I had taken today off work, thinking I was still going to be in Taranaki. It was a beautiful morning, even if that horrid wind was still howling away, so I decided to stick to my plan to do a hill circuit around the Bays - Sutherland, Houghton and Alexandra Rd.
After breakfast and messing around at home I got changed and headed out the door not long after 10am. I'd only just turned onto the Ridgeway and was no more than a few hundred metres from home when my phone rang. It was Mum calling to say that she was on her way to hospital for more tests.
That was my riding done with for the day. I threw a bag and Cleo in the back of the car and started driving northwards again. Two hours into my drive (halfway) my phone rang again. Mum was on her way home from the hospital and a specialist Oncologist would be looking at her scans on Monday. If she is going to have a biopsy it won't happen till Tuesday at the earliest.
I sat on the side of the road in Sanson talking to Mum and Dad for a bit longer. Eventually I turned around and drove two hours home again. By the time I got there it was 2.30 and I was starving, not having eaten since 8am.
By the time I'd managed to get some lunch together I was feeling decidedly non-active. It was still a gorgeous day even with that aforementioned nasty wind, but I think I can be excused for feeling too tired and unmotivated to be able to haul myself and Cleo back up our 46 steps to the road and around the Bays again. Besides, the Gearshifters are riding nearly 100km tomorrow and there's still Sunday to get my homework in.
In the meantime I will repeat after myself: You are not lazy, you are not unfit, you are not huge! If I say it enough times I may believe it ...
Friday, November 21, 2008
Back in Wellington
I'm back in Wellington, having arrived home last night. I was considering deleting my last post, but decided to leave it up there. I don't really want to talk about what's going on too much, suffice to say that we won't know more till next week.
Taranaki threw a heap of different weather at me, including the usual strong crosswinds. Mum and Dad showed me a gorgeous little backroad ride behind Midhurst that is worth exploring. There were too many roadworks on SH3 to really make cycling too far along that route terribly appealing.
I arrived back in Wellington last night and immediately jumped on Cleo for a quick 45 minute circuit down to the coast, with a climb up Murchison Street thrown in. There was a surprising Southerly and the climb up Murchison felt nasty until I realised I'd taken it a fair bit faster than usual. It was good to be back home with Hamish and the cats afterwards, together with a cool glass of Hamish's father's Rose.
It's beautiful here again despite the Northerly and I've got the day off so I'm going to head out for a hill circuit soon. I'm feeling less than confident about Taupo again, but I want to shake that off! I think I've lost a bit of the fun out of cycling. I can't just get on a bike and go for a ride. Every ride is about the training. I really am ready for this to all be over!
Poor Cleo's ready for this to be over too and badly needs her service on Monday. Let's hope she can get me through this weekend first.
Taranaki threw a heap of different weather at me, including the usual strong crosswinds. Mum and Dad showed me a gorgeous little backroad ride behind Midhurst that is worth exploring. There were too many roadworks on SH3 to really make cycling too far along that route terribly appealing.
I arrived back in Wellington last night and immediately jumped on Cleo for a quick 45 minute circuit down to the coast, with a climb up Murchison Street thrown in. There was a surprising Southerly and the climb up Murchison felt nasty until I realised I'd taken it a fair bit faster than usual. It was good to be back home with Hamish and the cats afterwards, together with a cool glass of Hamish's father's Rose.
It's beautiful here again despite the Northerly and I've got the day off so I'm going to head out for a hill circuit soon. I'm feeling less than confident about Taupo again, but I want to shake that off! I think I've lost a bit of the fun out of cycling. I can't just get on a bike and go for a ride. Every ride is about the training. I really am ready for this to all be over!
Poor Cleo's ready for this to be over too and badly needs her service on Monday. Let's hope she can get me through this weekend first.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Life is Short
We're all living longer these days, right? The scientific studies tell us so and give us an excuse to put off thinking about the inevitable. Our society doesn't tend to think a lot about death, at least, not our own death. At what age does a person expect to start thinking that their time might be running out? In their 70s? Does someone in their 80s start to muse that it might be time to start ticking off that list of must-does before it's too late?
For someone like Fat Cyclist this question is not theoretical. Most of us, however, continue to either put things off, or set goals, perhaps long-term ones, that we fully expect to be able to achieve. So what say you are a late bloomer? Perhaps you and your partner have sold the family home and found another place in a rural town that you really love. Perhaps you've finally been able to stop work and take up all of those hobbies you'd been thinking about for years. Perhaps you've lost a heap of weight, gotten into cycling, walking and lifting weights. Perhaps everyone at your local gym knows you by name. The owner has even started getting you to take charge when he needs to run errands. You've just bought yourself a hybrid bike and you love how fast you are now and how far you can go. You're planning on doing the duathlon you did a couple of years ago for a second time, just so that you can see how much progress you've made.
Perhaps you're not that old. Perhaps you're only, say, 57. You've had some problems with your health, but you've done everything you can to manage your medical conditions. You know your risks and you get regular check-ups. You've only just gotten started on all the things you want to do and you're feeling excited about life.
Then you start feeling unwell. You don't have enough energy to ride your lovely new bike any more. Your doctor is hopeless but there's a waiting list for the only other GP in town. You struggle for months and start feeling really depressed. Then a new doctor arrives and everyone says he's great. You manage to get an appointment. He is lovely and understanding and runs a heap of tests, and something bad shows up. Something very bad.
So, do you feel angry? Do you feel ripped off? Do you feel like you're being ripped off and that you're being denied the chance to do everything you want to do?
I can't speak for anyone else, but as a daughter I can state categorically that I'm angry. Very angry.
For someone like Fat Cyclist this question is not theoretical. Most of us, however, continue to either put things off, or set goals, perhaps long-term ones, that we fully expect to be able to achieve. So what say you are a late bloomer? Perhaps you and your partner have sold the family home and found another place in a rural town that you really love. Perhaps you've finally been able to stop work and take up all of those hobbies you'd been thinking about for years. Perhaps you've lost a heap of weight, gotten into cycling, walking and lifting weights. Perhaps everyone at your local gym knows you by name. The owner has even started getting you to take charge when he needs to run errands. You've just bought yourself a hybrid bike and you love how fast you are now and how far you can go. You're planning on doing the duathlon you did a couple of years ago for a second time, just so that you can see how much progress you've made.
Perhaps you're not that old. Perhaps you're only, say, 57. You've had some problems with your health, but you've done everything you can to manage your medical conditions. You know your risks and you get regular check-ups. You've only just gotten started on all the things you want to do and you're feeling excited about life.
Then you start feeling unwell. You don't have enough energy to ride your lovely new bike any more. Your doctor is hopeless but there's a waiting list for the only other GP in town. You struggle for months and start feeling really depressed. Then a new doctor arrives and everyone says he's great. You manage to get an appointment. He is lovely and understanding and runs a heap of tests, and something bad shows up. Something very bad.
So, do you feel angry? Do you feel ripped off? Do you feel like you're being ripped off and that you're being denied the chance to do everything you want to do?
I can't speak for anyone else, but as a daughter I can state categorically that I'm angry. Very angry.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I need a hug
It's been an odd week. I'm in a strange place right now. With Taupo so close, and with my thoughts already turning to other goals (Rotorua marathon, Rotorua half-ironman), I'm feeling a little emotional.
I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not scared, although I will admit to being a little overwhelmed. I'm feeling very proud of what I have already achieved and dazzled by what I have come to accept I am capable of. I don't know what my limits are. Am I playing around the edges or am I nowhere near the finishline?
I took a rest on Monday after the 115km race, but was then back into it on Tuesday, fitting in a Balance class and two very intense RPM classes. I was up and out of bed on Wednesday morning and cycled through light drizzle to the gym for an upper body workout. I'm not doing any lower body weights at the moment - leaving them until after Taupo.
Wednesday turned into a stunning spring day and after work I cycled through rush hour traffic and then home around the Bays. The Southern coast was bathed in light and swimmers bobbed around in the flat waters of Houghton Bay. Families clustered in Island Bay with parcels of fish and chips. Unlike the time trial morning I was able to comfortably keep my speedo up around 33 to 35km per hour, even hitting 40kmph around Pt Jerningham. It was only riding up Happy Valley into a soul-destroying Northerly that I finally slowed. I could feel how much stronger I was and felt very happy with what was supposed to be a recovery ride.
On top of all of the riding this week I was competing in an office stairclimb challenge, climbing over 100 flights of stairs each day. By today I was starting to think that the challenge was an incredibly stupid idea so close to the race, and my knee was agreeing with me. I wanted to ride today, I really did. It's as lovely out there today as it was yesterday, but with slightly less wind. However something pulled me back. The best indicator (other than my aching legs) that I needed a break was my increasingly heightened emotional state. I ask so much of myself and I've been meeting my own expectations, but tonight just being in this beautiful evening seemed enough. I had to accept that I wouldn't be wasting the evening if I didn't ride. Sure, last night's golden light on the Southern Coast was special and was out there again waiting for me. However I was walking through a disconcerting fog of exhaustion. I was up, I was down. I was all over the place.
Even I can tell that I'm in need of a rest. I don't think I'm particularly overtrained but I think that the emotional toll of so much time on my bike, repeatedly facing my fears and demanding mental strength and the simple lack of weekend days off and sleep-ins is starting to weigh in. The scales were nice to me this morning, gifting me the exact number of I wanted to see at this point in my training so tonight I'm treating myself to pasta, wine, cider, fruit and chocolate. I'm looking out at the beautiful view and watching crappy television. I'm enjoying some time on my own while Hamish is working late.
This has been the most mentally demanding training programme I've undertaken to date. Sure, training for my first duathlon and for the half-marathons required toughness and a facing of fears, but there's nothing like facing the prospect of sitting on a bike for over six hours at this point in my life to force me to back myself.
The night before Taupo, when I'm doing my usual freakout in our room at the YWCA I will have to back myself. When I clip in at the mass start, I will have to back myself. When we hit that very first hill, I will have to back myself. When I've been on my bike for three hours, I will have to back myself. Each time I reach for my drink bottle or swallow some of my power bar, each time I overtake another rider, each time I am overtaken, each time we hit a headwind, each time I crest a hill and reach down to the drops, and when, around the four hour mark, I reach for and swallow some booster Hydrocortisone, I will have to back myself.
