Muru Blooding.......er.....Make That Mudding.

 After a brief ride to the bike shop on Friday I knew it was as smooth as silk on the road but I finally managed to get the Muru out on the dirt to see what I had got myself in for.

The woodchipper bars will take a little getting used to as the hand position is very different to your standard mountain bike. This makes for a little more strength required to grip the hoods in the rougher sections of trail but I was surprised just how compliant the carbon fork and the baggy 2.2 tyres are in damping out the rough stuff.

The bike is silent, which makes it feel even smoother. Well, silent apart from my creaking seat. For some reason the Selle Italia Turbomatic Flow seat that I bought back in October has started creaking like a wooden bed in a cheap motel. I have lubricated the rails but it just won't quieten down. My next plan of attack here is to put the other(quiet) Turbomatic seat that I have currently fitted to my Lynskey onto the Muru and see how long it stays quiet(insert fingers crossed emoticon here).

I did have a heart in mouth moment while attacking some single track in Bayview. After I lifted the front wheel over a small log on the trail and the back was coming over, the 'bars twisted forward in the stem, nearly launching me over the front! Pulling out my trusty multi-tool I quickly had those stem bolts nice and tight, as my heart rate slowly returned to normal. Bike-build-glitch found! There is always one. ;)

The single track proved to be quite challenging with the overall length of the bike and the bar configuration not really suited to single track. So, I popped out onto the fire roads and this is where this bike shines. It ate up the fire roads. Loose gravel, climbs and descents were easy work. I guess I was starting to get used to the 'bars too by this stage.

Putting in a few kilometres(metric miles) on the blacktop and I soon noticed that the gearing is decidedly on the low side with me topping out at about 43km/h or so. That is fine for I plan to rest on the downhill sections and will need the little gears for all the climbing that is ahead.

Immediately ahead today was the Eastern Escarpment of Mt Cotton. There are some loose, sketchy, steep climbs here and I was surprised how well the bike handles the loose stuff in particular. The 2.2 tyres definitely add to traction levels in the loose stuff.

I had to remind myself to get off and push the bike some. Yes, I need to practice pushing up hills so that the little muscles and tendons in the lesser used portions of my legs are hardened up somewhat for when I am required to push through the snow pack that will undoubtedly be lying in wait in the first few days of the race. I have been practicing a mantra for this bit, thanks to Brandy, of "ride in the snow they said, it'll be fun they said...." I can work out the appropriate curse words to go in at the end on the fly.....  ;-)

All in all, it proved to be a very pleasant late afternoon roll that took me just under 3 hours with stops to smell the roses and admire my new bike.

My Strava log is here.

This is a decidedly dedicated type of bike. It is made to eat up dirt road miles(imperial kilometres) with ease and I think it may just do that, even with me at the helm. I can't wait to get my dynamo hub built up, get this bike loaded and head out onto some deserted roads.

Cheers.

The Tour Divide Rig Arrives !

I got the phone call today. My tour divide rig was ready to be picked up! So despite almost no sleep and torrential rain associated with cyclone (hurricane for you septics) Marcia, in my sleep deprived state, I braved the canals er roads of Brisbane to pick her up from River City Cycles this afternoon.

"Her" being a Muru cycles B.N.T. 

The BNT is basically an Aussie version of the Titanium Salsa Fargo that is made in China and in the best badge engineering fashion, called an Aussie bike. (I kid, I kid. We all know how hard it is to compete with Chinese manufacturing).

Troy procured the frame for me back in December then waited patiently while I dithered around sourcing some parts such as the fork, headset, seat post and saddle to name a few bits. He was on a personal deadline, jetting out to Alaska on the 18th of February for the Iditarod Fatbike Race. This left him with 7 bikes to build in 5 days. No pressure....!

To his credit he got them all built up, including my BNT and his workmanship style? Perfection. It is so immaculately put together that I am almost loath to get it dirty by riding it.

The build I decided on was to mirror Troy's own Salsa Fargo which he has put innumerable hours into fine tuning into a bikepacking race bike. The running gear is all low end SRAM X9 product as it is robust and easily repairable. BB7 mechanical brakes handle stopping duties. Again, simple yet robust compared to hydraulic brakes.

