Another Crack

Dreaming of Everesting (yet again)

It's never far from my mind. Every street I go up, every mountain I drive I find myself constantly thinking about elevation profiles, gradients, length etc. That elusive grey jersey.

I know there's been thousands before me, and it's no longer a new concept, but spread to all parts of the globe. Many have done it multiple times, and to them it's a walk in the park, or something to do on a day off. Much respect there.

But for me it'll be a first. Something I've waited three years to do. Something that can enthuse me, motivate me, and unmotivate me all in the space of a few minutes. For me, the task seems gargantuan and I wonder how to fit in all in with working stupid hours, going back to Brisbane every second weekend to see my family and doing running program to lose weight and complete another marathon this year. It's been 13 years. I've run a lot of half marathons etc in the meantime, but it's about time I see if I can do the full distance again.

To fit all this in, with a prospect of the project I'm working on (possibly) running out of funding soon, I have to once again go at Everesting while I'm down here on my own, with no family responsibility and plenty of time to do "stuff".

I've been convinced by a well meaning friend to have a go at Everesting this weekend. Mind you, I don't consider I've done near enough cycling, with some "Donna's" thrown in, and a few rides around Healesville of late.

I'm attempting Don Road out at Healesville this weekend. It's 5.5k's and 370m of "up", for a total of 24 laps required. The first two kilometres are reasonably steep, with the rest of the climb tailing off after that.

Another friend, Rod Aitken smashed out this Everesting in about 12 hours last year. No chance I'll even get anywhere near that. I think, if all goes OK, I'll be out there closer to 20 something hours.

Hopefully, I'll get a few sherpa's out to ride some laps with me. For me, it's always been about the mental side of things. My mind gives up far too quickly, no doubt due to thoughts about taking time away from my family etc which always produces a load of guilt. This time at least, my family are several thousand k's away, in another state (or two).

Before Saturday comes though I need to get supplies, another set of lights, some new brake pads. And the list goes on.

I'm not prepared, not fit enough, but what the hell, I'll give it a shake anyway. Time is running out and it's coming down to "now or never". providing I have extra lights, battery packs for my garmin, and enough nutrition, I'm willing to just keep going until I get there.

Bring on Saturday, and lets see what happens.

Massive stack/Moving to Melbourne/Fixie Life

Hi everyone,

The Accident

Yes, you read the title correctly. Lots has happened, yet again. This time the injury occurred because of another cyclist.

Riding home in early November (sorry, it's been awhile since I last added to this blog) I was humming along quite nicely when I needed to slow to go through a road underpass, which I knew always had runners/kids/dogs coming through from the other side. This underpass also has a steel, 3 tiered railing on the outside to stop any unwanted forays into the creek below.

Hitting the "U-shaped" underpass, there's a convex (?) mirror showing who/what's coming through underneath. I saw a woman running, so stayed to the far left to ensure we avoided each other. Just then I saw a fellow cyclist ripping through the other side, who hadn't seen the woman. he then veered straight into my side of the path before seeing me - too late. His shoulder hit my jaw, and I got flung into the steep railing, over the bars and backwards, before coming to a halt on the concrete, screaming in pain. Nurse and her husband were following along a few minutes back (a good thing) and they called paramedics etc. Washup: a dislocated jaw, fractured hip, fractured L3 vertebrae, and a LOT of morphine. So yeah, it wasn't pretty.  

The intervening weeks have been pretty shit really. Even sitting on the lounge at home hurt like hell. Bored senseless, unable to do much of anything, I still went to work! Still not sure how I managed that as every step had me wincing in pain.  The giant bruise on my hip/back finally disappeared after 3 weeks so I didn't look I'd come out of a war zone any more. But I have put on unwanted weight - a natural occurrence when you're bored stupid I guess. And then I changed jobs and moved to Melbourne...

Melbourne

The company I was working for was going through some hard times and I could see the writing on the wall, so decided to bail and take up an offer down in Melbourne. Which served the multiple purposes of allowing me to see the Hell's 500 crew and go riding up all those stupidly big mountains, hopefully complete an Everest this year (finally) and stay gainfully employed. Knowing nothing about Melbourne except that I needed to be close to the university (La Trobe), I got a unit at Bundoora, only 4 tram stops away. Bargain. Another advantage being that it's also close to Kinglake etc, and not that far (on a bike with lots of gears) to the Dandenongs, close to all amenities and I can catch a direct tram straight to the city should I want.

