tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64438375491024513482024-03-19T20:29:23.882+08:00(Mis)adventure!A n00bs guide to all things cycling, rogaining and hiking.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-18447799525949947192013-06-02T18:50:00.000+08:002013-06-02T18:50:48.915+08:00Stromlo ITT<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dmMorChU71VPIEiprJ0EU5pViFy04ES_5BpB6R84rAbNepAXz-hzVLpBy3x2kzP0nsHTmTcvZY8vcFUYBhM0qE7qwuF8RBy2gt1HNeZJy-0M0rUTfkiFVgPWDm_Su3sNjfD0w331-BFy/s1600/IMG_2455_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3dmMorChU71VPIEiprJ0EU5pViFy04ES_5BpB6R84rAbNepAXz-hzVLpBy3x2kzP0nsHTmTcvZY8vcFUYBhM0qE7qwuF8RBy2gt1HNeZJy-0M0rUTfkiFVgPWDm_Su3sNjfD0w331-BFy/s640/IMG_2455_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks for the photo <a href="http://forum.vikingscycling.org.au/showthread.php?t=6576" target="_blank">random Viking man</a>.</td></tr>
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<br />
A wonderful rainy and windy day for a fanciful jaunt along Uriarra Rd. Ten riders turned up for the 15 km time trial. The course was undulating hills with a couple of tiny kicks along the way. I was the last rider to head out. The rain had stopped by this time but I was still soaked from the ride out. The first half of the course was overall downhill with a great tail wind pushing us along. The ride back was uphill and and into the wind - not so fun.<br />
<br />
I was aiming to keep in low E3 for the first half, mid E3 for the 3 quarter bumping it up to high E3 to E4 for the last few kms. My heart mostly behaved, but my legs felt they were missing some power. I think I need to focus on a proper warm up before starting time trials. I struggled a little on some of the hills on the way out, but once the engines were firing, I settled into a nice tempo on the way back, while slowing ramping up my heart rate.<br />
<br />
I placed 4th overall with a time of 26min 7 secs with an average speed of 34.5 km/h. The winning time was 24min 20 secs (37.0 km/h) by James. I need to do more time trialling practise! I think doing some of my easier riders on the TT bars will let me get more used to the TT position, working some of the leg muscles that don't often otherwise get my much of a workout (I'm looking at you hamstrings!)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8se4BrldYtjvPEidombj1O12Jw93DCNFvujufAJlZpfaIFbxg-EFGulflcsQuYuc1qFLGh53_VA3qSpisOb2TSLdJVHhO6p5gFhb9TBYozgBiswPfSesE36Uls-jqtm90zVVkv0LhlsHJ/s1600/10092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8se4BrldYtjvPEidombj1O12Jw93DCNFvujufAJlZpfaIFbxg-EFGulflcsQuYuc1qFLGh53_VA3qSpisOb2TSLdJVHhO6p5gFhb9TBYozgBiswPfSesE36Uls-jqtm90zVVkv0LhlsHJ/s640/10092.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking off from the start line. Click <a href="https://share.htc.com/I59ArQKl5#slides/0" target="_blank">here</a> for the video!</td></tr>
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<br />Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-29204732254673203862013-05-23T20:11:00.003+08:002013-06-01T12:44:28.830+08:00Peter Clark Classic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAKjni9Zl4kzytCYSoyIG91zAXdARMdhUJ-aaq8in9rU-2GN8QnenCEFDIZDtW0-s1Yj-GTg4I8EIZg7bcW9qSreHGYXsjpQpVBxRWfcA4JxhqcG-5Z72vntew9mOO4D0tIcbhyT2zufW/s1600/m10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAKjni9Zl4kzytCYSoyIG91zAXdARMdhUJ-aaq8in9rU-2GN8QnenCEFDIZDtW0-s1Yj-GTg4I8EIZg7bcW9qSreHGYXsjpQpVBxRWfcA4JxhqcG-5Z72vntew9mOO4D0tIcbhyT2zufW/s640/m10.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This image is no way related to this post. But look at it. Just look at it. Artwork. If only I owned a house so I could mortgage it to buy this beautiful, beautiful machine. </td></tr>
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<br />
<a href="http://app.strava.com/activities/56097850" target="_blank">Garmin data is available here!</a> <br />
I was in Perth recently and I thought it would be nice to have a brief tipple of the local racing scene. The Peter Clarke Classic is run each by the Northern Districts Cycle Club. This race has a special place in my heart; it was the first I ever entered way back in 2010. Back then it was called the "The Hell of the North" because it was usually hot, windy and the road were in such bad condition I reckon you'd have a good chance of winning on a mountain bike. Alas! The course has changed since then; it has moved to the move scenic Chittering Brook where the roads are better, the weather more pleasant, and generally a lot less hell like.<br />
<br />
I didn't really prepare well for the course. I knew it was some number of laps of a flat-ish course. I was racing in B grade because why not. Plus I was running a bit late - it was the siren of sleep that tempted me back to dreamland. With no team members racing with me, I wasn't quite sure on a strategy - maybe something like if there's a decent looking break latch onto it, otherwise sit in and have a crack towards the end.<br />
<br />
So, it turns out the course wasn't as flat as I thought. It was Canberra flat, but Perth hilly, those sort of power climbs that the guys with giant flesh pistons for legs love. On the first lap I worked out the race was going to be 5 laps of 15kms or so, nice to have that sorted. The pace on the first lap was reasonably subdued, bit of a coffee ride really. I noticed there were 3 teams with a metric crapload of riders (1.26 metric crapload to 1 imperial), so I knew it was going to be a very team tactic dominated race. Great. Lots of break away attempts. I couldn't go with them all, was going to have to pick them carefully.<br />
<br />
I moved up toward the front, but not at the front. The teams were watching each other, sending breakaways off. Their team members sat at the front and slowed everything down. No one in the peloton wanted to work, so I did a couple of stints hunting down breakaways. Bad idea, it wore me out quicker than I'd hope. After a while I stopped trying to hunt them down as hardly anyone was helping. One guy from South Perth and another from NDCC helped out for quite a while, but we all got fed up dragging the pack around. So I had no idea if there were breakaways out front or not.<br />
<br />
The pace heated up on the 5th lap. If it hadn't, I would've been very worried. The pack caught a few breakaways, but there was still a big one out the front we could see, but not catch. The finish line was about 200m after a tight left hander coming off a hill, so it was quick and the sprint at the end felt a bit silly, but you have a have a crack. I think I finished in the second pack, toward the front of it, which was nice. One of the guys from one of the three teams won, who I happened to be parked next to in the car park. We got to chatting, they went in with a really good plan, but it must be said that it helps having 9 other team members.<br />
<br />
All in all, a nice race. Very stop and go at times, quick and constant at others. I'll have to get better at those power climbs. I think that training starts soon. Ish. I hope.<br />
<br />Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-77840111092196794252013-03-08T14:29:00.001+08:002013-03-08T14:30:25.277+08:00New Year - New GoalsI've just been overseas for a number of weeks, and wasn't riding at all. Coming back is hard work! I thought I would have a look at my goals and make some new ones.<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>Racing</b><br />
<ul>
<li><strike>- Place well (top 5) in B grade in road racing. Still haven't got to B grade. I underestimated the competition in Canberra!</strike> Placed 3rd in my first B-grade race</li>
<li><strike>- Win C grade road race. </strike>Won VCC Honeysuckle Hammer</li>
<li><strike>- Win C grade crit.</strike> Won VCC supercrit</li>
<li><strike>- Race in B grade and finish with the pack</strike> 3rd CCC Uriarra homestead race </li>
<li>- Train ass off for Tour of Bright - Place top 5 in C grade. <b>Came 23rd in GC. Train for next year!</b></li>
<li><b>- </b>Win B grade road race</li>
<li><b>- </b>Win B grade crit. Only two left for the season!</li>
<li>- Enter three time trials, including a team TT. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>Non-racing</b><br />
<ul>
<li><b> </b>- Post more often! More race reports - Next one is my failed attempt at CCC Honeysuckle.</li>
<li>- Get up Mt Ainslie in under 8:45. <b>Nope, not yet</b> </li>
<li>- Get up Black Mountain in under 8:30. <b>HAHAHA</b> </li>
<li>- Up short Red hill in under 3:30<b> Nope, 3:44</b></li>
<li>- Ride to Gudgenby and back (hills!) <b>Where is this again?</b><b></b></li>
<li>- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collector,_New_South_Wales">Collector</a>, 110km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yass,_New_South_Wales">Yass</a>, 105km round trip <br />
-<strike> </strike><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corin_Dam_aerial_W.jpg"><strike>Corin</strike> Dam</a>, 125km round trip - Only gets a half strikethrough, only rode to the top of the hill, not the dam. It snowed!<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooma">Cooma</a>, 122km one way <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braidwood,_New_South_Wales">Braidwood</a>, 173km round trip (road might be dodgy though) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batemans_Bay">Batemans Bay</a>, 146km one way (dodgy road?) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulburn">Goulburn</a>, 178km round trip (the giant ram lives here!)<br />