When Hatepe comes I want to stare it in the face and laugh, then possibly sing. And when (not if), I reach the finishline I will damn well have the biggest smile on my face the world has ever seen. And then, damn it all, I'll probably immediately start thinking about running a marathon. Because that's the way I roll.
I'm riding to work tomorrow and will ride home around the Bays again after work, then we're riding 100km on Saturday (including Paekakariki Hill), and racing 100km in Masterton on Sunday. I don't want to panic anyone with this rather overwrought post (and I'm also painfully aware that for some people riding Taupo is a walk in the park). It's just where I am right now. I'm engaging fully in this journey and I'm perfectly ok. Give me one good night's sleep and then let's bring it on.
I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not scared, although I will admit to being a little overwhelmed. I'm feeling very proud of what I have already achieved and dazzled by what I have come to accept I am capable of. I don't know what my limits are. Am I playing around the edges or am I nowhere near the finishline?
I took a rest on Monday after the 115km race, but was then back into it on Tuesday, fitting in a Balance class and two very intense RPM classes. I was up and out of bed on Wednesday morning and cycled through light drizzle to the gym for an upper body workout. I'm not doing any lower body weights at the moment - leaving them until after Taupo.
Wednesday turned into a stunning spring day and after work I cycled through rush hour traffic and then home around the Bays. The Southern coast was bathed in light and swimmers bobbed around in the flat waters of Houghton Bay. Families clustered in Island Bay with parcels of fish and chips. Unlike the time trial morning I was able to comfortably keep my speedo up around 33 to 35km per hour, even hitting 40kmph around Pt Jerningham. It was only riding up Happy Valley into a soul-destroying Northerly that I finally slowed. I could feel how much stronger I was and felt very happy with what was supposed to be a recovery ride.
On top of all of the riding this week I was competing in an office stairclimb challenge, climbing over 100 flights of stairs each day. By today I was starting to think that the challenge was an incredibly stupid idea so close to the race, and my knee was agreeing with me. I wanted to ride today, I really did. It's as lovely out there today as it was yesterday, but with slightly less wind. However something pulled me back. The best indicator (other than my aching legs) that I needed a break was my increasingly heightened emotional state. I ask so much of myself and I've been meeting my own expectations, but tonight just being in this beautiful evening seemed enough. I had to accept that I wouldn't be wasting the evening if I didn't ride. Sure, last night's golden light on the Southern Coast was special and was out there again waiting for me. However I was walking through a disconcerting fog of exhaustion. I was up, I was down. I was all over the place.
Even I can tell that I'm in need of a rest. I don't think I'm particularly overtrained but I think that the emotional toll of so much time on my bike, repeatedly facing my fears and demanding mental strength and the simple lack of weekend days off and sleep-ins is starting to weigh in. The scales were nice to me this morning, gifting me the exact number of I wanted to see at this point in my training so tonight I'm treating myself to pasta, wine, cider, fruit and chocolate. I'm looking out at the beautiful view and watching crappy television. I'm enjoying some time on my own while Hamish is working late.
This has been the most mentally demanding training programme I've undertaken to date. Sure, training for my first duathlon and for the half-marathons required toughness and a facing of fears, but there's nothing like facing the prospect of sitting on a bike for over six hours at this point in my life to force me to back myself.
The night before Taupo, when I'm doing my usual freakout in our room at the YWCA I will have to back myself. When I clip in at the mass start, I will have to back myself. When we hit that very first hill, I will have to back myself. When I've been on my bike for three hours, I will have to back myself. Each time I reach for my drink bottle or swallow some of my power bar, each time I overtake another rider, each time I am overtaken, each time we hit a headwind, each time I crest a hill and reach down to the drops, and when, around the four hour mark, I reach for and swallow some booster Hydrocortisone, I will have to back myself.
When Hatepe comes I want to stare it in the face and laugh, then possibly sing. And when (not if), I reach the finishline I will damn well have the biggest smile on my face the world has ever seen. And then, damn it all, I'll probably immediately start thinking about running a marathon. Because that's the way I roll.
I'm riding to work tomorrow and will ride home around the Bays again after work, then we're riding 100km on Saturday (including Paekakariki Hill), and racing 100km in Masterton on Sunday. I don't want to panic anyone with this rather overwrought post (and I'm also painfully aware that for some people riding Taupo is a walk in the park). It's just where I am right now. I'm engaging fully in this journey and I'm perfectly ok. Give me one good night's sleep and then let's bring it on.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Um .....
So, back in April I rode the Grape Ride, my first big cycle race. I did the 101km in 4.12 and was reasonably pleased with that.
Today I rode 115km round the Martinborough Charity Fun Ride in 4.09. I totally kicked my Grape Ride time in the butt by 14km and three minutes. And yes, I am pretty stoked with that, especially given that I was riding with fatigued legs and only went out today to do the distance. I found a pack and stuck with it, even when I had to spend a lot of time rolling. I could have probably made it in under four hours if I'd pushed it just a teeny bit more, and I lost a few minutes early on when I dropped my chain (sorry Cleo, that was totally my fault).
A few more stats, just because these things are way more important to me than they should be:
Let's back-track a bit to put this week in context. When I last posted I'd had a light weekend and wimped out of riding home on Monday. From what some of the squad have told me, not riding on Monday was a good decision. It was extremely, unpleasantly windy out there.
Even if I was frustrated by my lack of quality rides, it seems my knee liked me for it. I got through 100 minutes of spinning on Tuesday with only the slightest achiness afterwards. I started off cautiously, realised fairly quickly that the pain was minimal, and was really going hard out by the end of the Gearshifters class.
Bouyed on by this apparent indicator that my knee was actually healing, I decided that I would ride Cleo (waiting patiently for me in the bike locker at work) after work on Wednesday. I was going to do a few hills around the Bays then ride back into town to pick up the car. Hamish was finally taking his scooter home!
I left work not long after 5.00pm and rode through rush hour traffic from the Terrace down to the waterfront. The traffic was insane and the wind wasn't much better. The gales that had been predicted to ease as the day went on hadn't really eased that much. By the time I got past Oriental Bay, knowing it was only going to get worse as I got further out, I decided I was just a little bit terrified. There were cars going everywhere and I was fighting to keep Cleo going forward in a straight line. I called it quits, turned around, cycled back through rush hour traffic and up Victoria Street to the scooter shop, where the roadie sales guy reassured me I was doing the right thing!
On Thursday the weather forecast was horrific so I let Cleo stay home, only for it to turn into the best day for riding all week. Sulking I sat on a spin bike up at Extreme to complete a time trial, managing to spin my heartrate up to a decent level but achieving little more than a nasty bit of chaffing from the demon spin bike saddle. I was so frustrated that I signed up for Dee's Friday morning spin class, despite knowing we had our time trial and a hill ride the next day. As if that wasn't enough I then did lunchtime Balance and took all the hard options, which involved rather more lunges than was perhaps wise.
Let's just say I paid for it on Saturday. I met the Gearshifters squad at 8.30 as planned and it was a rather frozen pack of cyclists who rode around to the old army base to do our time trial. There was a frigid Southerly blowing and by the time we got there my toes were numb.
Last time Veronica and I tied and I badly wanted to beat her. I am, of course, completely aware of how terrible that sounds! Dee decided to get me to start ahead of her, giving me a thirty second lead. I wanted her ahead of me so I could chase her, but it wasn't to be. As I set off I could really feel the previous day's exertions. My quads were complaining. I think we may have had more of a head wind than I realised because I was flooring it and swearing at my cycle computer as it refused to budge.
At one point I looked behind me and saw someone drafting off me. I decided Veronica had caught me, but a few minutes later Angela blew past at a fearful pace. So, not the rider I was dreading. I tried to pick the pace up a bit more and pushed it hard all the way around to Lyall Bay, managing to pass a couple of other riders.
It was an anxious wait for the results. Veronica arrived not far behind me and I was convinced she'd managed to pull me in, but in the end I made it home a paltry but satisfying four seconds ahead. Not so satisfying was my tiny 19 second improvement over the last test, nor being thoroughly wiped off the board by Kathryn's one minute-plus improvement.
After we caught our breath our front pack rode through Kilbirnie and up Mt Crawford then back around the Bays. I got dropped somewhere along the way and missed everyone else turning right up Sutherland Rd. As a result I climbed up Houghton Bay Rd wondering where everyone was and got to the top on my own feeling thoroughly confused. A few minutes later I was joined by a few other riders and then eventually the pack that had dropped me reappeared. I may have been a little annoyed at that point and expressed some dissatisfaction with the lack of anyone pulling back to wait for me. I may have gotten over that now!
We debated riding round to Owhiro Bay and up to Brooklyn but nearly all of us were doing the race today so we called it quits, riding back down to Kilbirnie via Hungerford Rd. Holy heck that road is steep! I was down on my drops full scale on my brakes feeling like I was looking straight down. I can't believe anyone actually rides UP that demon strip of tarmac ...
So, back to today. The weather forecast was perfect - mild Easterly breezes and warm temperatures. Dee picked me up at 6.15 and we collected Veronica and her partner enroute. We arrived at Martinborough in good time and race pack pick-up took only a few seconds. Before long we were doing lazy circuits of the square waiting for the start. It was obvious it was going to be warm, so for the first time this spring I left the armwarmers in the car.
There was a slightly insane mass start. Dee says that she got caught in a mad bunch mashing it at about 50kmph, but back where I was everyone seemed to crawl along. When I finally got clear I found a good group of riders, with a couple of other Gearshifters riders around me. I knew my legs were fatigued and I was planning on hitching onto a relaxed pack and just rolling around the course.
My plan was going well until I dropped my chain about 15km in. Everyone flew past me at that point but I got the chain back on again quickly (I'm an expert now), took a quick drink and got back out there. I was surprised by how little time it took me to catch my fellow riders. A new squad member, Ailese, ended up riding most of the way with me, though we lost other-Pip fairly early on.
This race was almost completely a delight. I had to keep reminding myself to admire the scenary, and there was much to admire. This is a wonderfully undulating course - a rural double loop. My favourite section was a rolling few kilometres under tall shady trees. At times we were riding deceptive false flats. At other times we were doing 40kmph seemingly without effort. As the race went on the wind picked up a bit more than some of us would have liked, but the tail wind always kicked in at the right point.