I differed in the fork department when the Ti forks became unavailable and went with a Niner Carbon fork. The Niner fork weighs a measly 565g(1.2lb) and I think looks sexier than the Ti fork. Sexiness is a factor in racing as you have to look the part........however, if you look closely you will notice that the steerer tube is a very unsexy 16 feet long! Well, almost. 

We have not cut the steerer tube yet as I need to have my bike "fitted" to me, then we need to fit my charging switch under the top cap when it arrives from K Lite (stop press- the Shutter Precision dynamo hub and lighting kit turned up this afternoon).

Woodchipper bars give multiple hand positions as well as extra leverage off road when compared, in the first instance, to a mtb handlebar and in the second, to regular road drop bars. They are super clean with no cables to get in the way of my harness that will hold my tent and sleep kit.

All I need now is to build up the front wheel with the recently landed dynamo hub, get myself fitted to the bike, then ride, eat, sleep, repeat..........

Cheers

Break Out The Snorkel

No, dear reader, it is not time to hit "the reef". It is time to batten down the hatches as we have the remenants of Tropical Cyclone Marcia drop her bundle on us. 

When I say remanents, I sort of mean it in a future tense as she is still a full blown Cat 3 cyclone that will  intensify into a Cat 4 as she makes landfall at about 5am tomorrow(Friday). That is about the same time I land, or try to land, in Brisbane.

With rain predictions of between 300 and 500mm (12 and 20in) it looks like a wash out for mountain biking this weekend and well into next week. That is fine as there are plenty of bike paths, sealed roads and heaven forbid, the wind trainer.

So, pack your snorkel and stay off the trails. For those at the coalface around Mackay and Gladstone, stay safe out there and best of luck!

Cheers.

And The Penny Drops......

While researching for the Tour Divide race this past week I came across an interesting blog by a German bloke, Michael Gruenert, who did the race in 2013. The thing that really struck me about his blog was (apart from the stunning photos) the elevation profiles from each day of his race.

We all know that there is over 200 000ft of climbing in this race...blah,blah, have heard it all before. But seeing it broken down, day by day in this way with the actual elevation of the ride evident has sort of blown me out of my double pluggers!

Here is the profile for day one out of Banff. You will note that it tops out a 6600ft at one point. On day 1 !

About a week into the race, if all is going to plan one will find themselves riding through Atlantic City. Now there are two points of interest on that sign. One being the population, the other being the elevation. Yep, 7675ft above sea level !

Michael Gruenert photo

Why is this significant I hear you ask? Well, Atlantic City is the gateway to The Great Basin. The Basin is a vast, mostly flat, 200+km stretch of nothingness. At approximately 7500ft, give or take.

Exhibit "A" is a photo of my daughter and I from a few years ago, standing right at the TOP of the highest point in Australia. This is a far up as one can go and it is only 7307ft above sea level.

That, dear reader, is the moment the penny dropped. I will have to ride, no, race at an average elevation equal to the highest mountain in our country. How do I train for that?

This is the Gold Dust Trail in Colorado. It is a required alternate for South Bound riders. Single track, cool. 

Michael Gruenert photo

But looking at the elevation profile below, that "cool" single track is at 10 700ft ! Just after you have crested Boreas Pass at 11 500ft!

Michael Gruenert photo

Even day 20 in New Mexico has one cresting passes at 11 900ft. It may be the last state on the race route but clearly New Mexico is no lay down mazeire'. 

Michael Gruenert photo

So, how does one prepare for such an endeavour? No, really?

Well, first up you need to really enjoy riding a bike. A LOT. Check

Then you need to train. Train hard but also smart. Check.

You need to research the route. Know it's ins and outs. (Working on that one.)

Michael Gruenert photo

You need to have your kit sorted. Figure out what works and what doesn't. (Working on that one as well)

My training has me doing an assortment of bike and gym work. I normally hate being indoors at the gym. However, having a "plan" and a reason to be there sort of breaks the training up and keeps me fresh on the bike. If all I did was ride my bike I think it might get old, all too soon and frankly, I need the strength training.

Yesterday was the first "ride all day at TD pace" training ride in my plan. After pulling an all night shift at work, then working in the garden all day with only 1.5 hours sleep the preceding day I went to bed, setting the alarm for the crack of dawn. When it went of lets just say I "considered my position" for 5 or 10 minutes before bouncing out of bed.


I was soon glad I had got on with it as it was shaping to be a great day for riding.