- <a href="http://www.spacetimestudios.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3974&d=1324510645">Canberra-Collector-Yass-Canberra</a>, 195km <br />
- Cooma, 244km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_kX1vqjCzQ">Sydney???</a>, 286km one way</li>
</ul>
Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-31562501295069475062012-10-17T14:20:00.002+08:002012-10-17T14:24:25.293+08:00Racing-ish GoalsI remembered I had some other cycling goals to try and achieve this year. About time for an update<b>: </b><br />
<br />
<b>Racing</b><br />
<ul>
<li>- <u>Place well (top 5) in B grade in road racing.</u> Still haven't got to B grade. I underestimated the competition in Canberra!</li>
<li>- <strike>Place well in C grade in criterium racing</strike> Placed 3rd at the Symonston Crit.<strike><br /></strike></li>
<li>- <strike>Enter the Tour of Canberra in May</strike> Well this didn't run, so ticky tick. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Non-racing</b><br />
<ul>
<li><b> </b>- <strike>Get up Mt Ainslie in under 9 minutes</strike> 8:57!</li>
<li>- <strike>Get up Black Mountain in under 10 minutes</strike> 8:47<strike><br /></strike></li>
<li>- <strike>Ride to Lake George and back</strike></li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><u>New Goals!</u> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Racing</b><br />
<ul>
<li>- Win C grade road race</li>
<li>- Win C grade crit</li>
<li>- Race in B grade and finish with the pack </li>
<li>- Train ass off for Tour of Bright - Place top 5 in C grade </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Non-racing</b><br />
<ul>
<li><b> </b>- Get up Mt Ainslie in under 8:45 </li>
<li>- Get up Black Mountain in under 8:30 </li>
<li>- Up short Red hill in under 3:30 </li>
<li>- Ride to Gudgenby and back (hills!)</li>
<li>- Ride to another city - Sydney!</li>
</ul>
Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-53006247767231519082012-10-02T20:50:00.001+08:002012-10-02T20:56:13.917+08:00Updated Goal List ThingyI need to update this thing more. Also, I should have put the Honeysuckle Creek climb on here, that was a nice climb. Also Fitz's hill.. I don't think I'll ever do that again<br />
<br />
- <strike><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_George_%28New_South_Wales%29">Lake George</a>, 68km round trip</strike><br />
<strike>- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murrumbateman">Murrumbateman</a>, 75km round trip</strike><br />
<strike>- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungendore">Bungendore</a>, 76km round trip... was 100km in the end.. took the long way home</strike><br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collector,_New_South_Wales">Collector</a>, 110km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yass,_New_South_Wales">Yass</a>, 105km round trip <br />
-<strike> </strike><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corin_Dam_aerial_W.jpg"><strike>Corin</strike> Dam</a>, 125km round trip - Only gets a half strikethrough, only rode to the top of the hill, not the dam. It snowed!<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooma">Cooma</a>, 122km one way <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braidwood,_New_South_Wales">Braidwood</a>, 173km round trip (road might be dodgy though) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batemans_Bay">Batemans Bay</a>, 146km one way (dodgy road?) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulburn">Goulburn</a>, 178km round trip (the giant ram lives here!)<br />
- <a href="http://www.spacetimestudios.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3974&d=1324510645">Canberra-Collector-Yass-Canberra</a>, 195km <br />
- Cooma, 244km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_kX1vqjCzQ">Sydney???</a>, 286km one wayPicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-77743913917649320022012-06-20T17:31:00.001+08:002012-06-20T17:39:24.541+08:00CCC Uriarra Homestead<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkL8kfZjI5fHbBzpxveNXvvoy8bSH54ZYhDdzV37vtVWk7S2shKFJW9PfDnRbBfWEqDScOBTOETM3KJgFGzZXnimGW7jPgiO9lFXd9CNx6Lh3E1TpCiYroVoXmFD8l-ZJkFYvUOCV9L4x/s1600/CCC_uriarra1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkL8kfZjI5fHbBzpxveNXvvoy8bSH54ZYhDdzV37vtVWk7S2shKFJW9PfDnRbBfWEqDScOBTOETM3KJgFGzZXnimGW7jPgiO9lFXd9CNx6Lh3E1TpCiYroVoXmFD8l-ZJkFYvUOCV9L4x/s400/CCC_uriarra1.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All by my little <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyGje2zX-RE" target="_blank">lonesome</a>. <a href="http://www.pbase.com/magbar/ccc_uriarra_homestead" target="_blank">Photo taken by this guy.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been a little slack with writing of late, but hopefully I'll be able to post more frequently from now on.<br />
<br />
The Uriarra Homestead race was 2 laps of a 25 km course, with a nice descent and climb at the first turn-around, and a false flat that destroys your soul at the other turn-around. It was one of those drizzly Canberra days, cold and pretty miserable. I arrived 5 minutes late to the marshalling area; I'll use the combination of crappy weather and not leaving enough time to ride to the race as an excuse. I was told that I could try and catch my grade, and if I wanted I could do a u-turn when I caught my grade after they past the first turn around. I wouldn't be officially part of the race, but I could still have a crack.<br />
<br />
Off I went after them. I saw C grade pass me a few kms from the first turn around point. I was heading downhill at this point, so it took me a far while to slow down and turn in the slippery conditions (I managed to lock up the wheels in the process - luckily I stayed upright). I thought the best bet was to time-trial to catch them, the rest at the back of the bunch and then see where I was at. The first part was a little more difficult than I thought.<br />
<br />
My heart rate was right up for most of the chase, I was putting in all I had to catch the bunch. I did see them off in the distance at one point, but I never did catch them. I past a few C graders that had dropped off the back, but by the time I got to the last turn around (~7km to go), I was completely stuffed. I'd pretty much hit the wall by that point and so I limped backed to the finish line. Hayden from the dev squad (I've still got to write about that) was thankfully still there; he took one look at me and told me he was giving me a lift home. It was very much appreciated! After a long shower and a big bowl of pasta, I promptly fell asleep in front of the heater on the beanbag. Ahh bliss!<br />
<br />
<b>Protip: </b>Get to races on time! <br />
<br />
<a href="http://app.strava.com/rides/9900603" target="_blank">Ride data available here.</a>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-86600529621756243532012-05-19T17:01:00.000+08:002012-05-19T19:06:46.515+08:00Cootamundra Haycarters Handicap<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2RgetGJSTijH35w7dLZU7qC1a4e3QDmJfUX4luBf78Q4YGUBU6Ry9jpwEd-ij1sJLTA_F_On72j4CiuvqwP7UbSkKFbORNAhZKIDpB0IOQimFc_TTHRH9daP4gWx6AERz7VgunzvcNCS/s1600/523824_10150950310589282_600079281_11789707_123870464_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs2RgetGJSTijH35w7dLZU7qC1a4e3QDmJfUX4luBf78Q4YGUBU6Ry9jpwEd-ij1sJLTA_F_On72j4CiuvqwP7UbSkKFbORNAhZKIDpB0IOQimFc_TTHRH9daP4gWx6AERz7VgunzvcNCS/s400/523824_10150950310589282_600079281_11789707_123870464_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Definitely a before shot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It all started with a lovely drive out to the little country town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cootamundra" target="_blank">Cootamundra</a>. As far as I could tell, their chief export was lovely old houses and wide tree-lined streets. As we drove close to the marshalling area, an old lady marshall waved us down and had a bit of worried look on her face. "You boys be careful, there's 300 of you out there.. we'll do the best we can to keep you safe." Well that was an interesting introduction.<br />
<br />
