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.

Update from Toowoomba

The T-Files (Toowoomba)

It's been long few months working up here. Trouble is, driving back and forth and even staying up a few days a week is really impacting how much I get to ride these days. Some days I feel like a "drive in, drive out" (similar to the "fly in - fly out" in the mines) employee which is basically the reality of it. Just have to suck it up for now - it's a job and I'm employed so I shouldn't really complain I suppose.

I still follow the Hell's 500 website and their Instagram account. Some days I feel envious that those riders get to both ride so often, and to do their Everesting attempts without complaint. But for now, any everesting attempt will by the nature of my work, have to wait for another day.

But on the brighter side, I have found some really interesting places to ride up here, and of course, being at the top of the range, there are a never ending source of climbs to check out, some ridiculously  steep and other just long drags. I've been reliably informed that there are also a couple of 20% climbs around the place, so they will be next to find and ride. Might be a case of bringing up the TCR though, as it has both a 28 on the back (versus 27 on the Lapierre), and it's a little lighter (in other words, a better climber's bike). 

Now that I have the Shamals put on the Lapierre after speccing a shimano hub on them so they'd work with the Ultegra cassette, they've certainly lightened up the bike and also given it an even more comforting ride. It's a great long distance bike, extremely comfortable, stable and (now) light. Different horses for different courses in other words.

Ride to Hell

Last weekend I did the "Ride to Hell". After having been asked by my wife to pick up some assignments to mark (she's a teacher) from one of her colleagues, I decided to go "the long way' and do a ride I've been wanting to do for a long time.

The route was out to Dayboro, up and over Mt Mee (a 15k climb up from Dayboro) and then the plan was to hit a shortcut through to Caboolture and then onto my wife's friends place to pick up the assignments. The shortcut route off the top contained many  steep declines, and also contained some very steep incline pinches (they were a bit disheartening!). Of course I got lost (OK, maybe it was just an "adventure") and having no phone reception ended up on the highway to Kilcoy, miles from where I was supposed to come out. Having established I'd inadvertently added another 40k to the journey I decided to just "ride" and "get home when I got home". Much to the changrin of my wife....

Having only 1 piece of toast for breakfast, and no gels at all, I hit the wall at the 60k mark, and was shattered for the rest of the ride. It was a case of just "diesel home" (slow and constant) and just to keep the pedals turning over....So despite it being only 130k's, it took a considerably longer time than I'd anticipated. I left home at 5.30am and got home at 1pm. Ugh! despite the pain, it was fun in a sadistic kind of way!

Ride details are here https://www.strava.com/activities/310458100

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!

Riding with Pierre

I decided, since you can never have enough bikes, to buy a new "endurance machine" that will alleviate some of the discomfort from riding my Giant TCR long distances. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with the bike itself, I love it, but it does get a little harsh after a few hours riding. Since I turned the big "5-0" last year, and in still wanting to conquer Everest, I needed a bike that would be easier to undertake some serious distances (one of my lessons learned), and that was softer riding.

After researching and evaluating a lot of bikes (ask my wife, she hates bikes and hates seeing endless articles on bikes on my iPad even more!) I settled on a new Lapierre Pulsium 500 with a compact groupset (50-34, 11 x 32).  I was chasing a new Domane, but they're in short supply around the country, and I wasn't sure about the very high head-tube. It looked a little "weird" for me. While they're certainly great bikes, and are selling out everywhere, I decided I liked the look of the Lapierre more - it has a racier (subjective I know) look about it. More integrated? Whatever it is, it just took my fancy and so I headed out and bought one. I hadn't ridden the bike until I brought it along with me to Toowoomba this week. 

First ride impressions.

The more "upright" geometry got me a little at first. After riding a "real racer" for a number of years, it was a weird sensation being a little more upright and not as stretched out. This was compensated for by the very comfortable position in the drops, which I spent a great deal of time in and found probably more comfortable than the TCR (I'll use that as my comparison bike cause that's the bike I know best). Having both stems slammed to a decent degree, the TCR sits 35mm lower (apparently) but it doesn't feel like that. Certainly, I noticed the saddle didn't look as high off the frame and this made me inspect things more.

