Choices

Choice - what life is all about I suppose. Presently life has turned a few corners. I have a couple of offers now that, while they seems great, are taking their sweet time in turning into concrete jobs. Consequently you reach that stage where people (those with offers on the table) need some answers, i.e. “yes or “no” whilst the others are still dilly-dallying with their decisions. The question that then comes to mind is “ should I wait it out and hope for a “yes” in my favour for the more preferable role?” or “should I take what’s on offer now and see what happens afterwards?” Anyone have any ideas???

I went up to Toowoomba last week for a discussion with some of the uni staff up there. On the trip up, beautiful and green for a change, I spied some mountains with towers on their pinnacles. This needs further investigation in case there’s a good road that needs “Everesting”. Potential is everywhere at the moment! I also remembered growing up around the area and that in turn made me think of some of the big hills around our farm. Perhaps that’s in my interest to check out too.

My biking has started to get going, slowly, but at least it’s going OK. I’ve started doing the Strava Climbing Challenge for March and whilst I haven’t done any riding the last two days, I’ll nevertheless get back to it tomorrow and smash out some more metres. This is a challenge I will complete.

I read today the Strava blog about the girls down in Melbourne doing their Everesting of Mt Donna Buang together. How inspiring was that! Looking at some of the photo’s it seems like a truly beautiful ride and one I’ve now got very interested in.

It seems decisions will be made in the next day or two and that these will determine whether I'm still my present role, possible in in Melbourne (my preferred role) or in Toowoomba.

Sometimes it can be nice to have choices afterall.

So what's been happening in my world?

My world at present

How is everyone? I hope you’re staying right side up and enjoying life to it’s fullest.

Me? Another week goes by, another week closer to the end of my contract here. I’ve been applying for every job I can in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, to ensure I have money coming in for my family. Its been a tough road emotionally and Everesting, important as it is to me, hasn’t been at the forefront of my mind of late. I still dream of that “Grey Striped Jersey”, but it will have to wait until some resolution to my current situation emerges. I submitted my application for my own job (very weird) this morning. The application period closes Sunday night. Personally I’ve worked to make myself indispensable over the last 3 years, so hopefully that will stand me in good stead when it comes time to decide both the interviewees, and the eventual “winner” for this position.

I have been out regularly on my Niner though. Doing the trails most mornings works to get rid of the stress I’ve been dealing with. Despite being a short ride, it’s a tough hit out and I figure at least it keeps my fitness to a reasonable standing (something like a holding pattern I guess). I don’t want to goes backwards, but I don’t have the time at present to go forward either. Hopefully that should be decided one way or another shortly.

The pro-racing season has started and I’m looking forward to the Classics starting. The Tour of Flanders, and of course Paris-Roubaix are simply amazing to watch and the way the race unfolds always makes for compelling viewing. Despite being a fan of both Spartacus and Boonen, I’d really like to see Wiggo win this one to cap off a wonderful career. Time will tell if Sky can support Wiggins and get him to the finish in a good position.

Job Stress Continues

What a few weeks it’s been. On the bright side I completed the Strava Climbing Challenge for the month of January. On the down side, I won’t be doing the February edition as I just don’t have the time at present. Good luck to those that do!

On the jobs front there has been some movement. One, my work supervisor (a great boss) did manage to find the funds to advertise my role this week, so at least there’s some hope there. Two, though my role was advertised, it will change considerably, and the job description looks pretty intimidating to be honest! An added downer is there’s been a lot of interest from both internally and externally so I’m not feeling confident at all now, despite being the only person in the university who knows this particular application inside out. Despite this though I will of course apply and see what happens. I won’t be training someone else though to do this role!

To those interested, I’m also looking to Sydney and Melbourne for roles. Got a couple in Sydney I’m going to call today and see what comes of them. One, a permanent role, the other a contract one with good daily rates.

If anyone doesn’t already know, the Hell’s 500 team are on Instagram and their regular updates provide for some fantastic photo’s and stories. Well worth checking out.

The Tour Down Under was a fabulous race this year, as was the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. I think this one will become an event to watch yearly as the best teams in the world battle out a pretty tough course. It made for great viewing.

I’ve been doing plenty of mountain biking lately and that’s keeping me sane, and occupied. It’s amazing how good cycling is to take your mind off life’s problems. Nothing better than those endorphins kicking in at the end of a tough ride making you feel things aren’t so bad after all.

As for Everesting, the dream is still alive - but just on the backburner for now until life settles down. It'll all happen, just not sure when!

First world problems eh?!

Stay stay, and keep your wheels right side down.

Permanent Job needed

Well, what a crap two days it's been. Be prepared for a little "venting" today.

