Correction

The results for the Sol Breads Rainbow Ride have been published... here.

Sandra finished her ride in 3h53m and was 26th overall.

She got 1st on her category!!!

Great ride!!!

PS: Good ride by Aaron also, just don't know why he finished at Currumbin beach !?!

A day as a Directeur Sportif... fun!

Sunday Race Report

My day started at around 2:00 am, for some reason I couldn't stay

in bed any longer. I got on the computer to check the weather for Northern NSW and got the percolator ready to go... We needed some coffee to get going.

One hour later, Sandra got up. We started getting ready for the

drive straight away. As it wasn't that long since we had our dinner, all we could have was the "best" fruit loaf available on the market and the coffee... More on the fruit loaf another time.

A few hours later, Sandra was at the start line and very ready to go. I was happy that Aaron showed up for the race. He would be the best company if Sandra could stay with him for the long race.

Aaron took off from the start as he always does, leaving 273 riders behind including Sandra. He was soon out of site with the leading group.

Sandra got into a small grupetto which was travelling very fast on

the flats with a little help of a tail wind.

When they hit the first climb, the climber of the grupetto (#2 on the jersey and definitely the oldest of the 6 or 7 riders) attacked but was chased by Sandra who got on his wheel very quickly. From the car, I was a little shocked.

Aaron got dropped by the leading group and joined Sandra's bunch for the next 95 km. That was great for Sandra as she knows he is one of the most experienced riders around.

The grupetto reached another climb and the rider, with #2 on the back hit the front again.

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Half way up and he was doing a bit of damage... again! Sandra didn't seem bothered and went with him.

The older guy just kept going. Sandra and Aaron just paced themselves up the incline. Behind, a lot of pain, I could see it!

Damaged done, these guys came down very fast on the other side.

Who said it was not a race?

As a DS, that was my view from the car. And I got to shout:- Eat!

Ok, it was not the Tour de France but nothing wrong with a bit

of pretending...

One of the officials on the course builds these machines. He insisted I needed one of them. I must be looking old these days...

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Last climb of the day, 5 km with a 6-7% average gradient. Very, very painful, I can only imagine. After racing for over 100 km,

the rest of the grupetto decided to attack each other...

as you do.

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Aaron on his final effort to the top before entering Queensland.
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Sandra on her last attempt to get to the top faster and end the pain. She finished the 120 km race in second place in the woman's division. Her time was an amazing 3:49 for the epic race.
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From the top of the range, a great view of Mount Warning, a sign for the huge accomplishment by everyone on the race.

Not that many had the energy to look...
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Dream Bike and things from the past.

Saturday evening, raining, not much happening at work but I still had to be there until 19:15. The idea of having to get up at 3 am Sunday morning to drive to Byron Bay didn't make it any easier for me to be there.

The net helped me stay occupied for a while... I checked a few blogs, read Cyclingnews, searched for the morning's crit results and then decided to look at my current favourite bike. No, forgive me for creating a difference here but I was looking at my current favourite "bicycle".

What is the difference, it's just a word. Well, put it this way, I love my technically perfect carbon bike. It is well designed, well made, good looking, light and stiff. It is everything that a racing bike is suppose to be. More importantly, it allows me to do 120+ km rides without having to use a crane to get me off at the end. And it's fast up the hills. I like that!! But... I still think that a real bike, or a "bicycle", should be made of some type of metal. If it has something to do with the bikes I rode for most of my life, or something else, I am not sure.

What I know is that my old steel-frame bike, now retired to a life hanging under the house (here), provided a certain feel that I liked when taking it on the commute to work, or even up Nebo road, despite it's limited 7 speed cluster and 13.5 kg. I could try to explain this feel but it would be just a philosophical attempt to describe something that just feels good. So, let me leave it that way.

Now, that bike was purchased new in 1997/8 and cost me just over A$700. I didn't ride it for all these years but I did 8 months of training and racing on it before buying a real racing bike (light and stiff Starship aluminium frame). I also did lots of kms commuting to work in the last three and a half years and it always felt good. The only changes I made to this bike were a new stem (shorter, as the bike was the wrong size when I bought it) and saddles, as I broke a couple of them. And, up to the day I crashed it, this bike still felt good.

2004 Tour de Tablelands

That makes me think that a "contemporary and high tech" steel, or titanium, frame must provide an even better "feel". And, as some of the builders advertise, without compromising on the ability of going fast, or being a racing bike. Is that possible?

