Training Log Archive: Yak

Started at Norton Summit with Hills group and rode to Hahndorf via Balhannah with them. On way back I added extra by going from Balhannah to Mt Torrens and return, catching up with Janet Davill en route.
Back up the hill (380m climb) from bal - Summertown and up to near top of Greenhill rd and then nice descent to finish.
Lovely spring type day - amazing no of riders out and outback initially.
Quads, or at least the muscles around my knees, quite sore from yesterday probably, so found last climb a chore.
2nd toe on R foot 10/10 for soreness after yesterday and similar today.
Going to be escalating problem no doubt.

Started at Botanic rd, Flagstaff Hill and rode with Nev & Louise George for our first exploratory ride of the newish Sturt Gorge trails.
Went clockwise downward first then up and ended up exiting onto Shepherds Hill rd for 500 metres then onto the trails near the trainline and around to Craigburn trailhead. Then did several trails there before exiting to Murray Hill rd for more of Sturt Gorge trails.
Up to now there had been plentiful signs. I had memorised the first half but not the 2nd. Louise had it on her Garmin but couldn't get it to work properly. On Murray Hill there was a map of Craigburn where we exited but not Sturt Gorge. Evidently the map and entrance was about 100 metres to the south but we missed it.

N&L were short on time so we didn't take a chance and head downhill and look which would have been successful. Rose up Murray Hill and then down Blacks rd to cars. I then decided to find the trail again and rode about 6 kms anti-clockwise, which was nice. Then exited back to rd.
Some trails are nice, some are hard work and hilly.
Would be a nice run...

Started at hazelwood Park - up Waterfall gully rd to Pioneer womens back entrance and to golf course and to first gate beyond.
Back and on trails alongside golf course and return to saddle then on walking trails downward towards Toll gate. Back via streets and parks.
Was with RideABikeRight boss Lee-anne who was on her CX bike.
She killed me up the ascent as bike lighter and smallish tyres - I was impressed on how it rode. On flat and downhill she struggled as CX bikes have drop handlebars which makes for less control.

"Lawn" is quite dry now so easier to cut.

Ride from West Beach SLSC after RideABikeRight Xmas lunch.
Along coast to Hallet Cove rail station and a few kms past up to big shopping centre at top of hill and return with some exploring of side streets for fun. Lovely day out - 28 degrees.

Ride from Cromer hut with Stu, Ben and 4 others incl 2 oldish kids.
Mostly firetracks on flatter section and some single tks that I knew.
90 mins.
Then quick lunch and Stu, Ben and I went to the hillier sections searching for more singletracks ...logging and motorbikes have killed off most.
Ben broke his derailleur so returned slightly earlier than planned. 60 mins

Again took the opportunity to ride home though regretted absence of Ipod.

Thru Mt C map over to Chalks, thru GGoldfields map and thru Watts Gully O section. Then went onto v old map (Deloraine - 1983 State foot O champs) which had mostly been burnt out in fire earlier this year. Ignored no entry logging signs, as no action today. Took a different route through here than last time ...longer as went more to North before turning up, so had longer and more climb and some walking. Then into Kersbrook.

Out towards Mt Gawler map and rode around the eastern and and southern edge, exiting onto Adelaide Gully Rd (hard dirt) and another climb to top of ridge. Turned R down Millbrook rd (dirt) which took me thru to lower hermitage. Last big climb up past Glen Ewin factory was really steep at end again. Onto Range Rd Sth and illegally down thru Anstey Park and last 5 kms on rd home.

Had massage in evening and BJ found my quads really tight.

Easy saunter on roadie as L knee still sore.
Then coming home from Jim Casanova's 80th bday party I tripped on my front porch step landing heavily on both knees but R worse. Icepacks.

Putting out & collecting controls at both Springhead & Bushland Park.
Achieved amazing things today, especially logistically.

First 2 classes at Springhead for reception & 1& 2's - had them doing 5 "courses" on a netball court which required them to orientate the map properly. Even the receptions got the idea, with the nearby road marked on giving them something to orientate the map by. Second part of lesson was a mini score event on the proper map just using oval area and playgrounds. Grabbed controls and drove to Bushland Park, having to go via Mt Torrens as Springhead road at bottom is closed for a month!

Luckily I had put the 14 controls out yesterday. Again had 2 classes here, with 4&5's first and 6&7's second. Old map quality is poor but kids coped well. Had 3 mini courses around the first lake and then they went off on the 2.5km long course, each pair equipped with an emergency whistle and a how to do the course sheet. The younger kids all came back buzzing and were proudly explaining to the yr 6&7's what big hills they would have to climb etc.

Had my bike in car to ride after the O but my knee was sore again after standing up all day so just went home.
Jess Douglas (multiple world solo 24 hr champ) rang and offered me first dibs on her 1 year old 27.5 Giant Lust mt bike. Bought it for 30% of shelf price.. May have to have a garage sale of 1 or 2 bikes...