Had a talk to my new boss yesterday afternoon and she tells me that my role (as promised by my Director) would now not be advertised as an ongoing position, but as a two year contract instead. This is in direct contrast to that promised over a year ago. So I feel I have been screwed over in a big way after being far too trusting of my employer.

So even if I decided to apply for the same role I've been doing for 3 years now (and very successfully), it's only for another 2 years and then what? They're so shortsighted here it's ridiculous. It also means, since it's not permanent, that I can't get that new "stealth" Emonda that I've been set on for the last month (promised my wife I'd only buy it when I got a permanent job). 

So today I am really pissed off. At work "sulking". I even declined to go to a last team meeting with my old boss cause I didn't want to talk to her. Been "used" in a big way to get this project up and running successfully, and despite the application needing loads of support it's not going to happen. If I hadn't been around to talk the pilot sites into signing up we wouldn't have this application or be the leaders using it Australia wide. So yeah, majorly unhappy with life today.

In order to find a permanent job I might even have to find something in Sydney or Melbourne to shuttle back and forth to. There's nothing much up here in Brisbane at all,  no matter what it is. To make matters worse, I couldn't go riding today either as it's been raining constantly since about 2am this morning. Hasn't let up. 

View out my window at work looking northwards.

The family and I are off to the south coast tonight to see my in-laws and their kids (flying up from Melbourne) for the weekend. Tweed Heads is a gorgeous spot, but having two little ones couped up in a 3 bedroom unit could be a recipe for disaster. Gonna take the TCR and do some riding in the hills if I can, just to get anger/stress of finding another job out of my system. Riding to exhaustion is good for that!

So since I have only 2 months to the end of my contract (should I not get my job back), it's time I faced reality and gave this Everesting gig away for the time being to concentrate on what I'm going to do next in life. I can't juggle both job hunting, stress of life and riding at present.

Check back every now and again and I'll fill you in on what's happening and hopefully the resumption of my everesting journey.

Thanks for reading and visiting.

DNF and Dehydrated

The family andent down to the Tweed Coast (on the border between Queensland and New South Wales) for the weekend, staying with my father in law (he has ducted aircon). We ended up spending almost the entire time indoors due to the stifling heat and humidity. It was extreme.

I made the mistake of thinking I could get a long ride in on Saturday morning. Decided to head out through Murwillumbah, leaving an hour later than planned, then out into the countryside for an "easy" 140k or so. The pic below shows the path I took into the volcanic crater of the Mt Warning "Super Volcano" of prehistoric times.
 I w

I couldn't have been more wrong. The heat and humidity were extreme and I went through 5 litres of fluids, including 4 waterbottles of sports drink, 1 large chocolate milk, and 1 can of coke, and still ended up massively dehydrated. Coming out of Murwillumbah (30k from the unit) on the way back, despite my legs feeling fine I was starting to shiver and get a bit dizzy. My heart rate was way too high (according to the Garmin anyway). 

The heat was intense coming off the highway so decided to call it a day and ring for "road side assist" to come get me while I sat under a tree beside the Tweed River and waited. God it was hot! Took me all day yesterday (Sunday) to recover and get rehydrated again. Was shattered from the effort. Loved every minute looking back on it...

Garmin says too long in the red zone.

Mt Warning in the distance leaving Murwillumbah

Waiting beside the Tweed River - beautiful and cool in the shade.

Either way it was a learning experience. I've always had trouble working out my drinking/nutrition on the bike while Im racing. Lessons learned and ever onwards!

Broken bikes and lack of miles

Well, what a start to the year it’s been. I work in IT and the application I support has been experiencing nothing but issues since the new year ticked over. Consequently I’ve been working crazy hours trying to keep things afloat and keep the associated staff happy. 

My contract here finishes soon and if that wasn’t stressful enough, they’re going to advertise my role with the view of making it a permanent one. I would think I’d be the logical candidate, however nothing in a university is a “given”, and so this is a particularly stressful month. 

I got the Niner Air 9 carbon back for the local bike shop I use, all in a “near as new” condition. She needed a whole new drivetrain - chain, cassette, cranks, bottom bracket etc, plus a good service, ew cabling and anything else required. The result is an almost brand new bike, quiet and fast. It’s been a great week in that regard! 

In the meantime I’ve been using my “ old faithful”, a Giant Anthem X2. The bike is several years old, needs a new rear shock, but other that it goes, stops and handles extremely well. Plus the added squish on the rear certainly makes you lazy when it comes to getting out of the saddle over the humps and bumps. Just barge right through! 