I'd been placed in group 9.. erm, I can't remember what the handicap time was, for this 70km race. Ben and BJ from the development squad (more on that soon!) in the group behind me, and Kenneth and Jared more in group 6. So off we went. The pace was quick from the get go. The false flat out of town had us averaging in the mid 40's km/h-ish for the first 10km. I was just managing to hang on.. the first blip of a hill was closing in. I was near the front of the group when we hit and quickly found myself going backwards. I managed to only just hang on over the top, thought the downhill was a real struggle. The next slight incline (~15km in) I fell right of the back of the pack. After spending a little time by myself, I teamed up with a few riders going about the same pace.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvQGGe2z5fHY8qsayx7Es3pgPul9foLrNXOzci1z5iF5BA3GtMDVAxUDNU-svW0QYpRBxkjsOWQQiKyLlGQHKhV89rIPy2zh0SUPr0okwZJwYkABBAc5ojr5NUV0hn18TcQ_0jBGKguKM/s1600/143252905.Elc9nzQC.20120512_1_rs_402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvQGGe2z5fHY8qsayx7Es3pgPul9foLrNXOzci1z5iF5BA3GtMDVAxUDNU-svW0QYpRBxkjsOWQQiKyLlGQHKhV89rIPy2zh0SUPr0okwZJwYkABBAc5ojr5NUV0hn18TcQ_0jBGKguKM/s400/143252905.Elc9nzQC.20120512_1_rs_402.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cootamundra: 1, Pickle: 0</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first big climb I found myself falling off the front of the little group we had going. At the top I was by myself again. I think it was on this descent that Kenneth and Jared came screaming past at an alarming rate. I tried to jump on the back, and I did manage to hang on for all of 10 seconds, but it just wasn't to be. After a little while I was caught by a guy and a girl from the little group we had going before. The three of us started rolling through and had a decent pace going. We continued in our little group for quite a while, until about the 20km to go mark, where we were joined by a another rider. He looked quite strong and he seemed to have a fair bit left in the tank.. the pace got a bit quicker.<br />
<br />
The old legs starting getting a little weary as we rounded the last corner to go back up the false flat to the finish line. The girl and the guy with a bit left in the tank rode off the front with about 10km to go. My cycling buddy and I stuck together, we were both well knackered. A few kms from the line we noticed a largish group bearing down on us, so we gathered up what we had left for one last effort. We made it to the line in front of them and had a bit of a sprint between the two of us. It was really close and I'm not actually sure who got up in the end. And we will never know because they haven't released the results for those of us who came in way down the list. Someone got a photo of the sprint finish though, so maybe with some CSI computer analysis we could work it out.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://app.strava.com/activities/8416581" target="_blank">Here's the ride data</a> if anyone wants to have a little peak. <br />
<br />Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-32846348588520283972012-05-03T13:20:00.002+08:002012-05-04T14:22:03.433+08:00Mt Kosciuszko<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KveOGlafcqEvMwJAYyG1OnWlSAh1j3yWES8hzQSYNpFdbq-3sWHZ3i9bHTQkfYjNg4GpvhkbzeRWgXYFR-sMy4gdgJx9JsVk_6ZwFROKoI3He7ZZzgMfDyoro0r_fB-nVUyaFkHH8JgG/s1600/IMG_2724_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KveOGlafcqEvMwJAYyG1OnWlSAh1j3yWES8hzQSYNpFdbq-3sWHZ3i9bHTQkfYjNg4GpvhkbzeRWgXYFR-sMy4gdgJx9JsVk_6ZwFROKoI3He7ZZzgMfDyoro0r_fB-nVUyaFkHH8JgG/s400/IMG_2724_2.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King of the world!.. err, continent!.. err..country!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I walked to the top of Mt Kosciuszko a few weeks ago with a couple of friends. We cheated a bit and took the chairlifts up from Thredbo, but it was a lovely walk from there, about 12km return. It was whited out all the way so I couldn't see more than 10m at any one time. Ah well, it's a good excuse to go back and check out the view.<br />
<br />
My Polish friend that came with us on this walk made us learn the correct pronunciation of Kosciuszko, something along the lines of "Ko-shoo-sko", which I was happy with because it was one less syllable to say.<br />
<br />
All in all, a nice walk. Take warm gear with you, I obviously didn't (maybe I was just seeing how far I can get in my shorts).<br />
<br />
ACT: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimberi_Peak">Bimberi Peak</a><br />
<strike>NSW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kosciuszko">Mount Kosciuszko</a></strike><br />
NT: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Zeil">Mount Zeil</a><br />
Qld: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bartle_Frere" title="Mount Bartle Frere">Mount Bartle Frere</a><br />
SA: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Woodroffe" title="Mount Woodroffe">Mount Woodroffe</a><br />
<strike>Tas: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ossa_%28Tasmania%29">Mount Ossa</a></strike><br />
WA: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Meharry" title="Mount Meharry">Mount Meharry</a><br />
Vic: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bogong" title="Mount Bogong">Mount Bogong</a>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-7727091304350277452012-03-07T20:04:00.000+08:002012-03-07T20:04:39.729+08:00Lap of Lake Burley GriffinAnother Canberra staple is the lap of the Lake. Nice and flat with some very quick sections in the eastern portion.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzhyphenhyphenF2osGvuFXAQH2HDkJgpSW04f5Xz1KEOIaTyDdHfPOjExraC2xb4fGFDx73Oau_a-WGDXkSSuvJmOR-4yWsblVDo1UZIlehyphenhyphenbGzS5eQXRNXR8ShOkUTyA397TGhiuPAtsvgPIt7bv-/s1600/lake_bg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzhyphenhyphenF2osGvuFXAQH2HDkJgpSW04f5Xz1KEOIaTyDdHfPOjExraC2xb4fGFDx73Oau_a-WGDXkSSuvJmOR-4yWsblVDo1UZIlehyphenhyphenbGzS5eQXRNXR8ShOkUTyA397TGhiuPAtsvgPIt7bv-/s640/lake_bg.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Canizzle - Oh yeah.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It's a very scenic route, a good one to see the sites of Canberra. On the ride you'll pass the Governor General's house in Yarralumla, the National Library, a couple of other National buildings (I wasn't taking that much notice.. there were too many runners to dodge) and the mighty Scrinver Dam!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp5-VD95x8UBd3aF7UIceX-u5z9yV4K0rZZS7k7Li0npo4_cmAbXhhD84P06AfkrX_gi1Shx8VeGb9tKRIYuGfLBYHIsNhVBQgJqfyzpnZ5jYCUa7FbAsjBUulYHUdRdPbTShk4FyTiIib/s1600/IMAG0259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp5-VD95x8UBd3aF7UIceX-u5z9yV4K0rZZS7k7Li0npo4_cmAbXhhD84P06AfkrX_gi1Shx8VeGb9tKRIYuGfLBYHIsNhVBQgJqfyzpnZ5jYCUa7FbAsjBUulYHUdRdPbTShk4FyTiIib/s640/IMAG0259.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's kinda mighty.. it would have been more mighty after the 7 or so meters of rain the other day!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> Speaking of the rain, it ate some of the bike path:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu23Z8Py6gqVm_57zI3s6JS9wVuFL-YnaVed4iUrJk-RxdUpPvL7qjVGxlYzlZvpbVUm0hnwcYYDopT48wetN7QyF_AVY398lCN87P_3F8OjQVA-NUX9fdBfyq9dR240Sdv5XqiJZKvnSk/s1600/IMAG0260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu23Z8Py6gqVm_57zI3s6JS9wVuFL-YnaVed4iUrJk-RxdUpPvL7qjVGxlYzlZvpbVUm0hnwcYYDopT48wetN7QyF_AVY398lCN87P_3F8OjQVA-NUX9fdBfyq9dR240Sdv5XqiJZKvnSk/s640/IMAG0260.jpg" width="481" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Om nom nom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So all in all, a lovely, flat, quick, jogger packed ride if you have a spare hour and can bunny hop further than an olympic long jump jumper.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-18444671632162542682012-02-27T10:36:00.000+08:002012-02-27T10:36:14.387+08:00Eight Peaks<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bonzle.com/h/b/h/q/5os2m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://bonzle.com/h/b/h/q/5os2m.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bimberi Peak from Corin Dam, ACT</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
This is something I've been thinking about for a while - climbing the tallest peak in each state/territory. It's a bit like the infamous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Summits">Seven Summits</a>, but not as death making and slightly more achievable. It was motivated the climb up Mt Ossa while walking the overland track in Tassie. This would be a long term thing, trying to knock off one or two every year. <br />
<br />
ACT: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimberi_Peak">Bimberi Peak</a><br />
NSW: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kosciuszko">Mount Kosciuszko</a><br />
NT: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Zeil">Mount Zeil</a><br />
Qld: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bartle_Frere" title="Mount Bartle Frere">Mount Bartle Frere</a><br />
SA: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Woodroffe" title="Mount Woodroffe">Mount Woodroffe</a><br />
<strike>Tas: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ossa_%28Tasmania%29">Mount Ossa</a></strike><br />
WA: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Meharry" title="Mount Meharry">Mount Meharry</a><br />
Vic: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bogong" title="Mount Bogong">Mount Bogong</a><br />
<br />