This was the perfect course for me and it gave me real confidence for getting around Taupo. This was definitely not a flat course and there were a few larger climbs than I'd expected. The rolling hills enabled me to keep pace with my pack and when the guys (and there were mostly guys in our pack) slowed on the climbs I was able to ease back a bit and grab a bit of a rest before having to work harder to keep up with them on the flats. I finally worked out how to change onto my small chain ring on a hill without wildly spinning out, and I got the hang of dropping low behind my handlebars to minimise wind drag on the downhill stretches. 60kmph? Yeah baby!
I had two water bottles on me filled with Peak Fuel, two Power Bars and a tube of Peak Fuel gel. I set my timer and made sure I ate and drank every twenty to thirty minutes. I put a Pump bottle on my front cage and when that was empty I threw it in the direction of a water stop and moved my other water bottle to the front. I still find it too awkward to get my bottle out of the seat post cage. A few times I felt myself losing it a little mentally and each time I ate and drank a bit and bounced back again.
I have to admit that when I reached the three hour mark it was hard to imagine being on the bike for at least another three. That was a bit of a hard moment. The guy next to me helpfully pointed out that the hills on the Taupo course would nearly be out of the way and I felt a bit better.
I hated the guy ahead of me when he called out that we were halfway, but I liked him when he said it was only another 30km to the finish. It was about that time that some of the girls around me started losing the plot a bit, and about that time that I finally got fed up with feeling held back and, rationalising that we were mostly riding with a tail wind, made a break. Only a couple of riders came with me, but they were exactly the riders I was hoping for. Thanks to the guy from Wanganui whose name I can't remember. Thanks to the woman who was blowing up but still found it in her to take her turn and let me draft off her for a few minutes (Kaitlyn?). Thanks to Rere, who was silent but strong on the flats and who broke with me and gave me someone to ride with. Thanks to the women in their fifties who were truly inspirational. Sorry everyone for the fact that I got a bit chatty at about the 13km mark and probably drove you all a little insane. Yes, I know that you really didn't need me yacking at you as you were breathlessly climbing those last hills. Really .... sorry!
My cycle computer said 4.10 as we turned the last corner and saw the finish line in the distance. I wanted to do 4.12 - the Grape Ride time. I called out to Kaitlyn that we were going to sprint for the finish and the two of us floored it together. My cycle computer read 4.12 as we crossed the finishline. I was pleased enough with that time, and even more pleased with my 4.09 official time!
After a leisurely ride back to the hall at the start I jumped quickly into the line for the post-ride feed then lay around in the sun with Dee and the others for prizegiving. Several of our group won spot prizes. Yay! Unfortunately, despite liberal application of sun block I am well and truly toasted. I'm not sure what to do about that for next time.
Afterwards we went back to the finishline to wait for the arrival of the last three of our riders, including new-rider Liz. The finishline volunteers weren't that clued up and didn't know how many people were still out there or whether anyone had pulled out. No one was answering their mobile, so we had to assume our girls were still riding. We waited, and we waited, and we waited. Finally we were told there were two women and a guy still on the course. We waited, and we waited. We rode a few kilometres down the road and came across the first of our two strays. We turned around and went back to the startline, but then only one woman arrived. Where did the other woman get to? Poor Raeleen was feeling very guilty about sprinting for the finish and losing her partner, then someone else rode past and said that Helen had a flat tire and was walking back. Sure enough, she got a flat with no more than 400 metres left to ride.
We jumped in the car and took off, meeting her with about 200 metres to go, then everyone jumped out and grabbed tubes and Co2 and Helen's tire was changed in record time. After that we jumped back in our car and Helen jumped on her bike and soon the second of our missing riders was over the finishline and looking very pleased.
That left Liz to find, and just as we were about to call a search party she called to say that she had four and a half kilometres to go and was thinking about stopping and getting her father to pick her up. We weren't keen on that idea, so it was back in the car and off to find her. Helen and Raeleen jumped back on their bikes to ride her home. When we finally found her in the car we turned on our hazards and pretended we were the SAG wagon that wasn't doing its job. We sat behind her the rest of the way back in and Raeleen and Helen joined in and rode the last couple of kilometres. Finally it was a very sweaty and bug-covered Liz who crossed the line.
What a brilliant day. It's going to be hard to focus at work tomorrow. One more lead-up race (only 80km) and that's it until Taupo. Big, big gulp!
Today I rode 115km round the Martinborough Charity Fun Ride in 4.09. I totally kicked my Grape Ride time in the butt by 14km and three minutes. And yes, I am pretty stoked with that, especially given that I was riding with fatigued legs and only went out today to do the distance. I found a pack and stuck with it, even when I had to spend a lot of time rolling. I could have probably made it in under four hours if I'd pushed it just a teeny bit more, and I lost a few minutes early on when I dropped my chain (sorry Cleo, that was totally my fault).
A few more stats, just because these things are way more important to me than they should be:
- 347 of 425 finishers (finished ahead of 18.59%)
- 65 out of 104 female finishers (ahead of 38.46%)
Let's back-track a bit to put this week in context. When I last posted I'd had a light weekend and wimped out of riding home on Monday. From what some of the squad have told me, not riding on Monday was a good decision. It was extremely, unpleasantly windy out there.
Even if I was frustrated by my lack of quality rides, it seems my knee liked me for it. I got through 100 minutes of spinning on Tuesday with only the slightest achiness afterwards. I started off cautiously, realised fairly quickly that the pain was minimal, and was really going hard out by the end of the Gearshifters class.
Bouyed on by this apparent indicator that my knee was actually healing, I decided that I would ride Cleo (waiting patiently for me in the bike locker at work) after work on Wednesday. I was going to do a few hills around the Bays then ride back into town to pick up the car. Hamish was finally taking his scooter home!
I left work not long after 5.00pm and rode through rush hour traffic from the Terrace down to the waterfront. The traffic was insane and the wind wasn't much better. The gales that had been predicted to ease as the day went on hadn't really eased that much. By the time I got past Oriental Bay, knowing it was only going to get worse as I got further out, I decided I was just a little bit terrified. There were cars going everywhere and I was fighting to keep Cleo going forward in a straight line. I called it quits, turned around, cycled back through rush hour traffic and up Victoria Street to the scooter shop, where the roadie sales guy reassured me I was doing the right thing!
On Thursday the weather forecast was horrific so I let Cleo stay home, only for it to turn into the best day for riding all week. Sulking I sat on a spin bike up at Extreme to complete a time trial, managing to spin my heartrate up to a decent level but achieving little more than a nasty bit of chaffing from the demon spin bike saddle. I was so frustrated that I signed up for Dee's Friday morning spin class, despite knowing we had our time trial and a hill ride the next day. As if that wasn't enough I then did lunchtime Balance and took all the hard options, which involved rather more lunges than was perhaps wise.
Let's just say I paid for it on Saturday. I met the Gearshifters squad at 8.30 as planned and it was a rather frozen pack of cyclists who rode around to the old army base to do our time trial. There was a frigid Southerly blowing and by the time we got there my toes were numb.
Last time Veronica and I tied and I badly wanted to beat her. I am, of course, completely aware of how terrible that sounds! Dee decided to get me to start ahead of her, giving me a thirty second lead. I wanted her ahead of me so I could chase her, but it wasn't to be. As I set off I could really feel the previous day's exertions. My quads were complaining. I think we may have had more of a head wind than I realised because I was flooring it and swearing at my cycle computer as it refused to budge.
At one point I looked behind me and saw someone drafting off me. I decided Veronica had caught me, but a few minutes later Angela blew past at a fearful pace. So, not the rider I was dreading. I tried to pick the pace up a bit more and pushed it hard all the way around to Lyall Bay, managing to pass a couple of other riders.
It was an anxious wait for the results. Veronica arrived not far behind me and I was convinced she'd managed to pull me in, but in the end I made it home a paltry but satisfying four seconds ahead. Not so satisfying was my tiny 19 second improvement over the last test, nor being thoroughly wiped off the board by Kathryn's one minute-plus improvement.
After we caught our breath our front pack rode through Kilbirnie and up Mt Crawford then back around the Bays. I got dropped somewhere along the way and missed everyone else turning right up Sutherland Rd. As a result I climbed up Houghton Bay Rd wondering where everyone was and got to the top on my own feeling thoroughly confused. A few minutes later I was joined by a few other riders and then eventually the pack that had dropped me reappeared. I may have been a little annoyed at that point and expressed some dissatisfaction with the lack of anyone pulling back to wait for me. I may have gotten over that now!
We debated riding round to Owhiro Bay and up to Brooklyn but nearly all of us were doing the race today so we called it quits, riding back down to Kilbirnie via Hungerford Rd. Holy heck that road is steep! I was down on my drops full scale on my brakes feeling like I was looking straight down. I can't believe anyone actually rides UP that demon strip of tarmac ...
So, back to today. The weather forecast was perfect - mild Easterly breezes and warm temperatures. Dee picked me up at 6.15 and we collected Veronica and her partner enroute. We arrived at Martinborough in good time and race pack pick-up took only a few seconds. Before long we were doing lazy circuits of the square waiting for the start. It was obvious it was going to be warm, so for the first time this spring I left the armwarmers in the car.
There was a slightly insane mass start. Dee says that she got caught in a mad bunch mashing it at about 50kmph, but back where I was everyone seemed to crawl along. When I finally got clear I found a good group of riders, with a couple of other Gearshifters riders around me. I knew my legs were fatigued and I was planning on hitching onto a relaxed pack and just rolling around the course.
My plan was going well until I dropped my chain about 15km in. Everyone flew past me at that point but I got the chain back on again quickly (I'm an expert now), took a quick drink and got back out there. I was surprised by how little time it took me to catch my fellow riders. A new squad member, Ailese, ended up riding most of the way with me, though we lost other-Pip fairly early on.
This race was almost completely a delight. I had to keep reminding myself to admire the scenary, and there was much to admire. This is a wonderfully undulating course - a rural double loop. My favourite section was a rolling few kilometres under tall shady trees. At times we were riding deceptive false flats. At other times we were doing 40kmph seemingly without effort. As the race went on the wind picked up a bit more than some of us would have liked, but the tail wind always kicked in at the right point.