I haven't got a car down here (yet) because I hadn't been allowed by the surgeons to drive, run or ride (basically do anything remotely fun) for fear of exacerbating my injuries. So it's been tram/bus/train to anywhere. Which hasn't been so bad as the public transport down here is awesome.

But your weather down here sucks! After the first two weeks I was sure I was going mad as the sun never came out. Was driving me around the twist. And now, funnily enough, the sun has been out and it stays out till after 9pm. Screws with me Queenslander head! but somehow I actually like it...

The #lanewaylife is fabulous, and the coffee shops.. what more needs to be said right?

Fixie time

On Monday I bought my first "hipster mobile", a fixie from 99 Bikes in Fitzroy. Very cheap but amazingly fun. Takes you back to the basics of why we ride. Pure pleasure. I'm missing my Lapierre though. but it'll be awhile before I can get it transported down, and I needed a bike to ride (is that an addiction???) and I needed to do some exploring. walking everywhere just doesn't cut it... But the surgeons told me - you can ride, just don't fall off whatever you do. Those words scared the crap out of me. So flat pedals and flat bars here I come for awhile...

So for the next couple weeks while I'm still getting better, I'll be playing "hipster" on my fixie.

But my baby is waiting at home, ready to ride the big climbs...

Till next time...

The Silver Pinch Rd - Roubaix Ride (Search Engine #3)

After a miserable day of rain and very cold temps, with Toowoomba covered in heavy cloud, the afternoon finally gave in to sunshine and reasonably clear skies. I saw this as a chance to get out for a quick ride and do some more exploring. I knew it was always going to involve mountains and steep climbs cause that's all there seems to be up here!!! Some nights I'd kill for a piece of flat road... (maybe on the weekend when I'm back home and can take the TCR out for a spin. I miss the hum of the carbones on the tarmac.. it's the smell of victory :-) ).

I left on dusk, heading east, down Flagstone Creek Rd (for a change!) figuring at least I won't be climbing that mongrel hill tonight. Half way down Flagstone there's a branch to the left which, if followed, leads to Withcott (heading northwards  back to the bottom of the range in a kind of circle) and the highway. Maybe half a kilometre after this turn comes Silver Pinch Road, and this was where I wanted to have a look around. The road runs down the central spine in the pic below (cutting through the middle).

The road is narrow and lumpy and runs along a ridge line/spine and connects eventually to Flagstone Creek Road, further to the east. My idea was to have a look around this road, then double back and instead of going straight up the big ass climb again, I'd continue on and hit the easier gradual climb up the range further along (or so I thought...)

Much of the road seemed to be "under construction" and as such, there were stretches of new tar and gravel, rough ripped up bitumen and several very steep pinches (and I thought it would be all downhill...). There were also some very architect designed homes along this stretch that were way out of my price range! 

After a couple of k's I hit pave (humour me ok?) and this continued on for several kilometres. The dirt at least was smooth and not too potholed and in the dark I was on the lookout for deep gravelly sections or loose stuff. Thankfully nothing unwarranted happened. That was until I hit bitumen again and thought "there must be a downhill here somewhere to get me off this mountain". Yep, there was! A twisting, turning, fish hook type of downhill that was stupidly steep. I was down on the back wheel like my mountain bikes with hands squeezing the brakes, hoping to dear God I wouldn't lose a brake pad before I got to the bottom.  Parts of the descent were so rough my Ay-Ups actually came undone from their bracket and I had to roll in the dark for the last few metres before coming to a halt. Phew! made it it down alive.

Getting down in one piece, it was a case of turning back westwards and following the road to the other range crossing. I had to get right off the road several times because of cars and trucks but I was in no hurry and happy to cruise along and enjoy the cool night air and brilliant glow of the stars.

Eventually I got to the bottom of the other crossing and was alarmed to start going upwards at a very steep rate, like a fighter jet taking off from an aircraft carrier. After declaring "this is bullshit" and having a bit of a laugh to myself, I conceded and walked the rest of the climb. No way I could've climbed it with a 27T on the back. Maybe a 32? (I'm looking into that as I write).

It was only 43k's in the end but I had a great time. Although in the dark I was a bit creeped out about locals with guns and pig dogs lying in wait for me to pass. There's always an element of concern, travelling in the pitch black along narrow country roads in the middle of the night. But it's the only time I get to ride now so I figure I have to make the most of it. 

