Weather or not, 7 days 23 hours to go

Today was a late lesson..normally I wouldn't flog myself on a day like today..very hot, very humid, thunder, rain.. just not my favourite scenario. But today I just had to and as a result learned a valuable lesson..if the weather's similar on Monday 26th..ride an easy gear.

Tasks done now include:
Both wheels and tyres in good order..yup
Lap times sorted
No of laps expected to be ridden by end of each 10 mins..sorted
Anticipated times of first few slower laps sorted and factored in.
Healthy? yup and friends know to keep away if they're sick..thanks Lisa for the shouted conversation across the infield this morning..she's recovering from a cold

Today I'd like to take the opportunity thank all of you who are visiting my blog..2,532 visits so far..and you range from the hundreds of you in Aus, UK and USA to the lone person in Ecuador, Iran, Mauritius, Serbia and Tunisia to name a few.. Many of you are people I know and have arrived via my signature on an email, others came via links from my sponsors , other blogs and via search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Some of the search requests have given rise to a smile: I wonder what the person who typed in "blue boy" was ACTUALLY looking for?, likewise "bike porn"...neither stayed very long!

I hope that I was able to help those who arrived via a search for vertigo, which I suffered from for 6 weeks in August and September and which cramped my training more than somewhat.

The point of this blog was to keep a record for myself of the ups and downs in my journey to the hour attempt..a challenge taken up in haste and regretted not at all. It is essentially a diary, albeit a public one and hopefully it will inspire others, both male and female of any age, but especially those who were born in the forties and fifties, to get out and do things that are apparently "beyond their reach". For I believe, as was declared by Robert Browning in his long, long poem, Andrea del Sarto, a poem that I was required to study for English 'A' level many, many years ago

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp".

And when the 26th is past and I have come back to life..able to drink wine and beer again, eat ice cream and chips (but not together), frolic on my MTB and think beyond cycling around in small ovals...what will I do???...well....I'll be preparing for the next challenge, for people like me just never stop.

And the challenge will be???.....well to find out, I guess you'll just have to keep visiting this blog wont you!!

15 days and counting

Today was 4 x 8 minutes at race pace using two gearing options...dither dither..which to go for,the slightly heavier one I can easily churn out speed early but ??will I be okay later, or the lighter one which requires faster leg speed but may be better for me as I get tired.....bites finger nails, looks anxious.....decisions, decisions

Pacing as ever is a problem I seem unable to solve..didn't get many horizontal arm waves, indicating correct timing, from my patient sister who did all my timing today..90% were too fast.....temp was purrfect..26 degrees, 41% humidity and 1026 hPa (whatever that last one means!!).

The big banner is in place in the foyer of the velodrome..I must say its a big shock to come face to face with a life size duplicate of oneself!!!

Ben's Kona team won the 4 male team event at the 12 hour enduro near Bright yesterday but Alex's effort to go in the 100 km(?mile) highland fling at Bundanoon NSW were thwarted by a VERY expensive off he had while riding his MTB on the road ..bent dérailleur hangar and carbon chain stay...$$$$ouch!$$$$

The cloud of uncertainty has lifted

Today has been a good day. I did a test on the velodrome that I can be pleased with and so my self belief has soared. The test comprised 20 minutes using good race gear, aero helmet, the works. My lap times were consistent aside from the ever present tendency to go too fast to begin with. The test was also done with no music, no cheers/jeers and so no adrenalin..which has yet to be factored in and controlled. The HRM file has gone to my coach and we will be talking about it tomorrow, when she's had a chance to evaluate it. The HR part of it failed just after I started, but the speed bit is there plus my helpers lap times.

What's left? apart from sorting out the lap times, its just a case of ensuring my helper and I understand what he has to do and what words he should use. Today I *think* he said "body" sometime during the first 10 minutes..which I assumed meant I was overreaching myself a bit and moving around...must check to see if that is actually what he said and meant. And of course, I have to stay healthy, stay fit and stay sane.

When I got off the track I was told I was a "diesel engine"...which is an astute and accurate comment..slow to accelerate, but can go steadily for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time.

25 days to go and I'm a "probable maybe"

Tuesday's test turned out not to be too bad..it was as cold as a witch's tit (7am and on daylight saving time and so actually 6am) and I was on all training gear..powertap wheel, crappy tyres pumped up only to 110psi and NO adrenalin, but the result was touching the ball park and so we're still on track (pun intended) for a November 26th showdown.

