Training Log Archive: Yak

Inaugural Capital Punishment 100km in Canberra run by AROC.
Lovely day on friday but the predicted rain started about 2am and was still going at race start time of 7.30am!! If I hadnt flown over for the race I would have happily forfeited my entry fee and saved on bike repair costs!
I had a good idea of the course in my mind and this was the saving grace, as I knew the last 40km was relatively easy and not so muddy.
Almost came off on ititial fireroad hitting some mud at speed, so backed off and thus had to wait to enter thew single tk.
Broke chain at 8 km mark or so and damaged derailleur in fall at 36km so single speeded it for rest. Had to walk many hills and slippery single tk as consequence.
Race went from East Kowen thru homestead, down to Sutton rd xc course then up a decent fireroad to top of main range and finally down exit rd and 35km mark. Took me 3 hours for first 30km. Then across into Fairbairn and defence area via some squashy, bumpy old firetracks to majura rd. Up thru some farms where 1 runaway horse almost collected me and the hike up hackett hill and across the range to majura. 7kms in there was very slow and frustrating and I couldnt ride the roller coasters across the gullies at the end as they were too mushy. never been so happy to see a winery - the 60km feed station. Buns and watermelon were just what was needed and I managed to get some gels from O friend volunteer.

More slow paddock riding and then an all too brief excursion down Federal highway and back onto muddy horse trails to Epic. Some mud holes were 2 feet deep! Finally onto Gungalin expresssway at 72 for 7 km, where we had a non timed section with 30 minutes allowed. However I bolted it as: a) it suddenly got cold and hailed b) i was trying to make the cutoff time for going up stromlo

Strange that a cold highway ride was my favourite bit of a mt bike race!
then into dirt tracks beside Aranda and did a speccy spreadeagled fall in mud in front of 3 guys! Rode thru an underpass near Cork plantation where: a) a river was streaming down inside it b) the volunteer was asleep in his chair. Past the new plantings for the arbotoreum and some nice riding to 82km feed station that I bypassed. More single tk and finally into Stromlo but was 3 mins late for being allowed up the hill and about the same time behind Peggy, my main supervet competition.

Felt quite good over last 20km which was good. Wasnt cold (in light thermal top and jersey and long gloves) until hit by the hail.

Rode back from Stromlo to Yarralumla (Adair Fergusons) after a hot potato. Had a lovely hot muddy shower as was still wearing riding gear.

Lovely commute.

6 hr enduro at Clare.
Very cold and windy at start but rain held off for first 2.5 of my 4 laps.
Started in a bad mindset but I actually rode reasonably well technically for me, esp on lap 2. 10km was single tk in Ollie Klein's property and the other 5 was next door. This included riding down quite a wide creekbed - only in SA in May could you plan to ride down creekbeds!! Then had a loooong steepish fireroad climb of about 2.5km uup.
Almost got blown off at the top of the hill.

Did my own feeding, but being cold not much was needed.
Had decided to only do 4 laps quite early, as have Canberra 100km race next Sat. Had a biggish stack on lap 3 when i tried to ride up over a steep root mound bit and went over backwards onto my L shoulder. Sore but ok i think. Couldnt find my vest in car after lap 3 so went out without adding more clothes / rainjacket. Silly. The track got ultra slushy and muddy in a very short time and i also had to dodge slippery rocks and roots, so I wasnt riding fast enough to keep toasty! Had arm warmers but legs were cold. Only time Ive appreciated a long steep hill, as it gave a measure of warmth to my core.

So pulled up half an early but was relieved to have had a good workout and
emerge ok. Many people opted out early. Jacki Schapel, former Marryatville student won female from Nikki Collins and Aurelia. i was first 40+. A useful lesson in cold weather riding!!

13 year old US boy (son of 2 prominent adv racers) summitted Everest yesterday!! Did from Chinese side as Nepalese sensibly have an age limit.

Had intended doing the Buffalo ride today but needed the time to get organised for Clare. Had meant to camp but the forecast of rain and strong winds put us off, so grabbed a motel room.