I could have a good crack at getting up Mt Kosciuszko and Bimberi peak this year. Maybe Mt Bongong too, if I'm lucky (haha.. Bogong). The others will have to come later!Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-82401905881912904742012-02-26T12:48:00.005+08:002012-02-27T10:23:08.193+08:00Canberra - Murrumbateman ReturnHad a lovely ride out to Murrumbateman this morning. The ride itself was a little more exciting, and not as hilly as the ride out to 'Lake' George. And it had a lovely little cafe! Exciting!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-vTPY7Rb9ddXh_WDapUG-9OKpmt3slbAEXVB2FdhyphenhyphenVFByUELosFaJc2o26OcZSwYUZFfd5Wf1mewTzNP8noKJVlSBSjR1DQprfYhEgfBm17GSXkJgDihBs5G-Wx_4m98kJTDSL2PYmqN/s1600/IMAG0248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-vTPY7Rb9ddXh_WDapUG-9OKpmt3slbAEXVB2FdhyphenhyphenVFByUELosFaJc2o26OcZSwYUZFfd5Wf1mewTzNP8noKJVlSBSjR1DQprfYhEgfBm17GSXkJgDihBs5G-Wx_4m98kJTDSL2PYmqN/s400/IMAG0248.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the obligatory coffee is the worst part</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Murrumbateman itself is a quaint little town, with lots of nice looking wineries in the surrounding countryside. It would probably make a nice little winter retreat. The ride was on predominantly on Barton Hwy, which had decent shoulders most of the way, with a few hairy spots. My favourite part was planning 'dodge the road construction stuff' - it kept me ammused for a little while.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRvo62pbvv72BtfpqZD4mAHCGDVnbAv1SdwfLAvezxztzVic5eJslZkv1ySvC-5ZTHobIWPN1LdRDBuKAeXC2uDk5pP6VcZmlzdKkDUKo7lFx3DQCuvvLMtFx9thaw0PWWFGGEx6zB8w4/s1600/IMAG0250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRvo62pbvv72BtfpqZD4mAHCGDVnbAv1SdwfLAvezxztzVic5eJslZkv1ySvC-5ZTHobIWPN1LdRDBuKAeXC2uDk5pP6VcZmlzdKkDUKo7lFx3DQCuvvLMtFx9thaw0PWWFGGEx6zB8w4/s400/IMAG0250.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It took me ages to find a 'Murrumbateman' sign. This was the main park in town, resplendent with gaffitied wheelie bins. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I ran into Murrumbateman cycle club, or part thereof, at the cafe. Had a good chat with one of the guys. Apparently there's lots of nice back roads around the place for tranquil riding away from the bustling highway. A little local knowledge would go a long way it seems. Might have to catch up with those guys for a ride one day. Now for the stats:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisk49tPk7EEmsu3zPgdHdaG6eKeAZjYNhMUUCBTQPLmf7aOc2SpZNY38qIMGMVSzf13sbeS4OwsIRrvMyTf-iaQqYeklzEWHiX4wvPH6cwu5OCzNxm-3_Ft0ow9_6orl-RpORu4Vl7HdeZ/s1600/murrumbateman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisk49tPk7EEmsu3zPgdHdaG6eKeAZjYNhMUUCBTQPLmf7aOc2SpZNY38qIMGMVSzf13sbeS4OwsIRrvMyTf-iaQqYeklzEWHiX4wvPH6cwu5OCzNxm-3_Ft0ow9_6orl-RpORu4Vl7HdeZ/s640/murrumbateman.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't really climb 500m in 1 km at the start... Or maybe I did...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Distance: 76km<br />
Time: 2h 35min <br />
Average Speed: 29.4km/h<br />
Climbing: 410m<br />
<br />
Next up on the list: Bungedore. Speaking of the list:<br />
<br />
- <strike><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_George_%28New_South_Wales%29">Lake George</a>, 68km round trip</strike><br />
<strike>- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murrumbateman">Murrumbateman</a>, 75km round trip</strike><br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungendore">Bungendore</a>, 76km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collector,_New_South_Wales">Collector</a>, 110km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yass,_New_South_Wales">Yass</a>, 105km round trip <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corin_Dam_aerial_W.jpg">Corin Dam</a>, 125km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooma">Cooma</a>, 122km one way <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braidwood,_New_South_Wales">Braidwood</a>, 173km round trip (road might be dodgy though) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batemans_Bay">Batemans Bay</a>, 146km one way (dodgy road?) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulburn">Goulburn</a>, 178km round trip (the giant ram lives here!)<br />
- <a href="http://www.spacetimestudios.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3974&d=1324510645">Canberra-Collector-Yass-Canberra</a>, 195km <br />
- Cooma, 244km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_kX1vqjCzQ">Sydney???</a>, 286km one way<br />
<br />
Slowly getting there :)Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-64261521889620992822012-02-23T19:21:00.001+08:002012-02-26T13:04:50.240+08:00Canberra CC - Race 3The last of the three 'twilight' races for the year, this was my second foray into road racing in Canberra. A shortish course, only 27 km, but with two significant climbing sections. The first section was a long, fast decent into valley of the Murrubidgee River and a few break-away attempts were made, though all were reeled back in rather quickly. After crossing the river, there was a short sharp climb up towards the ACT/NSW border where the turn around point was. I was about halfway along the peleton at the beginning of the climb and saw this as an opportunity to move up a bit. A group of four riders, myself included, made it to the turn around with a bit of lead over the rest of the field.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZF3scNXG4Uzq1RRfV0_e4c-W7EN7c2to_ubDDNMY2pZ48twKciDsUe_9wGk9fsXyzapIEsHYHgkHTeHRstO9Cd8RMU_UDVrLYiIJaXN56EbCVRZ3RJ1qA_klfKgW8rvJUPurz3WANPRb/s1600/race3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZF3scNXG4Uzq1RRfV0_e4c-W7EN7c2to_ubDDNMY2pZ48twKciDsUe_9wGk9fsXyzapIEsHYHgkHTeHRstO9Cd8RMU_UDVrLYiIJaXN56EbCVRZ3RJ1qA_klfKgW8rvJUPurz3WANPRb/s640/race3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh yeah... some topo action. Please note how Lake Burley Griffin looks like an angry octopus about to devour parliment. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>After the turn around, I could see a massive storm front moving in our direction. There was quite a bit of lightning - I was wondering if it would turn into a wet race. The decent back to to river went fine but somewhere along the line we lost the fourth rider. The climb started out of the valley and my legs were already screaming at me. About a km or two into the climb, the other two riders started to pull away. I caught up two or three times, but they finally broke me after a little while. They stayed in sight, but slowly kept pulling away. Someone started to come up behind me and finally made contact. I jumped on his wheel for a while and then started taking turns, thinking we could have a crack at catching 1st and 2nd. However, he broke away up a hill after I'd taken a stint at the front. I did manage to catch him but it meant I was knackered when it came down to a sprint finish for 3rd place. Just missed out on the podium by a wheel length.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksTN2iv9Jm2bKA8vdUl13KHHh_NbnTkrELyTpeKGy_byAqP9-1z9ZDJdj2lGBfXkiCM41G0cNNivQV2mtaeVNfNz9E3oiT5uSDfh2dEkLUhx71GxI6S-_efM3_gC7gnOzpqDXxa8iaXld/s1600/IMAG0238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhksTN2iv9Jm2bKA8vdUl13KHHh_NbnTkrELyTpeKGy_byAqP9-1z9ZDJdj2lGBfXkiCM41G0cNNivQV2mtaeVNfNz9E3oiT5uSDfh2dEkLUhx71GxI6S-_efM3_gC7gnOzpqDXxa8iaXld/s320/IMAG0238.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKbPUzhWeeI&feature=youtube_gdata&fmt=22">Riders on the storm</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>I was really happy with the way the race went. I'm glad it didn't rain - apparently it poured at the start/finish line while we were out. We were treated to a spectacular lightning show as we gobbled down post race hotdogs and coke.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-31135340281722427212012-02-18T11:55:00.001+08:002012-03-07T10:29:06.371+08:00Updated List of Places to RideIn my original <a href="http://cyrohi.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/goals.html">goals post</a>, I outlined places I would like to ride to. After a bit more research, I've found some new places I'd like to try getting to, and put them in order that I will attempt them.<br />
<br />
- <strike><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_George_%28New_South_Wales%29">Lake George</a>, 68km round trip</strike><br />
- <strike><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murrumbateman">Murrumbateman</a>, 75km round trip</strike><br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungendore">Bungendore</a>,76km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collector,_New_South_Wales">Collector</a>, 110km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yass,_New_South_Wales">Yass</a>, 105km round trip <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Corin_Dam_aerial_W.jpg">Corin Dam</a>, 125km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooma">Cooma</a>, 122km one way <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braidwood,_New_South_Wales">Braidwood</a>, 173km round trip (road might be dodgy though) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batemans_Bay">Batemans Bay</a>, 146km one way (dodgy road?) <br />
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulburn">Goulburn</a>, 178km round trip (the giant ram lives here!)<br />
- Canberra-Collector-Yass-Canberra, 195km <br />
- Cooma, 244km round trip<br />