But I do still dream of Everesting, (with a 32T on the back). I have a hill in mind, but that's story for another day. I'm not through with that goal just yet... :-)

Stay right side up everyone.

Character Building

I'm starting to get used to this Toowoomba "thing". I miss home a lot during the week as I spend a few days up here on my own, then commute Thursdays and Friday's. It's wearing on mind and body. Having spent so much time over the last 17 years with my boy, not being with him every day is a constant source of angst. I feel like I'm missing out on so much of his life, especially his sporting life to which he's an absolute champion.

At least I can get a bit of riding in while I'm up here. Like yesterday's epic-ness. What I thought would be a reasonable, "run of the mill" 60k ride turned into a ride of epic proportions, for me anyway. Only 60k I hear you say? read on dear folks...

I left in the daylight with a slight breeze blowing in from the west, something that hasn't happened for a few weeks. Generally, over the last month, it's been an absolute gale force chill wind, with temps in the low teens to lower. Last Wednesday, with the wind chill, it was equivalent to 6 degrees celsius all day. Not particularly pleasant.Most days are the same in winter up here apparently!

From 2k out (from the uni where I work) the road turns rapidly from reasonable to ridiculous, with barely a shoulder to ride on, and idiots driving past yelling obscenities. That's not particularly helpful when the following vehicle is a massive cattle truck with several trailers worth of prime beef.

Anyway, after traversing some awful bitumen, I turned eastwards and was able to relax and take in the countryside. Late in the afternoon it's quite nice. The wind had all but dropped and I was just humming along smelling the roses, looking at tractors and saying "moo" to all the cows. Then it all started....

From that moment on it seemed every hill was at least 12% and they just kept coming, leading up to what they call locally, 'the wall", a bloody steep hill (15%?) that seemed never ending. By then it was dark and I had the Ay-Ups blazing away. All I could think at that moment was WTF is this???

After cresting that one, a short flattish road section and then came "The Descent". A massive downhill that would have been awesome in daylight, but was downright dangerous in the pitch black. Gravel here and there and twisting turns (not to mention on-coming speedsters) made me quite circumspect and so I kept the speed to around the 60kph mark, just in case there was a kangaroo or cow in the middle of the road (you do think of strange things in the middle of the night). I'd passed several "roo's" on the verge of the road already and so the idea of hitting one and going OTB had me a little spooked.

The "flatland", it's all relative I guess, went by quickly and I think, in daylight, it would be a really scenic place between the valleys. I'll have to go back and check it out one day soon. One thing about living up here is that country drivers don't get the idea of dipping their headlights when approaching someone on a bike on a very narrow road at night. I spent a lot of time off the road waiting for cars to pass because I couldn't see a damn thing!

Finally I got to the bottom of the range, where I knew what was coming. Having nothing much for lunch and only a gel I'd consumed an hour beforehand I was feeling pretty drained and just wanted it to be over. It was never going to happen so easily because this particular piece of road (4k's) is stupidly steep. The temperature was getting chilly (that's Toowoomba speak for cold) and I was daydreaming (onset of delirium?) of a burning hot shower and a Big Mac (and I hate Macca's!!!). Focus, focus Jeff!!

The Range - Flagstone Creek Road Ascent.

This would likely be one of my most pathetic (time wise) and yet character building experiences. I was already pretty much "hitting the wall" when I hit the first segment. A really steep pinch of only 80 or so metres (and maybe 15%-17%), but honestly, I was shattered. The first upwards pitch and I was struggling. Select "granny gear" (God, where's my mtb when I need it!) and just try to keep moving. The pitch tamed it was a short but oh-so-good "flattish" section before hitting another pinch. This went on for for 40 minutes. During that time I was chewing the bars and thinking of walking the whole mountain. And I did walk for 20-30 metres twice, just to get my heart rate down.. and I couldn't care. I kept it together mentally and got to the final hill, where I felt a wave of euphoria wash over me. I don't think I've ever felt as bad (or as good) as I did after riding (only) 60k's. That distance is normally an easy morning spin, not a "will I ever get back home" sufferfest. It was a very weird experience.

At last I got back to my tiny cabin and made myself a coffee, and just sat outside on the steps, in the cold, going back over the ride. I didn't think about anything much but that moment in time, and those last 3 hours of hell. I was "home", in one piece, the bike itself was outstanding in those conditions (smooth and surefooted) and feeling like I'd accomplished something meaningful, if only for my own ego.