A question often thrown in when discussing frame materials x racing is why don't we see them (steel or Ti frames) in the Pro peloton. My simple guess is that the cost of producing these "racing" metal frames is too high, being for the price of the tubing and the price of the labour to put them together. The price of carbon isn't that low, and getting higher too, but after making the moulds to make the frames, the cost per unit must go down dramatically.

Nevertheless, I like dreaming about them and the possibility of having one of them and have decided that a custom made Baum would do the job... Do the job? Now, that is funny. Specially the way this one in the photo has been built. I wonder if they would send me one to test ride or even better if they would sponsor me????

Does anyone else have a dream bike?

Things from the past

Having spoken of the past, there are many things or moments of the past that can't be really matched by the modern and new, can they? Having watched this video another day, and thanks Ron from Cozy Beehive for introducing me to so many interesting things, I couldn't think of a recent footage and commentary put together recently that could match the intensity and beauty of this production. Moments of Passion.

Enjoy the video!!!

Friday it is... ahead, another weekend off the bike.

Friday already, the week went quickly. A few months ago, it would be like: - Yes! I don't have to work Saturday morning, I can race at Nundah!!! But no, I won't be racing this one either, in fact, I might not even get on the bike as the shoulder is still giving me grief.

The good news is that I did get on the trainer this morning after a couple of days off as a flu kept me out of action for a couple of days. Action? Did I say action? I even had a book with me...

I try to listen to the radio while on the trainer but the local stations are really bad. For every song they play there are five minutes of stupid jokes or somebody calling to tell what was the most interesting thing they found in something they were eating... Who cares???

Back to the weekend, there is a great event happening on Sunday, The Sol Rainbow Ride . The 120 km race starts in Byron Bay (NSW) and finishes in Currumbin, Queensland, passing through some beautiful areas and with a couple of really good climbs on the way. How good will that be?

I will have to wait for next year. In a better note, Sandra is racing and I get to be her DS. That is what she says, I see myself as being the driver/water man. I am looking forward to that.


Getting tubed

This week, I also finished fixing the tubes that I had sitting here for ages. The final result was 9 out of twelve. Not too bad, I think!

II. Testing Phase

III. Packaging Phase

A dish to remember

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The other nice thing this week was deciding to cook some Brazilian food for Sandra (and myself). After watching a cooking show on SBS, I went to their web site and chose a seafood dish. My mother had cooked the same dish for us during our visit to Rio - Moqueca de Peixe. Very simple to make and very delicious.

Cycling News: Barack Obama, the number one!!

Barack Obama is back on the bike, with a smile. It has been a long and hard 2008 season for the young rider which ended with him in the number one spot in the world. It was an expensive campaign, with sponsors spending around U$ 1,000,000,000 to get the 47 years American at the top.

Messages arrived from around the world, including a warm SMS from the French association. He will soon travel around the globe representing his new sponsor in exhibition events, although the contract won't be signed before January 20, 2009.

Lance Armstrong, who is returning to the main arena under the Kazakhstan flag, is yet to congratulate the new numero uno. He has spoken to his Team Manager and old friend, Johan Bruyneel, about a new challenge and that the next nine Tour de France events will be part of his preparation for this long term goal.

We are looking at a very exciting 2009.

America... You've changed!

Just woke up from an afternoon nap (got up at 3 this morning) to learn that the people of the USA has elected Barack Obama, a young African American, as their new President.

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Or, am I still dreaming?

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"It's been a long time coming. But tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change is coming to America," - Barack Obama

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It is like waking up to a new world. I never thought I would write a sentence like that...

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Congratulations, America!

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PS. When is Lance gonna show up to present him with a Trek?

Sunday blues and the Irish revolution

Another weekend gone!

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Not that it felt like it has gone quickly as the popular belief that on weekends the clocks move faster. In fact, it was just right. After a relaxing Saturday, the Sunday shaped up to be pretty much the same. Coffee, breakfast, coffee, newspaper... I think I was suffering from Sunday blues.

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Luckily, Sandra got a text from JW inviting us to come around his place and jump in the pool. The weather person had forecasted 29 degrees plus for the whole weekend. I said it was a great idea, as long as I could watch the "Cadel on Tour" doco on TV instead of immersing myself in the pool straight away. The answer was a big "Yes!" as John and Sandra had the same priorities.

We watched the program as if it was all new to us but for John it was different as he was there with his partner, following Cadel's attempt to be the first Australian to win the Tour. So, after the doco we moved to another room where a huge screen displayed another Tour image, this time produced by John and Narelle.

