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...

Never gets easier

Goal setting

It's been awhile. Lots has happened..

Just after I recovered from my back injury I learned the hard way what doing nothing about a hernia can do for you. It'd been sore for some months but as usual, in the interests of continued cycling I let it go, and put the irritating pain to the back of my mind. Finally, something I did (no idea just what it was) triggered a massive wave of pain and I had no option but to book in to see a specialist about it.

Specialist Day came and his words were "This is bad, we can do you tonight". Hmmm not exactly what I needed to hear as I wanted to have (yet) another go at Everesting and things had been going really well, I had a decent climb in mind, and I was confident in pulling it off this time. So, in my normal fashion, I put it off for a week to see if it would settle down and I could continue training.

Come my scheduled appointment time my stomach was killing me and I could barely move without searing pain. Spent a couple nights in hospital and finally went home with a large patch across my stomach. When I was being released from the hospital the nurse took out the "line" in my hand only to have blood go spouting all over the floor and everywhere else cause they've given my blood thinners overnight to stop any potential blood clots. So with blood all over my clothes I headed home.

So now it's been several weeks since the operation and I've tentatively started back on the bike. Taking things easy, and although there's some mild pain it's bearable. So for now it's just one day or so "on" and a couple days "off" till I'm sure nothing's going to burst open! Because the hernia was deep, they put a patch over it, about the size of my palm. Reminded me of patching a tube, which basically it was. My daughter tells me those things can move if you're not careful or do too much too soon. Again, not something I wanted to hear.

I've also started running again. I used to be "a runner" for many years, doing half and full marathons and quite enjoyed it. I'd seen a race in NZ called "Motatapu", and it's always drawn me to the scenery and the nature of the trail marathon through some epic countryside. The thought of doing a trail marathon in such a spectacular place (Lake Wanaka - Queenstown) is really a drawcard and so I've decided that will be next on my goal setting list for next year. It's somehting I know I can do since I've done it several times before.

With that in mind I've started running in to work a couple days a week when times permits. It's only 17k, but with a pack of clothes, shoes, lunch etc on my back it's definitely not easy. I'm running, or shuffling along pretty slowly for now, just till I get back into the swing of foot power again. The first few times were really tough, but now I'm settling in to a slow but sustainable pace and in the coming weeks I'll start to speed up a bit.

It's certainly working wonders for my weight (I put on too much sitting around the house for weeks). Along with my daughters famous "Green Soup" for lunch I managed to lose 5 kilo's in 5 weeks so far. Another few kilo's and I'll be in a good place.

After reading "The Dandenong Ranges" Everesting articles I'm motivated again to have another go. That and having my Hells 500 jersey on certainly gives me the desire to prove I can do and rightly belong to the crew. It's never over till the fat lady sings....

The Intervening Months

Well, what a few months it's been. Just as I was getting fitter and reaching a reasonable standard, aiming for an Everesting in June/July I came off my mountain bike and smashed my back quite badly. Badly enough it seems that I injured my Psoas Major, a large muscle at the bottom of my spine (which continues down through your hip). That was enough to see me off any exercise for several weeks, along with several trips to the doctor to get some sort of electrical prod shoved into my back.

Just when I thought things may have been getting better it then turned out I'd made a slight hernia far far worse, necessitating immediate surgery. If I'd thought my back injury was painful, this was another level altogether! So in reality it's been the best part of nearly 3 months of doing nothing but sit around feeling sorry for myself and driving my wife up the wall complaining about getting fat because I wasn't able to do anything. I was right though, I've put on several kilo's that need to be shifted in a big hurry.

It's been several weeks since my surgery and I'm only now getting back into some gentle exercise. I did ride into work last Tuesday but that saw me quite sore by the time I got home, not to mention exhausted, which only made me feel more irritable about my situation. It also saw me get a scolding from my wife about the hazards of cycling (she's not a fan..).

Short Term Goals

My son, being an excellent runner, suggested I set some running goals since it's been 12 years since I last did a marathon. Running always got me lean and fit quite quickly and "back in the day" I could smash out a half marathon under 1hr 50 minutes (just over 5:20min/km pace). Buoyed by that we've decided we'll try and do the Gold Coast 50 Ultra in December together. I've told him he'll be waiting a few extra hours for me to finish, however the goal is to train and get thin, and above all, to finish.

Running is another world to cycling. It may take me 5-6hrs, but I see it as a fairly easy target provided I do the requisite training beforehand, and I don't bust my notoriously weak knees in the lead up. My knees were the reason I stopped running in the first place and took up cycling again. I figure it's an easier path to weight loss and that ever present "want" to doing an Everest. Weight weenies should start with their body first, then worry about the weight of the bike. It's less costly :-)
So from here on it'll be a combination of both running in to work and commuting by bike, with the monthly Strava Climbing Challenges thrown in to provide some extra motivation.

I have to say though, following #withallihaveblog, #worldeverestingproject and #yodaandthebike provides me more than enough motivation to want to continue with my desire to complete an Everesting. I bought a Hells500 jersey too a few months back and that also is a source of inspiration and aspiration.

Anyhoo, off to do some of the "wombat shuffle" and remove some fat from this sturdy frame of mine. #pathlete

See you on the road.

Blip in the Road to Nepal...

From Ferrari to 1972 Skoda

Hi everyone,

As you're no doubt aware I haven't been riding much in the last few weeks. I've had immense back pain that's been quite excruciating and just haven't had the motivation to ride.

