Well folks, I have much for you today.
Part I – The Ride
Sunday’s ride to the Gold Coast was outstanding.
Part I – The Ride
Sunday’s ride to the Gold Coast was outstanding.
It does not get any better. Woke at 5am in darkness, it gets light here around 6:30am nowadays, and put myself together. Saturday was the coldest we’ve had this winter, down to 7deg and I felt it. So I was ready for Sunday, but thankfully it was a bit warmer and I got away with arm and leg warmers, and just a t-shirt under the jersey. Some of the others rugged up more but they were shedding clothing by midway like a moulting Burmese cat in summer.
After the meeting point we formed our pack of eight and settled into a steady rhythm of 33kph. It was decided to follow a new route that hugged the M1 motorway more than the old way that passed through the town of Beenleigh, which is slightly inland and includes a 10% climb of 750m. Nothing to get excited about normally, but when its at the start of a 125km ride it makes some of the group anxious. Anyhoo, we tried this new way and it was certainly flat, smooth surface and fast. We caught up with a group of 30+ who were doing the same ride and that made it easier for a while as we just tagged onto the back of them and coasted much of the time. Bit like cheating really. Interesting thing – they were an organised coaching ride that a guy called Marcel runs out of Brisbane and the rumour was he makes a bundle of cash from these rides. Plus, if someone flats, he stops and changes the tyre for them. And charges for the privilege. Now, that strikes me as a bit mercenary, but perhaps its just to keep the pack rolling. It left us wondering just how much he makes on such an outing.
So once we reached 35km it was decided to lift the pace and bid Marcel et al “au revoir “ and lifted the pace to 36kph for the next 25km. Once on the road to Hope Island, we put our heads down and the stronger riders wound it up to just over 40kph and held it there until we arrived at the northern tip of the Gold Coast. I was starting to feel the pinch at this point, having taken my share of the lead and the breeze was increasing by this time and making it tougher going on the front. But the sight of the Pacific Ocean was enough to raise our spirits and keep the train going to the end. The water was magnificent – slight green tinge sparkling in the early sun, sky perfect winter blue and a small but “totally rad dude” wave happening. Approaching Southport, two of our guys started a gallop that I just couldn’t match and instead stayed with the others and enjoyed the scenery. We caught them on the approach to Surfers Paradise and all rolled to the café where a buffet breakfast was waiting.
Our chief statistician Paul had arranged for his wife to meet us there and before we knew it he had the laptop out of the car and was uploading all the stats from his Garmin. Very handy unit that tracks all his personal data plus the bike’s information merged with the GPS feature. The result is a route mapped to Google Earth’s images with data annotated on the route. I could certainly use that gadget next time as I didn’t mind-stamp all of the turns and could certainly find myself in strange lands asking directions. And since I’m a guy, I.Don’t.Do.That.
My stats? 91km @ 32kph average. Not bad, not great. I’ve done better but not while recovering from nerve damage, so I’m content. Oh and my new heart rate monitor….excellent. I didn’t watch it much during the ride, but did take a peek from time to time and it seemed to be hovering on 145-150bpm. The average at the end was 135bpm so does that mean I didn’t work hard enough? I’m still learning. The max was 175bpm.
The plan was to continue south along the Gold Coast strip after breakfast to the township of Robina where we can catch a train back to Brisbane, however I managed a lift with Paul and wife, so I reclined in leather-interior comfort all the way home. Fighting the pangs of guilt, I closed my eyes and told myself, “next time I’ll ride back”. Two of my group did indeed ride back, finishing with a grand total of 186km!!! Major kudos to them. Personally I will aim for a century ride next time. Maybe.
Part II – The Run
I decided this morning that it was time to multitask my training again. By that, I mean back-to-back training days. Since the injury to my spine I’ve needed to rest between training days and the effort to get the dysfunctional left side of me to perform generally leaves me disinclined to train the next day. However, the road to Noosa in November 2007 will require this to change.
So, I found myself up early this morning and determined to make good on my threat/promise to do a ‘serious’ run in a previous post. The plan started to take form in my mind – run to work the long way. Exactly what that was I hadn’t decided yet, but I knew there had to be a long way. Kind of a yin and yang thing. I knew there was a short way, as that’s what I ran the other week before the head-cold-from-hell struck. So I decided to find the long way. Well I found it.
Distance: 7.8km
Time: 41:15
BPM: Ave 145, max 185
The hardest thing is that this was what I used to consider a short run, but now its my absolute maximum. It was mostly flat, except the monster climb straight out of my street. Can’t say I’m a fan of the hill first up, it just seems to sap the energy from the get-go and you are always struggling to recover. I know that’s where the max bpm was. I failed to find my any rhythm for most of the run and was battling sore legs (I wonder why?) when I found a training buddy. The council bus. Yep, it was picking up passengers just ahead of me on Vulture St and seemed to keep pace with me. I decided that I was going to beat it to the city. Sure he had to stop to pick up people, but my left leg doesn’t work very well, so I figure that was a fair trade. It was touch & go, each of us leap frogging the other. I played fair and stopped at the lights when they were against me. But in the end, he had NOTHING. I found form when it was needed and cruised to victory. I could almost hear the crowd, I’m sure the passengers were on my side.
