Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

The rain started proper yesterday and today, it hasn't stopped pouring at any stage. The region north of Brisbane has copped a (now) Category 5 cyclone, which is causing (as I write this) a fair amount of damage. Luckily for most, the cyclone crossed the coast in a relatively low populated area, meaning damage was kept mainly to the bushland. The cyclone, once hitting the coast is deteriorating slowly however it still poses a significant risk (flooding) to the areas around Yeppoon, Rockhampton and southwards towards Brisbane.

My city is in the middle somewhere....

This is a big impediment to me! (yep, selfish) as I had planned a decent 100k+ plus ride for the morning, out around the southern suburbs before the weekend really got under way. The idea of spending time on the trainer doesn't thrill me as it always seems to upset the gearing on my roadie, and consequently I tend to not use perhaps as much as I should.

Been reading everything and anything related to Everesting the last few days as it makes it's way back to the forefront of my mind. I really need to get in and get this done soon. Otherwise it'll bug me forever and a day until the goal is attained.

Recently a friend attempted an "Everest" in an area known for continuous, big and steep hills and subsequently failed, doing only 2 of the approx 15 loops. This was a concern as this fellow is extremely fit and mentally tough so I was surprised to see his attempt falter. Gave me pause for thought, however that just then spurred me on to do my own thing, irrespective of how others went with their attempts.

My own attempt will be done on my own, in the company of myself (poor me!). That'll be the tough part. I've found a couple hills that will be suitable. It's now a case of riding them regularly and then when I feel I'm able, go and smash out the required laps.

I need to do this soon. It's killing me mentally, going round and round in my brain. Guess it's a bit of OCD that I feel I need to do this before I turn 51 in August. Each year (for the past 10 or so) I've set some crazy goal and most times get there in the end, from mountain bike races to running marathons. This one is by far the biggest yet though!

So from the very next ride, it's full focus on getting this old body fit enough to conquer Everest. Things are gonna get weird from here on folks!

Storm-a-Geddon

What a week. Not only a cyclone up in the Cape, but also one now coming down towards Brisbane. And while it won’t be a cyclone by the time it gets here, there’s plenty of rain on the way for the next couple of days. Might be time to break out the wind trainer I think!

Queenslanders (that’s me!) are being warned to stock up on supplies as latest weather warnings show Tropical Cyclone Marcia is set to make landfall within 24 hours. Warnings issued by our Bureau of Meteorology said the cyclone was expected to strengthen as it headed toward the coast and was expected to hit as a category two system. That’s fairly breezy, but nothing compared to what I’ve been through previously when I lived up north. Still, it seems to have plenty of people here at work “edgy”.

According to our local online news Brisbanetimes.com.au, “Forecasters predict as much as 100mm of rain will fall in coastal areas from Gladstone to the New South Wales border on Thursday before the skies open up to dump 200-400mm on Friday. Up to 500mm is possible in isolated areas. Preparations began in earnest on Wednesday as the State Disaster Coordination Centre at Kedron opened and the State Disaster Coordination Group met to discuss its approach. SES volunteers at Brisbane's Newmarket depot handed out more than 6500 sandbags with similar numbers at the city's other four depots".

Thought about riding this morning but the roads were slick, and the trails muddy. So rather than wreck bikes I decided to just go for a 4k walk in the rain instead.

I’ve been thinking about a possible move to Melbourne. Everlasting Mt Donna Buang could be a realistic goal depending on how things progress. I applied for a very good role, similar to what I’m doing now at a uni down in Melbourne, and where the staff know me well. It’d be a good role to get, and a permanent one. It would mean though I’d be a Fly In Fly out husband. It’d be tough on my boy, but sometimes you’ve just got to do what you have to do to make ends meet I guess. Still, the riding down that way looks awesome and I’m finding I’m getting impatient to know the outcomes of my job applications. The Melbourne role only closed last night so I’ll be waiting impatiently for awhile yet I think!

But Everlasting is still a goal to be ticked off. I desperately want a “grey stripe” and I’m willing to endure the suffering to make it happen. Hopefully the next few weeks will determine whether it’ll happen in Queensland or in Melbourne! Either way, having a job sorted will then allow me to start training in earnest again, and dispel all the stress in my life at present.

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!