There's a cycling blog called "Being Kristian Manietta" (http://kristianmanietta.com/momento-mori/) and in it, one of his rides is titled "Momento Mori", which means "remember your mortality". I thought about that a lot during the ride. Like Manietta says, "understanding that concept is a start to living". Manietta goes on to say "Why do we rush through life? Rarely pausing to soak in the experiences, the views, the smells and at times the freshness of it all". Well I did that last night, I spent at least an hour in the "solitary" hurt box, and I loved every stinking minute of it.

Today my legs hurt, I've felt sick in the guts, and I can't wait for another burning hot shower tonight. But if I had to do it all over again, I'd gladly jump back on the bike and hit that route one more time. 

Bike? Check. Lights? Check. Wattles bottles? Check.

Cow country

Getting nearer the ascent to hell..and they say it's downhill? Some people have no idea, it's all about the "up".

Ride route and profile

Stay right side up everyone.

Till next time.

Bikes - the original search engines (Apres Velo Clothing 2015)

My ride yesterday arv was damn awesome – had a smile on my face the whole way.

Brought the TCR up to do some speedy work this time. Such a marked difference to the Pulsium. You sit ON the TCR, whereas you sit IN the Pulsium. But the TCR felt like a rocket. I was hammering out of the town (45-50kph+) when this idiot pulled out of a driveway (of one of those small shopping centres). I slammed on the brakes and they locked up and I was just sliding towards this fool at a great rate of knots. Just missed the back of the car and yelled my lungs out him. Idiot!

After I calmed down a bit and got my stress level under control, I then went south out of town on this rough bitumen road, trying my best to avoid large and smaller trucks on the narrow road. Then turned off and went back east around this small mountain (Mt Rascale). The roads are pretty crap, lumpy and bumpy, and the surface is that kind where it seems to suck your tyres down into it. Slow and heavy going in some parts, particularly the hills. Looking out over the countryside is wonderful though, with clear vista's full of crops and cows, tractors and barbed wire fences everywhere you look. It's a real joy and is helping bring back the motivation to just explore again instead of feeling like I have to go out and hammer myself all the time.

There were kangaroos, rabbits, and even camels. So surreal….was great fun. I even scored a 54th/368 places on this segment where I was going reasonably quickly. Might have to go back there and have another (proper) go at that one....

I hit a dirt road too, and it was then I wished I’d brought the Lapierre up! But as they do in Paris-Roubaix, I rode the sideline and it wasn’t too bad. Not too much "retina rattling".

Didn't ride this morning as I got away from my parents place (a 40 minute drive out of town) too late for anything decent. Tonight I'm going to head out towards Flagstone Creek Road (see earlier rides in Toowoomba), but instead, veer off half way down and go another way, involving even more steep and longer climbs. I figure if it’s a short ride you gotta make the most of it! And up here, when it's dark, it's DARK!!! We're talking bogey-man dark, "Halloween" dark, and even "Friday the 13th" dark! Creepy....

The riding up here is different, but no less fun. Sort of helping get my motivation back, riding somewhere totally different. Much of it is exploring rather than hammering like back home. For sure, bikes are the original and best “search engines” for life.

Stay safe, and upright!

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.

Liberation

With the applications now closed for the role I’m doing, and with many other job applications now completed I feel strangely liberated. It’s sort of weird that I may not be in this job for much longer, but at the same time, don’t really mind that fact. It's quite surreal and at the same time quite cathartic writing about it.I’ve applied for a similar role (only permanent) down in Melbourne, and given the amount of mountains and terrain to ride down there, I’m sort of hoping I get one of those roles. To ride the likes of Mt Donna Buang and Mt Baw Baw etc with my southern friends would be a tremendous experience and one which I’d like to undertake.

The Climbing Cyclist has a great article on “The Donna”, and it’s a good read. Follow the link here: http://theclimbingcyclist.com/climbs/yarra-ranges/mt-donna-buang/ On the face of it, it looks like an awesome climb.

I see on the Hell's 500 website that 22 women recently completed an "Everest" on The Donna. Read about it here. Congrats on a fabulous effort girls!

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 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!

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.

Ready to Start the Challenge - training

Monday, December 1st. Training begins.

The morning dawned bright and humid. I was up at 4:15am, grabbed a cup of coffee then hit the trails for a quick hitout before work. The "Standard Morning Ride", that I've been doing for years now is only short, but heavy on short steep pinch climbs, and is a mix of tarmac and dirt. I'm lucky the Niner is very light as I was feeling washed out from a night of broken sleep and so took things pretty slow. The humidity though was oppressive.

