Bad end of a week...

That's all I can say... The week itself wasn't too bad. I did all the prescribed workouts (HR is still an issue during the training sessions!), had some good rest and managed the 120 km ride for the week. In the program, these long rides are on Sundays but due to work commitments I have to shuffle all the training and do what I can, when I can.

So, on Friday I started at around 4:50 with Sandra. We met a couple of friends at Velo, our bike shop in Grange, rolled slowly to town where we met another group to do an easy River Loop as a recovery ride. In fact, this was the start of a (hopefully!) regular ride when the main objective is to have fun and get to the coffee shop/juice bar for a chat before work and even plan the rides and/or races for the weekend. We want to do this ride every Friday and want to gather as many HPRW riders (and their friends!) as possible.

The Recovery and Toast Ride: We are going to meet at Doce Vita, Park Road, at 5:30 every Friday. The idea is to do a recovery ride and then stop at the Juice Bar in Southbank (Grey Street) at around 6:20. The owner is keen to get some business and offered to serve Raisin Toast and fruit to the group. All we need to do is buy our own coffees/juices. Good deal, great way to start the morning! By the way, the coffee is good and the service is better than any other place in the Southbank area.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Brisbane-River-Loop

Back to training, after I saw everyone off it was time to get into training mode and do another easy ride... 95 km of it. For a change of scenery, I headed south and east. I really wanted to get to Manly for a glimpse of the ocean that morning. And that's what I did! I must say, it was a great think to do.

Manly is a little suburb on the coast (Moreton Bay) and has Brisbane's largest sailing club. Having spent a huge part of my life in the ocean (literately!) and good part of it around boats, that scenery does make me feel relaxed and in touch with my past. It makes me reflect on my past and doing so always helps me to realise how good my life has been, hence clearing my head of negative thoughts and giving me motivation to keep doing what I like doing and being who I am.

Manly Sailing Club, Moreton Bay

On the bike and back to town...

No kidding, you need to be a little philosophical sometimes just to stay sane while riding on Brisbane's roads. It is unbelievable what some drivers can do to scare you off purposely or just because they don't have any idea of what is happening outside their little confined air-conditioned-tinted-glassed car space. But that’s another issue.

… got to town and only had 96 kms in the legs and the ride home would only give me another 11 or 13. Well, it was a beautiful morning, why not ride along the river and suck in the beauty of this city? It can’t get much better than that. 109, it was time to head home and I was getting hungry and a little dehydrated. On the way home, I noticed my average speed at 24.8 km/h… No, that’s too slow even for a recovery ride (which I did on the small ring all the way!).

Brisbane City

Time for a little more speed without getting the HR too high. Big ring fun. Have you noticed how the whole feeling of riding a bike changes when you trow on it the big ring? If your legs are still good, the ride becomes so smooth and fast. I love that feeling. I had another 7 kms to get the Av speed to 25 km/h and still had a few short steep hills before home. That was a great way to finish it off, flying home, HR nice and low and 24.8, 24.9, 25.0, 24.8. Home at 10:30 am, 120.5 kms, average 25.1 km/h!!!! The rest of the day was dedicated to sleeping, eating, re-hydrating, reading a bike mag, cleaning the bike and organising things for the start of my 6 days working week ahead.

Sign that I am back on training!!

In the evening, Sandra took me to our newly found Japanese restaurant, Oyama. We had a feast of hand-rolls, sashimi, and a couple of Japanese beers. Perfect day, perfect evening!!!

Ok, something had to give. Saturday, I woke up at 4:30 am to do an early shift at work. I was very close to staying in bed as I felt this flu coming up. It hit me really hard at mid morning and having decided to go to work, I had a terrible day. One of those conditions, sneezing six to seven times straight and having a running nose for the rest of the time. I was sick!

Sandra and I had planned a ride with a friend for the afternoon but that was the last thing I wanted to do. Lucky, she did her training before I got home. We change the ride with our friend to coffee/green tea and doughnuts for afternoon tea... Can't remember the last time we did that...

After our friend left, I jumped in bed and had a great sleep. Got up for dinner, watched a silly movie and then back to bed at 11:30 ish. Funny enough, I woke up this morning feeling much better. It has been my trick for many years. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep and chances are the flu will disappear in one or two days...

Might go for a ride after work... it is Sunday and I still have to add a few kms to complete my week.