This was the perfect course for me and it gave me real confidence for getting around Taupo. This was definitely not a flat course and there were a few larger climbs than I'd expected. The rolling hills enabled me to keep pace with my pack and when the guys (and there were mostly guys in our pack) slowed on the climbs I was able to ease back a bit and grab a bit of a rest before having to work harder to keep up with them on the flats. I finally worked out how to change onto my small chain ring on a hill without wildly spinning out, and I got the hang of dropping low behind my handlebars to minimise wind drag on the downhill stretches. 60kmph? Yeah baby!
I had two water bottles on me filled with Peak Fuel, two Power Bars and a tube of Peak Fuel gel. I set my timer and made sure I ate and drank every twenty to thirty minutes. I put a Pump bottle on my front cage and when that was empty I threw it in the direction of a water stop and moved my other water bottle to the front. I still find it too awkward to get my bottle out of the seat post cage. A few times I felt myself losing it a little mentally and each time I ate and drank a bit and bounced back again.
I have to admit that when I reached the three hour mark it was hard to imagine being on the bike for at least another three. That was a bit of a hard moment. The guy next to me helpfully pointed out that the hills on the Taupo course would nearly be out of the way and I felt a bit better.
I hated the guy ahead of me when he called out that we were halfway, but I liked him when he said it was only another 30km to the finish. It was about that time that some of the girls around me started losing the plot a bit, and about that time that I finally got fed up with feeling held back and, rationalising that we were mostly riding with a tail wind, made a break. Only a couple of riders came with me, but they were exactly the riders I was hoping for. Thanks to the guy from Wanganui whose name I can't remember. Thanks to the woman who was blowing up but still found it in her to take her turn and let me draft off her for a few minutes (Kaitlyn?). Thanks to Rere, who was silent but strong on the flats and who broke with me and gave me someone to ride with. Thanks to the women in their fifties who were truly inspirational. Sorry everyone for the fact that I got a bit chatty at about the 13km mark and probably drove you all a little insane. Yes, I know that you really didn't need me yacking at you as you were breathlessly climbing those last hills. Really .... sorry!
My cycle computer said 4.10 as we turned the last corner and saw the finish line in the distance. I wanted to do 4.12 - the Grape Ride time. I called out to Kaitlyn that we were going to sprint for the finish and the two of us floored it together. My cycle computer read 4.12 as we crossed the finishline. I was pleased enough with that time, and even more pleased with my 4.09 official time!
After a leisurely ride back to the hall at the start I jumped quickly into the line for the post-ride feed then lay around in the sun with Dee and the others for prizegiving. Several of our group won spot prizes. Yay! Unfortunately, despite liberal application of sun block I am well and truly toasted. I'm not sure what to do about that for next time.
Afterwards we went back to the finishline to wait for the arrival of the last three of our riders, including new-rider Liz. The finishline volunteers weren't that clued up and didn't know how many people were still out there or whether anyone had pulled out. No one was answering their mobile, so we had to assume our girls were still riding. We waited, and we waited, and we waited. Finally we were told there were two women and a guy still on the course. We waited, and we waited. We rode a few kilometres down the road and came across the first of our two strays. We turned around and went back to the startline, but then only one woman arrived. Where did the other woman get to? Poor Raeleen was feeling very guilty about sprinting for the finish and losing her partner, then someone else rode past and said that Helen had a flat tire and was walking back. Sure enough, she got a flat with no more than 400 metres left to ride.
We jumped in the car and took off, meeting her with about 200 metres to go, then everyone jumped out and grabbed tubes and Co2 and Helen's tire was changed in record time. After that we jumped back in our car and Helen jumped on her bike and soon the second of our missing riders was over the finishline and looking very pleased.
That left Liz to find, and just as we were about to call a search party she called to say that she had four and a half kilometres to go and was thinking about stopping and getting her father to pick her up. We weren't keen on that idea, so it was back in the car and off to find her. Helen and Raeleen jumped back on their bikes to ride her home. When we finally found her in the car we turned on our hazards and pretended we were the SAG wagon that wasn't doing its job. We sat behind her the rest of the way back in and Raeleen and Helen joined in and rode the last couple of kilometres. Finally it was a very sweaty and bug-covered Liz who crossed the line.
What a brilliant day. It's going to be hard to focus at work tomorrow. One more lead-up race (only 80km) and that's it until Taupo. Big, big gulp!
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Under a month to go
Everyone's starting to realise now that it's under a month till Taupo, and I feel like the last week has been far too light.
Obviously it would have been a bad idea to go for a ride on Saturday. Julia told me afterwards that the time trial was cancelled, that hardly anyone turned up, that half of those that did turned back at Evans Bay, and that those who did ride only went out to Miramar, up Awa Rd and down to Worser Bay. From there they only rode as far as Kilbirnie before cutting back through to Oriental Bay. Even the big large guys were getting blown around. I wouldn't have stood a chance.
Sure I spent some time on the trainer, but I was really annoyed to discover that entries to the Tour de Whitemans on Sunday didn't close on Wednesday after all and that they were taking entries on the day (despite saying there would be no late registrations). I really enjoyed my ride around the Bays with Julia in the sun on Sunday afternoon, but I badly wanted to do hills and her back just wasn't up to it.
I have only myself to blame for wimping out today. I rode in this morning, experiencing a near-death moment when a courier driver in a van did a u-turn in front of me on Willis Street then decided he wanted my lane more than I did (cue some heavy braking and swerving and a few loud words thrown at his open driver's window). The wind was already getting up by then and it continued to increase all day. I was dreading doing my usual 30km loop out to Kilbirnie then home via the Southern coast, but wasn't relishing Victoria Street in rush hour either.
Our manager had organised drinks to celebrate the end of our project and our Deputy Secretary turned up, so I was obliged to be there. I had a couple of glasses of wine but by 6.00 had sobered up again and was changing into my cycle gear when Hamish called to offer me a lift home. So did I say no? Did I ride home avoiding the worst of the wind by taking Taranaki Street then riding up the city side of Brooklyn Hill? No. I changed back into my office clothing and left Cleo in the cycle locker. Instead of getting in a training ride I went home and drank another couple of glasses of wine.
Sure, tomorrow I have a good 100 minutes or so of spinning on the cards, and I'll ride Cleo home on Wednesday instead. However I feel like I've slipped a bit this week. Of course my knee likes me for it, but I need some hardcore hillage to make me feel better, and I need to lay off the wine for a day or two. If only Hamish's father hadn't just sent us half a case of his finest in celebration of H's birthday.
In less self-critical news, I think I have my nutrition sorted for Taupo. I'm sold on the lime Peak Fuel drink, which is far less sweet than the Replace, and which I can handle full strength. I've also discovered a to-die-for cookies and cream flavoured Power Bar, which is moist enough that it doesn't dry my mouth out and has a better ratio of carbs than the Horleys Sculpt bars I've been using. I still haven't found a gel I like, but I have a new one to try on Saturday which was recommended to me by the guys at Penny's.
All negativity aside, I know I can get around Taupo. Last week was supposed to be a Gearshifters rest week and I easily did more than the assigned homework. If I step it up this weekend I'll be back in my little happy place again.
Obviously it would have been a bad idea to go for a ride on Saturday. Julia told me afterwards that the time trial was cancelled, that hardly anyone turned up, that half of those that did turned back at Evans Bay, and that those who did ride only went out to Miramar, up Awa Rd and down to Worser Bay. From there they only rode as far as Kilbirnie before cutting back through to Oriental Bay. Even the big large guys were getting blown around. I wouldn't have stood a chance.
Sure I spent some time on the trainer, but I was really annoyed to discover that entries to the Tour de Whitemans on Sunday didn't close on Wednesday after all and that they were taking entries on the day (despite saying there would be no late registrations). I really enjoyed my ride around the Bays with Julia in the sun on Sunday afternoon, but I badly wanted to do hills and her back just wasn't up to it.
I have only myself to blame for wimping out today. I rode in this morning, experiencing a near-death moment when a courier driver in a van did a u-turn in front of me on Willis Street then decided he wanted my lane more than I did (cue some heavy braking and swerving and a few loud words thrown at his open driver's window). The wind was already getting up by then and it continued to increase all day. I was dreading doing my usual 30km loop out to Kilbirnie then home via the Southern coast, but wasn't relishing Victoria Street in rush hour either.
Our manager had organised drinks to celebrate the end of our project and our Deputy Secretary turned up, so I was obliged to be there. I had a couple of glasses of wine but by 6.00 had sobered up again and was changing into my cycle gear when Hamish called to offer me a lift home. So did I say no? Did I ride home avoiding the worst of the wind by taking Taranaki Street then riding up the city side of Brooklyn Hill? No. I changed back into my office clothing and left Cleo in the cycle locker. Instead of getting in a training ride I went home and drank another couple of glasses of wine.
Sure, tomorrow I have a good 100 minutes or so of spinning on the cards, and I'll ride Cleo home on Wednesday instead. However I feel like I've slipped a bit this week. Of course my knee likes me for it, but I need some hardcore hillage to make me feel better, and I need to lay off the wine for a day or two. If only Hamish's father hadn't just sent us half a case of his finest in celebration of H's birthday.
In less self-critical news, I think I have my nutrition sorted for Taupo. I'm sold on the lime Peak Fuel drink, which is far less sweet than the Replace, and which I can handle full strength. I've also discovered a to-die-for cookies and cream flavoured Power Bar, which is moist enough that it doesn't dry my mouth out and has a better ratio of carbs than the Horleys Sculpt bars I've been using. I still haven't found a gel I like, but I have a new one to try on Saturday which was recommended to me by the guys at Penny's.
All negativity aside, I know I can get around Taupo. Last week was supposed to be a Gearshifters rest week and I easily did more than the assigned homework. If I step it up this weekend I'll be back in my little happy place again.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Happy Birthday Hamish
It's November 2nd, so it must be Flying Burrito Brothers!
Four Margaritas, calamari, crumbed and deep fried jalapenos, quesidillas, a chicken burrito, a slice of cheesecake, a slice of chocolate cake, a hot chocolate and some Mexican bread later, we were done.
Happy birthday Mr Yeti!