I'm certainly feeling a bit more confident and my battered ego from the worlds is gradually returning to its normal self. So my job now is to do one more check up test on Sunday..midday and with a warmer track, race gear on and a helper at the side of the track counting laps and to help keep my concentration from slipping.

Discussions with my coach this week centred on:

* how slow to go on the 1st lap..my usual pursuit 1st lap is around 25secs..the answer is do enough power strokes to get round the 1st curve and then sit down.

* how to deal with my helper signalling my times to me....I recall one of my coaches standing a little way into the curve, which at that time caused me to veer out whenever I passed him, adding metres to my journey. I also have NO hope of reading anything..any signalling has to be VERY simple and VERY obvious..maybe on the back straight would be the way to go...away from the officials..give me something to look at every 125m. She used a big arrow with Kevin Gill..point up ,down or horizontal on predicted lap times (rather than total time)..with the latter being the aim.

*and which gear to use...50/15 or my usual 51/15. My spinning has apparently improved out of sight..can't imagine why since I've been working on it forever, well 6 yrs at least...I guess its the increased track time...but I dont feel confident in that improved ability to move to a lighter gear. On Sunday I did~30 laps at a decent (was 'sposed to easy) pace on 49/15 but don't think I could keep that up for 60 mins, my current usual is 51/15 and on Sunday I'm going to give 50/15 a whirl.

So there we are..a positive post after days of soul searching. Now all I have to do is consolidate my aerobic base, rest up, avoid too much stress and stay healthy.

25 min test and tech talk

25 min test

After delivering the other half to the airport for the beginning of a 6 week trail bike riding holiday in India with a group of equally grey haired petrol heads, I fronted up at our indoor velodrome for the first of my 25 min tests.

The plan was to make this an easy intro and with the Powertap wheel in situ, establish what lap times a certain and relatively easy wattage took, then change to the Ghibli and 4 spoke and replicate that speed/lap time for 25 minutes and check on how the HR fared. A helper would ensure I kept on schedule.

Plans however have a habit of going awry. Since I had no idea what time I'd arrive at DISC due to farewell ceremonies etc, I told the helper not to come this time round.

SOOOOOO, my altered plan was : I would do the wattage bit, check the speed on the polar HRM and ride to that schedule with the count down mode my Casio watch bip bipping at the correct lap time.

And then what actually happened was this: I warmed up on a small gear, changed to my race gear, checked the timing, changed the wheels, set the count down thingy and set off.. ..first lap too slow, second lap too fast, third lap...oh bugger this for a joke...just ride at a speed that's comfortable.

And that's what I did..faster than I was s'posed to be doing and pretty close to my intended speed. The 25 minutes went by surprisingly quickly, although on a cold and lonely track with only a couple of people painting a bit of floor for company I'd have to say I was glad the test wasn't any longer. No dizziness problems; although I can see my legs will not be wanting to walk after an hour's effort and so I will be planning on having not only helpers but catchers on the night!

I pulled up really well, bouncing euphorically all over the place at work throughout the afternoon and feeling only a slight pull on the quads when walking up stairs last night...although that has morphed into something a bit more noticeable this morning. Feedback and briefing with the coach happens via Skype this evening.

Tech talk

I've bought 2 rather expensive chains..one for each bike that I will have set up for the attempt but have noticed to my surprise that the one I'm trialling first seems noisier than the cheapo BMX chain I was using..worse on the powertap that the Ghibli. Also I think I can feel some transmitted minor vibration through the pedal..so my Friday morning time off work will be to take the bike to Ben at Spoke(n) and check it out before I totally blame the chain. I'm also going to get a tarted up chainring and cog so as to maximise my waning power with as smooth a drive train as pos.

And finally...the first 25 min test

With more downhill swoops on my fitness graph than the recent stock market indicators, finally this coming up week sees the first of my 25 min tests. Given my currently appalling recovery capability, the approach is going to be a slow one ie this time I will be going at what ever speed 160 watts gives me, check out what that gives me, how I feel then try again a bit later..the following week perhaps.

Work continues to be extremely busy..this Friday I was part of an interviewing panel from 9-2pm NON STOP. I was wrecked afterwards. Totally irritable and quite dizzy..although why dizzy is a bit of an interesting result...must google "dizzy" and find out all the reasons..see if interviewing for 5 hrs is a common theme!!!!! My stint as Acting Manager is coming to a close. The power to alter things that have been a problem for a long time has been very satisfying, so I've had all the fun and none of the overall heavy burden of responsibility.

