Almost Time - Counting Down

This Everesting business has taken up so much of my thoughts from the last failed attempt in June. I don't think an hour has gone past that it hasn't crossed my mind. Yes, I want it that badly. I've layed awake at night thinking of the past attempt and why I should've just kept going back then and ignored the world.

It's proving to myself I can do this.

The second thought was that I'm not going to succumb to pressure this time, nor guilt (from being away from a family sitting at home waiting for me to come back) nor the elements. Having no support crew will be the toughest part once again....

A third thought it that "is this possible on so very few kilometres per week?". No longer do I have the luxury of multiple rides of varying distances every week, nor do I get the extra long rides in on the weekends, preferring to spend that precious time with my kids and wife. I know how hard the climb is (350m in 4k's with 1k of that being flatland), where the worst parts are (everywhere!), and where I can spin and get my breathing under control.

And a final thought. The road is dangerous and very narrow, full of hairpins and blind corners, not to mention a dog that wants to rip my legs off every time it sees me. How will this pan out in the middle of the night, and then how will I go when the traffic starts coming up the road in the morning?

When things get hard and harder

I might actually bring up my Niner hardtail up to start off during the night as this will be safer in the dark on the very rough descent, climbs pretty well, isn't too heavy, and I can smash down the descent easily and in much greater control. I'll save the roadie for later when the sun comes up, and won't then have to worry about taking off lights etc.

No time to worry about that stuff now! Too late for worrying, time for action. I know the hill (it's stupidly steep), I know the length (pretty much 216k's), I know the downhill component (108k's) and I know this is going to hurt like nothing else!

It's going to be a very long day, and I have to remember to just be patient, enjoy the ride, the scenery and to just take my time and conserve my energy (no use smashing out the first couple repeats only to collapse after 5 or so is there?). And finally, don't stop till I reach the required number of laps and elevation! 

I'm going to watch this youtube speech before I start and maybe then record it to play over and over when things get crazy...

Eric Thomas (it’s long but absolutely worth listening to over and over).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFGWnqNf6t0

Starting Over

Back to the training. I've been really annoyed with myself the last two weeks not reaching the goals I set for myself. I learned a lot from the prior (failed) attempt and know now what's required now, both physically and mentally.

I'm working for the University of Southern Queensland now, up in Toowoomba, Queensland. So once again, training will be interrupted by the necessity to constantly travel up here from Brisbane. To counter this though I intend to bring both road and mountain bikes up when I travel so at least I can still put some miles in. The roads are pretty bad, pot holed and rough bitumen, but there is no shortage of hills!

Last night I did a hard ride, down to the bottom of the southern side of the range (Great Dividing Range) and then some k's around the city itself. The weather was absolutely miserable so I was glad I brought my Niner instead of the road bike. The temperature was 6 degrees, cold and rainy with a biting wind blowing the entire time. To compound things, I hadn't brought up any cold weather clothes so my pain was doubled. I was glad to escape into my tiny cabin at a local caravan/motor home park at the end!

Picnic point Toowoomba, in the dark.

Strava profile, though this (partial, from my phone)

So where to from here? Time to get serious again, find the motivation, and start putting in some big miles before having another crack at this monster called Everesting.

Probably the biggest necessity bar none, is having family support on the day. This is where I came apart on my last attempt. So there'll be a few discussions to be had before any new attempt to Everest on your own is just not a feasible activity to undertake.

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.

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.

Week 3 update

It's been a big week. I've ridden in to work a few times and got some PR's along the way despite not going that hard. Work has been insane. I work in IT support using a specific application and for this entire month and part of next I have no colleagues here to help out, and at present I'm just swamped with work. It's a little overwhelming! And while all this is going on I get some extra bad news....

I took my Niner over to a friends place to get some advice on it's creaking bottom bracket, and lo and behold, it's been declared "dead" for now. Turns out I need a whole new drive train basically. New cogs, new cassette, new chain, and new bottom bracket. This was disappointing but I suppose I should have expected it given it never gets serviced, and is always on call no matter what the conditions. Plus around my place it's been bone dry for most of the year and so everything had dust and dirt engrained into it, particularly the dodgy bottom bracket.

This puts a serious dent in my Everesting attempt as I'll be using the Niner for the challenge. I've got a good LBS so I'll get them to quote for the repairs. It won't be pretty either way.

Tomorrow (Saturday here in Oz) I have to be down the coast for a course, then Sunday I've garnered some friends to ensure we go riding. Although despite needing a new rear shock I could take my Giant Anthem (duallie) out to the climb and do some repeats. It'll be ugly (and bouncy), but it possibly could work, even to do a few repeats. It's about the effort, not the bike after all.

The beasts (a while back) before the bad news, Anthem in the foreground, Niner out the back... maybe I do need that coffee now after all!

Week 3 Begins

Well, last week was very disappointing. My wife and son came back from Melbourne with some type of illness and that's laid me low too for a few days despite protestations of "don't breathe on me dammit!". But "ever onward" as they say. I won't let the thoughts of last weeks bugger all mileage get to me as this is a new week.

I joined the Everesting Challenge group on Strava and I've received a pile of great advice. Only two said that it was a crazy idea, but hey, if it wasn't crazy to begin with, no-one would do it right?

This week I'll ride to work as much as possible, taking in as many climbs along the way as I can, and also doing some extended commutes to get the required miles in my legs.

Riding in this morning was a chore, but at least I got out and did a few miles. My legs felt "wooden" but hopefully they'll feel better on the way home later.

My Niner Air 9 carbon is creaking like an old truck at present and a friend has kindly offered to fix it for me, and show me how to do it in future myself, saving a ton of dollars along the way. Following that getting done (tomorrow night) I'll start alternating road riding with my standard morning rides on the trails (lots of steep short pinch climbs) and add a few long hill repeats into the mix.

My bikes for the attempt in a few months. First up my Niner

And my TCR

Updates to come as the week progresses.

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.

Exploring Samsonvale 16/11/2013

I went out with the intention of just cruising around the place, and having a look at some climbs etc. The roads were a little rough with patchy and unkept bitumen. On the whole though it was a great morning to be out riding and just enjoying the experience without any real destination in mind.

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...