The Loop

The Southbrook Loop Ride

After being sick for weeks now with a bad sinus infection I finally went to the doctor yesterday and got some antibiotics. Deciding that they should work whether or not I do some exercise I decided to go out riding anyway, and head out towards Southbrook and do the loop I created some time ago in Strava. I knew I'd be fatigued and tired from being sick, but I thought I'd be OK since it was only 70k or so.

That was a big mistake in my thinking! It turned into a really hard ride, with an average heart rate of 153, but I’d imagine once I put it into Strava it’ll show as “Epic” as my HR alarm spent a fair bit of time beeping cause I’d hit the upper limit and I couldn't get it down despite slowing and "relaxing". 

How it panned out

Things started out ok but by the half way mark I was dead with fatigue (no doubt from being sick for weeks). Figured rather than go back the way I’d come (which had some pretty decent hills thanks to the "heavy" bitumen) I’d keep going in the hope that there’d be no more of them. After swinging south from Southbrook I then had to negotiate 20k’s+ of badly corrugated dirt roads with hills! That slowed things up considerably, spending half the time going back and forth across the road avoiding potholes, water and corrugations, and by the time I hit bitumen again I was shattered and had nothing left in the tank. Crawled home at a snail’s pace totally dead with fatigue. The "wall" never looked so big when you're an hour or so away from your bed! It was a tough ride back and it was a case of just turning the pedals and ignoring the constant thoughts of stopping and walking.

Cobbled Classics bike

The Pulsium more than earned it’s stripes last night. Despite the terrible road it was still smooth, quiet, and pretty fuss free. I was hoping against hope I wouldn’t get a puncture! And I woke up this morning without a sore backside too! I couldn't imagine taking my TCR down that road. Those wavy forks certainly do suck up the worst the road has to offer. Seems every time I ride that bike it reaffirms my decision to buy it instead of an Emonda or Domane.

On the bright side, the countryside was gorgeous. Never seen it in the half-light before since I do almost all my riding in the middle of the night, and it was really great. Amazing what you miss in the dark. I did have some rabid cattle dog come at me too, but I yelled at the mongrel and the owners came out and called it back (thank God! It was foaming at the mouth!). 

Joys of cycling…

Stay right side up and stay safe.

Step Ladder to a Grey Jersey

An "Everest" (and that bloody grey jersey I want so badly!) is still at the foremost of my mind, despite the distinct lack of riding I've been able to do while based up here in Toowoomba.  

It's certainly going to be a difficult adventure and, as usual, done on the least amount of riding and training. I have no choice as this is "life as we know it Jim" and "it is what it is". I don't have the luxury anymore of riding every morning etc. On the weekends I prefer to spend my time with my wife and kids as I don't see them for days at a time and I value that family time more than riding. I'll still try and get out when I can, but with football, house and garden duties, cleaning etc it all adds up time wise.

So my main objective is to try and get in quality over quantity rides while I'm up here during the week, and definitely no junk miles. Every ride has to have a purpose and an outcome of some sort, be it climbing repeats, or a distance ride to some out of the way place in the middle of the night.

This week, my objective was to do hill repeats up to 3000m (1 ride) in elevation (or roughly 120k's) on the hill I intend to Everest. I see this as a stepping stone to my future endeavours and it'd be a good indicator of how I'm going, and where I'm at physically. 

I got halfway into it when my Garmin decided it'd had enough and let me know it was out of charge. Bummer. It's an older unit and I had (mistakenly) thought would have lasted the distance (pun intended). It was almost fully charged (I thought!) so I was a bit peeved when I got the warning message after only 1500m, or about 65k's into my ride. It has always lasted far longer (6hrs at a minimum) so it was definitely an unwelcome surprise.

Never mind thought I, I'll just swap over to my phone and finish the ride that way using the Strava app! Of course Murphy's Law prevailed and it too said it was out of power. At this stage there were several expletives uttered and I decided that was the end of that for the night. Not happy at all.

I hadn't brought up any spare battery packs this week as I hadn't thought I'd need them. Lesson learnt once more - have a backup plan for every issue that could crop up.

So, the plan for the rest of August is to ensure I get a 3000m climb in, followed next month by a 5000m climb and then the following month, the Full Monty.

I felt really good the entire ride, and spent most of it working on finding a good and easy pace in which to do the full ride in the future. So I varied things from reasonable to slow (I don't have a "fast" at all).

I'll upload the garmin data shortly as I don't have access here in Toowoomba.

Southbrook (like Southpark but with cows)

Monday night I decided I'd go have a look at one of the southern roads out from the city, in the hope it'd be flatter and easier to get some miles in. And besides, I didn't want to ride bloody hills again this week! I'd missed doing any riding the previous week and was desperately wanting to do some exercise.

The weather has been atrocious up here the last few weeks, with howling winds blowing day and night, and freezing temperatures. Last week it actually snowed up here in the northern suburbs! And this is Queensland for goodness sake. Toowoomba is turning out to be having an extremely cold winter this year (just my luck).

To counter the cold, I rugged up with a thermal top, winter jersey, and a spray jacket over the top, as well as wearing long bibs in an effor to stay warm(ish) while I was out. Leaving in the dark also meant the temperatures were dropping quickly so I had to hit the road as soon as I could after work, otherwise I might have wimped out and stayed in the warmth of my tiny cabin.

