the system.....I thought that I was doing the right thing but it seems that I was not doing myself any favours at all.....

It was an interesting trip and I have also discovered ROLLED OATS - With banana yoghurt and honey - YUM and seriously they stick in your system for a while...although I have to give it an hour between eating them and hitting the road. It is not rocket science but you would not put bad fuel in your car so think about it before you just eat anything, and the best bit is that you can do it on the cheaper side....two slices of bread and some honey in a ziplock bag fits in your pocket and is cheap and easy as is a cereal bar as opposed to the more expensive "sports bars" It might also pay to have blood levels checked to see that your iron levels and other blood levels are within normal limits and if necessary discuss vitamins with your doctor..I take a women's multivitamin each day and I swear my nails are stronger if nothing else.

Just thought I would share my visit to the dietitian as it was a morning well spent! If you have nutrition ideas I would be interested as it is something I am slowly getting right now!

Bill Dove turns 80

2009-06-24T09:23:00.015+10:00

Bill in 1976 when he was doing a demonstration of an ergobike for National newspaper "The Age" - representing the veterans cyclists, and on the right celebrating his 80th birthday with his wife Joan, good friend Kevin, and sister Helen.

On the weekend, Shane and I had our Sat morning training ride, along with coffee and then went to Melbourne for Shane's fathers 80th. Now Shane's father is not your ordinary 80 year old, he has been cycling for most of his life and has some big victories behind him. He won the Austral wheel race (a handicap track event and a very prestigious event) in 1966, and in 1965 he won the Road Race the Melbourne to Warrnambool which is approx 299km long. Remember 1965 was before all of the big nutrition findings of today, Bill has talked about how he had steak for breakfast on the day of the race. Bill has also travelled to Austria twice and has won two world championships which is just fantastic. In Europe he raced in many races and has an impressive array of trophies on the shelves at home.

The "Bills Racing Team" shirts and a "father and son pic" from 2007

Bill has a shed full of memorabilia and trophies and old bikes and as he loves to give us tips and hints, on racing although sometimes they are not always delivered with empathy and understanding for example - "You're not riding this crit with a bidon are you?" - To which I promptly snapped back "are you asking me or telling me?!!" I had the shirts made up for about ten of us, identifying us as Bills Racing Team, I even had Bills Racing Team written on the back window of my car.

Bill is a lot of fun and we cannot believe he is 80 as he has more stamina than most people I know of just about any age.

Bill is off to the Tour De France next week, with a media contingent and he will no doubtedly outlast most of them each night and then be full of energy the next day, like he was in 2004 when he went to the Tour. Hope he has a great time and I wish I was going!

When we race or take part in any sport or activity, motivation keeps us in form and having a "father-in-law" like Bill is one of the many things in life that keeps me motivated to ride my best. Bill doesn't race anymore as he has medical stuff that prevents him from racing, but as we arrived on Saturday, he was in the shed on the spin bike, just putting in a training session (and remember this is an 80 year old that doesn't race anymore).

Sometimes it is too cold, too hot, too windy, too late, too early, but I believe that if we look within, we find a love of cycling, those moments when it is just way too much fun, we see something beautiful on the ride that remains in our mind or we just prove to ourselves over and over that we CAN do this and it is a fantastic thing. We can show off the bling, show off our fitness and most importantly show ourselves that anything is possible.

HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY BILL - THANKS FOR THE MOTIVATION

Riding a Time Trial - some hints

2009-06-18T21:41:00.006+10:00

OK, I love time trialling...why? well probably because it is the one cycling event that cuts out the crap....seriously a time trial is the ultimate race of truth. If you are strong physically (and mentally) you just guts it out until the end and record a good time. Regardless of the time, if you know you really put in a huge effort and walk away from the event knowing you gave it your best and put everything into the race, you can be proud.

You cant get ripped off by being out sprinted, miss the vital break, find you don't climb as well as others, sprint as well as others, draught as well as others etc...it is just you and you have to "leave everything on the road" which is my way of saying you cross that line with nothing left in the tank..it is ALL LEFT ON THE ROAD.

On the day of the time trial there are a couple of things that I find important:-

1. Great Warm Up - you have to have a serious warm up and have raised your heart rate a couple of times above threshold. I warm up for a minimum of 30 minutes, with three one minute threshold intervals - usually on a windtrainer.

2. Food and drink - be hydrated and have good nutrition on board.

3. Relax at the start - Focus on the road and gather your thoughts - don't be ditzy in the head - you are going to be feeling pain

4. Once I start I have a simple race plan.....On a 20km time trial, basically the first kilometre is about a rhythm...You should be riding hard, but not feeling lactic in your legs(you have warmed up well remember). The first km is about settling into the race remaining calm and finding a rhythm.