And yes, it may be time to clean the camera lens on my phone!
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Hamish has a new toy!
Meet our new orange and black Peugeot scooter! We're getting the top box installed and H is bringing it home on Tuesday. Someone is a very, very happy boy!
In other news, I'm still cycling. After Tuesday's RPM class I took Wednesday off then on Thursday I spent 75 minutes on a spin bike upstairs at Extreme. My plans for Friday got blown out of the water thanks to a busy day at work, then this morning's time trial plans got literally blown away. I didn't fancy riding in Northerlies strong enough to close the airport!
We've got Cleo half-installed on the wind trainer, so I'm off to spend some time spinning soon. This storm is forecast to blow through overnight and by tomorrow afternoon it should be ok for a ride.
I'm missing running but the physio says to hold off for a bit longer. The consensus is that my knee's doing well, given what I've been throwing at it. Sigh!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Oops
I may have accidentally ridden 100km this morning.
Julia and I never ended up riding yesterday, with the general consensus being that the Southerly was too strong. So I was feeling obliged to turn up for Dee's 8.30a.m. ride today. I still wasn't certain of my knee and I was feeling nervous about her txt, which said that the ride would be fast. I wasn't sure I was going to be riding fast anywhere!
My trepidation only grew when Dee said we'd be riding the Blue Mountains. I really wasn't sure my knee was up to it! Two things swayed me - I'd missed this ride when the Gearshifters did it during the Grape Ride training, and Dee's reassurance that if I got to the hill and didn't feel good I could turn around and ride back.
So there I was - riding with the fastest of the fast Gearshifters members, with a dicky knee and feeling completely unprepared to crank out 100km. And you know what? I totally rocked it today!
I think we rode into a headwind the whole way, but nevertheless we held about 30kmph all the way out to the Blue Mountains, riding in a tight pack and sharing the lead. Of course, by the time we got to the base of the hill there was no way I was turning around. Besides, I wasn't even sure I could find my way!
In the end the hill was a bit of an anticlimax. Sure, it was longish, but compared to riding up to the turbine, well, it was a speed bump. I got some encouraging "looking good" calls from another couple of riders half way up, overtook a woman on a hybrid, and caught up with the others by the top. They'd left slightly ahead of me as I messed around with my tail light, which was hitting my spokes.
From there we cruised gently down into Whiteman's Valley. The sun was out and if it weren't for the headwind it would have been perfect. Other than the odd horse rider cyclists ruled the road. When I wasn't keeping my eye on the road I was appreciating the rural scenary and contemplating moving to the outer reaches of Upper Hutt for the good life.
We stopped at the dairy at Te Marua for supplies and to chat with a few other cyclists and then it was back down SH2. It was at this point that my cycle computer started to whisper sweet nothings to me. All the way back to Lower Hutt I was sitting over 35kmph. 38kmph? What was up with that?! All this into the headwind ...
Even once we got back to Lower Hutt and left the highway I was still maintaining around 32kmph, and I kept that up (and up to 35kmph) all the way back down the expressway to Aotea Quay (with no one to pull me). I did get dropped as we neared Lower Hutt, but the lead pack stayed within eyesight. I was happy with the pace I was holding so didn't push to try to catch them. A couple of guys hung back with me so I wasn't alone.
I think I died a little bit after we left the expressway and cycled down Old Hutt Rd. I should have eaten a bit more at that point I think. I picked up again on Thorndon Quay, but I didn't have a lot of kick left in me.
All up, however, I really did totally rock today. Since starting the Taupo training I've picked up several kilometres an hour in speed and I might have to start listening to Dee and co when they tell me I underestimate myself.
I'm a bit nervous about how good my knee feels so I've popped some anti-inflamatories and I'm icing it. I have very little planned for today now other than blobbing in the sun. Somehow I think I've done enough. Accidentally riding 100km on Labour Day is way too much labour ...
Julia and I never ended up riding yesterday, with the general consensus being that the Southerly was too strong. So I was feeling obliged to turn up for Dee's 8.30a.m. ride today. I still wasn't certain of my knee and I was feeling nervous about her txt, which said that the ride would be fast. I wasn't sure I was going to be riding fast anywhere!
My trepidation only grew when Dee said we'd be riding the Blue Mountains. I really wasn't sure my knee was up to it! Two things swayed me - I'd missed this ride when the Gearshifters did it during the Grape Ride training, and Dee's reassurance that if I got to the hill and didn't feel good I could turn around and ride back.
So there I was - riding with the fastest of the fast Gearshifters members, with a dicky knee and feeling completely unprepared to crank out 100km. And you know what? I totally rocked it today!
I think we rode into a headwind the whole way, but nevertheless we held about 30kmph all the way out to the Blue Mountains, riding in a tight pack and sharing the lead. Of course, by the time we got to the base of the hill there was no way I was turning around. Besides, I wasn't even sure I could find my way!
In the end the hill was a bit of an anticlimax. Sure, it was longish, but compared to riding up to the turbine, well, it was a speed bump. I got some encouraging "looking good" calls from another couple of riders half way up, overtook a woman on a hybrid, and caught up with the others by the top. They'd left slightly ahead of me as I messed around with my tail light, which was hitting my spokes.
From there we cruised gently down into Whiteman's Valley. The sun was out and if it weren't for the headwind it would have been perfect. Other than the odd horse rider cyclists ruled the road. When I wasn't keeping my eye on the road I was appreciating the rural scenary and contemplating moving to the outer reaches of Upper Hutt for the good life.
We stopped at the dairy at Te Marua for supplies and to chat with a few other cyclists and then it was back down SH2. It was at this point that my cycle computer started to whisper sweet nothings to me. All the way back to Lower Hutt I was sitting over 35kmph. 38kmph? What was up with that?! All this into the headwind ...
Even once we got back to Lower Hutt and left the highway I was still maintaining around 32kmph, and I kept that up (and up to 35kmph) all the way back down the expressway to Aotea Quay (with no one to pull me). I did get dropped as we neared Lower Hutt, but the lead pack stayed within eyesight. I was happy with the pace I was holding so didn't push to try to catch them. A couple of guys hung back with me so I wasn't alone.
I think I died a little bit after we left the expressway and cycled down Old Hutt Rd. I should have eaten a bit more at that point I think. I picked up again on Thorndon Quay, but I didn't have a lot of kick left in me.
All up, however, I really did totally rock today. Since starting the Taupo training I've picked up several kilometres an hour in speed and I might have to start listening to Dee and co when they tell me I underestimate myself.
I'm a bit nervous about how good my knee feels so I've popped some anti-inflamatories and I'm icing it. I have very little planned for today now other than blobbing in the sun. Somehow I think I've done enough. Accidentally riding 100km on Labour Day is way too much labour ...
Saturday, October 25, 2008
I behaved myself
I think I should be proud of myself today. I went out for a ride with the Gearshifters as planned this morning. We were going to ride up through the Hutt then into the Haywards and up Moonshine Rd. Well, I was going to ride up Moonshine Rd if my knee felt ok.
By the time we were riding along Old Hutt Rd on our way out to Petone my knee was gently letting me know that I wasn't going to be climbing any hills today. It felt fine when I was cruising along, but started to hurt if I pushed it.
I let Dee know was was going on, then at Seaview everyone else hung a left and I rolled straight through the roundabout. Liz ended up coming with me, her knee also hurting. I suggested we ride to the end of the road at Eastbourne then turn back to Freyberg again.
Of course as soon as we were on our own, by the "Welcome to Eastbourne" sign, I got a flat. Off with the back tire, and with a bit of effort I managed to get the thing off the rim and pull out the tube. Thankfully it was easy to tell what had caused the flat - a thin little bit of something that looked like fuse wire but was considerably stronger and sharper. It left a nice hole in my new tire.
So far so good. I blew up the new tube a little and got it onto the rim. However it was almost impossible to get the tire back on again. These new tires are tight! A passing Dutch man helpfully got the tire back on, but as we were about to get the CO2 out we realised the tube was pinching. So we took the tire back off again and were struggling to get the tube to sit right.
Which is about when Nic from the Vorbette forums (and the Capitelles) rode past and rescued me. Boy did I ever feel like a total girly nube in my pink gloves and helmet struggling to change my tire! She blew the tube up a little more, got it straight, and got the tire back on again in no time. Then she changed Cleo back into the smallest gear and got the wheel back on. She also gave Liz and me a few tips on riding on the small chain ring rather than the large, and focussing more on maintaining a high cadence, particularly if we were having knee problems.
So yes, I felt like an absolute, total nube, but I was extremely grateful! Trying to salvage something out of our day, Liz and I continued on to the end of the road, then turned and headed back to Freyberg. The weather was thankfully holding up. Rain had been forecast but luckily we had only a couple of intermittent showers and there was only a slight Southerly. As we headed back down the motorway Liz's knee was giving her more and more grief. We kept the pace slow and eventually made it back to Freyberg (tooting buses and crazy drivers notwithstanding).
Afterwards I could tell that I hadn't aggravated my knee issues. It feels fine - or at least no more sore than it was before the ride. Sure, today was slow and short, but at least I was still out there. If the weather permits (the rain has finally arrived and the wind is picking up fast) I'll go out and cruise the bays again tomorrow and perhaps by Monday I might be able to get back into the hills.
In a case of brilliant timing, I bumped into my former swim tutor, Lesleigh, outside Freyberg today. She's very supportive of my half-ironman plans and told me to give her a call when I was ready. Yay!
A half-iron just feels like the right distance to be trying for somehow. At least, it's something I can feel excited about. The Rotorua running course looks gorgeous as well. Now, all I have to do is manage my knee.
By the time we were riding along Old Hutt Rd on our way out to Petone my knee was gently letting me know that I wasn't going to be climbing any hills today. It felt fine when I was cruising along, but started to hurt if I pushed it.
I let Dee know was was going on, then at Seaview everyone else hung a left and I rolled straight through the roundabout. Liz ended up coming with me, her knee also hurting. I suggested we ride to the end of the road at Eastbourne then turn back to Freyberg again.
Of course as soon as we were on our own, by the "Welcome to Eastbourne" sign, I got a flat. Off with the back tire, and with a bit of effort I managed to get the thing off the rim and pull out the tube. Thankfully it was easy to tell what had caused the flat - a thin little bit of something that looked like fuse wire but was considerably stronger and sharper. It left a nice hole in my new tire.