On the bike side Alex has returned from Europe and the pair of us are enjoying planning next year's trip. His World Champs are in Poland during the same week that the World Masters Road champs are on( I have my eye on bettering my PB for the TT). We envisage going over early, spending time on road/MTB (me/him) bikes then separating to go to our various events. I rather fancy visiting Czech republic and Austria...July/August is a very touristy month, so perhaps not France, although I'd like to ride Galibier and Mont Ventoux before age and decrepitude put it out of the question.

In the meantime a bit of retail therapy is called for: we both plan on buying the Ride Blue.com TT bikes later this year but right now I'm spending my hard earned bikkies on a Zipp double wheel bag..the oval one. I can't imagine why all double wheel bags aren't oval, since with the round ones, the axles abut each other and end up being hard to zip closed. Gipiemme used to make one too, but I haven't managed to find where to get one

I also need to buy a set of these babies to provide a more aero aspect to my Corima 4 spoke front wheel. I've had the wheel for years and years and only just discovered (was shown) that it can accept a threaded thingey in stead of a skewer! Hmm.

And finally, with regard to the way the Masters aspect of the sport is administered in this country..it leaves me tearing my hair out. The rules say our toad TT's should be 20km...the State TT this year is 11.4km...two laps would be fine, but of course there'd be confusion (quote) if we all were to ride 2 laps. The solution is simple and is done every time that there is a TT around the rowing course at Penrith, NSW ..you send the athletes off a 30 second intervals in groups of say 20 with a gap to allow most if not all to finish before te next lot start so there is no overlap....sigh.

Front wheel testing then Alex, Ben and Cadel

Today was velodrome testing for which front wheel I will use for the hour and also perhaps for the pursuit. Wheels to be tested were a Shamal, a Corima 4 spoke and a Ghibli disc.

The protocol was to do 4km sets on the different wheels at a set watts level. The 4 spoke was first up, then the disc, the shamal and then the disc again.

The result...I think the 4 spoke will get the nod. All were pretty much equal except the second try with the disc, which I found more difficult to control when I was tiring. the disc will be fine for the pursuit.

My heart rate dropped from a high about 160 for each effort with satisfying rapidity.

Second topic=A

Alex has now moved to the Czech Republic after a couple of multi day events where he re-acquainted himself with the complex tracks of the European bush which is close to where people live. His world champs is in the next couple of weeks.

Third topic=B

This weekend Ben, my son, turned 30. A bit of a facer when your younger offspring becomes (in his eyes) middle aged!!!!

Fourth topic=C

Well done Cadel...you little ripper. We're all very, very proud of you.

Testing, testing

May 13th..Diggers Rest to Toolern Vale 20km TT.

This was my first race after the Nationals and my first race with a new coach. It was also 1 week after having to take time off work due to suffering from a bad cold which attacked my sinuses and having essentially lost 4/5 days of training .. so I was not on top form. This showed up in my heart rate, which I could not get up to its usual level. I normally TT at 159/160avg topping out at 164 ( my max is 172), but yesterday was in the mid 150's avg with a top of 159bpm. My speed was also VERY average..however, taken in context I guess I did okay....9th out of 19, 1st women, 1st on handicap and a course record!

The course was s'posed to be flat, but with a head wind and a slight uphill drag over the final km's to the turn around, it certainly felt anything but. Close to the start there was a nice hoon down to a creek crossing, which on the way back had turned into a VERY nasty medium sized pinch which caused me to go to my biggest gear (44/21) and to regret that I'd not changed to my usual road bike 39/25 gearing.

My year's race program has been finalised:
May
26 Macclesfield RR handicap
June
3 TT Kew Boulevard ? distance not >20km
16 RR Yarra Junction
July
1 TT Kew Boulevard
21 Yarra Junction TT 25km undulating..very
August
5 TT Kew Boulevard
12 TT Diggers Rest 20km flat
September
2 TT Kew Boulevard
8 Victorian Masters Road TT Champs
9 Victorian Masters Road Race Champs
23 Club TT Champs Steels Creek19km
October
16 World Masters Track Champs..TT
17 World Masters Track Champs..Pursuit
18 World Masters Track Champs..Scratch
November
26 5pm World Hour Record attempt, which as I write this is 195 days away!