So eventually I went to the doctor who ordered blood tests and x-rays (and now ultrasounds). Turns out I have some curvature of the spine, something not quite right with my vertabrae (flattened off or some such term) that apparently was the result of something from my youth, a problematic muscular issue with my lower back (it's been painful as all hell) and to top it all off, looks like I also have a small hernia. All only a week out before I was thinking of having another Everest attempt. Ugh!

So, what to do? I've been given a pile of painful exercises to do, as well as a referal for ultrasounds to see the extent of this hernia. Really feeling quite annoyed and frustrated at this moment. I'd enjoyed a relatively good buildup these past few months, and have been feeling really energetic and fitter than ever. All I really needed was some distance in my legs, which becuase of my back I haven't been able to get in. But before my back got really bad I was still in the frame of mind to have another go "on the quiet" and see what transpired.

This was the ideal situation for me to have a go at Everesting as my family will be away for a week. With the exception of my Ay-Up light battery dying a few weeks back (and no replacement due for another 2 weeks), I'd be doing it with a "25 lumen" handlebar light from K-Mart. Definitely NOT ideal, but still "sort of" doable.

To pass the time commuting by train I've been reading a LOT of books - all cycling related. Recent books were Graham Obree's Flying Scotsman and just 2 nights back, Chris Boardmans latest Triumphs and Turbulence which is proving to be an excellent and highly recommended read. Brad Wiggins My Hour has been one of my key motivators so far these past few months though. Just love his candid style.

So next weekend I might sneak out and see how far I can go before falling off my bike. My initial thoughts are to see 1. If I can get on my bike (probably a major point), 2. How much it hurts to ride, and 3. How far I can go before failure/exhaustion sets in.

No thoughts of Everesting due to my body's failure to work correctly, but I've missed riding and need to do something to keep me occupied. God knows mowing and gardening aren't high on my list!!

Jeff

7 weeks in - 13 to go

7 Weeks into Training

Well, 7 weeks (of a planned 20) have flown past and I’m feeling pretty good “where I’m at” fitness wise. My Fitness and Freshness scores are coming along nicely and when on the bike I’m feeling pretty good when it comes to the hilly workouts. I’m getting plenty of PR’s on many days up some of the “baseline climbs” too. I’m not a fast climber, more a diesel than a V8, but I still get there in the end.

Several days a week I’ve been doing various “hilly commutes” into the city, logging between 600-700m per day, though all the climbs are short and (a couple in particular) very steep. Though they’re short, they’ve provided some much needed muscular power to my legs and have also aided in me losing over 5 kilo’s in weight. I figure this is a good thing J I’m trying to be far more disciplined with what I put in my mouth too. Less weight, better strength = easier climbing.

Following this block of 10 weeks, I then plan to start extending the weekend rides to incorporate more distance rather than straight out strength. I figure I have the strength now, but I’m lacking the distance (endurance) aspect to undertake an Everest ride of at least 260k’s, though of course,  half of that will be downhill.

The hill to be Everested has been done once before (last year), so I know how many reps required etc straight from the table on http://everesting.cc . I’ve also ridden the hill before, last year, completing 18 laps one Saturday morning. Despite a couple very short steeper pinches, I think this time I’ll complete the required laps. I’m far (far!) fitter now, having benefitted from my prior failures in that I know the how and why of Everesting, and feel far more capable than previous. The hill itself isn’t particularly steep or overly long. The gradients are far shallower and thus more “doable”. A big plus (for me anyway) is that come the day, the whole family will be away for a couple weeks meaning I’ll have no guilt about being out on the mountain. This has been a big factor on previous attempts for me. I have incredible feeling of guilt when I'm away riding, when I have plenty to do at home, or being with my family. It's been a tough gig for me mentally to overcome.

This time, I’ll also have “sherpa’s” to help me out. I’ve learnt from other people who have Everested multiple times that this is an invaluable service and definitely needed for the mental battle that gets waged in your head the further you climb. Some of the gang from The Bimblers http://www.bimblers.com have kindly offered to come out on the day as “crew” and provide support for me. Awesome effort.

So, just 3 more weeks, then I’ll be into the final block of training before the big day. I’m really motivated this time to accomplish this goal.

Starting Over

Given my errors in what's required to Everest I've gone away, had a think about things, and decided to start building up once again. I'm not one to quit any challenge and that grey jersey is still at the forefront of my mind.

Since moving back to Brisbane I've easily completed the Strava climbing challenges without too much effort being required. To achieve these I've started my own plan as to how to go about building both strength and endurance via two 10 week plans.

Stage 1 involves commuting to work as much as possible, and to this end, I've managed to find the hilliest route I can take to build strength in my legs. I can sometimes manage over 800m of climbing per day just by commuting to work. Added to this is a Thursday or Friday ITT to raise my threshold level, and in between some rest days to ensure I don't get overcome by fatigue.

The weekends are taken up (depending on family requirements) with a ride I call "Mt Pain", which is basically 1300m of climbing in 40k's. This ride includes 2 x 20% climbs and then some very steep punchy climbs to round it off. It's a killer.

I've decided to give the Strava Fitness and Freshness app a go, following it religiously each ride to monitor both my improving fitness levels and my associated fatigue. Once fatigue gets too high, then I'll back off or take a rest day to get it down.

Stage 2 will involve longer rides to get some much needed endurance. So I'm working on getting my weekend rides up to 160-200k's. This was a major shortfall in my last Everest attempt so I'm determined to address this, this time around.

Sometime in the next few weeks I'll also plan in some time spent where my next attempt will be made. It requires 66 laps of a mountain with a much easier gradient than I've tried before. I'm going to aim for "half way" or "Mt Blanc" as I call it (a 4000m mountain in Europe). This will be a good indicator as to how my fitness and "plan" is going.

I'll update this blog as my fitness grows.