The frame on the Lapierre is very contorted and flattened everywhere. In comparison, the TCR is one smooth design from head-tube to seat tube. The downtubes are another area of interest. The TCR is clearly more aero (mine is the Composite 2 from 2011 which has a deep and narrower profile) whereas the Lapierre is more "traditional" in that it has a very shallow downtube that's neither here nor there. Nowhere near as boxy as current bikes for sure.

Yet it is these contorted shapes everywhere that work to make the bike look like a real "cobble gobbler", and a nice one at that! The top tube flexes in unison with the rest of the bike to make the ride far smoother. The TCR has absolutely no flex at all.

The Lapierre also has a small elastomer in the top tube to soak up the pounding of the cobbles. This works amazingly well in combination with the slim seat stays, also made to flex.

I took the bike over 50 kilometres of very rough, patchwork roads where every 5 metres there were "patches on patches", lumps, bumps, potholes, dirt "pretend pave", stones and detritis from the myriad styles of trucks that traverse the region. The bike absolutely smashed it out, soaking up everything so well I could have been on a dual suspension mountain bike. I kept thinking the whole time, "I'm glad I'm not on carbon rims and the TCR, my eyeballs would be rattling around by now". It was ridiculously competent and smooth. Nothing seemed to faze it. Everything was handled with utter contempt.

I did note that it didn't "feel" as fast as the TCR. This is probably an illusion, so any comparisons on speed will need to wait till I get home and take it out on a course I regularly ride. Toowoomba is littered with hills and as such the reduced pace may just be because of that very fact.

The latest Ultegra 11 speed drivetrain is also another standout feature. Silky smooth and silent. 

I thought maybe all this smoothness may be to the detriment of climbing and stiffness in the bottom bracket etc. Not so. No flex at all in the BB, not in the Zipp handle bars, or the Zipp stem. Good stuff.

So as far as ride and components go, this bike definitely gets a huge thumbs up.

Bad side? The wheels the bike comes with (Mavic Axiom WTS) are pretty heavy and only suited to maybe those wet and muddy days out. Just too heavy for normal "Joe's" and weight weenies would have a fit!. I've a great pair of Shamals to go on it when I get a shimano hub, so that will both lighten things up in the rear, and also provide a lightweight and decent set of "cobble" rims for the bike. Plus I love the look of the Shamals.

So, some pics...

Note the frame - bends and twists and splits..

Pinarello style forks help smooth the road

The "rear shock"

So all up, I'm very happy with this purchase and I think together, Pierre and I will have a loving future ahead of us!

For those days where speed and hotmix collide, then the TCR will still be the bike of choice, but those days where big distances and/or rough roads will be encountered, this will be THE bike for me.

Stay upright and enjoy the ride.

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.

From Failure the Phoenix will Rise

As those who've I've spoken to or emailed know my weekend was disappointing, and I didn't reach anywhere the target required. But there were a lot of lessons learned, so it wasn't all bad. I'm happy with an initial attempt at this stage anyway and the knowledge I got out of the weekend, both about Everesting and also about myself will prove invaluable in the weeks ahead.

I ended up doing 16 or 17 repeats of Mt Gravatt and after making the mistake of phoning home guilt got the better of me. Everyone is on holidays and just waiting for me to get home and that made me feel very selfish. So despite not feeling too bad, I called it a day at 2200m or so. Wouldn't have been so bad if I'd taken the Niner as well for those times when I was feeling shattered as the first 200 -300m (and then at the 1k mark) or so was quite steep and really hit your legs hard. Those tiny sections really got me hurting after a few hours. 

A fellow cyclist came off on the (fast) descent and did himself some serious damage given the amount of blood left on the road and the large number of bystanders willing to help out. An ambulance made an urgent appearance and he was taken to hospital. After that the guys I was riding with decided it was time to call it a day too and left me to my own devices.

So the wash up (lessons learned). 

1. I need to do far more repeats more often before having another go. That will entail some repeats of Mt Mee (a big and long climb) or something big regularly 
2. Regular 160-180k rides to get used to both the monotony and also build far more endurance in my legs (and ass!)
3. I must remember to take some music as I left it all at home and was bored out of my brain..
4. Support crew is essential (I had none..) This was probably the biggest part. You definitely need people around you to encourage and give you constant uplifting statements, otherwise you fall in a heap very quickly

I'm already planning out a training regime for another attempt in a couple months....I'm stubborn like that..