So far so good. I blew up the new tube a little and got it onto the rim. However it was almost impossible to get the tire back on again. These new tires are tight! A passing Dutch man helpfully got the tire back on, but as we were about to get the CO2 out we realised the tube was pinching. So we took the tire back off again and were struggling to get the tube to sit right.
Which is about when Nic from the Vorbette forums (and the Capitelles) rode past and rescued me. Boy did I ever feel like a total girly nube in my pink gloves and helmet struggling to change my tire! She blew the tube up a little more, got it straight, and got the tire back on again in no time. Then she changed Cleo back into the smallest gear and got the wheel back on. She also gave Liz and me a few tips on riding on the small chain ring rather than the large, and focussing more on maintaining a high cadence, particularly if we were having knee problems.
So yes, I felt like an absolute, total nube, but I was extremely grateful! Trying to salvage something out of our day, Liz and I continued on to the end of the road, then turned and headed back to Freyberg. The weather was thankfully holding up. Rain had been forecast but luckily we had only a couple of intermittent showers and there was only a slight Southerly. As we headed back down the motorway Liz's knee was giving her more and more grief. We kept the pace slow and eventually made it back to Freyberg (tooting buses and crazy drivers notwithstanding).
Afterwards I could tell that I hadn't aggravated my knee issues. It feels fine - or at least no more sore than it was before the ride. Sure, today was slow and short, but at least I was still out there. If the weather permits (the rain has finally arrived and the wind is picking up fast) I'll go out and cruise the bays again tomorrow and perhaps by Monday I might be able to get back into the hills.
In a case of brilliant timing, I bumped into my former swim tutor, Lesleigh, outside Freyberg today. She's very supportive of my half-ironman plans and told me to give her a call when I was ready. Yay!
A half-iron just feels like the right distance to be trying for somehow. At least, it's something I can feel excited about. The Rotorua running course looks gorgeous as well. Now, all I have to do is manage my knee.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
I can ride, I can ride, I can ride
So the physio thinks it's a GOOD thing that my knee got me through that ride up to Hawkins Hill. She reminded me it's only been a week and a half since I damaged it. She has banned me from spin classes for the interim, but ...
I can ride this Saturday, provided I'm sensible and don't ride up Moonshine Rd if I know I'm hurting. She said that I should keep moving as much as possible, since my knee hurts more after I stop. She said I am allowed to replace the spinning with actual riding.
How much do I love my physio?
Having said that, I will still forgo Saturday's ride if I don't feel in myself that I'm improving. I will keep icing, keep taking Voltaran, continue to wear my one pair of office-friendly loafers, keep updating this blog.
It's not over till it's over, and it's not over until I'm over Hatepe and the finishline is in sight.
I can ride this Saturday, provided I'm sensible and don't ride up Moonshine Rd if I know I'm hurting. She said that I should keep moving as much as possible, since my knee hurts more after I stop. She said I am allowed to replace the spinning with actual riding.
How much do I love my physio?
Having said that, I will still forgo Saturday's ride if I don't feel in myself that I'm improving. I will keep icing, keep taking Voltaran, continue to wear my one pair of office-friendly loafers, keep updating this blog.
It's not over till it's over, and it's not over until I'm over Hatepe and the finishline is in sight.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Yesterday
Yesterday I did a lunchtime Balance class, a satisfyingly hardcore upper body workout after work, and then over 100 minutes of spin class.
Today - my knee hurts.
Sigh.
I'm going to the physio tomorrow with a strategy. I'm going to seek her approval to a recovery regime. One week of no biking, no running, no squats, lunges or leg press. Still allowed - upper body weights, Balance and aqua jogging/swimming.
Make no mistake. This regime is going to kill me psychologically. Realistically, it may not even fix the knee. I believe it will take two weeks of rest to genuinely fix the problem. I'm hoping one week will bide me enough time to get me through Taupo.
I will be missing the ride this weekend out to the Haywards and Moonshine Rd. That on its own is enough to send me into a deep depression. The time away from Cleo will feel like purgatory. However the alternative is to continue pushing this knee, with the possibility of blowing it up completely and not being able to race at all.
Thankfully the weather forecast for the next few days is appalling, and with it being a long weekend, and a weekend that Hamish and I have traditionally spent lying around eating, perhaps I will cope. Although I am developing an abiding fear of the scales. I will just have to deal with the weight issues later. Recovery should come first.
Bah.
Today - my knee hurts.
Sigh.
I'm going to the physio tomorrow with a strategy. I'm going to seek her approval to a recovery regime. One week of no biking, no running, no squats, lunges or leg press. Still allowed - upper body weights, Balance and aqua jogging/swimming.
Make no mistake. This regime is going to kill me psychologically. Realistically, it may not even fix the knee. I believe it will take two weeks of rest to genuinely fix the problem. I'm hoping one week will bide me enough time to get me through Taupo.
I will be missing the ride this weekend out to the Haywards and Moonshine Rd. That on its own is enough to send me into a deep depression. The time away from Cleo will feel like purgatory. However the alternative is to continue pushing this knee, with the possibility of blowing it up completely and not being able to race at all.
Thankfully the weather forecast for the next few days is appalling, and with it being a long weekend, and a weekend that Hamish and I have traditionally spent lying around eating, perhaps I will cope. Although I am developing an abiding fear of the scales. I will just have to deal with the weight issues later. Recovery should come first.
Bah.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Oh, what the heck
I am officially declaring. 2009 - I am there.
Kate, I would pin this on you, but I'm going to accept total culpability for this one. The problem is that I've reached a point in my training where I know I can get around the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge just fine. So of course I started thinking today about my next challenge. I couldn't bring myself to get excited about training for a marathon, however I needed a stupidly monumentous goal.
Bike - no problem. Run a half marathon after the bike? Yeah, probably, if I train for it. To go from not being able to swim a length of Freyberg without flippers though to swimming the whole distance in the lake? Now that's the challenge right there.
Not so long ago I could not ride a medium size hill without walking. I could not ride clipless, let alone ride clipless through rush-hour traffic in the centre of town. Not that much longer ago I couldn't run 500 metres without dying.
Liz signed up for the Taupo Round the Lake Challenge despite not having ridden a bike before. I have to keep asking the question - what am I really capable of?
I guess that in just over a year I'll be finding that out!
Is there such a thing as a half-m dot?
Kate, I would pin this on you, but I'm going to accept total culpability for this one. The problem is that I've reached a point in my training where I know I can get around the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge just fine. So of course I started thinking today about my next challenge. I couldn't bring myself to get excited about training for a marathon, however I needed a stupidly monumentous goal.
Bike - no problem. Run a half marathon after the bike? Yeah, probably, if I train for it. To go from not being able to swim a length of Freyberg without flippers though to swimming the whole distance in the lake? Now that's the challenge right there.
Not so long ago I could not ride a medium size hill without walking. I could not ride clipless, let alone ride clipless through rush-hour traffic in the centre of town. Not that much longer ago I couldn't run 500 metres without dying.
Liz signed up for the Taupo Round the Lake Challenge despite not having ridden a bike before. I have to keep asking the question - what am I really capable of?
I guess that in just over a year I'll be finding that out!
Is there such a thing as a half-m dot?
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Thoughts on Yesterday's Ride
Do I ever have a major case of hill scorn now! Walking to the dairy to buy a paper this morning I couldn't help but look down on Mt Crawford, on Mt Victoria and the other hills that once caused me to suffer huge palpitations of fear, and laugh. I turned and looked up, and up, and up some more to the Turbine and the radar station. I feel like I've 'knocked the bugger off', to use a certain iconic New Zealand phrase. What bigger hill is there to climb?
I rode a smart ride yesterday. We begun by riding up Brooklyn Hill. I wasn't feeling that fantastic and was probably a little dehydrated. We had the option of riding down Ohiro Rd and back up again but I wanted to spare my knee as much as possible, so I waited opposite Helen Street for the others to return. From there it was another climb up to Karepa Street, where I stopped briefly to put the glove back on that I'd accidentally taken off and put in my back pocket with my arm warmers.
From Karepa Street it was all uphill to the turbine. The first 100m or so of the access road are very steep and several of the squad stopped here to walk. Pip offered to grab me so that I could unclip and stop as well, but I insisted on continuing. Shortly afterwards it levels out, and although there are patches where it steepens a little again, that first bit is the worst of it. I used to live nearby and have driven up to the turbine several times, so I had a rough idea of what I was in for.
I made it to the turbine feeling quite jubilent and then Dee told us we were riding all the way to the radar. I had a brief 'what am I doing?' moment. I considered using my knee as a get out of jail free card, but my curiosity was piqued. I've walked all the way to the radar before and I remembered there being steep patches. I decided I'd rather feel like I'd done all I could and that I'd feel worse if I wimped out.
Only a small group of us rode onwards. Rob was a small red blip on the horizon - a good 100m or so ahead of the rest of us. Dee and I climbed together for a while. I took my cue from her and stood on my pedals for several minutes. This was the first time I'd really felt like I had climbed out of my saddle effectively. I managed to find my balance and put some power into my climb. All the same I really felt my quads! Climbing out of the saddle is something I need to work on.
It's only six kilometres from the turbine to the radar station and it's undulating, but there are some gnarly little steep stretches, a gate to climb over and a nasty patch of gravel. We rode past the castle with its snarling dogs, and past the ostriches. Finally we made it to the top. I was glad to see the top of the hill. I was starting to feel some serious fatigue by that point!
I really enjoyed the roll back down to the turbine, despite one small mishap. At the entry to the carpark is a gate. Before the gate there is a hill then a short, small rise. I unclipped as I was rolling down the hill, then somehow managed to put enough pressure back down again as I was cruising up the rise to the gate that I must have clipped back in. You can guess what happened. I stopped at the gate and toppled straight over onto my right side. Thankfully I did it with as much grace and dignity as possible, and even managed to land in the grass on the verge!
From there it was down, down and down. Downhill always seems so much steeper than uphill, and I always find myself marvelling at the heights I just climbed. It never seems possible that I could possibly have gone up that way just a half hour or so earlier.