- <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_kX1vqjCzQ">Sydney???</a>, 286km one wayPicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-6546682894925228722012-02-18T10:57:00.002+08:002012-02-26T13:57:37.867+08:00Canberra - Lake George ReturnOne of my goals for this year was to ride out to Lake George, and I made it out there on a solo ride a couple of weeks ago. I later found out that this is one of the popular weekend rides for Canberrans (Canbrites?). The ride started out with a climb out of the valley that Canberra resides in along Northbourne Ave, which turns into Federal Hwy at some point. It was a little surreal as at one point I crossed the ACT/NSW border, coming from WA it had never dawned on me that I would ever ride across different states in the one trip!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8jnvgW-25MbPx69e-7-vJKFQk5o1AIPJbe86i5bBIOie4vboqieIfitcRtlCYQjaDUldEllWPu6Y3lD5ky-FBDoqRIx7v9BJxJdNlrA8iPjsZtje_s8dJp4sBVe6cowKt0GtcGsFsVuF/s1600/lake_george.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8jnvgW-25MbPx69e-7-vJKFQk5o1AIPJbe86i5bBIOie4vboqieIfitcRtlCYQjaDUldEllWPu6Y3lD5ky-FBDoqRIx7v9BJxJdNlrA8iPjsZtje_s8dJp4sBVe6cowKt0GtcGsFsVuF/s640/lake_george.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route to "Lake" George</td></tr>
</tbody></table>At about the 20km, I turned off onto the old Federal Hwy, which runs along side the new one. It was a lot quieter and a lot more scenic than the highway proper, but there was a bit more up and down. Just after the turn off started another climb, a nice steady one with a little kick at the end. From then on it was reasonably smooth sailing, except for the blip of a hill just prior to reaching Lake George. Descending to the lake offered some spectacular views, with windfarms dotted all along the far shoreline. I couldn't see any water in the lake myself, but I've been told there is a small amount along one of the far sides.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Exz8DvgfhtvgkvyA7yimP1o1Gxc2FWlRoVFiw2jr_EyYAsLYZZ0-_XygORbmzL1MGYXAbkN2nOMKfzXFncLh7EbNUDezFFBLaFYG-wYQwg83Z79DzUA0Uiin2WXjutd1I0cLFPtvzSPR/s1600/IMAG0223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Exz8DvgfhtvgkvyA7yimP1o1Gxc2FWlRoVFiw2jr_EyYAsLYZZ0-_XygORbmzL1MGYXAbkN2nOMKfzXFncLh7EbNUDezFFBLaFYG-wYQwg83Z79DzUA0Uiin2WXjutd1I0cLFPtvzSPR/s320/IMAG0223.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's definitely labelled a lake on the map...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The ride back was really nice as it felt mostly downhill, probably because it was!A very nice change after all the uphill on the way out. I can now can cross this one off the list!<br />
<br />
Distance: 68km<br />
Time: 2h 24min <br />
Average Speed: 28km/h<br />
Climbing: 550mPicklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-38677760060730868062012-01-29T11:39:00.000+08:002012-01-29T11:39:37.134+08:00Canberra Racing CalendarThere's a fair bit of racing in Canberra and it's surrounds. I'm trying to collate them all into a calendar to keep track of them all. If you know of any I've missed, please let me know.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=8048gvv820hnff1ie5c0v1c12c%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Australia/Sydney" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-18856575192749164182012-01-29T10:25:00.003+08:002012-01-29T10:31:55.317+08:00Top 10 Mt Ainslie Climb TimesI've been going up Mount Ainslie a lot recently, I thought I should keep track of the climbs. Times are measured from the 70 km/h sign at the bottom to the KOM line near the no standing sign at the top. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.hillclimbr.com/sites/climbr/climbr.nsf/xtraClimbUnid/AA6611EDCA6258AAE92574A0001605E7?opendocument">Top hillclimbr time</a>: 8:17<br />
<a href="http://cyrohi.blogspot.com/2012/01/goals.html">Goal time</a>: 9:00<br />
<br />
1. 9.30<br />
2. 9:31<br />
3. 10:37<br />
4. 10:46<br />
5.<br />
6.<br />
7.<br />
8.<br />
9.<br />
10.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-28237400705448896502012-01-27T13:33:00.008+08:002012-01-29T10:46:22.927+08:00GoalsEveryone needs goals. Here's my cycling ones for the year.<br />
<br />
<b>Racing</b><br />
<ul><li>- Place well (top 5) in B grade in road racing</li>
<li>- Place well in C grade in criterium racing</li>
<li>- Enter the Tour of Canberra in May </li>
</ul><br />
<b>Non-racing</b><br />
<ul><li><b> </b>- Get up Mt Ainslie in under 9 minutes</li>
<li>- Get up Black Mountain in under 10 minutes</li>
<li>- <strike>Ride to Lake George and back</strike></li>
<li>- Ride to a country town and back (Bungendore, Yass, Goulburn)</li>
<li>- Ride to another city (one way)</li>
</ul><br />
That last one will take a lot of preparation and training, but if I aim for something on the coast, it's mostly downhill!Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-72098010288574691962012-01-17T18:14:00.005+08:002012-01-17T21:17:06.157+08:00It's been a while - Mt Ainslie ClimbTime travelling aside, my last little post on this little blog seems to be about a year and a half ago. A few things have happened in that time, and, well, long story short, I'm now living in Canberra, which I've been told is actually the capital of Australia. Fancy that.<br />
<br />
Another rumor I've been told about Canberra is that there's a couple of hills around the place. So I took my deadly out and tried out some of these hills. Coming from Perth, my first reaction was "pffttt.. hills", but soon found out, that the hills here are real hills, and those in Perth are bumps in the ground.<br />
<br />
My first little foray was up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ainslie">Mt Ainslie</a>, only a couple of kms from the centre of Canberra. It's only a 3km climb, but it gets steeper the closer you get to the top. The average gradient is around 7% and maxes out at 13% according to <a href="http://thecycleway.com/?p=748">this website</a>. It definitely got the old heart pumping.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QMl92TM2F5bMtspRXQROMn_a84WCVNuyINBmWMIpKFPGZnJgOPFWHfepRBgY0JpdDhlJp1kPQNvBCEOdRFiZ9DDCeRKR2qdglg0LFE0v-O_y-PT3Z9oPkaee_zqldW97vDEBdsH0nZJ9/s1600/Mt+Ainslie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QMl92TM2F5bMtspRXQROMn_a84WCVNuyINBmWMIpKFPGZnJgOPFWHfepRBgY0JpdDhlJp1kPQNvBCEOdRFiZ9DDCeRKR2qdglg0LFE0v-O_y-PT3Z9oPkaee_zqldW97vDEBdsH0nZJ9/s640/Mt+Ainslie.png" width="571" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mount Ainslie Map and Profile.</b> Check out the bump in the speed toward the end (green line)! 80km/h!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I managed to get to the top in 10:37; the fastest climb on <a href="http://www.hillclimbr.com/sites/climbr/climbr.nsf/xtraClimbUnid/AA6611EDCA6258AAE92574A0001605E7?opendocument">hillclimbr </a>is 8:17, so I need to find an extra 2:20 somewhere on the climb. Hopefully I crack 10 minutes on my next try. <br />
<br />
The other beastie of a climb close in Canberra is<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mountain_%28Australian_Capital_Territory%29"> Black Mountain</a> (even sounds ominous). This one is a <a href="http://thecycleway.com/?p=748">little steeper</a> with an average gradient of 9% that tops out at 13%. That will be next on the list of things to conquer.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbREEKaXPAJlJG9NhqsBsa__MhPBBd5PollrBiWLxIu1rklbAknjN3f7eZJmBp05JL4AnFndPIK4mjvZqAAGdTUY99_XXMC0oYLPdETdT-FRgkxvG0DovbT7qjEEt72HSl2U8-Oq505R0/s1600/Cat_A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbREEKaXPAJlJG9NhqsBsa__MhPBBd5PollrBiWLxIu1rklbAknjN3f7eZJmBp05JL4AnFndPIK4mjvZqAAGdTUY99_XXMC0oYLPdETdT-FRgkxvG0DovbT7qjEEt72HSl2U8-Oq505R0/s640/Cat_A.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://thecycleway.com/?p=748">Profiles of Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain.</a> </b>Yeah, I'm going to die going up Black Mountain. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>I think I'm going to need some more gears.<br />
<br />
<b>Update:</b> Topo map of the two mountains and Canberra<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWw_hjGEHUcZaXOwUpvy5UgmxPCiSTTkQDPG4noeqlD8XWCq7dnwYsl4Ru3oKx6oqIT_uk-SRq4dgASC9IQOLv5oyII5hLSk0CWrdVbN8Mdn_Ddvrlkm2rM4HJPM-sUOyiqnXtbu1we-dx/s1600/black_ainslie_topo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWw_hjGEHUcZaXOwUpvy5UgmxPCiSTTkQDPG4noeqlD8XWCq7dnwYsl4Ru3oKx6oqIT_uk-SRq4dgASC9IQOLv5oyII5hLSk0CWrdVbN8Mdn_Ddvrlkm2rM4HJPM-sUOyiqnXtbu1we-dx/s640/black_ainslie_topo.png" width="640" /></a></div>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-295343677504253732010-07-21T22:54:00.002+08:002010-07-21T22:58:18.964+08:00Live Wire 24 Hour Winter Rogaine ReportIt seems the bigger an event is, the longer it takes me to get around to writing about it. Seems like the way life goes. Anyway...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIluvKMVQzVNpnsk71X98NoNdwdfGJwbDfDkRrbk3YnOd2-GiDgWJsviGckAbdSXVj6yfI9J7ojK2MtkdAzq-1qNm3qsr_8Q3TF_3MAbS5UgMvGIybvsDyj3dSVphai9r41OV8TTWF3Gdn/s1600/Image0020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIluvKMVQzVNpnsk71X98NoNdwdfGJwbDfDkRrbk3YnOd2-GiDgWJsviGckAbdSXVj6yfI9J7ojK2MtkdAzq-1qNm3qsr_8Q3TF_3MAbS5UgMvGIybvsDyj3dSVphai9r41OV8TTWF3Gdn/s400/Image0020.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The camping/hash house area</i>. <i>So beautiful down there.</i> </div><br />