I did a few rides over the weekend, just short rides on the Niner around the mountain bike parks in my area. Yesterday I went out (road cycling) with the intention of putting in an easy 100k or so, however that didn't eventuate due to a road full of glass and crap from the storm we had a few nights back.

My plan for now, building up my base, is to do as much mountain biking and road cycling as I can for the entire month of December. I figure the mountain biking will contribute to a lot of strength, and the road riding adding in some much needed endurance.

I'l have another look at my proposed climb for this Everest after receiving a lot of advice from the Strava Cycling group. It'll most likely depend on how I'm going as March draws near. I have a full 3 months of preparation, so at this stage at least, I'm feeling confident.

My trouble is I'm not built like a "roadie", i.e. tall and slim. I'm pretty "square" as my wife would say, with wide shoulders, long torso and short legs. It'd be nice to be a skinny, tall roadie but I have to live with what I've got I'm afraid. Therefore I'll just have to suck it up and make do.

My mantra from here on is "Don't limit your challenges, challenge your limits".

Thoughts on #Everesting

Over the past few months I've been entertaining thoughts on Everesting a certain climb not far from my home. All up it's an 8k route which I would need to do at least 24 times to attain the equivalent height of Mt Everest. Can it be done? hmm, maybe. That's 192k at an average of 368m per 8k repeat.

My recent motivation levels have been less than stellar and honestly, the thought of riding even a 100k route fills me with dread. But after reading more "everesting" rides on some of the websites I'm filling up with motivation to at least have a go at it.

At present I'm laid up with a large incision in my arm due to getting a skin cancer cut out yesterday (11/11/20114). So no riding at present. But the thoughts won't subside...so I've spent my day thinking through the whole scenario to get it clear in my head.

The climb itself isn't too bad, the road is good and the climb not too taxing, with only a couple steep(ish) pinches to get over, although by the 10th repeat I imagine my legs will be screaming "what the hell are we doing here?". At least the views are outstanding over the nearby valley's.

LOGISTICS:

Herein lies the rub. In order to do this I need to drive to a nearby town to set up camp for the day and night. There's ample food available nearby so I won't need a large amount for at least the daytime repeats. Amenities are also right beside where I plan to start so that's another thing taken care of. Plenty of shade also for when I need to rest up.

Also I need a day (and night) where my family won't be inconvenienced with my being away for such a long period, so I will need to find a date where they're either at school, or visiting relatives in Melbourne. That way I won't be loaded down with guilt about where I should be spending my time.

TRAINING

I plan to use this blog as a way of both informing everyone of my own journey to hell (and to the vaunted Grey Stripe of the Hell's 500 crew), following in the footsteps are far worthier men (and women), and also as a way of being accountable and doing the work to achieve this goal. I need to find the motivation, and a kick in the arse to get me out there again and to get over this "slump" I've been in for a few months now.

The plan is to start this journey as soon as I feel well enough, my arm has healed, and I've had the "all clear" from the resulting biopsy that I don't have anything drastically wrong with me.

Each day or so I will update this blog with my training, how I'm feeling physically and mentally,, my weight (always been an issue!) and anything else I can think of.

Given my family commitments, I always seem to do everything on will power alone, and I imagine this journey won't be anything different. If nothing I do have plenty of stubbornness to keep suffering in spite of a lack of fitness. Quitting has never been an option.

But there are rules to these things according the the Hells 500 website that I need to abide:

RULES ABOUT THE RIDE ROUTE
- Rides can be of any length, and on any hill or mountain.

- Rides must only focus on one hill or mountain per ride (e.g. you can’t base yourself in one location and ride multiple hills). You cannot ride different routes on the same mountain. If there are 4 routes, that means there are 4 possible ‘everestings’ (think of it like the North and South face of Everest).

- Rides cannot be loops – that’s for Sunday mornings (acceptable – a Yarra Street ‘loop’ which is essentially the only way back down to the bottom of the ride. Unacceptable – the Three Peaks loop).

- Rides must be full ascents each time (Strava segments or the accepted ‘traditional’ route will generally be the best guide for this. You can’t commit to a combination of full and half laps). Acceptable is a shorter segment of a climb if it is recognised in its own right. If in doubt, ask.

- The 8,848m is taken as your total elevation gain. If your descent includes a bit of climbing this still counts toward your total.