I don't have my TD bike yet. it is still being built by Troy from River City Cycles here in Brisbane. He is a bit busy right now, jetting out for Alaska in 4 days for the Iditarod and I did say to him not to let my build get in the way of his preparation.

So, I was riding the Lynskey Ridgeline today. My custom Revelate frame bag doesn't quite fill the frame as it did on the old Giant but it still does the job.

What better way to start an all day ride but to climb up the new Birdwing track? I swear, it is the best trail on the southside.

So, I rolled through Daisy Hill, hitting up Jumping Ant on the way through then rolled into the city on bike paths. A quick coffee stop was needed to shake the drowsiness.

Through the city to Gap Creek and there was a Giant demo day on with bikes and riders everywhere. I stopped for a quick photo, filled the water bag then climbed the hill toward South Boundary Rd.

Sth Boundary is where the pain begins. While there are plenty of undulations, the theme of the day was onward and upward. Somewhere here I discovered that my front mech wouldn't shift into the smallest chainring. Not ideal, just time to harden up!

I decided to take the road less travelled today. I had not been down Creek track for 5-6 years and I had never done Lightline Rd so that was the route for today.

The trail went down, then down and then down some more. It was going to be a mighty big climb back to the top of Lightline Rd! 

Lightline Link would soon provide me with my first hike-a-bike section and within 5 minutes my ahchilles were starting to twinge from the steepness of the push.

Below, I stopped on a shallower section of the hill for a quick photo.

Just prior, I feel it had looked like this......

Micheal Gruenert photo

.....just without the greenery. Now I see how guys and girls screw their achilles...

Once I got onto Lightline Rd proper, it was a pleasant if somewhat long climb. I did bump into two guys who were taking a breather on the climb. We exchanged pleasantries as I ground onward.

I stopped for a minute at the bush camp to take a photo and was caught by the two riders.

They were two South African expats, out on a training ride for the Cape Epic in March. We chatted as we climbed and I was pleased to see that I could easily keep with them despite already having 80km (50mi) in the legs and 5kg(10lb) strapped to my bike.

We parted company at Mt Nebo when I stopped in at J.M. Jones Tearooms for some lunch. Here I was served a hamburger the size of my head ! I almost struggled to eat it and wash it down with a couple of cokes. Hmmm, maybe I was a bit hungry?

One of my favourite parts of any Sth Boundary rd ride is the descent. It isn't all descent but if you can hold your speed then put in some big ones in a tall gear you get the most awesome feeling as you crest the climbs at high speed. Get it wrong, with not enough speed and you will grovel up each climb.

I was starting to get in "go home mode" now with a hotspot on the sole of my right foot and some slight hand soreness. My legs felt great though!

That hamburger kept me powering for about 50km before I felt like a cool drink, downing an ice cold chocolate milk about 25km from home.

I was rocking my new Spot tracker today and it seemed to work well in the more open areas but struggled a bit under thick tree cover. Clearly it was working well enough because when I made it to the the top of the descent into home, my kids were waiting for me on their bikes having ridden up the Birdwing track to meet me! So, I got to roll down the last 2km with them and marvel at how fast they are becoming. 

That really capped my day.

Stats for the day? 155km(97mi) and 3330m(10 922ft) climbing. (according to Garmin)

 
Not a bad roll for my first big training day. The bike handled it well as did the body. Now, just to string 24 or 25 of those together, day after day, at an elevation of 7-12 000ft................

Cheers.

Training Days

Well, I guess I had better get stuck into some training for this race then...eh?  Yes, yes I should.

Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove.

I was at a bit of a loss as to what training plan to go with. I have previously employed the "ride my bike heaps because I enjoy it" training regime but I feel this might not be up to scratch for an endeavour such as the Tour Divide....!

I did some formal training this time last year which was meant to be structured around my work commitments. But it wasn't. And it wasn't cheap.

Check my pro set-up. Seriously strangled bottle. It was 38C after all !

So, for this time around I figured that a generic training plan, aimed at an, er-hem, 40+ athlete would be fine. It wouldn't be tailored to my roster but it would cost about 25% of what the supposedly tailored (and wasn't) plan would cost. I could even add a Bikepacking specific plan onto that and I am still 50% ahead.

