Training Log Archive: Yak

Urban Polaris in Canberra with Liz Wilson.
Didn't quite meet my expectations as finished with a lowly score & 2nd female supervets on 339 points.
Cold start and also had fog but ideal really.
Hardly drank or eat anything but felt good.
Covered a decent distance anyway but thought we would do more..
It was a 7 hr event but obviously we wasted a fair bit of time - planning after start time, searching for controls, incl 2 mismarked ones.

Hassles incl:
marking up maps with grid references; maps were dodgy and 2 controls I couldn't try for because they were in newly built area which wasn't shown on the map.
No descriptions, so didn't know if looking for a bus stop, building, tree or rock. Liz also wanted to avoid main roads which was counter productive ...

Then the 2nd last control we couldn't find, so that cost us 11 points and the probable win.

Got into Canberra late last night and declined offer to ride with J & D at 5.30am! a) It was freezing b) My bike was still boxed.
Did some computer work on ph and went for a ride in afternoon.
Went Gungahlin way exploring new development at Lawson on the way.
Stopped at bike shop and had a wait for service to troubled brakes.

So was late heading back, with last 30 mins in the dark with no lights.
Had to stick mostly to bikepaths I knew. Took a short cut behind Jamieson shops and almost killed myself by running into a fence in a small gap. Cut leg slightly - fence had a man sized hole in it but not big enough for a bike & person.

Did 45 min body balance class (stretching) and 5 mins rowing.
Inflexible as hell as expected.

First world problems - bike & computer repairs.

Bal group ride on Anzac day, and with wet weather forecast numbers were down. Newcomer there was Janet Stark, whom I first met in Alice, so I invited her to join Michelle C & I on the long.
Woodside - UP Tiers Rd - Cold store - out to Croft Rd and return via 2 separate rds. Then UP Lobethal rd towards Norton Summit and left UP Deviation. Then a long descent towards Balhannah before turning R and ending on Beaumont Rd and then near Verdun. To Bal bakery.
I struggled thruout this whenever I went uphill and did most by myself, with others waiting at hilltops.

I did better on the next leg - towards Verdun, Ambleside rd to Hahndorf, where the traffic was at a standstill for at least a km. Luckily we were going in the other direction - River rd to Mylor - Aldgate Valley Rd to Aldgate - up to Bridgewater & Germantown Hill - Verdun -Bal.

Saw my first lambs of the season and they were being guarded by a happy looking big Maremara white dog.

O checking control sites at Bushland Pk for a schools event next Wednesday. Glad to see that one of the previously indistinct tracks had been mown. Got a bit wet doing this. Map still not updated by TT some years after I asked..

Then on way home, in the rain, I put my first aid skills to work at a head on crash on Gorge Rd. Old sedan was very crushed in at the front with a whole lot of o/s students in it but injuries didn't appear too serious - broken arm and various cuts, with one deep gash to head. Luckily I had a first aid kit in the car, which no others had. Waited for ambulance and police.

Late decision to go ride from Gawler in the afternoon.
Out via backroads to Cockatoo Valley - Lyndoch - bikepath to Tanunda with some stops for "shooting" of scarecrows. Got my first roadie puncture for some years near Tanunda, so a few minutes were spent on that.
Then had to sprint back to Gawler by the bikepath, as darkness had seemed to come early (5.40pm!) and I had no lights. Joined with 3 other triathlete types for some of the return.