Pedalling For A Great Cause

Hey-ho regular readers. It is October again and that can only mean one thing. 

The Great Cycle Challenge.

I have nominated to ride 1000km again this October to help raise funds to find a cure for kids cancer. That means I ride 33km per day, every day for the month of October. 

Not my usual bag, but its for a great cause.

Great! You say, thats easy, right? Well, I have had a dose of the deadly man-flu these last 12 days and have been laid up as a result. Don't panic, all indications are that I am pulling through but it was a close scrape!

How does that effect my 1000km target? Well, it means I missed kicking off Day I with a decent ride. This time last year I was 205km along the way to the 1000km. Here we are at Day II and my total is a measley 37km. I am already behind the 8 ball.

I will do my best to get back on track ASAP. If anyone feels like chipping in to sponsor me that would be greatly appreciated and remember, it is tax deductible for us Aussies.

My page link is here.

Alternately, I challenge you folks out there in Bloggerland to ride 33km once a week, all in one hit, each week for the month of October. 

Yup, you can either donate (please) or you can reap the benefit of feeling what 33km feels like, only you don't have to do it day after day. Just 4 times for the month will suffice.

You never know. You might just like it........so dig those pushys out!

Cheers.

Great Cycle Challenge - The Rest Of The First Week

WEEK 1

Ok, just a quick bulk update from the first week of my Great Cycle Challenge.

Everyone should be up to speed with Day 1 as per my previous post.

Day 2 

was a gentle recovery ride which found me trying to find the flattest possible route because I didn't want to climb any hills after Day 1! 

203km on Day 1, no flats. About 5 minutes after the above photo was taken,

10.5km into Day 2, pffffttt-flat! Maaannn!! 

The rest of Day 2 was a bit wet and very gentle.

Day 3 

was a day to cover some kilometres as I was about to head off to work for four days, with almost no opportunity to ride. I managed to bang out 65km (40mi) which is two days worth of riding. Not bad as I was still feeling Day 1's effects.

Chillertek rang for a chat about 15 seconds after I took the above photo so I had a nice chat to him while pedalling along the waterfront!

To cap Day 3 off, I added a new steed to my stable! Woo Hoo!! 

Yup, going fat-ish with 3.0 rubber and staying with the Lefty. That makes two Leftys in my stable now, which reminds me that I must update my "My Rides" page as it has changed significantly in the last few months.

Day 4

Day 4 was a "rest" day mostly spent in Sydney with a little work tacked on from mid afternoon.

Day 5 

I actually managed to find a cheap flat bar hybrid bike that I was able to pedal south along the Gold Coast on a crackingly stunning Spring day. Not too hot but warm enough to see plenty of beach goers out enjoying themselves.

I managed 52km which is almost two days worth of riding. Not bad for time away from home.

Day 6

was a full day at work with no prospect of any pedalling. This was fine as I need to be a bit careful and give myself some rest days. I don't want to end up overtrained and sick or worse still, unmotivated!

Day 7

was an early start for a ride with the kids and a good mate and his keen young fella. I got a first ride on the new Cannondale and spent the ride quietly noting things that would need adjusting/changing. I must say, this is a normal process with any new bike I buy and overall I was pleased with how the 3 inch tyres felt and handled. I will give some more thoughts on the "Beast" once I get it more sorted. Another 30km in the bank today.

Week 2

Day 1 of Week 2 started out early again, this time with a gravel grinding loop around the south eastern area of Brisbane's bushlands, which are quite substantial. I was accompanied by a couple of mates who were keen to check out some of the trails they hadn't seen before.

We didn't get far (like 500m) before we had our first puncture of the day. Cyclocross tyres and rocks can be a hazardous combination as Josh found out. His only spare tube used already with another 64-ish kilometres to go......

The ride threw up a little of everything from the singletrack above, to open fire trail below...

To hike-a-bike route finding......

Unfortunatley, it seemed to be a day that orange bikes suffered from rapidly deflating tyres with our second flat (well, sort of flat. The Stan's sealed the hole but it just needed topping up with air) of the day at about the 36km mark. Thankfully, that was the last for the day with my 60psi Sammy Slicks going on to record zero punctures despite copping a caning at times.

That sees me sitting on 444.5km(276mi) on Day 8 of the challenge. I might go close to knocking out a kilometre-for-dollar ratio of 1 at this rate......that is unless the dollars begin to flow in again.......

Thanks for checking in.

Cheers.

Welcome to 2014 !

You have got to love the feeling when you have escaped the "night before sore head" and can get out for that early new years day ride. 

Chris and I had the roads to ourselves with most cage drivers still in bed, completely munted. And what a glorious morning they were missing out on too!

Have a great 2014 everyone. I know mine is off to a great start!

Cheers.

What's He On?

One thing he is not on is Nike's payroll........

Courtesy of Drunkcyclist.

What a mess.........

Attempted Ride

With a slight respite in the weather and a mere day or so at home, I attempted a ride along some of our silky ribbons of tar earlier in the week. This ride resulted in  a rescue mission by the Minister for War after my front appendage developed a bulge about 30km from home.

That tyre is only 23mm (slightly less than 1") wide and shouldn't have that kink in it. Interestingly, once at home in the garage it proceeded to EXPLODE with all the force of a 30-30 gunshot, almost causing the Minister to wet herself. Glad I wasn't riding it at the time and she was standing in a waterproof part of the house!

On another note, my lovely new R1 hasn't been out of the shed except for a brief run to the bike shop to peruse summer jackets and boots.

I am pleased to say that a pair of Sidi Vertigo boots are in the safe hands of the USPS and hopefully winging their way Down Under as I type this.
On a slightly negative note, I have ordered an AlpineStars T-GP Plus Air Jacket from two large North American motorcycle shops, only to have them both reply after several days that they do not, in fact, have them in stock and promptly returned my money. Nor can they get them any time soon. Bugger!

I have just placed an order with www.ridersdiscount.com , who assure me that they do in fact, have the jacket in stock and will whisk it all the way to Down Under for just 25 bucks! I will wait with fingers crossed that there is no "we apologise" email!

As far as I am concerned, this jacket is required equipment here in Queensland as at this time of year as it is bloody humid. I must be getting old, as the thought of sweating my arse off while riding the R1 is not at all appealing. Add to this that my leather jacket is still at the cleaners and it is a no brainer. No protection = no riding.

The other thing keeping me of the motorcycle is my helmet. It smells like an old ladies house with its combination of air freshener and mouldy, musky damp and I cannot see how to fix it, short of hitting it with the pressure cleaner. This may be terminal for the helmet and I am a bit averse to shelling out the $650 it will cost here in Oz for an Arai Vector 2 helmet. Although, the Vector 2 has a completely removable liner, which, if my current helmet had the same, would solve the problem that I currently have (and will no doubt have in the future here in Queensland), so maybe it will be in the my best interests to just "bite the bullet" and shell out for a new lid.

Either way, I am looking forward to my parcels turning up in the post......