The road out was pretty uneventful (just low rolling hills) and wasn't too rough this time, and after consulting Google a couple times I found the right road (it can get confusing in the darkness), and seemed to be flying along at a rapid pace in the big ring. The sky was clear and the stars were out. I even saw some falling stars which buoyed my spirits a lot. It was a great night for a ride (if you count riding alone in the darkness, on a lonely country back road, with no "roadside assist", in the middle of nowhere fun).

I saw some lights in the distance and thought that I'd made the outbound trip much quicker than I'd anticipated. That was a premature thought though, and as I got closer to the lights I realised that it was some giant cattle yard loading cattle into equally giant trucks. The smell reminded me of growing up on our family farm in my younger years, and it brought back a lot of memories of dairy's and hay, milking cows and fresh manure. 

I continued on and came to my target for the night, "Southbrook", a small community with a few small houses nestled in amongst similarly small hills, and of course the ubiquitous pub full of locals who it turned out were only too happy to call out to me and have a chat about what I was doing and what type of bike I was riding. One local thought he knew about bikes and said "is that one of them new graphite bikes?". Seems steel is all the go up here apparently according to the locals.

I'd mistakenly thought that the wind had dropped, being away from the range. It wasn't  till I turned around to start the journey home that it hit me in the face, the wind that is. Yep, nothing like a fierce headwind to make you realise that a tailwind is only helpful when you're coming home on a ride! So the entire way back I was chewing the bars and trying to get as low as possible to both stay out of the wind, and to maintain some possibility of forward momentum. Turned out to be far tougher than I'd envisaged. That and getting "slightly" lost again and going off in the wrong direction... I'm definitely making a (bad) habit of that!

Coming out of a place called Wyreema, I'd missed a turn somewhere and ended up on an unknown (to me at least) road. At least the small sign I did see said I was heading back towards Toowoomba. Small mercies eh?

Eventually I made it back to the cabin and safety. Beats riding these country roads while dodging large trucks and assorted locals who don't realise they can actually dip their lights, instead of blinding you like something out of one of Spielberg's "Close Encounters" movies.

A definite plus up here is the seeming lack of rubbish on the roadside likely to cause a flat tyre. I've been up here 4 months now and have had no issues at all, either bike wise or in respect to flats. Toowoomba residents mustn't have heard about the tack problem down south in Melbourne yet. No doubt if they had, someone would think it a great laugh. Once again, small mercies.

Stay right side up and enjoy the ride. Until next time.

The Intervening Weeks

After some time away from this blog, I've come back! That may, or may not be such a good thing depending on your viewpoint, but nonetheless here I am.

Where am I at, fitness-wise?

I haven't given up on the idea of Everesting just yet. I'm stubborn if nothing else. I am planning on how best to go about it once again, especially now that I know just how much it entails, and how important having a support team is. My issue is I'll most likely never have that support, and so I need to plan meticulously around it. Both physically and mentally. My last attempt was going OK until I made the fatal mistake of calling home and heairng the discontent with my activity. Won't do that next time!

One thing with working in Toowoomba is there's no lack of hills. In fact, that's about all there are! There's not a lot of flat ground unless you're willing to venture way southwards, which I haven't done (yet).

Despite not getting a lot of riding in, due to the fact I spend half my life driving back and forth to Toowoomba, those rides I have done have been memorable, usually for the roughness of the roads, and the prevailing howling westerly winds! I've been trying to increase my distances up here of late, both for weight control and as a way of stifling the inevitable fitness loss from lack of exercise.

I've done a couple decent rides, this time away from the horrors of the Great Dividing Range and it's killer hill climbs. They might be fun, but some days you just don't want to face them!

My first longer distance ride, was to a place called "Goombungee" (92k's). The name sounds like a town you'd find in New Zealand, given their passion for having people jump off huge structures, attached to a rubber band of rope into icy water. Unfortunately this was not the case. There was no icy water (just icy wind), and no rubber bands, just lots of incredibly rough roads traversed with rubber tyres instead. After initially trying to find this place a week or two previously, I'd abandoned that ride after getting very lost in the darkness. This time I was determined to find the place.

The night was pitch black dark, and the thoughts of what may be in the forest and beside the road kept me alert and a little anxious. Creepy roads leading to a dimly lit, small country town where the only thing open was the pub. I'd had to get off the road several times for trucks passing through, but it was better to move off the thin strip of bitumen than get run over by 22 wheels moving at high speed. At least, as compensation of sorts, there were no huge climbs, only rolling hills, although these came with their own special brand of slowness - the wide, tyre sucking bitumen kind. They quickly sap you of energy, and it's often easier just to down-shift and stay seated and spin your way to the crest.

Riding at night in the country is a different experience to that of the city. There are no street lights, only the occasional intersection or a lone light in the middle of the darkness denoting a new direction to be followed in the future. The roads are thin, often with unseen potholes and broken pieces of bitumen lying across the road, and thus it's a process of staring at the road and also trying to see what's up ahead while all the while trying to maintain forward momentum. It's a balancing act. Some nights I wish I had a big spotlight attached to the bars instead of small, but reasonable Ay-Ups. I'd also (luckily) bought 2 seat stay mounted lights in case the main light gave out - it did half way back  (my own fault - forgot to charge it properly).

But you gotta embrace the challenges I guess as life throws them at you. I will Everest before the year is out - just when is all up to me and circumstance I suppose. I now have to find the time, no, I'll change that, make the time to do the appropriate training.

Stay right side up. Until 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.

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