Down Happy Valley and Stu stopped for a flat tire so Dee told us to do a loop up Murchison Rd. I opted out of that climb as well, knowing my knee was pretty much had it. I stopped, put my arm warmers back on, and waited.
After a short while everyone regrouped and we cruised off around the bays. It was a simply gorgeous spring morning. The Southerly and wind that were supposed to have kicked in didn't materialise. We rode two-abreast, cruising at around 30 to 35kmph. I rode next to Angela for a while, then moved alongside the other Pip. We chatted most of the way, sitting behind Phil and Rob.
On that ride back around the Bays I got another glimpse of how much my cycling has improved over the last few weeks. I think the Waikanae ride really made a difference. I'm much more comfortable riding in a pack with the faster riders in the squad. I'm not killing myself now to keep up with them. I'm holding my own, holding the paceline and feeling good.
I still felt good afterwards, though I was pretty tired last night. My knee wasn't feeling too good though. I'm continuing the ice and Voltaran regime. Julia and I were going to ride this morning, but after an hour of debating with myself I had to force myself to stay in bed. Thankfully it took a while for the Southerly to roll through and a bit of rain made my decision easier to take.
Later, once the rain had cleared and the sun come out, I walked into town and went shopping. All those ugly helmet photos finally convinced me it was time to hand the monsterous thing back to Hamish. I am now the slightly dubious owner of a rather pink helmet. Pink I tell you! I do not want my Cleo to become all girlified, but somehow this helmet would not take no for an answer.
I had so much fun walking around town, something I almost never do these days (being that I'm always out riding). I bought myself a fabulous wrap dress on sale at Boutilicious for $35, and a black and hot-pink tunic top from Fruiti. All that and my real intention had been to shop for Hamish's upcoming birthday. Oops.
I'm not sure that the walk into town was really that good for my knee, but it was good for my soul. As I was walking through Central Park a Kaka flew squawking overhead. I wondered whether it was one of the four kaka I've seen flying around Mornington every day this week. As I walked down the hill I was swamped by a group of young boys on their skateboards. Everyone everywhere was smiling.
After walking down Cuba Street and Courtney Place I wandered back up Tory Street, Tasman Street then over the hill and down into Vogeltown. I stopped at the dairy for a cold drink then wandered up a pedestrian accessway back up to the Ridgway. By this time all the layers I was wearing had become a real burden. The sun was out, there was no wind to speak of, and it was distinctly warm.
Wellington on a good day, and Pip still marvelling at a weekend where she went for a huge ride. Three years or so into my fitness obsession my mind still hasn't caught up with what my body is capable of. Thankfully I have people like Dee to show me! I'm just sad I can't ride today, when it's so wonderful out there. My knee comes first though and I'm determined to be sensible. I got to spend a wonderful day wandering through town, and it was nice to do something different for a change.
I had to laugh though. Dee amitted to me yesterday that she had never ridden all the way up to the radar station before herself. She and Duck went up there once but she turned back halfway. Great!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Why Does the Girl on the Left Have a Huge Smile on Her Face?
Perhaps because she'd just ridden all the way up to here:
The Hawkins Hill radar station, which is this high up:
I rode up there with these guys:
And with these guys as well:
Here I am smiling in the wind turbine car park, before Dee announced we were going higher. I looked pretty pleased with myself here too!
See, I even took a photo of the turbine to show I'd actually made it up there:
Here's something I learned today. Don't ever think that something isn't possible. You know what? Sometimes it actually is ...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Read Write Poem: Wordle
I chose to write a poem based on the first prompt, using three words from the Wordle. The words that emerged first were "silence", "field" and "warm". My additional challenge to myself was to translate a physical feeling, a memory of sitting in my Wellington living room last night, into a piece of speed-written poetry. This is very much a rough draft! I tried not to think too much about the writing. I wanted to trust instinct to convey the sense of the moment.
Mornington
This night
silence is the
darkness.
The repeated call
of a Tui
in the valley
is the warmth
of dreaming.
The Vogeltown
Kaka fly screeching
where pine trees
were felled and
empty fields
were once
landfill.
The evening
is a held
breath,
each feather
a note from
an Oboe.
Mornington
This night
silence is the
darkness.
The repeated call
of a Tui
in the valley
is the warmth
of dreaming.
The Vogeltown
Kaka fly screeching
where pine trees
were felled and
empty fields
were once
landfill.
The evening
is a held
breath,
each feather
a note from
an Oboe.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Well, this is interesting ...
Was it only yesterday that I felt like I was hitting the wall and complaining about being exhausted?
My knee was still sore this morning. I had only a vague sense of it possibly still being inflamed until I was walking to work from Hill Street, at which point it started to hurt. Reluctantly I had to acknowledge that I wasn't going to be doing anything bike or run related today. It's gotten a bit better as the day has gone on, but I don't think it will be recovered enough to do anything tomorrow. In fact, I think I should wait until Saturday at the earliest before riding again.
After some careful analysis I suspect the pain has arisen from a combination of the two big rides on the weekend, my historically tight shins, calves and ankles, a seat that might possibly be a squidgen too low, and possibly cleats that aren't quite positioned correctly and need more float. I really hope it's not the seat. I've really been enjoying my ride setup and I'm reluctant to raise it again.
In any case, I'm going to see whether the physio agrees with my self-diagnosis tomorrow and beg her for some ultrasound. Interestingly I noticed tonight that there's also a small bruise around where the pain is located. I can't remember smacking my knee on anything, but I tend not to notice that sort of thing so I'm not discounting that possibility either.
What has really astounded me though is how much of a difference taking today off has lifted my energy levels. It's not like I'm tapering for an Ironman and wow, someone might need to lock me up if I ever do. I am buzzing insanely. I keep casting longing, loving looks at Cleo every time I pass her in the hallway. I am fidgety and full of short little bursts of enthusiasm followed by rapid diversions in train of thought. I want to ride. I want to ride badly.
My name is Pip, and yes, I am an addict.
My knee was still sore this morning. I had only a vague sense of it possibly still being inflamed until I was walking to work from Hill Street, at which point it started to hurt. Reluctantly I had to acknowledge that I wasn't going to be doing anything bike or run related today. It's gotten a bit better as the day has gone on, but I don't think it will be recovered enough to do anything tomorrow. In fact, I think I should wait until Saturday at the earliest before riding again.
After some careful analysis I suspect the pain has arisen from a combination of the two big rides on the weekend, my historically tight shins, calves and ankles, a seat that might possibly be a squidgen too low, and possibly cleats that aren't quite positioned correctly and need more float. I really hope it's not the seat. I've really been enjoying my ride setup and I'm reluctant to raise it again.
In any case, I'm going to see whether the physio agrees with my self-diagnosis tomorrow and beg her for some ultrasound. Interestingly I noticed tonight that there's also a small bruise around where the pain is located. I can't remember smacking my knee on anything, but I tend not to notice that sort of thing so I'm not discounting that possibility either.
What has really astounded me though is how much of a difference taking today off has lifted my energy levels. It's not like I'm tapering for an Ironman and wow, someone might need to lock me up if I ever do. I am buzzing insanely. I keep casting longing, loving looks at Cleo every time I pass her in the hallway. I am fidgety and full of short little bursts of enthusiasm followed by rapid diversions in train of thought. I want to ride. I want to ride badly.
My name is Pip, and yes, I am an addict.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Noooo!!!
I think I may have finally hit the wall. Unable to face getting up to cycle into town the morning after my 100km ride, I put Cleo in the back of the Honda yesterday and got H to drop me off near the office. I planned to either ride with the Capitelles after work, or just ride home, depending on how I felt.
Feeling very tired, to say the least, I was nonetheless on my bike and riding towards Freyberg shortly after 5. By the time I got there however it was all I could do to keep my head down as I passed the group of women and bikes waiting there. My legs were not happy and there was something a little more disturbing happening. My left knee was hurting.
My left knee continued to hurt all the way to Evans Bay, all the way through Kilbirnie to Lyall Bay, and all the way round the coast and up Happy Valley to home. All the same, given how tired I was I was more than happy with my pace. Out of the wind I was flying without effort. Into the wind I was still maintaining around 5km more per hour than I was only a couple of months ago.
It was really only as I was riding up the hill to home into that Northerly that my pace finally fell away. I toiled my way incredibly slowly towards the ridgeline, very happy to finally be at the top. My heartrate never got up there - my legs wouldn't work hard enough to give it a chance! And that knee ...
That knee continued to hurt during RPM this morning, and by the end of class was feeling sore to the touch. Gritting my teeth I cancelled my planned after-work class, though it nearly killed me to do it. I settled for a wonderful Balance class at lunchtime instead.
Whatever is going on I don't think it's IT band related. The pain is on the inner side, just below the kneecap. Here's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping it's just a bit of inflammation from overuse over the last few days. I'm hoping that a rest day tomorrow will settle it down. If not, I have a physio appointment on Thursday anyway.
In my ideal world I still complete the 'hard' homework for this week. To get there however I still have to fit in two RPM classes and a 25-10-25 time trial before Saturday. So it's unlikely to happen. If my knee settles I might at least still be able to fit in a ride (or another RPM if the weather folds). The good thing is that the weather, Northerlies aside, has been wonderful and has really been tempting me to actually get out on my bike after work rather than spin or run.
Now I just need my knee to come right. Please!
Please!!!!
Feeling very tired, to say the least, I was nonetheless on my bike and riding towards Freyberg shortly after 5. By the time I got there however it was all I could do to keep my head down as I passed the group of women and bikes waiting there. My legs were not happy and there was something a little more disturbing happening. My left knee was hurting.
My left knee continued to hurt all the way to Evans Bay, all the way through Kilbirnie to Lyall Bay, and all the way round the coast and up Happy Valley to home. All the same, given how tired I was I was more than happy with my pace. Out of the wind I was flying without effort. Into the wind I was still maintaining around 5km more per hour than I was only a couple of months ago.
It was really only as I was riding up the hill to home into that Northerly that my pace finally fell away. I toiled my way incredibly slowly towards the ridgeline, very happy to finally be at the top. My heartrate never got up there - my legs wouldn't work hard enough to give it a chance! And that knee ...