C • bikes 1

Putting controls out (and in) at Springhead & St John's Bushland Pk (for tomorrow)
Supposed to be 35 but it was 38 degrees - no wonder the kids got a bit redfaced...

Emptying the campervan was a never ending saga - kept discovering more cupboards full of stuff. Kiwis left me some food - have enough muesli to feed a battalion.
Good day for washing at 35 degrees but found some-one had knicked my sock hanger.

C • Did we hang the I/O Merino Rogaine shirts from it? 2

Exploratory ride around Ararat.
Around the lake initially to the north, with some xc riding and pushing once track finished. Exited out via motocrosse course; model plane aerodrome; and correctional facility. Interestingly prisoners from there had been used last century to deepen the former swamp and build retaining walls for what is now Green Hill lake. It has islands in it too. Used for swimming, sailing, speedboats etc ... Drought in the area atm though.

Then past the former lunatic asylum (can do 2 hr tours), caravan pk; and on to the cemetery rd bike path that I followed over into the Ararat regional park (and hills) and some nice single track. Thought of riding to top of One Tree Hill but turned back about halfway back as L knee and R 2nd toe both extremely sore. Around town oval, lake, swimming pool (being repaired) and past J block ( was for the criminally insane) and back on the 4 km concrete bike path adjacent to highway. Hot by now so had another shower before heading home.

From Horsham went via Natimuk, Frances and out to Keith just for a change of scenery.

6 hr bike rogaine on an excellent map this time though course was a bit short and 10 teams incl my team cleaned up the course..
Was with Natasha Sparg of WA so in open women.
Was a good pairing. I rode slightly faster but had to stop to read the map (new glasses?) and my map memory disappears after about a minute!

We planned really well and had to replan halfway thru when cleaning up became a possibility.
2nd half was hillier and i planned an interesting innovative route whereby we had a gentle climb rather than a big climb home which saved our bacon as Tash tired in latter part. Also we had 2 stops for a leaking back tyre on Tash's bike due to a cut - used pump to no avail & 10mins later a Co2 cannister.
Amazing that there weren't more punctures as some pretty rubbishy trails of fallen timber and later nasty blue metal rocks. Also wasted 10 mins early on looking for 48 that had been removed after foot rogaine yesterday. 70 -80 kms.

Ricky Thackray & Steve Todkill won cleaning up in 4 hrs.
Marquita & Rob & Nick Collins won mixed and were 3rd.
We were the only women to clean up the 2210 points (10th overall) and Kiwis Josie & Deb were next with 2020 points.
This good bike result enabled us to convincingly win the 2 day open womens comp for both foot & bike and we took 6th overall in this.
Foot was 1/10 for fun (10/10 for pain) while mtbo was 10/10 for fun, even with tired legs from yesterday. Nice finish to trip.

Free camping at Green Hill Lake near Ararat which had basic toilet & shower. The lake is huge but was empty of water. Amazingly there were a lot of grey nomads set up facing the lake of dirt & weeds who were obviously staying for days.

Went for a walk with WA's Natasha Sparg today with over 200 others in the Pinchgut foot rogaine near Daylesford. 6 hrs was about 5 hrs too long.
Actually we planned and navigated quite well though it was mostly track walking for us. My L calf got very sore after 2 hrs so that restricted us a bit. Some did stuff up so we beat the kiwi girls.

Collected 1220 points for 5th women (26 out of 96 teams) though 3rd only 70 points up.
Jenny and Belinda Lawford won W with 1560 points (8th) while Steve Todkill & Ricky Thackray had a big win in M.
Just hope i can ride ok tomorrow.

Ride with 8 kiwis around Daylesford.
A worry when they carry a rope with them!
Was to measure how far one fell off a track when last here ...was 12 metres...lucky to only break two fingers.

Spent most of day on computer doing O stuff at Jenny & Geoff's rural retreat. No office has better views.
Went into town, looked at Bike exhibition at Gold Museum (well worth a look), saw Viner clan, picked up bike from Shaw cycles (after 4 hrs work on it); filled up with petrol and return.
After some more computer stuff needed an outing so did a little bushwalk - rogaine prep!!
Afterwards noticed that my L ankle bone medially is way out of place! Did I dislocate it in my sleep last night? Not hurting but funny sensation down there.

Morning ride to and around Lake Elizabeth, as I had free camped nearby.
Looked for platypus but no luck.

Ride from Gelibrand north on Old Beechy railtrail to Barantook and return.
Uphill on way out. Some lovely carved animals around 4kms from Gelibrand.

Slowish ride with some Kiwis at N end of Forrest trails mostly riding ones I hadn't done yesterday. Lunch at bike shop for 15 people made them run out of food.

Ride with fast Kiwis after lunch. Up 5kms then descent on Red Carpet, albeit slowly with missing back brake. Nice. I climbed well.