I'm having an interesting time with Cycling Australia..I've sent 3 emails officially telling them that I plan to do the One Hour Record and when, only to be told to let them know officially!!!!! and of course mega importance was attached to the fact that its actually NOT a record its a "World Best Time"!!!.... My understanding is that historically we weren't allowed to call it a record as we didn't get drug tested...however, testing is now obligatory ...so.......!

Bling, eye candy or bike porn

While riding around the 'burbs yesterday, the imminent birth of my companion's Llewellyn bike came up as a topic followed by a deep philosophical moment or 60. Would it best be described as bling, eye candy or bike porn and on a scale of compliments how do the 3 descriptors rate. Is porn higher than eye candy?? where does bling sit? can a bike be all three?

Personally I think bling is flashy (polished lugs or head stem perhaps), eye candy is good to look at (great paint job, nice geometry) and bike porn is what you drool over and would like to buy but just can't quite justify it to sig other...or indeed yourself(!). My friend says BT's are bling, (he's got one so is allowed to say that!) but that his new bike was going to be A++ bike porn. However his description of the colour and polished lugs make me wonder if "bling" ain't more accurate.
Naturally, none of MY bikes are bling! Although come to think of it, the Blueboy is VERY...well...blue.

Bluey behaved very well in his first public outing and, riding a 49/14, I cruised around the track for a planned 30 laps at close to one hour pace. Noice. 3 more Sundays doing that sort of testing, upping the laps by 10 each time and then no track for a while.

The horizontal dropouts have given up the unequal fight, shedding excess paint and so no work needed there; the wheel aligns left/right much better than the Colnago where gear changing and consequent wheel replacing was a major chore and a royal pain. Might give the Ghibli's an outing next Sunday. Hmmm.

Somebody drooled over Bluey's aero seat post so maybe he's partly bike porn. Hey, LM, is a Teschner bike porn or bling?!!

1st date with the blue boy

My Tuesday day off was a chance to pick up the Ghiblis, to take the Blueboy to Spoke(n), have the final bits attached, check on a weary son and his sore knees and get over to DISC for a test run. We weighed him and with training wheels (+ powertap hub) he comes in at a cachectic 7.6kg..might have to deal with an underweight bike when its all set up.

While over at DISC I spent some time talking to the staff to alert them of my plans and to discuss possible times. Seems like 5pm one Monday late in November will be the time. This actually works well as the velodrome will be at its warmest and friends can get over from work in time for the final stages when I'll really need the support.

So to the first run...this was all done without any formal measuring so was on a "what feels okay" basis. First task was to drop the seat down by a huge amount..the seat tube length is quite a bit longer than the Colnago although the top tube isn't. Then the seat angle and the set back needed adjustment as my knees were touching my elbows ...hmm, I'll have to retrieve my Look ergo stem...must need stretching out a bit.

The next task was to check with a different rear wheel to see if the tight fit was a wheel or a frame problem and...its a wheel problem. A call to the wheelbuilder, Richard Sawaris at wheelbuilder.com via Skype quickly sorted out the problem and now I have to ask the better half to grind away a few mm's of aluminium on the non-drive side. How good is Skype? I can talk to my wheelbuilder in America, my coach and my family in UK at no cost and since I have a webcam, I can hold up the wheel to the camera to ensure we're talking about the same thing...brilliant.

So the next task is to get the ergo stem and sort out the front end. The wheel grinding will have to wait til Phil gets back from visiting rels in WA. Sunday's session on the track will give me a chance to do more position testing and to very briefly see how he goes at full pace.

And finally.. looks like I'm booked up next Easter for another crewing period as Ben feels he can do better. His build up over the last 6 weeks was patchy due to having to house hunt for weeks and then move house in the week before the race.

20 min test Beach Road March 2007

This first attempt at screen capture using "King Kong" freeware is smaller than I wanted and looks out of focus. Guess I'll find a better way of doing it!

The dip at 34 minutes is circling the roundabout at Beach/Balcombe road and okay the test is 4 seconds shy of 20 minutes, but right at the end a set of pedestrian lights were red, so I had to pull the plug. The undulations in the road, traffic and the stiff southerly all accented the normal stochastic nature of power graphs, so maybe I will chose a flatter road next time.