That knee continued to hurt during RPM this morning, and by the end of class was feeling sore to the touch. Gritting my teeth I cancelled my planned after-work class, though it nearly killed me to do it. I settled for a wonderful Balance class at lunchtime instead.
Whatever is going on I don't think it's IT band related. The pain is on the inner side, just below the kneecap. Here's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping it's just a bit of inflammation from overuse over the last few days. I'm hoping that a rest day tomorrow will settle it down. If not, I have a physio appointment on Thursday anyway.
In my ideal world I still complete the 'hard' homework for this week. To get there however I still have to fit in two RPM classes and a 25-10-25 time trial before Saturday. So it's unlikely to happen. If my knee settles I might at least still be able to fit in a ride (or another RPM if the weather folds). The good thing is that the weather, Northerlies aside, has been wonderful and has really been tempting me to actually get out on my bike after work rather than spin or run.
Now I just need my knee to come right. Please!
Please!!!!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Pip Tours Waikanae
Groundhog Day! At 6.15 this morning I was once again standing on the side of the road with Cleo waiting for Dee to pick us up and take us off to Waikanae. Only this time it was a gorgeous clear and still morning, and the birds were redefining the concept of a dawn chorus. Good vibes.
A quick drive later and Dee, Veronica, Liz and I were offloading our bikes outside the Waikanae pony club and preparing to race. My goal s for this week were fairly simple - get around the 100km event (four loops of a 25km course), drink, eat and stay with a pack. The last of those goals was the most important. I also had some vague time goals, but wasn't really sure how fast I was capable of going and didn't really care so much about time anyway. I knew I could smoke the Graperide time, but that was a hillier course.
It was clearly going to be a warm day, but was still a little cool at 9 a.m.. I decided on my shortsleeve top, sleeveless windbreaker and armwarmers. Seconds before the race started I dropped the armwarmers down to my wrists, and there they stayed. As a result I now have the most ridiculous sunburn - four inches of white wrist, red arm then white skin again from halfway up my bicep to my shoulder.
The Waikanae race runs primarily through a succession of pretty suburban streets, with a longer out and back down a country road along the back of some sand dunes and one small hill climb (comparative to the Pass of Branda). As a result there are a large number of corners to be negotiated. On the first lap I was concentrating on not coming off my bike, particularly at the end of the out and back - a rather tricky u-turn on a narrow road. Some of the corners had a little more gravel on them than I would have liked, and one man did go down in front of me early on. Thankfully I was able to ride around him and didn't go down myself. By the fourth loop I had my turning down. I got into a rhythm of dropping a gear and sprinting out of the corner, and was no longer getting dropped after every intersection. I can highly recommend this as a course for developing technical riding skills!
Joy of joys, I found a pack almost immediately and rode with them the whole 100km. Osteopath Liz (not new rider Liz) joined me and we stuck together until she mysteriously disappeared at 75km. I had so much fun on this ride. Being in the middle of a pack made all the difference. We were all content to hold a pace that felt reasonably laid-back without being too slow. I could probably have gone a little faster, but I kept myself reined in, remembering my pack-riding goal. We lost a couple of people at the 50km mark, notably a young guy on a mountainbike with fats, wearing board shorts and a t-shirt. Someone get that dude a road bike!
One of the other lovely things about this race was the large number of children with small little road bikes, and the young boy riding stoker on his father's tandem. Given the options of 25, 50, 70 and 100km there was a wide range of ages and abilities out there, everyone having a go on a gorgeous day.
At 60km I knew I would be riding the whole 100. I was feeling too fresh to pull out at 75km. I kept eating, kept drinking. I'm able to drink without slowing down now, which is a huge breakthrough for me. By now I also knew the course well enough to know where the long flat parts were, where I would have time to mess around with bottles and bars and not have to worry about unexpected manouvers.
As we all settled in after the 75km mark those of us left started to relax and get a little more social. It was so nice to be cruising along over 30kmph chatting about riding. I wound up riding with two former Gearshifters who finished Taupo in my target time, so it was nice to know I was in their ballpark. There were only two dodgy incidents - a blonde woman in a small red car who felt obliged to honk and then pull into a left turn ahead of us, and a guy in a white van whose wing mirror came within inches of a woman riding a hybrid ahead of me. You can bet I was yelling at him! She wasn't too impressed either, as we later discussed over the last 10km.
I had thought that it would be difficult to continue riding around and around the same route. I thought that psychologically I would find it very hard to ride those last 25km. However I was feeling so good that it was more a case of realising at the 65km mark that "huh - only 35km to go". With 25km to go I was enjoying myself too much to feel tired, particularly when a couple of guys who'd finished earlier jumped in front to pull us home. Love you guys!!!
Up the speed bump one last time - sprinting it. Down again and round the corner with the gravel. Out along Peka Peka Rd, round the u-turn again. 12 kilometres, 10 kilometres. Finally the row of orange cones and this time we could go left. Cheers from the women behind us, cheers from the Gearshifters sitting on the grass by the finish. I got off my bike and my legs felt fine. When I got off my bike after the Graperide they seized so badly I had to hobble for a good ten minutes.
And yes, I know the Graperide is hillier, but I wiped nearly 40 minutes off that time. I HAVE to be happy with that! I don't have my official result yet, but I know roughly the time I finished in. I averaged around 28kmph, or over 17mph, which is quite fast for me, even if it's slow for others! I can only get faster. I also have to remember that we rode a very hilly 60km yesterday, so my legs were fatigued from the start.
So yes, I am doing my happy little Pip dance about my race today. Riding home with the girls I was sitting in the front seat scoffing my Burger King (oh yes, we did) and singing along to Purple Rain on Dee's iPod feeling pretty darn pleased with life. Spring has turned on a summer day today and I was happy to have been out racing in it and looking forward to getting out there again.
Yay for good racing!
A quick drive later and Dee, Veronica, Liz and I were offloading our bikes outside the Waikanae pony club and preparing to race. My goal s for this week were fairly simple - get around the 100km event (four loops of a 25km course), drink, eat and stay with a pack. The last of those goals was the most important. I also had some vague time goals, but wasn't really sure how fast I was capable of going and didn't really care so much about time anyway. I knew I could smoke the Graperide time, but that was a hillier course.
It was clearly going to be a warm day, but was still a little cool at 9 a.m.. I decided on my shortsleeve top, sleeveless windbreaker and armwarmers. Seconds before the race started I dropped the armwarmers down to my wrists, and there they stayed. As a result I now have the most ridiculous sunburn - four inches of white wrist, red arm then white skin again from halfway up my bicep to my shoulder.
The Waikanae race runs primarily through a succession of pretty suburban streets, with a longer out and back down a country road along the back of some sand dunes and one small hill climb (comparative to the Pass of Branda). As a result there are a large number of corners to be negotiated. On the first lap I was concentrating on not coming off my bike, particularly at the end of the out and back - a rather tricky u-turn on a narrow road. Some of the corners had a little more gravel on them than I would have liked, and one man did go down in front of me early on. Thankfully I was able to ride around him and didn't go down myself. By the fourth loop I had my turning down. I got into a rhythm of dropping a gear and sprinting out of the corner, and was no longer getting dropped after every intersection. I can highly recommend this as a course for developing technical riding skills!
Joy of joys, I found a pack almost immediately and rode with them the whole 100km. Osteopath Liz (not new rider Liz) joined me and we stuck together until she mysteriously disappeared at 75km. I had so much fun on this ride. Being in the middle of a pack made all the difference. We were all content to hold a pace that felt reasonably laid-back without being too slow. I could probably have gone a little faster, but I kept myself reined in, remembering my pack-riding goal. We lost a couple of people at the 50km mark, notably a young guy on a mountainbike with fats, wearing board shorts and a t-shirt. Someone get that dude a road bike!
One of the other lovely things about this race was the large number of children with small little road bikes, and the young boy riding stoker on his father's tandem. Given the options of 25, 50, 70 and 100km there was a wide range of ages and abilities out there, everyone having a go on a gorgeous day.
At 60km I knew I would be riding the whole 100. I was feeling too fresh to pull out at 75km. I kept eating, kept drinking. I'm able to drink without slowing down now, which is a huge breakthrough for me. By now I also knew the course well enough to know where the long flat parts were, where I would have time to mess around with bottles and bars and not have to worry about unexpected manouvers.
As we all settled in after the 75km mark those of us left started to relax and get a little more social. It was so nice to be cruising along over 30kmph chatting about riding. I wound up riding with two former Gearshifters who finished Taupo in my target time, so it was nice to know I was in their ballpark. There were only two dodgy incidents - a blonde woman in a small red car who felt obliged to honk and then pull into a left turn ahead of us, and a guy in a white van whose wing mirror came within inches of a woman riding a hybrid ahead of me. You can bet I was yelling at him! She wasn't too impressed either, as we later discussed over the last 10km.
I had thought that it would be difficult to continue riding around and around the same route. I thought that psychologically I would find it very hard to ride those last 25km. However I was feeling so good that it was more a case of realising at the 65km mark that "huh - only 35km to go". With 25km to go I was enjoying myself too much to feel tired, particularly when a couple of guys who'd finished earlier jumped in front to pull us home. Love you guys!!!
Up the speed bump one last time - sprinting it. Down again and round the corner with the gravel. Out along Peka Peka Rd, round the u-turn again. 12 kilometres, 10 kilometres. Finally the row of orange cones and this time we could go left. Cheers from the women behind us, cheers from the Gearshifters sitting on the grass by the finish. I got off my bike and my legs felt fine. When I got off my bike after the Graperide they seized so badly I had to hobble for a good ten minutes.
And yes, I know the Graperide is hillier, but I wiped nearly 40 minutes off that time. I HAVE to be happy with that! I don't have my official result yet, but I know roughly the time I finished in. I averaged around 28kmph, or over 17mph, which is quite fast for me, even if it's slow for others! I can only get faster. I also have to remember that we rode a very hilly 60km yesterday, so my legs were fatigued from the start.
So yes, I am doing my happy little Pip dance about my race today. Riding home with the girls I was sitting in the front seat scoffing my Burger King (oh yes, we did) and singing along to Purple Rain on Dee's iPod feeling pretty darn pleased with life. Spring has turned on a summer day today and I was happy to have been out racing in it and looking forward to getting out there again.
Yay for good racing!
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