No pool activity was to take place as we looked at dozens of images and heard some nice stories of their adventure following the Tour instead. I didn't mind as I have spent years of my life immersed in water, been in the pool or in the ocean. Sandra and I had a few questions to ask also because we have been talking about doing something like that for a couple of years now.

We headed home for our Sunday lunch and a little dream time. Sandra had organised a ride for the afternoon and I wanting to occupied myself by doing something productive (and trying to find an excuse to watch another cycling program on the TV) got the tools out...

The tools

...and here is the result:

Eight but the final count was twelve

We all know how TV shows tend to inspire us a bit, nothing different here. After talking and watching cycling for 1/3 of the Sunday, I had to get on the bike. On the trainer anyway.

Geared up for a spin downstairs

Just an easy spin

Time: 1:16; dist: 26.2 imaginary km; AvHR: 89 bpm; MaxHR: 107 bpm

An Irish Revolution

I found these two lads on the Net somewhere and decided to see what they were really up to. It happened to be an amazing exploit of riding a bike for 16 months around the globe. And for two great causes as well. People like that really deserves our support, I reckon!

Click here for the Irish Revolution.

I really admire people that set up to do things like that and sometimes wonder if I could put myself through such an epic venture. All the planning (not my forte) and organising, seeking finance, all the hardship and lets not forget the thousands of km on the saddle... It would be so much bigger than winning the local crit or the state championship. These guys really love cycling!!!

So far so good!!

Saturday, a recovery day

Getting out of bed this morning, after a late(ish) night, wasn't very easy. The brightness of a sunny morning outside the windows wasn't enough but an early rise of the temperature in the room did the job of getting me up at around 9(ish also).

The plan was to go to Nundah, watch a couple of races, say Hi! to a few friends and attend a club meeting... but chose to stay home and have a nice breakfast with Sandra. So much more civilised some might say... It was nice, specially these days when my erratic working hours added to Sandra's very early training sessions (in preparation for the Tour of Bright) give us sporadic mornings together.

As my training is restricted to the indoor trainer now, I haven't been getting up early either. I can start my training mid morning when working in the afternoons or late in the afternoon when working the morning shifts. Handy, I must say.

To make it a really civilised day, Sandra and I went for a drive, bought a couple of nice things for a light lunch, visited a couple of bike shops (we are hopeless...) and went to visit David and Donna. It was a hot afternoon, perfect to open and share with friends the Chilean sauvignon blanc I had found earlier in the week.


The training week

It was a more than a training week, they were nine consecutive days on the trainer. Yes, under the house! Now, that's something I didn't think I was capable of. OK, nothing much for our friends who live in Europe and North America, where the winter keeps them off the road but in Australia, in Spring... It must be unheard of.

The training sessions

At this stage, I am doing sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours and three different types of exercises. They are meant to work on strength, leg speed and Lactate Threshold. With those exercises, I am hoping to be able to increase power and improve my level of fitness. I am confident that if I keep up with these sessions, I will be able to get back on the road and start racing the crits in good form, and with fresh legs, half way through the season.

I start all the sessions with a 30" warm up and finish with a 15-30" warm down, where I include short one-leg spins to help with pedalling technique. Some shoulder exercises follow and 15-30' of stretching.

1) High Cadence Exercise - 6 x 3' w/ 3' recovery

- trainer on medium resistance (3/5); gears: 39-17; 130-150 rpm

time: 1:30
dist: 34.1 km
avHR: 115 bpm
MaxHR: 162 bpm

2) Strength Exercise - 6 x 2'30" w/ 2'30" recovery

- trainer on high resistance (5/5); 53-11; 60-65 rpm

time: 1:17
dist: 24.9 km
avHR: 108 bpm
MaxHR: 162 bpm




3) All out efforts - various duration and recovery times

- trainer on medium resistance (3/5); gears: 39-17; high rpm

time: 1:00
dist: 23.1
avHR: 101 bpm
MaxHR: 160 bpm




4) Recovery - light spin

- trainer on low resistance (1/5); gears: 39-21; low rpm

time: 1:00
dist: 22.2 km
avHR: 84 bpm
MaxHR: 105 bpm




This is the first set of "data" from the training (didn't want to put all the nine sessions in). As this is all done on the trainer, in my lab, analysing the changes over the weeks will be a lot easier and the results more accurate I would say. I am certainly looking forward to those changes...

All good fun, also!