My first 24 hour rogaine was quite interesting. Both <a href="http://cakity.blogspot.com/">Shan</a> and I were quite confident since our last exploits in the <a href="http://cyrohi.blogspot.com/2010/05/carolless-12-hour-autumn-rogaine-report.html">12 hour rogaine</a> and our <a href="http://cyrohi.blogspot.com/2010/06/walk-of-madness-report.html">walk of madness</a>. We rocked up to a farm just out of Lowden, which is east of Donnybrook, on the Friday night before the start. Set our tent up and tuckered in for a nice little sleep. It got down to -5 C that night. For all those reading this from the Eastern States, see, it does get cold here sometimes!<br />
<br />
After slumber came waking up, always an ominous sign. Maps were corralled and courses were plot. When I say plot, I really mean we spent the whole 4 hours discussing where the hell we were going to go, and what the hell we were going to do. We set quite an ambitious course, which you can see below (still coming). It looks a bit like a bat. Or a killer wombat, if you squint hard enough.<br />
<br />
So at 12 noon on the Saturday, we were off. We had an incredible start; we completely missed the first control. So much for the following the crowd theory. We followed them to the second control though, so it wasn't too bad. Shortly after, Shan got stuck climbing a barb-wired fence, which also happened to be electric. I would have helped sooner, but laughter was slowing me down.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCpboUC-8gI-aP7ZDZm97so16oU8CyV2nVz6zSlneE0Qu4uya8hpWGNszkV4r-CYVt4NNvpnXFkT8LGVEKJETKH1EL_sJHFdb5XLX_5mMNaHgbXU4qGlui9MpZojtKKIU1Cg9uE7Ni3Rw/s1600/Image0024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCpboUC-8gI-aP7ZDZm97so16oU8CyV2nVz6zSlneE0Qu4uya8hpWGNszkV4r-CYVt4NNvpnXFkT8LGVEKJETKH1EL_sJHFdb5XLX_5mMNaHgbXU4qGlui9MpZojtKKIU1Cg9uE7Ni3Rw/s400/Image0024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <i>The lovely vineyards of the Ferguson Valley, and some punter that got in the road of the camera.</i></div><br />
<a name='more'></a>Some lovely vineyards mucked up our straight line technique, so we had to the old 'listen to your feet' method and follow features. I'm just glad it was still daylight at this stage. After that we had a lovely section where we could follow gravel roads. Night settled in at toward the end of the road stint. We had a little trouble finding finding the first nighttime control, but eventually managed to locate it. From this control, it was a pretty straight line up a spur to get to the next. We came across a road. We thought it was the road marked on the map after the control, so we thought we'd walked right past another one. We had to take this road to the next one, but as we started walking, the corners and directions didn't make sense. So we back tracked to where we had originally came out on the road and went a little distance in the other direction. That didn't make any sense either.<br />
<br />
Shan started to get worried we were lost. I thought we weren't lost, we just didn't know where we were. The road we were on wasn't making any sense at all. It looked major enough to be on the map, but then again it didn't look like the road we should have came out on (we'd crossed it previously, it was more main roady looking). So we walked up and down again in case we'd gotten something wrong. Also it was cold, so walking kept us warm. I started getting worried too. Then I was convinced we were going to freeze to death. Just then we saw some head torches coming from the bush. They seemed as perplexed as us about the situation. The decided just to cross the road and keep going. They were right. It was only a few hundred meters off the road. That didn't exist on the map. Stupid road.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Pro-tip 1: Never trust roads or lack thereof on the maps.</b><br />
<br />
Anyway. The next few controls were pretty easy. Then it was a big stint of bush bashing. I was starting to tire. I should have had some no doze or food or something to lift my spirits, but I was just getting really down. The controls were getting hard to find. I was being much help either. I'd have a quick look then sit down. I was fine physically, mentally I couldn't cope. I didn't have any idea it would be this exhausting. Granted getting lost on the non-existent road was probably the tipping point and I should have done something about it then. But know I know for next. Its amazing how much of a battle it is mentally.<br />
<br />
<b>Pro-tip 2: Look after your brain.</b><br />
<br />
We got back to the hash house around 1:30am. Grabbed some food and chowed down on that. It was awesome. I think Shan was eager to keep going. But I just couldn't deal with it. So we went to bed. And had a sleep-in in the morning.<br />
<br />
I learned a lot from this and I think the next time I will be a lot more prepared.<br />
<br />
We also got first place in the intervarsity division which was pretty cool. We got some pretty patches to sew onto our packs to strike fear into the hearts of our competitors.<br />
<br />
I won't be around for the next 24 hour, which is a bit sucky. But I'll gallivanting around Vienna at that point, so I don't mind too much :) I think we have a good shot at getting into the top 20 (30 at least) in the one after that (a 12 hour one). <b><br />
</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRUk_ZLiqw1BK8zQLZhbMQmPmtG0-tByCwYOo4NMplvnzA3IONwslInrpw1j1qS7fGFYyJWjNBepBSsGLnr5jjcDwgDJOuFgbfVjXheZZP_CjMfr0LMQFv_YvTOf-2LDswpDJ16WVGC2S/s1600/Image0025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRUk_ZLiqw1BK8zQLZhbMQmPmtG0-tByCwYOo4NMplvnzA3IONwslInrpw1j1qS7fGFYyJWjNBepBSsGLnr5jjcDwgDJOuFgbfVjXheZZP_CjMfr0LMQFv_YvTOf-2LDswpDJ16WVGC2S/s400/Image0025.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><i>I wonder whose ugly mug that is?</i></div><br />
<b>Higlight:</b> Getting outdoors for a hike. It was lovely country and there wasn't too much rain. Also the win was pretty good!<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Lowlight: </b>Mental exhaustion.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b> </b>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-38876280640943076082010-07-19T19:59:00.003+08:002010-07-19T20:10:42.774+08:00PDCC - North Dandalup HandicapThis would be my first handicap race. I didn't really know what to expect. I had a bit of an idea how it works in theory, but not really in practice. It would be an interesting course; a 200m climb right of the bat, then a general saw-toothiness up to the turn around point just out of Dwellingup. I found out at registration that the organisers had put my in with the A-graders. Hmm. I wonder how this was going to go. <br />
<br />
We all lined up for the race. Each group went off with a few minutes in between. Turns out I was in the last group, with, I assume, was all the A-graders. So after a long wait we were off. My gameplan was to stick with the group as long as possible and try to finish with them. Had a nice roll through going for the first few kms until we hit the big climb. I found myself at the front of the group doing my turn, but as I went to pull off, everyone followed. Hmmm. Fair enough. I was feeling pretty good, so I just sat at the front for a while. A couple of minutes later I looked behind, and there was only two other guys behind me. After another couple of minutes, it was just me and another guy, Wade Longworth. We both started taking turns at the front, and to my astonishment we started passing people that had left before us. We were setting a pretty cracking pace, no one had yet jumped on the back of us two. One guy managed to jump to just before we passed Dave, but we dropped him at the next major hill. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Not far from the turn around point we noticed a decent sized group pass us in the other direction. Wade and I started chatting. He wanted a win. I thought who was I to argue. The plan was to get onto that group and ride with it back to the start/finish line. After the turn around, we tried to keep the pace as high as our legs would allow. Each rider we passed we asked how far away the big group was. We slowly getting closer. About halfway back we spotted them at the crest of a climb. We both put all we had into getting up to the bunch, and managed to catch them just before the decent (catching them seemed to take forever).<br />
<br />
I was happy to sit at the back of the pack for a bit of breather, but Wade definitely wasn't. He marched straight up to the front. Bugger, I can't let him have it this easy. So off I went after him. The tempo increased down the hill, a few other riders dropping off the back. I made a half-hearted attack but was quickly caught by Wade and another guy. Suddenly the finish appeared (where the hell did that come from?). Crap. Sprinting, how do you do that again? Come on legs! Wade and two other guys got up for the sprint as well. I just didn't have enough in me to catch two of them, but I manage to just come in a wheel length ahead of the third guy. How anyone can pull off a sprint like those other two after riding that course is beyond me. <br />
<br />
Turns out another group had come in around a minute before us. So I ended up with 9th overall (Wade got 7th). Wade and I had the fastest time overall (well he was a second or two quicker than me) which was pretty sweet. Best of all, I came in 2nd of the A-graders. <br />