The Anthem out on the trail

I also decided to go to the gym a few nights back with my daughter to work on my core strength, as I think this should be a major part of my training. No use having the legs if I don't have the core/back to maintain form and function I figure!

I had lined up a 150k ride tomorrow (Saturday), however my wife has other ideas now and has determined that we will spend the weekend at her dad’s place down at Tweed Heads. A gorgeous place, with pristinely great beaches (http://destinationtweed.com.au/)

While this isn’t such a bad thing it will interrupt my training and of course this led to a disagreement about priorities. So…. I’m now going to do a 100k time trial out around Sandgate/Redcliffe, or 100k’s as fast as I can maintain to sufficiently exhaust myself, and to get some decent miles under my legs. I don’t mind compromise usually, but I’m not doing anywhere near enough miles at present and my Everesting attempt will, as is usual given the limited support I get, have to be done on a “beer budget” rather than a champagne one (as we Aussies says). This means it will be likely a massively exhausting and painful exercise, done on little training, and on my own. Physically and psychologically very difficult. Nonetheless, on I go to the land of Sufferlandria. 

Have a good weekend and stay upright.

Week 4 of Training

After a big weekend of house work, not a lot of training was done. I know what I need to do however it's just not happening. I'm finding this lack of time a little stressful at present as the miles just aren't coming as they should be. It could be the time of the year and maybe I'm just expecting too much when there's so much stuff other than bike riding to be done. It's not like I don't know what has to be done and achieved!

Over the weekend I bought a new pair of Hoka One One "Stinson Lite" running shoes. If I'm going to do this Everesting then I know the more weight I can lose beforehand the easier it will be. Anything to assist the effort!

Absolutely the softest, most cushioned shoes I've ever owned. I wish I'd had these when I was running half and full marathon's way back when. They would have been a huge asset and saved my knees a hell of a lot! They've attained a cult following amongst ultra runners and trail runners alike. Weird looking but awesome nonetheless.

This week will be difficult as Xmas Day comes in three days time, and it will be a time of family and cooking, eating and travelling. I know I won't have the time to ride, so hopefully now I have an excuse to get out and at least run when I get a spare half hour or so.

Other than that this week's plan is to  utilise a short and steep street about 1 kilometre from my home (70m gain in a couple hundred metres) to do a pile of hill repeats, and to stress my legs as much as possible. Then tomorrow I'll ride in to work at a fast pace, only taking a much longer route to build up some kilometres. I know it's only early yet, and time is still on my side so I'm trying not to feel too stressed just yet (am I kidding myself here?). Still, 37 repeats of this Everesting hill is a hell of a lot and so the more time I can spend climbing and riding the better.

I'm under no illusions when it comes to this endeavour. But I an stubborn and plan to both make some money for the homeless, and also prove to those that said I can't do this wrong.

Stay tuned and keep both wheels right side up.

A Wednesday Commute on the Niner

I was supposed to do a big ride on the TCR this morning, but a late night put paid to that. It'll have to be tomorrow now.

So I grabbed the Niner, loaded up with all sorts of paraphernalia  for work (my bag weighed a ton!) and cruised easily into work. Almost there and I decided to go do a bit of exploring on a path I'd seen previously from the train but never knew where it went. So I detoured over that way to have a better look since I couldn't get into the showers at work till after 8am.

Rode in some of the way with a guy on a Rabobank TCR - nice.

So today was just about spending time on the bike and getting a few miles "under the hood". Practiced just "spinning" and keeping my heart rate low.

I'm finding this Everesting gig on my mind continually now. It's a daunting challenge, but the journey is half the fun. Either way come March I'll be far fitter than I've been in years. I just have to ensure over the next few months all of my workouts have a specific purpose and there are no "junk miles" anywhere to be seen.

Samford Pony Trails - just riding for the sake of it today.

Took off about 6.30am with no destination in mind. I was supposed to do a 100k road ride but couldn't muster the motivation to do it. All seemed a bit too hard. AND my Niner was beckoning me to ride...so the dirt it was.

'

Here's to the start

Niner waiting for the word "Go!"

Hmm, a long way to jump!

This is what it's all about people!

Entering Horse Poo Forest - take care.

This creek used to be full of water...

No matter how hard I tried, the Niner flat out refused to jump.

 Heading for another creek crossing

Horsey fun.

The trail continues.

After rain this part becomes almost unrideable sludge. 

Not at present though!

Bummer - I used to cross here. Maybe not today.

 Favourite coffee stop at Samford. Awesome food and drinks.

SCUNT is in there, waiting...

Cheaters way up Scunt. Not one I've ever taken.

Goodbye to the mountains until the morning...