Rode a lap of the single tk and got very frustrated as it was rocky, thin singletrack on the side of steep hills, meaning that my fear of heights kicked in. Av 9kph!! Very little passing opportunity and a myriad of obstacles incl 3 ramps. If I hadnt paid my money I would have gone for a more pleasant ride on the morrow.

Commute - in morning I had no stoppages for road crossings or the 2 traffic lights - amazing. Signalled a goodish day. So nice to be on bike again after 1 am MTBO business nights.
Home - got new mt bike shoes + Enduro subsciption for Avoca race prize.
The had a message from Bell Chamberlain that she was keen to team up with me to do the Mawson! Wow. Should be interesting. Much organisation to do! With that and Portugal i will haveto either give up a) sleep b) training c) work or d) watching any TV or reading the paper.

Went out in the dark for an extra ride to celebrate!
Armstrong and O'Grady both crashed out of the TdeCalifornia and Richie Porte (Tasmania) leading the Giro.

Adelaide Hills mob ride in glorious weather. However I felt pretty stuffed physically during ride and all afternoon! Dont know why.
Also L hamstring sensation of "gnawing rats" is present at rest, so perhaps I best have it looked at.

Fast walk along the Torrens in pitch black darkness, as TTG Council doesn't provide lights. Very scary.

Met Tucker and Field mob at Crafers.
Cruised the trails above Crafers and then into Eagle where we went backwards on all the contoury tracks at the top before descending some switchbacks on north face that I hadnt done before. Then Blue Gums and up to the top and up to Eagle. I was struggling technically and physically for some unknown reason, so I then went seperately.
Down Pioneer W's trail dodging walkers and headed to Waterfall gully rd and down to shops to grab a coke as a restorative. Didnt work, so a slowish climb back up to Crafers.

Mark Webber won his 4th grand prix but Aussies lost the 20/20 final in Barbados to the Poms. Women cricketers beat NZ though in final.
Cadel Evans won a muddy stage of the Giro.
WOc trials on sat and sun in NSW, but no results etc on AO, even by Monday afternoon!!! Disastrous on Sunday at Belanglo evidently with map shockingly printed losing most of detail.

Buffalo ride. First time doing any speed work for awhile and my legs felt it just before the half way stop, with a little cramping in L hamstring.
Gd group of 13 rotated fairly well. Little wind, more on way out than back which is unusual. Av about 32

Spent afternoon glued to the tele watching 16 yr old Jessica Watson sail back into Sydney Harbor 210 days after setting out to sail around the world. A little pink 10 m boat bobbing around in the rough seas. She celebrated by eating whipped cream, orange and a tim tam or two in that order!
She got bonus points in my eyes for both:
a) making PM Kevin Rudd wait about 3 hrs for her arrival (due to wind change), though he was never going to miss the promo shot..
b) Disagreeing with him on national TV by saying she wasnt a hero just an everyday girl with a dream.
Huge crowds on shore and around Opera House and multitudes of boats on the water.

(I also rode the indoor trainer for a little of this time.)

Commute

Commute - getting cold now.

2nd day of Dirty Weekend.

Chris Jongewaard rode up the main hill with me chatting away - he still has another month ban from CA to serve.

A late decision on Friday to enter the 24 hr Dirty weekend at Fox Ck
It's not often one enters a race intending to lose!!
One of my ex-students Jane Hutchinson was doing her first solo in the hope of qualif for the Worlds. As 50% of elites qualify, the more numbers the better, so in I went. (I could have entered and won the 12 hour)
Raining when i left home but luckily the weather was ideal - 20-23 max

I aimed to ride for 12-14 hours, as training, and had a variety of drinks etc to try out. Started at the back of the pack and got held up a fair bit on lap1. Starting at 2pm the first 3+ laps were in daylight and the other 3 in darkness. I got quite tired on the last 3 laps and wasnt motivated too much. Was a close 3rd when I pulled out and luckily hadnt taken enough battery power to see me thru the night, so couldnt race on.