<br />
I must give Kudos to Wade for the awesome breakaway we had going. He's one hell of a rider. <br />
<br />
The next race at Parklands is flat, so its going to be very interesting to see how it all unfolds. <br />
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Highlight: Dropping A-graders on a climb :)<br />
Lowlight: The pain of the sprint at the end. It was a very peculiar type of pain. Weird.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-47629577175174652892010-07-19T17:44:00.003+08:002010-07-19T20:11:20.019+08:00PDCC - Serpentine/Karnet Race ReportA lovely overcast day in the farmland on the outskirts of Serpentine provided a dramatic backdrop for the second of my forays into the PDCC racing events. I was joined by Toby and Dave in cat B. After all the pre-race formalities, we were off and going in a group of about 15. The first lap and a bit (of seven) was reasonably sedate, we even had a nice bit of rain to cool us down. Someone started to push hard at the front, and before we knew it we were pedalling along in the low 40s. The group lost a few of its members off the back. Toby and I tried to cool the pace a little to allow Dave to jump back on, but the rest of the bunch were having none of it.<br />
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After another lap or two, the rider in the blue kit started attacking. Toby was keeping a very close eye on Blue man and followed each and every of his attack. I was a little bit slower, but managed to find Toby's wheel most times. These attacks kept going on, but none were successful. The rest of the bunch seemed keen to not let anyone get away, but no one looked particularly enthusiastic about launching an attack themselves.<br />
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On the last lap, I found myself at the front of the bunch with about 3 km to go. Blue man was behind me, so I thought he might be keen for a bit of a quick breakaway before for the finish. So I took off expecting him to be on my wheel, and Toby right behind him. After a little bit, I looked behind to make sure everyone was still there. No one was. Thats a bit peculiar I thought. For a second or two I thought of waiting up for the others, but then I decided I might as well have a bit of a go at it myself and took off again. Toby told me later that the bunch were fighting a bit about who was going to chase me down. They looked at him, and he said no way. Thanks Toby :) I hit the final straight, looked over and saw two riders after me; Blue man and his accomplice. One of them dropped off after a little bit, but the other powered on. He was slowly catching, but I managed to cross the line with a good 100ish meters to spare. Managed to grab first place again. Toby came in 3rd (or 2nd according to the official results, I'm not sure). What a fine day of racing!<br />
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Highlight: Winning!<br />
Lowlight: Umm, not much. I did run off the road once, but I do that normally anyway.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-48729805992873214032010-07-06T15:00:00.005+08:002010-07-06T16:19:47.468+08:00PDCC - Casuarina Race ReportI've been meaning to go to a PDCC road race for a number of weeks now, so I thought it was about time to get off my ass and actually go. This weeks was a lovely seven laps of a 9ish km course in Casuarina. Lovely weather for it too. I decided to chuck myself into B grade, cos thats where all the cool kids were hanging out. <br />
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With 15 of us setting out, the first few laps were pretty tame. A couple of attacks here and there, nothing too threatening. We dropped a couple of riders somewhere along the line. The action started just after crossing the start/finish to commence the 4th lap. The pace was right up and someone in the middle of the bunch decided to start going a little bit off vertical (tyre rub?). I don't really know what happened next, it all went by really fast. I think the first guy knocked someone else over and it went from there, domino style. Dave has a lot <a href="http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=27115&start=50">better write-up of the incident</a> than this! Unfortunately someones handlebars got lodged in his nice new rear wheel. Luckily neither he or the bike was badly damaged.<br />
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Those not involved in the crash waited for a little bit to see if anyone was going to jump back into the race. I thought I saw Dave making a dramatic comeback, but it turned out to be a Cat C or D rider. Anyway the pack (now at 8 riders) was back together and off we went. The next 2 laps were reasonably docile, I know I was a bit worried about a repeat of the crash. <br />
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Things started to heat up on the last lap. The pace increased a bit. Toby told me to keep an eye out for Jelly Belly man (there were jelly beans on his jersey) as he was looking pretty strong. Halfway around the lap another rider was dropped. Soon after the guy in the pinkish jersey and his mate had a crack at breaking away from the rest of us, but to no avail. I found myself at the front of the pack with Toby and I thought, if it comes down to a bunch sprint I'm not going to do too well (with my little legs). A little hill was coming up so I thought I'd give it a crack and break away up the hill, and then somehow make it to the line before everyone else. So I took off up the hill and down the other side. After a few hundred meters I saw the pack was gaining on me, so I got up out of the seat and had a bit more of a go at it. I reached the last corner and almost clipped some traffic furniture going around it. Got up out of the seat again to get down the finishing straight. I had a look around me and the bunch had backed off a little. I was pretty sure I had it in the bag then. I didn't let up though just to make sure. Crossed the line to grab first place! YAY! Toby outmatched everyone in the sprint to grab second. 1st and 2nd for SPR, pretty nifty! <br />
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Highlight: Looking around on the finishing straight and knowing that they weren't going to catch me.<br />
Lowlight: The crash. I was pretty lucky to avoid it.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-91915053616935312682010-06-15T23:35:00.001+08:002010-06-15T23:35:16.969+08:00Timelapse of the Windmill on Rottnest IslandIf there's one thing I love more than cycling and hiking, its has to be windmills. I bloody love 'em. So pretty. Anyway. I was recently on Rottnest Island for some R&R and thought I'd be a little creative. <br />
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<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J41PoZuih04&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J41PoZuih04&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object><br />
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The song is called "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dZUd9sB3X0&playnext_from=TL&videos=sdKkHrWvNpM">Improvisation no53</a>" by Kyle Landry.Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-70708831186847845502010-06-10T14:01:00.004+08:002010-06-10T14:08:15.823+08:00Live Wire 24 Hour Winter RogaineMy first <a href="http://wa.rogaine.asn.au/">24 hour rogaine</a> is coming up soon. It'll be on the weekend before my birthday, so hopefully there'll be a surprise cake at the end. Can you put in requests at the hash house? Anyway, I digress. The rogaine will be held in lovely countryside/bush/snake-infested-death-pits east of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnybrook,_Western_Australia">Donnybrook</a>. Now, you may be thinking, what does live wire have to do with any of this? Its a very good question, and I commend the reading for asking it. You see, some of the terrain we will be on is on farmland. Farms tend to have fences. Some farms push electrons through these fences... Now don't get me wrong. I like jumping fences Indiana Jones style with a perfectly executed ninja roll upon landing, but the threat of electrocution, it.. it somehow just doesn't really take my fancy. On the other hand, maybe I could HTFU and add an extra cup of concrete to my breakfast that morning. Or, you know, wear gloves.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNlqJkFkMDuktHbp6uvPxGFu0WYgy0jALk7pOXb9AdyH99WDr5Zm1rIUB3fVsawDZd65Y1U01_bYftguydKZv0vP98ZI9Wre0DJhozDrW6HoL9JDBPh_j4GJ-oDSDOGZrqwshZlRaQfON/s1600/fence2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNlqJkFkMDuktHbp6uvPxGFu0WYgy0jALk7pOXb9AdyH99WDr5Zm1rIUB3fVsawDZd65Y1U01_bYftguydKZv0vP98ZI9Wre0DJhozDrW6HoL9JDBPh_j4GJ-oDSDOGZrqwshZlRaQfON/s640/fence2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <i>Yeah, something like that. Spot the 10 things wrong with this photo! Best one wins a prize!</i></div><i><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">I'll be partnering again with Shannan again in this one (<a href="http://cakity.blogspot.com/">do I smell a rogaine themed cake coming up soon?