.....The first half of the race is about pushing yourself, but not taking your legs into the red pain zone....just ride hard, keep focussed and try to keep getting an extra 0.5kph out of the legs......try another gear bigger - if it hurts too much...back off...but keep your eye on the ball. The second half of the event is the pain stage, this is where legs become tired and we push them into the red zone. At no stage during a time trial do you bludge along and just ride..it is always pushing but you don't want to bury yourself in the first half. The final 3km is knowing you only have about 5 minutes left and making sure you go as fast as you can. You will probably have done intervals in training of 5 minutes flat out at some stage (probably longer intervals too), but the 5 minute ones are above threshold and you should be maximising what is left in this last three km.

.....You should cross the line exhausted and should not be able to raise much of a sprint at the end....I used to use my HRM but now it is more about perceived effort, my speedo and legs. Your legs will tell you if that extra bit of speed is going to cook you. All the reports say Power Meters are the go and I dont doubt that for one minute, but in the world of "budgeting and having a life" then your mind and your speedo and effort are your guides.....

During the event I keep thinking about extra o.5kph, how fast my competitors are going, trying to catch the person in front of me and avoid being caught by the person behind me and think about how good it will be at the end if I ride a great time.

That is my basic race plan, which I change if there are hills or headwind out/tailwind home etc...Fundamentally you want to ride an even time - translated you want a fast time and the first and second halves should be the same...you should not be riding the first half faster etc etc....

So if you ride time trials and never have a race plan, there are some things here you might want to think about...have a plan, know when to ride hard and then when to open the gas and feel the pain. YOU WILL RIDE FASTER....think aerodynamic position, think focussed and most of all ride your best time....that is the best part of all!

Time Trial Results - Things were fun!

2009-06-14T21:05:00.005+10:00

OK todays time trial stats - from basic info

20km undulating
Not much wind - although it felt a bit breezy (imagination I think)
Time 32:38
Average Speed -36.78

How did I feel -I found I lost time on the uphill bits. I rode the disc, but only a few times was I doing 40kph which is where they tell me the disc comes into its own. My legs are still struggling on anything going up and so I am going to have to get some real training on those bits as they are letting me down - Power to the thighs and just push up the hill
Not sure what training in particular will get me up the hills quicker but will find out.

Overall happy with my time, happy with the whole thing it was a nice day - sorry no pics today forgot to take my camera. Would like to have taken a pic of Stewies TT helmet where his frineds had put a big vinyl sticker on it which said "knobhead" how funny. Stew looked a treat in knicks, compression socks, and overshoes - none matched but he rode well

fastest time was Dave A in about 30:54. then Marc in about 31 and then Shane in 31:08 and then Stew in 31: 18 then me and the others were all well back. Not very well attended but it was a good ride. I thought Dave Marc Shane and Stew would have all cracked the 40kph mark, but the course was tough!

Time Trial

2009-06-13T13:35:00.002+10:00

OK, just a quick note - tomorrow is the Bairnsdale club (next town) ITT championships and although it is not my club, we have asked permission and been told we can ride the champs...not for prizes as we dont qualify but to get some TT practice in. I think I am going to try my disc wheel (wind being the deciding factor), or I can use the Gravity Zeros I rode last week.

(as in the picture)

I love my TT bike and the helmet!....so the plan tomorrow is to ride fast and have fun.......Time Trials are never fun and if anyone tells you they are then they are joking and the other thign tomorrow is to test my Disc and see how that feels, it is about testing equiment more than anything tomorrow.....

"GET BACK TO BASICS AND MAKE EXCELLENCE THE RESULT"

Race Report - My comeback Tour

2009-06-08T16:02:00.005+10:00

In brief the Gippsland Tour was four stages in three days

Day 1 - Mainly flat with one fast (super fast) stretch and one nasty pinchy hill two laps of a 30km circuit - Total 60km (36miles)

Day 2 - ITT Mainly flat course 17km, followed by a major undulating 56km road circuit in the arvo

Day three - 60km course, one long slow climb with headwinds and a pinchy hill

So how did my race go?????

Day one - we started fast and at the hill (28km mark) rumour has it that our average speed had been 40kph (I was racing C grade out of three grades on offer), I had been struggling with the pace for about 8km and at the hill I dropped off a bit and ended up catching Nige, Dave W and a couple of Warragul guys and we rode the second lap together, we had a go at chasing the bunch for a while, but given that the whole thing in C grade is points for sprints and hill climbs we all decided that we might as well just have a good ride back. At the end on the hill Nige and I broke away and had a race to the end, which he won Dammit, we were about 2minutes down on the main bunch, but that didn't matter anyway in C grade

Day Two - I got out the ammunition, the new Scott Plasma and it was fantastic, the course was a bit breezy and I was disappointed during my race that I could barely get to 40kph, but at the end on checking the results found that I had placed third in the ITT in C gradeof about 25 riders and I had even beaten quite a few B graders and rode a great time - I think it was 26:32 for 17km which is just over 38kph - VERY HAPPY and I beat Nige by a minute