Ride at N end of Forrest trails with Kiwis Roz & Andy Clayton.
Did Mariners ++. Rode out there on railtrail. Sent Andy back and did extra with Roz at end as he was slow

Long afternoon ride after driving back to Anglesea from Forrest.
From Anglesea along the coast to scout camp map where I redid the 2 main legs where I lost time. Easy as could see the clearings and tracks leading off as no tents there now. Onward via Cape track to Torquey via Bells Beach.
On return took the walking track to Point Addis which was horrible, with many steps. Ran into Luke Poland (former Jwoc mtbo rider) there.
Took road for last 8 kms.

Rogaine practice.
Staying at Airey's Inlet and walked over to see Anthea & Steve Williams after tea. Steve broke his arm yesterday in mtbo.

Long distance Aus Champs at Paddy's swamp
Absolutely blew it near no 1 losing 10 mins. Really bad relocation.
Then rode really well and strongly to grab back some time before becoming unstuck in the detail at the end of the course by not reading the map enough. Will I ever learn?
Not helped by lack of back brake and lever often squashing finger.

Walk with Helen Alexander (VIC) around the old coal mine lakes and erosion detail taking photos after the race.

Sprint champs at Torquay.
I had a pretty gd run with losses at start (8secs) when person forgot to say go; then along the esplanade and finally lost tome navigating to one of the bushy controls near finish.
Slightly strained L hamstring pushing a big gear to finish.
Carolyn Matthews 1st then Jacqui Sinclair and then me so a gd result. And we won our class in the AvNZ challenge.

Middle distance Aus Champs at Anglesea.
Back brake failure going to no 1 ...down a big hill. Hydraulics leaked out due to an airlock. So rode very tentatively using front brake and shoe leather down some scary trails.
Mucked up C4 bigtime as open areas were all inhabited by tents making it difficult to see shapes and exit tracks. Some beautiful views. 4th but a bit distant though we still won our challenge class due to CM's big win.
Hopefully bike repairman has got it just rideable for tomorow.
Ironically i had considered bringing a spare bike but didnt!

Woodhouse mtb sessions (4 x 90 mins) for a private school.
Some standing around whilst doing skills / playing games, so just 4 hrs riding recorded. Quite hilly area so some hard work. I managed to climb the big hill each time whereas no student made it all the way to the top!!

Managed to fit in listening to the Melbourne Cup at a session break.
Couldn't believe that I had booked in to work today instead of road riding & Mel Cup party with riding friends. I need to visit the TAB, as I picked the 100 to 1 winner! I know the Payne family from Ballarat (Dad & 10 kids who have done it tough) and as Michelle Payne was the only female jockey in it, it was an easy pick. $2 each way bet. My other bet was on an English trainer whom I knew from my Barbados days ...his horse came 2nd last, only ahead of the injured Red Cadeaux.

Then went to Mt Torrens to check out the Springhead School O map.

C • choices 2

As part of a day teaching O at Woodhouse.
Thankfully the weather was ok despite looking dark on way up.

Mowing the weeds before predicted rain

Amy's ride - named after Amy Safe.
Despite being sleep deprived I dragged myself out of bed and got to start at Flinders with just a few mins to go and no warm-up.
Started slowly as I watch out for the B grade hooligans that pass on the wrong side or weave thru packs. Rode with Mary & Dennis safe for a little up the initial climb and slowed down to ride with a friend and her son too.

Once we hit the flatter section I pushed quite hard catching people and after leaving Aldinga I joined a group of 4 guys and stuck with them for about 5 kms, incl the first part of the insidious straight rd climb towards Willunga. Was fun working hard. Had a 10 min stop at the Willunga (60km) feed station and legs felt a bit tired for the Willunga climb. (Av 27.7 to here)
I went up Willunga ok without overexerting myself (17mins) which is several mins slower than 2011 ascent. Joined another small gp of guys for the ridgeline ride and stayed with them three quarters of way to Wickham Hill, pulling back when gp got too big. Slow careful descent, with max of 60kph. Then led a small peleton north to next feed station at Fingerboard corner where I had 2 mins refilling water.

Blewett Springs rd had a short climb that brought me back to reality, then a descent before final boring few kms on busy rd leading into McClaren Vale and finish at Serafino winery. Had a car with a long trailer go past me and others with attitude and verbal comment near end ...immediately heard sirens and a police car pulled him over.
Surprised that I felt and rode so well, esp with the 2 speedy groups, having done no speed work in a long time.
Time was 10 mins quicker than 2011 and 2012 in which I probably spent similar times with groups. Main thing was that I also finished feeling fresh.
Av 26.2.

Sedate ride back to Flinders with Phil & Anna Hazell via bikepaths to O'Hallaran Hill / South rd. Could have gone faster, but its a bit of a boring ride, so happy enough to ride easy.