Started again about 6.20am with half a lap before dawn and i was cranky, unco and sleep deprived.
Then over the next 5 laps I felt and rode really strongly, getting most of the steep pinches. I finished with my planned 12 laps and had 30 min spare so could have done a 13th but declined.

Had very little actual food relying on Perpetuem, gatorade and the occ gel. I had no support person, so lost some time refilling bottles etc. Camped next to Stu, Zoe dawson and their team so had good moral support.
Got very sore hands, as usual, but also sore in the nether region. Pinky seat at wrong angle?
Bell Chamberlain won with 20 laps, and top guy (of 51 solists) did 30.
Jane was 3rd on 14 laps, so she rode very impressively.

Sanity walk at lunchtime.

Was going to exit school quickly at day's end but ...
Having had no aircon, nor openable windows for the last 18 weeks of school, it was somewhat exciting when our new aircon sprung into life.
However it sounded like a plane taking off, which i reported to the bursar. Then it started emitting black globules of dust / mud plus pieces of straw (from ceiling). I decided that this wasnt healthy and asked kids to start logging off computers, pack up books etc. A minute later white smoke started to appear thru the aircon vents, forcing an evaucation and the calling of the fire brigade!! Never a dull moment, eh.

Hardish ride around and around my "Derny" crit circuit finishing inthe dark.

Had to drop car off at Norwood for service. As it was raining I took the "grey ghost" (15 yr old mt bike) which is my commuter bike, so as to avoid trashing the better ones.

Got wet for first hour as I toured the burbs picking odds and ends up and then I went thru Waite and took a dirt track above it. Bad move - it was clayish mud and my bike got choked up. Had to clean it with a stick and ride thru puddles to remove red mud. Gave it a hose down at Ferns.
The up Brownhill ck and diverted up and up (with some hike a bike) to Crafers and back down to Norwood.

Crows footy player this week described Neil Craig's training as sometimes "boring." (they have had 6 losses and no wins) However repitition is needed for skills training. But riding an indoor trainer requires about 1% skill, so is really boring.

Funny that I had to put "foot o"down as a new form of tr!!!
Cant remember when I last did a foot event.
New map - St Peters College grounds - SA Sprint O Champs.

Shades of last weekend, in that I was madly looking for "O" things in the morning of the event. What to wear, SI stick, control description sleeve, what type of compass, glasses ....?
Decided I would try to run a bit, which turned out to be a Haarsma hobble, which wasnt pretty to watch or to be doing. My faster opponents started straight after me, so I wondered whether Id keep them at bay. Could I remember how to read an urban map?
I chose to simplify route choices as much as poss, and to go over old ground where poss. Navigated beautifully, which was a suprise. Perhaps being so slow allowed me to plan ahead! Prob only lost 5- 10 secs going around a little building rather than thru a maybe out of bounds (but wasnt) garden bed, and a second looking at several "dead bodies," albeit straw ones, on the ground near a control.

My legs ran out of 'go" about one third of the way around!
I won easily - dont know what the others do..

TO Vixen Gully, Rode on bluey from top of Tea tree gully hill down lower hermitage then up Millbrook rd (13-14 mins) and on up Mt Gawler and then i dallied with the Mt Gawler DHill track and rode into the map via the Kersbrook Valley rd, to make it a bit longer. About 90 mins.
Then rode around the area for about 45 mins while Jenny, V and Lauren ran my Schools courses. They found it as thick as I had thought.

C • I have your pedals! 1

City - Glenelg - Marino rail trail - Veloway - Coast to vines to McClaren Vale - Willunga. Bakery stop here and met some guys i could have ridden back with, but got talking to old Whyalla orienteering friend Norma Young in the op shop next door.
To Aldinga, then the bloody dangerous Coach rd, to Christies via the beaches .... Marino etc and back to town. Return trip was quite hard as a stiff northerly headwind had blown up. Quads went concrete like at 90km, which is unusual.