August, a good month for riding a bike.

It’s been a while since I had anything much to say on this blog, and I still don’t. But I think I might jot down a quick recap of my rides during August. There is a fair bit of variety creeping into my cycling life and this month was particularly diverse. (I’ve been back on the bike since mid June after 12 weeks resting my wrist post surgery). 851km for the month.
 

1/08/2013, Thursday, Toohey Forrest, 15km, A spin around Toohey and a lap of Mt Gravatt on the funstar. This is a bike that I featured in an earlier bog (http://brucewez.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/a-day-spent-mucking-around-with-bikes.html) that got another make over for beginner CX/fun dirt road and commuter duties.
 

2/08/2013, Friday, Into City, 20km, On the funstar, for our anniversary weekend away.

  3/08/2013, Saturday, Redcliffe, 88km, On the funstar, great ride, able to stay with the bunch, went to Bicycle Revolution afterwards for new brakes and good advice.
 

4/08/2013, Sunday, New Farm Park, 22km, With Jenny! Had a picnic, great day. Beautiful weather.
 

7/08/2013, Wednesday, River Loop, 30km, Drove in, stayed for Brekky.

9/08/2013, Friday, River Loop, 30km, Jenny at Mater for small surgery, I went in with her and had a ride. Took the funstar again. A near miss with a car gave me a big fright and caused some serious thinking about how blessed I am to have this life.

10/08/2013, Saturday, Cleveland, 107km, With group 3, a bit steady, I had a fun sprint.

11/08/2013, Sunday, 20km, Samford Pony Express.

 

14/08/2013, Wednesday, Gravel Grinder, 77km back of Boonah, all day ride, lots of hills, I was pretty slow, the funstar is heavy for lots of climbing, Had a fantastic day.

 

 

 

16/08/2013, Friday, Stretton, 25km, Karawatha Commute

17/08/2013, Saturday, Sanctuary Cove, 143km, Rode in, had a great spin with quite a large bunch. 20 riders in all, Les met us there, a few took the train option on the return. I felt strong for the whole ride. It was a sensible pace, 25.4 avg overall, a light headwind to resist our trip home. Beautiful day.

 

21/08/2013, Wednesday, River Loop, 54km, Rode in, very small group on a freezing morning.

24/08/2013, Saturday, Moggill Ferry Loop, 117km, nice bunch of 7 for the extension, I was slow on the hills after Moggill

28/08/2013, Wednesday, River Loop, 28km, good spin on the funstar

29/08/2013, Thursday, Palara gravel road exploration20km, riding in upper Oxley Creek region, some good trails.

31/08/2013, Saturday, O'Reilly's, 55km, up to the Alpaca farm, rode with Les. Did a portion of a second lap, nice big group.

 

 

 

Hope I can keep this lifestyle going! Such good people.

Had a spin on the road bike this arvo. Only a couple of k's but enough to know that I'm pretty well ready for riding again.

Wrist is ok on the top bar and on the drops, I can even sprint in the drops, but the hoods (my most common riding position) puts a lot of weight through the heel of my hand. This is still uncomfortable, particularly as my wrist brace has a metal insert that runs into the palm of the hand. I have good strength for changing gears and braking. I have had a spin without the brace and it is more comfortable to grip the hood but I feel vulnerable to damage from vibration or a fall.

So I am good for a ride. Now to convince the powers that be. I'm back to my specialist on the 17th, hoping for a conditional ok then.

Grafton to Inverell 2013

Did not happen.

A massive weather event did, and a bike ride was the last thing that was going to occur in Northern NSW this weekend. Wisely the organisers of the event made use of weather watching technology and advice from relevant authorities and kept the registered riders up to date during the days prior to the event.

So when word came through on Friday morning that the ride was cancelled, it was no surprise. But it still gave me a strange feeling. I had planned and prepared, trained and shown uncharacteristic discipline in getting myself into physical shape capable of completing the ride. I felt ready in mind and body. 4 months of training, 18kg of weight loss. I could still be lighter, fitter, but I'd done what I'd set out to do, and now the culmination was taken from me. No doubt the other riders felt the same.

So.... as a riding friend put it, we made lemonade out of lemons. (Thanks Susie). Andrew Demack had done precise logistics planning for the event, with accommodation, transport and support all organised. Within 5 hours of the event being cancelled there was a new format, with loop rides from Noosa. 7 of the 8 GTI riders were still available, and the support vehicle would no longer be required. Which was a shame as the company of those good men would be missed.

We headed north from Brisbane to the hot and clear land of the eternal roundabout which is Noosaville. And food was eaten, bikes were ridden, more food was eaten and there was an abundance of craic.

Headding down for dinner, Noosaville

Andrew's Odyssey for the first day took us to Gympie and back via some little used country roads, some of which were dirt. We had more flats than Manhattan. This gave us plenty of opportunity to catch a breath (there were plenty of hills) and have a laugh. It took us most of the day to complete the 140km, and there were certainly some stiff bodies that made their way down to dinner on the river that evening. I found the ride very doable and was pleased to find myself mid-pack for most of the ride. My goal for GTI was to finish with the Southbank Bunch Group, and it seems I would have been capable of this.

Off we go, adventure calls

For Sunday's ride there was some threat of bad weather, but the 80km loop out to Belli Creek district (towards Kenilworth) remained fairly dry and the bunch enjoyed some great views from the numerous ridges that were ridden. A lazy morning tea was enjoyed at Eumundi and fish and chips on the Noosa River was a splendid way to finish up the time away.

Thanks to all the bunch for a really enjoyable weekend. Particularly to Andrew for his work in sorting accommodation and finances, planning rides, and then navigating them. Thanks also to the well-wishers who were cheering us on from the electronic sidelines.

Tonight as I try to reflect on what has happened, I have a mixture of feelings. I most strongly feel blessed to be part of the community that is the Soutbank Bunch. I feel content that we made the absolute best of unfortunate weather timing. And I feel uncertain of how I can keep my personal development of fitness and health going in the right direction. It seems I will soon have a lengthy period off the bike following surgery to my right wrist. In recent times I have seen some colleagues deal with this in noble fashion and I take inspiration from them.

When does registration for 2014 GTI open?

 

GTI Preparation

Why I am hopeful that I can finish the GTI with the SBB in 2013

I don't really care abut statistics but...

I have done marginally more km's but a fair few more hills. I am still a slug on hills but have found that I am finishing the longer rides quite strongly. The SSB team have also trained well and started from a higher fitness base than me, so it is still a pretty big task to stay with them. But I feel like I have really done all I could training wise this time, so I will have to just give it my best shot.

Statistical Comparison of GTI Preparation, 2009 vs 2013 (data for 15 weeks prior to event)
	2009	2013
Age	47	51
Mass	94	90
Km's in 15 weeks prior	2658	3245
Hill Rides
Mt Gravatt loops	3	7
Kenmore Hills Ride	0	7
Nebo	1	0
Cootha	1	1
Maleny	1	0
Tamborine	1	3
Mt Mee	1	1
O'Reilly's	0	2
Thighburner	1	1
Total Hill Rides	9	22
best avg for 3 laps Mt G	10:28	9:21