</a>). This time I'm going to be taking a thin mattress to sleep on, thermarests just don't cut it after that much walking. We've also learnt how to navigate properly since the last one, which should make things interesting. I'm current working on making a high powered torch out of an old one I have. If it works, which is highly unlikely, I'll put it a how-to up on this site. I also want to have another stab at video recording the rogaine, like my failed attempt on the walk of madness, which I still have to work out how to do now that my phone is thoroughly dead.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6443837549102451348.post-74017203743782288832010-06-02T17:31:00.010+08:002010-06-03T15:07:37.462+08:00Walk of Madness Report<span style="font-size: small;">The walk of madness (all so known in some circles as the trek of stupidity) began pleasantly enough at the Northern Terminus of the Bibbulmun track in Kalamunda with Shan having a good old power yack. And welcome to this post's first pro-tip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pro-tip 1: Don't consume copious amounts of roset the night before a 24 hour hike.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The three of us set off at 12:30pm, after delaying a few hours to allow the weather to ease (and for a sleep in, I had a couple glasses myself). The third member of our party of ineptitude was Dylan, who had been in a couple of 24 hour rogaines, but never managed to stay out for the whole time. The first section was very nice; through the abandoned golf course, up and down a nice little (read big) gully. Thats when the rain started. Of course, after some amount of time we reached the first hut, but only after navigating up the treacherous Bibbulmun river.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pro-tip 2: Even in the best of conditions, everything is further than you think.</b><b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The first hut, Hewitts hut, was appropriately populated with many little kids when we arrived, and further to be populated by scouts at sometime in the near future. That was enough motivation to kick on through Mundaring Weir and up to Ball Creek hut.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I must admit, we stopped at the Mundaring Pub for a pint of coke on the way through. We were met by a group of quizzical mountain bikers when we arrived. When asked how far we had to go today, we replied and an in-depth psychoanalysis of our sanity began. Off we trotted, in the rain of course, up out of the Helena valley and toward Ball Creek. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">About halfway on this leg, the sun went down. Now this didn't come as much surprise to any of us, but it did begin to instill a bit of worry and perhaps a smidgen of fear in me. That said, it could have been the caffeine from the coke finally reaching my brain. Upon finding that our little wagul friend was extremo-reflective, a collective sigh of relief was sighed and onward we forged.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We arrived at Ball creek well into the dark. Times will follow later as I can't remember them now. There was a group of girl scouts and their two leaders there (what is it with scouts and hiking? I'll never work that one out). This was our designated dinner stop so into the salmon and dry bikkies we chowed. With our legs thoroughly (haha) rested, we set off for the next hut, Helena, which was one of the prettiest views on the whole track. Pity it was dark AND overcast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Remember the rain I mentioned? Yeah? Well it kept going all the way to Helena. It started to get a little.. hmm, whats the word, miserable. Group moral dropped significantly during this stretch (we'd been pretty bloody chirpy for slightly hung-over mad people). Physically I was fine, but I started to tire mentally, there was nothing to look at, nothing to hear except the rain (although we did here some funky sounding frogs at one point, that was the highlight). It was almost sensory deprivation at its finest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pro-tip 3 - Bring a bigger torch so I can look at stuff. Or an mp3 player. Or a not-overcast (undercast?) sky!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Arriving at Helena at 11pm-ish, we found that the hut was occupied by a single lady, that we probably scared the crap out of her (sorry Mrs Lady!). We ate, we laid down, mostly in silence. And we headed out again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The next section was to Waaleigh hut. Again, another spectacular view with no view. This section has a nice little up and down hill section which is completely avoidable except for the fact that the track goes up and down it. So up and down we went. The rain managed to stop (I think by stop I mean light drizzle) for a little while, so it was pleasant. It gave my brain something to do. Across the river (creek? The watercourse??) and up another hill into some lovely Wandoo forrest. Wandoo is quite specky at night time, it stands out from everything else in the torch light. As we were nearing the hut, we came out onto the valley edge and watched the moon set. Ooo that was pretty. We got to Waaleigh and discovered it was populated by hikers. So again, we sat and ate our next main meal (brinner? deckfast?) in the rain in silence. We really wanted to have a decent 20 minute lie down in this hut, but we didn't want to disturb the other hikers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pro-tip 4: If you really need a decent 20 minute lie down, do it, even if you disturb other hikers. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The next section was to Beraking hut. It was supposed to be flat, and short, at around 8km. He headed out after our non-rest and all was going well. A couple of kilometers in (see pro-tip 2) my brain 'hit the wall'. It wasn't too bad at the start, but I started slipping into a weird state of delirium. I couldn't walk straight, I might have been seeing things (I'm not sure, I don't really remember this bit well). Moral became non-existant, or negative if thats possible. We started taking more and more breaks. I think Shan was getting sore, so while she rested, I would semi-nod off. After a little while we were all convinced we should have been at the hut by now, but I extrapolated pro-tip 2 to the worse case scenario. Think of how far you've gone, then halve it. So we kept plodding on. Shan (I think it was her, it could have been in my head) was insistent we'd missed the hut, which by this stage started sounding quite logical. Invoke pro-tip 2, keep plodding. Finally we got to the hut, invoked pro-tip 4 to the max and squished in amongst the plethora of other hikers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We slept for I dont know how long, 20 minutes perhaps? The only reason we didn't stay longer is that we all were frightfully cold and walking was the only way to warm up. It was a good incentive to keep going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pro-tip 5: Bring some warm clothes. Already packed them? Good. Now put some more in. Yeah and that one too. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I actually felt quite good after our little nap and a bit of food munching. Our next hut was a hilly, long slog (about 12km) to Mt Dale hut. Moral lifted when the first glimpses of sunlight started to show. It was amazing. We reached the bottom of the valley before the Mt Dale climb, and tiredness, both physical and mental, started setting in again. We decided that we wouldn't have enough time to reach our goal of Brookton Hwy so we decided to bring in the back up plan. To finish at the car park just before the Mt Dale hut. Somehow we reached there. It was nice to sit down. Dylan and Shan fell asleep almost instantly. I ran into some nice day-hikers who let us borrow their mobile to ring our lift (my delightful partner Louise, thanks Lou!) to let her know we'd finished and if she could come early to meet us. The two phones we had bought had now stopped as they'd become water logged during the night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We waited a couple of hours and Lou arrived. We all slept the whole way back. That night I slept for 14 hours. It was wonderful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the end we managed 57km of the 70km target in about 21 hours. We maybe... maybe could have made it, but it would have been very touch and go, so we decided not to.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I did want to make a little movie about this trip using the camera on my phone, but it died somewhere between Ball Creek and Helena. I'll put that footage up once I've edited it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Highlights: </b>We walked 57km and didn't die.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Lowlights: </b>This is a tough one, so many contenders. The rain, the cold and the tiredness I'd say win.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Final pro-tip: </b>Bring more caffeine!</span>Picklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06001226126964034032noreply@blogger.com0