- Take caution when calculating your laps based on Strava segments, as these only show ‘elevation difference’ and not ‘elevation gain’ (i.e. if your climb has a few descents you want to ensure you are calculating laps based on the total elevation gain, and not simply the difference between the base and summit). It is strongly suggested that you check the listed elevation gain against your own recording. You really don’t want to find out on the day that you need to do an additional half-a-dozen laps!

- It does not matter how long the ride takes, but it must be ridden in one attempt (i.e. no sleeping in between). Breaks for meals etc. are fine. You can break for as long or as little as you like. Bear in mind break times add up quickly, and can add significantly to your elapsed time.

- Each repeat must be ridden up and down (i.e. you can’t get driven down each time). You also need to keep your device recording the whole time.

- The ride does not have to be ridden on sealed roads. In fact you get bonus kudos and cafe-respect for hitting the vitamin G.

- Only the first Everesting ride for each climb will be added to the Everesting map. Copied a ride that someone else has done? It absolutely still counts in the hall of fame, just not on the map. Everesting is tough whichever way you look at it. This isn’t Beach Road so in the spirit of adventure why not seek something uncharted and stamp your name on the side of it?

- Interested in Everesting as a group for a first known ascent? That’s fine, and so long as you are not finishing hours and hours apart we’ll include all riders in the Hall of Fame with an asterisk to signify the group attempt. We list all riders in the group one set of data to remove any discrepancy between recording units.

- Rides can be added retrospectively, however they must be able to be correctly verified in order to qualify. If it turns out someone was before you, then they were before you. Simple.

- No section of the ride can be walked. This is a cycling challenge. Sheesh.

- We don’t want you to take this challenge lying down, and mechanical doping is a no-no (obviously). Acceptable bikes: Road, MTB, CX, Track, BMX. Not acceptable: Electric, tandem, recumbent. If in doubt email info@hells500.com

RECORDING THE RIDE

- Our preference is for the ride to be recorded with a dedicated GPS device which has an altimeter or barometer (i.e. not a Garmin Forerunner). If you absolutely positively must use a phone or non-barometric device then please keep in mind these rides receive special scrutiny to ensure the 8,848m target was reached. We know why, and you know why. You will need to verify the height gained by the number of repeats of the segment climbed.

- In the event that barometric pressure affects the height recorded leave the ride in the original state and we can verify the height by the repeats of the segment that has been climbed.

- We suggest you take pictures of your stats throughout the ride. History has shown that data can fail, either on the bike or in the upload. Data is important, but we understand shit happens. So long as you can sufficiently prove the ride we’ll accept it. We’ll decide on a case-by-case basis and may include the requirement to ‘pinky swear’.

- Batteries have a tendency to die after around 15 hours of recording. A portable battery pack is a cheap solution for charging on the fly. Please note that units such as the Garmin Edge 500 will reset if plugged in mid-ride. Not cool. The workaround is to find an OTG (On The Go) micro USB cable (look it up, they only cost a few bucks). This cable has a pin removed which ‘tricks’ the unit into ‘thinking’ that it isn’t actually plugged in. Test it beforehand, but trust us – it works. Also good for charging your phone on alternate laps (#protips).

STRAVA

- All rides must be publicly verifiable via Strava (i.e not set to private).

- Once the 8,848m is complete the current lap can be abandoned or completed at the rider’s discretion. The ride must be more than 8,848m on Strava so use a little bit of common sense and log some extra vertical metres just to be safe.

SUBMISSION

- Submit your ride through the contact form. Include your Strava profile (if you don’t have one, create one) and a link to your ride.

- All Everesting submissions must be verified by our panel prior to being accepted as valid.

EARNING THE HELLS 500 GREY STRIPE

- Verified Everesting automatically qualifies you for the coveted Hells 500 grey stripe.

- Once earned, a grey stripe is for life.

THE NITTY GRITTY

- Riders take full responsibility for taking on an Everesting attempt. The excuse “you told me to” won’t stick. Talk it through with your mates and family. They are generally a pretty good judge of whether a 20% urban street known for doorings is the right choice. Listen to your mum.

- It is up to you to make a judgement call on your own ability level, fitness, health, mental state, route planning, traffic safety, support, lighting setup, bike maintenance etc. You are your own person. Think it through, plan it, make a call, and make the right one.

- Support is not only allowed, it is recommended. Pick non-annoying riding buddies to cut laps with you at times, it keeps you sane, and keeps you safe.

- If you are riding solo check in along the way. You can have people track your progress via the #everesting hashtag