What did I go with? Well, after some research I came across US coach Lynda Wallenfels via TrainingPeaks.com  She is an accomplished coach and has competed in bikepacking races and has won the AZT300 outright in 2011, so she knows bikepacking. She also answers all of my stupid questions via her training forum so that others can learn from our conversations. Likewise, I can glean information from other threads she runs with other trainee riders.

Will it help me? Who knows but I need to have something in place to maximise the returns for all the saddle time that I am putting in while training for this race. Sure I would get better just by riding a LOT, but I did see good gains made in the few months that I followed a structured plan last year. I had strength and I laughed hills in the face. I want me some more of that tonic!

I managed some cross training today with another regular trail care day getting us out to Daisy Hill Forest to tidy up the new trails we built back in October. We had a good roll up and were done by 9am - a new record for us! 

This meant we weren't absolutely flogged-out and could barely stand as has been the case for the last few years after a trail care day. Today we enjoyed standing around, chatting and munching sausage sangers, washed down with Coke. Superb training!

We are off to do some club racing in the morning. By we, I mean the kids. It is round 1 of the Brisbane Sth MTB Club's Summer Cup short course racing series.

 The kids are keen as mustard. And me? Well, I will be dishing out the mustard by working in the BBQ tent! Yep, sticking to the long term plan.......for the moment.

Cheers and thanks for checking in.

Ramping It Up

Well, with this silly little ride that I am planning on doing in June being a mere 138 days away (as I type this) it is time to get some structure to my riding/training. While I enjoy riding and just "ride lots" normally, this is to hopefully make the most of the limited time I have on my bike. 

I must be scared because I have re-read the excellent "Base Training for Cyclists" by Thomas Chapple and am trying to set up an appropriate training plan. I have also dragged the wind trainer out for the times I can't leave the house for a ride!

To self coach from my own limited structured training experience is a little tricky. By that I mean sure, I can set out a plan, I can follow it but the real art is knowing what is working and what isn't. I don't have a lot of time to waste on going down the wrong path through not noticing that I am training inappropriately.

The obvious answer is to engage a real live, personal coach. They have the experience to not only set an appropriate plan for you but to see if it is working as intended. If not they can make rapid changes that will benefit one's fitness. The down side to this coaching is that even a low-level plan is very expensive. 

Yes, I know I need to weigh up the total cost of this venture versus the few hundreds of dollars that a personal coach will cost. It is sort of like the analogy of a multi million dollar racing car team being brought to a standstill when a $2 part breaks. Yes, if you like, I am the $2 part and the coach is the multi million dollar team.....but I digress. I am looking at an online plan from the very reputable Training Peaks organisation in the US and that may prove to be a cost effective method to receive a level of personalised coaching. It is cost effective because they have coached tens of thousands of athletes and I am simply another 40 something that can use a 40 somethings plan for ultra endurance racing. I will keep you updated with regard to how I go here.

The main problem is that I don't have an open ended budget. This ride is requiring a new bike build, quite a bit of specific gear, flights, accommodation and food on the other side of the world and I am sure many other as yet unseen costs. I have to watch my pennies somewhere but I am burning time while I make up my mind.

Well, not totally burning time, more like burning calories over time. I have been on a solid regime of base building rides over the last few weeks. These have been solo efforts as well as group rides and I have to thank my riding buddies for accommodating my slower pace. 

Yep, I am keeping my effort level low and off the bike working on strengthening my core. My legs can't pump the pedals all day if they are held in place by a limp-noodle midsection. Can I just say though, I 'effing HATE core work! It hurts, it isn't glamorous in the least and there is no hiding the fact if you don't do it. I hate it!!

But the riding has been fun. We have had a LOT of rain this past week and it put paid to a bikepacking trip that was planned this weekend. So, a few of us went for a wet weather MTB ride along bike paths to breakfast, then return. 

88km(48mi) wasn't a bad effort for a day that was looking like a total write off. I managed to back it up with a 105km(65mi) road bike ride today. All riding was done at a gentle pace so took forever but both were with good company so it certainly was time well spent.

I am off to work tomorrow for the week but hope to get a few decent rides in while in Perth. I should have nutted out a fix to my coaching dilemma by then and have a solid idea of the way forward.

For now, cheers.

Borrowed without permission from the excellent blog of Val and Josh Kato. I hope they don't mind but happy to take it down if they do. ;)