Double Ergo Day (DED)

I want to get better, faster, stronger and I want it to happen quicker. I am sick of getting beaten by Masters 5/6 riders, no matter how fit or good of a rider they are (Dovey I am coming for you). B grade is where it is at and I have almost been in Melbourne club level C grade for a whole 6 months. Therefore today I completed my first double ergo day and I enjoyed the pain.

Northern Combine Woodend - C Grade

Today was another fine day of racing with the Northern Combine. After a few initial attempts of a breakaway in the opening k's, one was successful (unfortunately I wasn't in this particular one) and they held on (just) to the end. On the first lap the pace was on with B grade appearing in the distance until it relaxed into a more steady rhythm. I felt a lot better today spending more time on the front, off the front, chasing breakaways and just for the hell of it, doing a big turn in the final k's to really test the legs (it turned out the breakaway's weren't that far ahead). I fought all the way to the line finishing again in the top 10 (just). I knew my big turn wouldn't help my finish as a few riders exploded past me, but it was an important test to push me that bit harder in preparation for future weeks. 

 More importantly, I backed it up today with 90kms of recovery with a couple of TT intervals thrown in. My training regime is slowly but surely turning up the intensity while maintaining decent k's finishing up with just over 350km for the week. The last 30km's were completed on my ergo annoying the hell out of my girlfriend trying to watch TV.

Make your hard rides harder and your easier rides easier.....

I here this a bit around the traps and I think this picture helps explain the story. I smashed 3 by 8km time trial (TT) efforts at my anaerboic threshold (AT) followed by a nice easy 20kms of recovery.

Northern Combine South Gisborne Loop - C grade

After a week of training, my legs always feel worst on Fridays (my rest day) and heavy for the first few k's. This feeling normally lasts until the first serious attack which raises the heart rate and where you just buckle down in order to not get dropped. The race was held on a 8km loop with included a nice climb which averaged 6% for 1km into a head wind. Fortunately, I felt better on each lap and more comfortable on the climb as my legs loosened up. But today with the pace up and down, there was no real adrenalin pushing me like there was in the Modella handicap the other week. It was almost like interval training looking back over the Garmin data. For photos of the race, click here.

 I am feeling a lot more confident in general and especially in descending, today hitting just over 70km/h with a cross wind. They key is to get in the drops and get sheltered from the wind by other riders where possible. Unfortunately, I hadn't checked my solo drink bottle (I have cut back to one after not using the 2nd one in a few races) which obviously had been sitting in the car for a while and the contents tasted partially fermented, but not in a good way. There were no cramps today or even potential cramps which is great and can be put down to the longer road races and training I have been doing lately.  

Overall, we raced for 2hours and completed the climb 8 times totaling just over 800m of vertical climbing. The bunch was altogether at the base of the final climb but exploded very quickly in the fight for the finish. I had a crack up the last climb making up a lot of places but I couldn't quite catch the leaders finishing in the top 10 still. A great day out and perfect training for the future. Note to self, need to train on more hills and less time on beach road.

Nothing special

I didn't race for once, but still trained. I spent Saturday out riding in the Yarra Valley with almost 1km of vertical climbing. Unfortunately on Sunday the weather wasn't very good and my trip to the Dandenongs with repeats of Inverness Rd was cancelled, instead I had to make do with some intervals at my anerobic threshfold (AT) peaking at 6mins. 

Hell on wheels - Melburn Roobaix 2011

Well after surviving Hell on wheels yesterday, I was back on the bike to spin the legs in the Melburn Roobaix run by Fyxomatosis. For more pictures, click here. People and bikes of all shapes and sizes turned up with a single goal, to have fun. Hitting the first section of cobbles gave me respect for the pro riders who undertake the Paris to Roobaix every year. It was rough going on my road bike, but for me riding a mountain bike is worse than cheating. It wasn't long before the cobbles took its first victim right behind me with calls of rider down becoming fainter as I pushed on.

The ride took us from the Hawthorn velodrome up through Kew, past Northcate, via the edge of Moonee ponds finishing with a lap on the Brunswick velodrome. Bikes varied from tried and true road bikes, mountain bikes, Melbourne share bikes, a 3 person bike and one poor sod wearing a kilt on uni cycle. Unfortunately, I now know the answer to the question of what do Scottsman's wear under their kilt. There was also a man dressed up like cat woman which I still don't quite understand, but I think it may have been a S&M thing.

Besides from the challenge of the cobbles, the other main challenge was working out where to next using the  map and finding some of the entrances to the obscure alleys. At the top of one of the crucial cobbled climbs, the feed station consisted of Hershies chocolates handed out to all riders brave enough to remove a hand from the bars while on the cobbles. I was glad the majority the ground was dry as the few wet cobbles had many similarities to ice skating. 

On the 12th and final cobbled sector, the 1km to go sign suddenly appeared and the pace kicked up a notch with the smell of the bbq nearby. As we fought our way through the crowds and onto the velodrome, the time was nearing on 3 hours for a mere 40km ride. But this was no ordinary ride conquering some of Melburn's greatest cobbled back alleys.

CCCC Jack McGowan Handicap at Modella - 6th Overall

Today the weather was great with the sun making a rare appearance and temperature was up in the double digits. I was excited to be on the way to another race and finding my way to Modella Hall proved a challenged as I blindly followed the GPS. It took the Mazda 3 down a unsealed road which deteriorated the further we traveled, turning into a muddy 4wd track before finally disappearing into a swampy paddock. I decided to accept defeat turning back, choosing the safer but slightly more boring option. Overall it was probably lucky that we didn't get bogged which I put down to my driving abilities leaving the Mazda intact albeit being covered top to bottom in a thick layer of mud.

In total 100 riders made the drive to Modella. My bunch was the off at 16mins and was fairly large in size containing a couple of strong riders that I recognized from the Gippsland region. Straight from the get go it was on with a couple of the more experienced riders organizing the bunch from a collection of stray cats into a well oiled machine. Everyone was rolling turns and before we knew it we had caught the riders in the previous bunches. Overtime the bunch was slowly starting to whittle down but the pace was kept high and by the end of first lap, the existing 4min to the riders behind was unchanged and the bell spurred us on.

The legs were starting to feel tired and I could feel a number of cramps building but thankfully never eventuated. The group continued to work well together with everyone doing their bit to keep the dream alive. Throughout the lap, the time updates proved that the gap was slowly being whittled down but it was still possible. On the home stretch, only 10 riders remained and the closer the finish become the more disorganized the group became. Finally with the finish line in sight, a couple of the smarter riders sat back knowing the job had been completed and it was time to prepare for the final kick. I missed the initial jump but managed to pull a few places back coming 6th overall. Overall we had averaged 40km/h for the 96km and all riders looked glad to be of the bike and a number of us were already walking funny.