Day Two Stage Two - This was a killer stage it was extremely undulating and I got dropped at about the 13km mark, but I draughted the follow car a bit and then got back on the bunch where I did the elastic band thing for the next 10 or more kms (you know off the back a bit then back on then off then on......it was undulating and the little climbs were hurting a lot)...then at the 28km mark we did a U-turn and I was just off the back and when the leaders dug it in they left a stream of riders and I was off the back again, I rode with about four others for a while then on the last section which is where I train, I really worked hard to see if I could make any inroads on the bunch and I did see one rider Dave (who rides with my club) and I was catching him until he looked around and saw me coming so he thought "No way I am not letting her catch me" and he made sure he found the last few "petrol tickets" in his legs to beat me to the finish

Day Three (Today) - It was a 60km ride and I thought it might be a lot easier as everyone would have tired legs - what was I thinking????!!!! seriously we took off very fast from the gun and at the 10km mark our average was about 37.9kph (This was C grade right???) then there was the pinchy climb and after that there was five of us chasing the main field and my "elastic band snapped" I suddenly found I was one length off the back, then two and ended up riding about 45km on my own.....I did catch one young guy about 7km from the finish and he was buggered and I towed him to the line for about 7km which made it more interesting. It was definitely a Plan B ride - the training thing - it was hard work as half the course was very windy.

So the wash-up - I have some fitness but it runs out - I lasted about half a race on Day One and Two and today was a shocker - probably my worst ever race today....but I was very happy about my time trial - very happy and so all was not lost and given that we only got points on sprints stage finishes and hill climbs - Third in the ITT gave me six points. Seriously I cant complain considering I broke my colalrbone and two ribs only 8 weeks ago and I had four weeks off the bike, one week easy windtrainer, one week harder windtrainer and two weeks on the road, but no intervals or hills on the road just riding.

Credit - pics to Jamar Images - Thanks Jimmy

Tour comeback - "Inspired by Lance"

2009-06-04T08:38:00.005+10:00

In two days I race the Three Day Tour and this year is a bit different as I just haven't quite got the fitness I wish I had, but anyway I am going reasonably well. So as most bloggers love to show off their "Bike Bling" here is my unashamed chance to show mine too.

My accident meant I had to buy a new helmet and since you cant buy the Met Stradivarius anymore, I have had to replace mine with a Met Inferno, now one little fact that you may or may not be aware of is that some helmet companies offer a special on crashed helmets that are under a certain age. My new helmet will be half price as my old helmet was only two years old and is wrecked, I could put pics of the old helmet on here but it still has blood on it. So KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS. But best of all the cheapest option is "DONT CRASH!!"

I bought new shoes (DMT Flash) on special (also about half price), about 8 months ago and have now decided to break them out and look the part!!! I finally got around to putting cleats on them WOO HOO...Then there is the bike which I have also had for about four months and this weekend will be its first Time Trial outing on Day Two and just for Fun, I copied a certain rider who made his comeback tour in January which inspired me to make my own "Tour comeback" commemorative bidon too.....except I think mine would be pink!.

I took the Scott out for 20kms yesterday and I came to the conclusion that it is a lot quicker than I am ready for yet....seriously I took off into a slight head breeze doing 34kph (20mph) although riding back at 40kph-24mph I couldn't maintain it for long periods........so the gear is one thing, but underneath it all the training is the base that pins it all together..so I will be there "All the gear and no-idea!!!".....lol...My aims for the tour are to have fun and get back into racing.

and I will be using the "Lance - original bidon - inspiration on the Time Trial and it matches the mighty Scott!"

More sweaty windtrainer photos

2009-05-30T12:48:00.009+10:00

OK this week (well since last Sunday) I have been BACK RIDING ON THE ROAD - 52km on Sunday in a bunch and we went quick later in the ride and yes I did run out of legs, no riding on Monday, 62km on Tuesday, 70km in two rides on Wed, none on Thurs as I had to go to Melb, 30 on Friday and today Shane and I did Chris Carmichael and sweated a lot...see I even have proof.

Anyway I have also bitten the bullet and decided to enter my first race since March which is the Gippsland Tour

The Start List for A B and C grade has only two female riders, there are usually a few women, but this year only two, the other girl Shannon is a very good upcoming rider and she should go well, she sprints like the boys, she is from a track background. Unfortunately the tour C grade is full of riders that ride B grade in their local clubs (which is me) and A & B grade are a timed tour, but C grade is only points, ie: Hill climbs, sprints

and stage finishes which kind of makes it hard for me to get any runs on the board, but my aim of this tour is to build some fitness, Day one is 64km

road, Day two 17km ITT and 54km road stage and day three is 60km road.

So my goal is to ride strong, have a great ITT and hopefully provided I get some time on the new Time Trial bike this week, is to ride the new time trial bike...but we will see.....have to get some practice on it first.

"If you have enough reasons you can do incredible things"