So there you have it. Two days in a row done. Now to back up and swim tomorrow and see how the body replies. If it’s willing, we are firmly on the road to Noosa.
Tomawac out.
After the meeting point we formed our pack of eight and settled into a steady rhythm of 33kph. It was decided to follow a new route that hugged the M1 motorway more than the old way that passed through the town of Beenleigh, which is slightly inland and includes a 10% climb of 750m. Nothing to get excited about normally, but when its at the start of a 125km ride it makes some of the group anxious. Anyhoo, we tried this new way and it was certainly flat, smooth surface and fast. We caught up with a group of 30+ who were doing the same ride and that made it easier for a while as we just tagged onto the back of them and coasted much of the time. Bit like cheating really. Interesting thing – they were an organised coaching ride that a guy called Marcel runs out of Brisbane and the rumour was he makes a bundle of cash from these rides. Plus, if someone flats, he stops and changes the tyre for them. And charges for the privilege. Now, that strikes me as a bit mercenary, but perhaps its just to keep the pack rolling. It left us wondering just how much he makes on such an outing.
So once we reached 35km it was decided to lift the pace and bid Marcel et al “au revoir “ and lifted the pace to 36kph for the next 25km. Once on the road to Hope Island, we put our heads down and the stronger riders wound it up to just over 40kph and held it there until we arrived at the northern tip of the Gold Coast. I was starting to feel the pinch at this point, having taken my share of the lead and the breeze was increasing by this time and making it tougher going on the front. But the sight of the Pacific Ocean was enough to raise our spirits and keep the train going to the end. The water was magnificent – slight green tinge sparkling in the early sun, sky perfect winter blue and a small but “totally rad dude” wave happening. Approaching Southport, two of our guys started a gallop that I just couldn’t match and instead stayed with the others and enjoyed the scenery. We caught them on the approach to Surfers Paradise and all rolled to the café where a buffet breakfast was waiting.
Our chief statistician Paul had arranged for his wife to meet us there and before we knew it he had the laptop out of the car and was uploading all the stats from his Garmin. Very handy unit that tracks all his personal data plus the bike’s information merged with the GPS feature. The result is a route mapped to Google Earth’s images with data annotated on the route. I could certainly use that gadget next time as I didn’t mind-stamp all of the turns and could certainly find myself in strange lands asking directions. And since I’m a guy, I.Don’t.Do.That.
My stats? 91km @ 32kph average. Not bad, not great. I’ve done better but not while recovering from nerve damage, so I’m content. Oh and my new heart rate monitor….excellent. I didn’t watch it much during the ride, but did take a peek from time to time and it seemed to be hovering on 145-150bpm. The average at the end was 135bpm so does that mean I didn’t work hard enough? I’m still learning. The max was 175bpm.
The plan was to continue south along the Gold Coast strip after breakfast to the township of Robina where we can catch a train back to Brisbane, however I managed a lift with Paul and wife, so I reclined in leather-interior comfort all the way home. Fighting the pangs of guilt, I closed my eyes and told myself, “next time I’ll ride back”. Two of my group did indeed ride back, finishing with a grand total of 186km!!! Major kudos to them. Personally I will aim for a century ride next time. Maybe.
Part II – The Run
I decided this morning that it was time to multitask my training again. By that, I mean back-to-back training days. Since the injury to my spine I’ve needed to rest between training days and the effort to get the dysfunctional left side of me to perform generally leaves me disinclined to train the next day. However, the road to Noosa in November 2007 will require this to change.
So, I found myself up early this morning and determined to make good on my threat/promise to do a ‘serious’ run in a previous post. The plan started to take form in my mind – run to work the long way. Exactly what that was I hadn’t decided yet, but I knew there had to be a long way. Kind of a yin and yang thing. I knew there was a short way, as that’s what I ran the other week before the head-cold-from-hell struck. So I decided to find the long way. Well I found it.
Distance: 7.8km
Time: 41:15
BPM: Ave 145, max 185
The hardest thing is that this was what I used to consider a short run, but now its my absolute maximum. It was mostly flat, except the monster climb straight out of my street. Can’t say I’m a fan of the hill first up, it just seems to sap the energy from the get-go and you are always struggling to recover. I know that’s where the max bpm was. I failed to find my any rhythm for most of the run and was battling sore legs (I wonder why?) when I found a training buddy. The council bus. Yep, it was picking up passengers just ahead of me on Vulture St and seemed to keep pace with me. I decided that I was going to beat it to the city. Sure he had to stop to pick up people, but my left leg doesn’t work very well, so I figure that was a fair trade. It was touch & go, each of us leap frogging the other. I played fair and stopped at the lights when they were against me. But in the end, he had NOTHING. I found form when it was needed and cruised to victory. I could almost hear the crowd, I’m sure the passengers were on my side.
So there you have it. Two days in a row done. Now to back up and swim tomorrow and see how the body replies. If it’s willing, we are firmly on the road to Noosa.
Tomawac out.
4 comments:
alright! ... i'm cheering too ... sorry i didn't read part I ... loved part II though
one day we could try to coordinate runs to work. but... how do you get your clothes there? i used to run to s'bank and get my stuff from mark's car and then walk over the bridge. or are you a guy and just stink all day?
No stink, I have damning evidence against the security guard so I have a locker with clothes, etc.
not against the cute bald one!
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